moderation

[Teddy B 17,252]

The selective moderation on this site is ridiculous. One person whines and cries to the mods and next thing you know posts are deleted and people are thread banned and warned. All the while it's the whiner who is to blame for the problem, but the mods either don't take the time to find this out, or don't care. Funny thing is, the whiner(s) are usually the instigators and their insults are right there, plain as day, but they go either unnoticed or ignored by the mods.

Things can get heated at times depending on the topics, insults are gonna be made, that's never bothered me, and you'll never see me run to the mods because of something someone posted at or to me. If you can't take the heat, then go post in the kiddie section, or grow a backbone.

When is a post actually considered an insult anyway? Is it simply when someone doesn't like what someone else has said, cause that's sure what it seems like. I have had mere observations deleted and been warned simply because the person the observation was directed at didn't like what I said, it didn't matter whether said observation was true or not. Is that the way it works here? All you have to do is complain and posts get deleted, no matter what the true content is? There are insulting posts all over this board, why is it that certain people are given special treatment simply because they whine when they are on the receiving end? Pretty spineless if you ask me.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

It sounds like you haven't read over the Terms of Service: http://www.visajourn...m/content/terms . You may wish to do so now, especially as you clicked 'yes' when you became a member to state you had read them and would abide by them.

Moderators do not patrol the forums. The only way we know that there has been a violation of TOS is if someone reports it to us - or we just happen to stumble upon it during out own participation as members. Keeping Visa Journey a supportive and safe environment for those who are going through the US immigration process is all of our responsibility: to post responsibly, and to report those who don't post responsibly to the moderation team so we can address the concerns. If people do not report violations, then yes, the violators will appear to 'get away' with something, so it is every member's responsibility, especially if they complain about uneven moderation, to do their part and report violations so that unfairness can be addressed.

You wrote: insults are gonna be made, that's never bothered me, and you'll never see me run to the mods because of something someone posted at or to me. If you can't take the heat, then go post in the kiddie section, or grow a backbone..

The thing is insults are not supposed to be made on Visa Journey and people shouldn't have to deal with being insulted. That is one of the listed violations in the TOS - and if you are fine with being insulting (and I assume, insulting others) than you are not honouring the goal of this forum- to provide a supportive and informative experiential based community for those going through the US immigration process. It is not a matter of 'not being able to take the heat'- no one on this site should be in the position of having to take the heat in the first place. There are no 'kiddie' sections on VJ. The Off Topic and Politics & Religion forum tend to be a lot more aggressive, not because that is what VJ wants or allows, but because there are a number of individuals who have been here for a while and have developed a familiarity with each other.- both favourable and unfavourable. Many of them are also on the regular receiving end of moderator attention because this familiarity leads them to cross the line between acceptable and unacceptable. People are not supposed to need to 'grow a backbone' to participate on Visa Journey. If that is what you believe, then you are on the wrong forum site.

When a report comes in, we do review the reported post in context. When the reporter is part of the problem, you can be assured that we inform the reporter of that as well. What you see happening in the forums - the thread bans, post removals, etc. - are only part of what we do for moderation. You may think someone has 'got away with something, but you may find they will tell you differently. We do not publish details of moderation activities but they are definitely dealt with privately.

Edited June 25, 2012 by Kathryn41

[Teddy B 17,252]

It sounds like you haven't read over the Terms of Service: http://www.visajourn...m/content/terms . You may wish to do so now, especially as you clicked 'yes' when you became a member to state you had read them and would abide by them.

Moderators do not patrol the forums. The only way we know that there has been a violation of TOS is if someone reports it to us - or we just happen to stumble upon it during out own participation as members. Keeping Visa Journey a supportive and safe environment for those who are going through the US immigration process is all of our responsibility: to post responsibly, and to report those who don't post responsibly to the moderation team so we can address the concerns. If people do not report violations, then yes, the violators will appear to 'get away' with something, so it is every member's responsibility, especially if they complain about uneven moderation, to do their part and report violations so that unfairness can be addressed.

You wrote: insults are gonna be made, that's never bothered me, and you'll never see me run to the mods because of something someone posted at or to me. If you can't take the heat, then go post in the kiddie section, or grow a backbone..

The thing is insults are not supposed to be made on Visa Journey and people shouldn't have to deal with being insulted. That is one of the listed violations in the TOS - and if you are fine with being insulting (and I assume, insulting others) than you are not honouring the goal of this forum- to provide a supportive and informative experiential based community for those going through the US immigration process. It is not a matter of 'not being able to take the heat'- no one on this site should be in the position of having to take the heat in the first place. There are no 'kiddie' sections on VJ. The Off Topic and Politics & Religion forum tend to be a lot more aggressive, not because that is what VJ wants or allows, but because there are a number of individuals who have been here for a while and have developed a familiarity with each other.- both favourable and unfavourable. Many of them are also on the regular receiving end of moderator attention because this familiarity leads them to cross the line between acceptable and unacceptable. People are not supposed to need to 'grow a backbone' to participate on Visa Journey. If that is what you believe, then you are on the wrong forum site.

When a report comes in, we do review the reported post in context. When the reporter is part of the problem, you can be assured that we inform the reporter of that as well. What you see happening in the forums - the thread bans, post removals, etc. - are only part of what we do for moderation. You may think someone has 'got away with something, but you may find they will tell you differently. We do not publish details of moderation activities but they are definitely dealt with privately.

Like I said, it's the whiners that get the attention, thank you for clarifying that. Insults and other things that people don't neccessarily like are part of everyday life, being able to deal with these instances like an adult is also a part of every day life.

The regular posters that let insults roll off their back and carry on are the ones who end up getting thread banned because when they do say something in return the whiners go running to the mods, the mods come in, delete a post or two and thread ban and warn the retaliator rather than the actual instigator, that's poor and lazy moderation.

I would still like to know just what exactly is considered an insult or offensive. Is it simply something that another poster doesn't like, such as an observation about the content of one's posts in a particular thread, or is there a set definition of what an insult consists of? Are we as members of this board allowed to get any and all posts deleted we want simply because we find them offensive? How is the determination made of what offends each and every person?

People are not supposed to need to 'grow a backbone' to participate on Visa Journey.

This is the kind of mamby pamby mind set that is wrong with this world today. No one needs to grow a backbone, just complain and whine until you get what you want. This way the weakminded people can participate too. A backbone is a requirement in everyday life, why not here? Some of the people here act like they're in 1st grade running to the teacher every time someone looks at them the wrong way. The moderators need to see this for what it is and stop allowing the whiners to dictate what is and isn't said on this board.

The Off Topic and Politics & Religion forum tend to be a lot more aggressive, not because that is what VJ wants or allows, but because there are a number of individuals who have been here for a while and have developed a familiarity with each other.

Hold on a minute, you admit to having a forum where things "are more aggressive", but that's not what VJ wants or allows? That makes no sense whatsoever. You either enforce the rules you put in place, or you don't. You can't have it both ways. Whether or not posters are familiar with each other should make no difference, it's either a TOS violation or it's not. By the way, my most recent involvement with moderators was in the politics and religion forum, my posts got deleted. Why wasn't I afforded this luxury of "being more aggressive"? If you're going to allow some people to be more agressive in the politics section, than you should allow everyone to be more aggressive in the politics section. Why didn't the moderator at least read all of the exchanges between myself and the other poster involved to see where the problem started? It is very clear that the "complaining poster" was the first to cast the insults at many posters, not just myself.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

As I said before, you need to read the TOS. You also need to remember that this is a private website on which you have requested to participate as a member. Visa Journey gets to set the rules for this website, not you. Even if you disagree with the approach, you did agree to abide by the rules when you accepted the membership. It is also in the very first paragraph of the Terms of Service, located at every single page on this website:

PLEASE READ THIS AGREEMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THE WEB SITE OR ANY SERVICES OFFERED BY VISAJOURNEY.COM. BY ACCESSING ANY SERVICE OR WEBSITE OF VISAJOURNEY.COM, YOU ACCEPT, WITHOUT LIMITATION OR QUALIFICATION, ALL OF THE TOS AS STATED BELOW. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE BOUND BY THE TOS, YOU SHOULD NOT ACCESS OR USE ANY WEB SITE OR SERVICE OFFERED BY VISAJOURNEY.COM.

If you do not wish to follow the rules then you have the option to leave. If you insist on remaining and violating the rules, then we can help you leave.

Posters are not allowed to be more aggressive in the P&R and Off Topic forums. I stated that they were more aggressive, not that they are allowed to be more aggressive, and that they also are the recipients of much of our moderation attention. Their familiarity has led them to take unacceptable license on this site. We moderate to the best of our abilities, however, if posters do not report violations then we do not know they are there. We thread ban those who are aggressive in threads; we suspend them if thread banning doesn't work. We remove posts that violate the TOS. By stating that Off Topic and P&R are more aggressive, I am not stating that they have permission to be more aggressive, just recognizing that they are. 90% of our moderation activity is focused on these two forums and that is not acceptable by any means. They are just as much governed by the TOS as every other part of this site..

I did go back and read over your more recent posts, especially the ones that were removed. They were removed properly. Your posts contained direct personal attacks, insults and unacceptable remarks. No one is afforded the luxury of being more aggressive - not you nor any other poster. If you continue to post in such a manner I predict you will get to know the moderation team very well - and vice versa.

If you object to a moderator's decision you have every right to forward your complaint to the site administrator/owner Captain Ewok. Here is the link to the form especially set up to do so: http://www.visajourney.com/contact/ . It is also posted at the bottom of every single page.

[Teddy B 17,252]

As I said before, you need to read the TOS. You also need to remember that this is a private website on which you have requested to participate as a member. Visa Journey gets to set the rules for this website, not you.

For the third time I ask you, how is the determination of what is considered offensive made? If one thing is offensive to one poster, but no one else, is the post still considered offensive and can be reported and removed? Different people have different views of what is and what isn't offensive, how does one tell where that line is drawn? If you have no set threshold, then how does anyone know if they are crossing the line or not before they actually do so?

If you insist on remaining and violating the rules, then we can help you leave.

I'm offended by that.

Posters are not allowed to be more aggressive in the P&R and Off Topic forums.

Yes, they most certainly are, and some of the mods participate directly in the discussions that violate the TOS rules, so please don't twist the truth to suit your arguement. Mind you, I don't have a problem whatsoever with the politics section being more agressive, but if the mods here fail to be consistent with the way they police the board, then you cannot expect the members to have a clear line of where the rules are broken.

I did go back and read over your more recent posts, especially the ones that were removed. They were removed properly. Your posts contained direct personal attacks, insults and unacceptable remarks.

Telling someone that they have a twisted view of reality in a politics and religion forum is a personal attack? Give me a break. Did you go back to see where the whiner who complained made the initial insults and offensive posts, or does that only matter if I whine like a 2 year old?

No one is afforded the luxury of being more aggressive - not you nor any other poster. If you continue to post in such a manner I predict you will get to know the moderation team very well - and vice versa.

Again, that's not the truth and you know it. Seeing you refuse to tell me where the line is drawn, then I'll just have to carry on and hope for the best. In the meantime hopefully the mods will take notice of who the chronic complainers and instigators really are.

If you object to a moderator's decision you have every right to forward your complaint to the site administrator/owner Captain Ewok. Here is the link to the form especially set up to do so: http://www.visajourney.com/contact/ . It is also posted at the bottom of every single page.

Yes, and I imagine I will get the same run around and amount of satisfaction that I have gotten with you.

[^_^ 5,021]

Kathryn,

Teddy is not a newbie. The mod team is already very familiar with him, or should I saw was.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Kathryn,

Teddy is not a newbie. The mod team is already very familiar with him, or should I saw was.

Rob?

[Penny Lane 8,159]

I'm Teddy.

[Teddy B 17,252]

Kathryn,

Teddy is not a newbie. The mod team is already very familiar with him, or should I saw was.

We've had some good times, eh?

[rade2rising 205]

gr8 work kathryn

Teddy all rules are subjective when it comes to moderation so if you are questioning MODS objectivity its waste of time.

you will never have this level playing field you are dreaming about....this is just part of the internet get use to it fast fast

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

gr8 work kathryn

Teddy all rules are subjective when it comes to moderation so if you are questioning MODS objectivity its waste of time.

you will never have this level playing field you are dreaming about....this is just part of the internet get use to it fast fast

Put a sock on it, please. This is getting extremely annoying, but that is what you want, isn't it? Some attention? Is that it? Happy now?

[MyLittlePony 340]

gr8 work kathryn

Teddy all rules are subjective when it comes to moderation so if you are questioning MODS objectivity its waste of time.

you will never have this level playing field you are dreaming about....this is just part of the internet get use to it fast fast

Teddy? or today?

[rade2rising 205]

Put a sock on it, please. This is getting extremely annoying, but that is what you want, isn't it? Some attention? Is that it? Happy now?

if u have nothing useful to contribute sometimes its best just to say nothing.

attacking and belittling other members is violation of TOS just so you know so plz say something useful or so nothing at all.

[Teddy B 17,252]

gr8 work kathryn

Teddy all rules are subjective when it comes to moderation so if you are questioning MODS objectivity its waste of time.

you will never have this level playing field you are dreaming about....this is just part of the internet get use to it fast fast

I believe you've got something stuck on your nose.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

gr8 work kathryn

Teddy all rules are subjective when it comes to moderation so if you are questioning MODS objectivity its waste of time.

you will never have this level playing field you are dreaming about....this is just part of the internet get use to it fast fast

The way you are going about this moderator thing is bizarre. But it makes me laugh, so please continue.