11894 Moderator Decisions and bias!

[B]Moderator Decisions and bias: Italy Magazine[/B]

At the risk of being condemned and banned forever to anonymity I must seek some answers from a particular Moderator or the Moderation team and if neither respond then ‘perhaps’ Administration may deign to do so.

I have chosen to post this on an open forum for reasons that will become clear.

The problem:
I have been a member of Italy Magazine since May 2006 and, to date, I have posted 1448 times. I consider my input to be generally of a good informative quality (something that I feel cannot, in any way, be said of another certain poster). I have [I]never[/I] been admonished for any infringement and have, right from the beginning, taken the ‘lets play fair’ stance with regard to my posts. On occasion I have approached Admin for clarification on certain site matters and asked questions about certain people’s behaviour. Bear in mind that in total, over my three years of membership, my PM’s on these matters have totalled [I]‘maybe’[/I] a DOZEN.

But the only ones I ever received a response to were those concerning one problem member (Ms.D). No one will EVER answer queries about either the maintenance OR the leadership or supervision of the membership. They (it seems) feel that they are above being questioned about their decisions. In fact I gave up asking some time ago. But now the situation has become utterly bewildering and smacks of favouritism and unfairness.

Bewildering, unfair? Yes because of the following actions by one Moderator – Marc.

We are not afforded the courtesy of whether his decisions are following discussion with his fellow Moderators, or whether they are made unilaterally. But the latter seems more likely as he actually moderated (deleted) a fellow Moderators post this week!

The rules of Italy Mag. State the following quite clearly:
[I]Please refrain from posting meaningless threads, one word (or short) non-sense posts, No flaming or trolling. [B]Flaming means posting something that's angry and mean-spirited[/B] - the online equivalent of flying off the handle. It's not a pretty sight, and we recommend constructive discussion as a far more satisfying pastime. Trolls say deliberately provocative things just to stir up trouble - it's not polite, so please don't do it. the Italy Magazine Forums is an incredibly friendly place, so please help to keep it that way. or the such.[/I]
[I]We want to make the forum better and commit to replying to any suggestions, disagreements and constructive criticism. All such issues should be communicated to the Administrator exclusively via private messaging, e-mails, or even over the phone[B]. [U]The Administrator will consult with the Moderating team and any decisions as well as the reasoning behind the decision will be made public.[/U][/B][/I]
[B][I][U]Once a decision has been taken it is final. We commit to making such decisions and the reasoning behind them public. You are, of course, free to send us a private message criticising the decision and we commit in making public your concerns and where appropriate our response. Once that is done, however, the matter is to be considered closed as forum life needs to move forward.

[/U][/I][/B][B][U][/U][/B]

Now these are good rules but they have NOT been followed over recent days by Marc.

I have had legitimate posts first deleted, reinstated and then moved to another forum without receiving ANY notification of any breach of rules from Marc. My posts that he dealt with in this way were NOT[I] angry and mean-spirited’. [/I]
One was trying to offer suggestions and advice on how Ms. D could avoid the segregated position in which she continuously found herself. Advice, the like of which, had been offered time and again by me and many others over a long period. I was careful NOT to be [I]angry and mean-spirited’, [/I] But I was clearly ‘reported’, action was takenand that post (with others supporting my stance) was deleted. I was TOLD by Ms.D [U]never[/U] to use the endearments or the users name ever again.
Another post from me followed the same route, but this too was deleted and then reinstated . Yet I had explained clearly in the post why I posted it – to celebrate the fact that the individual had finally shed her old name…
It was not only ‘my’ posts or threads that were summarily dealt with in this way either… Others had their really good, humorous threads deleted too – clearly at the express wish of Ms. D as she continued to disrupt them and didn’t like the ensuing anger from others….

So my questions are now posted here – I don’t have the ear of any Italy Mag staffers – [U]that[/U] is reserved it seems for one member in particular.

So – MY QUESTIONS to Marc.
1. [B]Why[/B] were certain of my (and others) posts deleted/moved/reinstated?
2. [B]Why[/B] was I not advised that it had taken place with my posts?
3. [B]Why[/B] were the reasons not posted in public?
4. [B]Why[/B] are the constant’ personal’ deletions, made by one member, both encouraged and compounded by accepting to delete entire threads at her request?

And finally.

Please - get rid of the Delete and Ignore buttons… Both are more trouble than they are worth!

[B]If you [U]can’t[/U] do that – then please - [U]LIMIT THEIR USE![/U][/B]