And I didn't know that moderators weren't allowed to have friends. Or, more specifically, weren't allowed to be friends with other, non-moderator members of this site.
Progressive U is a wonderful blogging site, yes; this organization offers each of us the chance to voice, share, and discuss our opinions about a lot of things that many people aren't comfortable talking about in another setting. Additionally, your opinions are not censored. Your comments do not get deleted simply because we don't like what you have to say.
Sadly, there are times when your comments will get deleted or edited; but this is not done simply to censor you. These are done to help promote and maintain the comfortable atmosphere for us all to blog in that Progressive U has established for us.
And yet, Progressive U is much more than that. It is also a social networking site; a place to make friends and enjoy conversation. Some of these conversations may come in the form of a debate, and some may not. Sometimes, you'll find support when you think you need it the most. Other times you can bring someone's attention to a sorely ignored subject. Making friends also helps you to find blogs that you might find interesting to read, that you mght not find otherwise.
Yet, I find it sad to think that because I've become a moderator, I'm somehow not allowed to continue making friends with some of the other bloggers on this site who aren't moderators. To do so subjects me to false accusations of bias and unfair moderating whenever I have to go in and review a debate that has escalated into an argument. Despite my best attempts to remain fair, whenever one side of the argument happens to be a friend of mine - I get accused of, well, the very bullshit that I work to prevent.
So - to counter this - A-Team members have thought about several ways to keep the appearance of fairness. We log every conversation so that at any point in time, all A-Team members know what is going on, and how it was handled. Most every thing is brought up for review, prior to actions being taken, to be sure that there is a consensus on a course of action. We can't just start deleting things without letting other people know about it, and we can't just start editing or unpublishing content without having to answer for it.
Yet, we are still called biased because we want to enjoy this site in every way - including making friends.
If having a friend who is not a moderator automatically makes me biased, well, all I can say is too bad. I'm not going to stop being friends with someone simply because I chose to volunteer my time to help continue build Progressive U and they have not.
But I can offer other members another way (other than flagging or emails) to post about a moderator: I've created a forum in which you can post any questions regarding a moderator's chosen course of action. This forum is not to become a bitch session, or a place where you can tell the moderators to shove it. But, if you have a problem with the way a moderator has handled a situation, or would like clarification regarding why that particular course of action was chosen, then I invite you to post your questions to this forum.
Bunch of goddamn communists :P lol
LOL! :)
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"when you have nothing else to say, "Fwonk" is always the perfect thing."
"yeah well, fwonk"
--Devon
Fanaile Essence,
A-Team Member
I've worked security and faced the same thing on campus.
Police get both sides of it... both people saying "well, their friends probably don't get speeding tickets..." but also people not wanting to befriend a cop because they're a cop (or worse, wanting to befriend them because they're a cop in hopes of getting out of a ticket)
welcome to authority. heh. Once you have some sort of authority, you moved into the 'evil' bin by people. Look at how the world views bosses and managers. If there are two ways to take something said or done, you can bet that whichever makes you look like an evil or dumb prick... that's the way that people will view it.
LOL, I was always friends with my bosses, and I always tried to see things from their point of view so that when they had to make a decision I could understand why.
These people are just whining and calling bias for no reason! :(
I thought I'd be done with whining when my baby sister grew out of your adolescence. I didn't expect to deal with it here.
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"when you have nothing else to say, "Fwonk" is always the perfect thing."
"yeah well, fwonk"
--Devon
Fanaile Essence,
A-Team Member
That's just it... YOU were friends with your bosses. This generation generally is not.
They may smile and play office politics, but they crab about them behind their back.
There is a distinct division between management and 'worker' to hte point that management is shown as the evil one, and the worker always shown as the noble one.
it goes everywhere. People in positions of authority (such as yourself) will always be disliked by the populace that isn't mature enough to submit to any kind of authority and wants to do whatever they want to do with no consequences.
:) Sometimes being abnormal and not following th ewhiny trends of the general populous sucks...
At least if I had followed the trend I would have seen this all coming, LOL.
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"when you have nothing else to say, "Fwonk" is always the perfect thing."
"yeah well, fwonk"
--Devon
Fanaile Essence,
A-Team Member
If you had followed the trend, you'd be IN the trend, and you wouldn't see it as bad.
I'm with you. it gets VERY lonely at times, and even depressing.
But, that is the cost of doing what is right.
Just to point out... the people Fanaile is referring to aren't exactly typical ProU users. I'd chance a guess that most of them are "grown-ups" older than 35 years of age.
Also... I'm more depressing than you are. Everybody hates me and I must have violated the TOS like 40 times in 2 days. : (
Hey, at least I learned my lesson. I owned up and apologized for being a meanie-head (I was a bitch). Then I sheepishly requested said people come and read my side of the story, so they realize I'm not all bad.
eh, the theme has been there for decades. It is just most obvious in todays high school and college students.
i wouldn't worry about everybody hating you. I don't. (and who else matters after that?! lol)
As you grow more conservative (hoping that you do) you'll learn that you are in a big minority. Just don't let others get to you. Always stay in control.
If someone has to get angry and snap, let it be them, not you.
Good point.
I will keep that in mind.