Why do we have a Feedback Forum?

If this is the reaction we’re going to get - and inevitably at least one person makes this comment or a variation on it - whenever anyone dares question the mods, why do we have a Feedback Forum at all? If it’s a matter of like it or fuck off, what’s the point?

Undoubtedly someone’s going to accuse me of trolling with this, and while there’s definitely an element of emotional response involved, it’s not trolling. Whenever anyone questions moderating decisions, inevitably at least one mod posts with a response that amounts to “If you don’t like it, fuck off.” This is not how it should be. Are we somehow not entitled to raise concerns? Yes, some people go overboard with their complaints - either in frequency, tone, or aggression - but that is no excuse. Yes, some people should learn to take their lumps, and yes, we’re aware mods are volunteers, but why should we be expected to either submit to the will of the moderating team or leave? If this is going to be the response to criticism, why bother with a Feedback Forum? And if this response is not representative of the collective attitude - and I honestly don’t believe it is - why is there never anything even remotely resembling a rebuke when the comment is made?

Absolutely.

And I am all for handling things out in the open.

I have reversed decisions based on debate in this forum, actually.

So yes, it has value, and yes, it certainly is read.

Therefore, it has a valuable role, which would be hard to replace.

If this is the reaction we’re going to get - and inevitably at least one person makes this comment or a variation on it - whenever anyone dares question the mods, why do we have a Feedback Forum at all? If it’s a matter of like it or fuck off, what’s the point?

Undoubtedly someone’s going to accuse me of trolling with this, and while there’s definitely an element of emotional response involved, it’s not trolling. Whenever anyone questions moderating decisions, inevitably at least one mod posts with a response that amounts to “If you don’t like it, fuck off.” This is not how it should be. Are we somehow not entitled to raise concerns? Yes, some people go overboard with their complaints - either in frequency, tone, or aggression - but that is no excuse. Yes, some people should learn to take their lumps, and yes, we’re aware mods are volunteers, but why should we be expected to either submit to the will of the moderating team or leave? If this is going to be the response to criticism, why bother with a Feedback Forum? And if this response is not representative of the collective attitude - and I honestly don’t believe it is - why is there never anything even remotely resembling a rebuke when the comment is made?[/quote]
You start a thread quoting me and then take it out of context. I don’t know why you do that!
You are entiteled to raise concer, of course, disagree with decisions and post positive ideas as well. I have never said otherwise.
However when you reacha point where all you do is disagree and complaint, time to leave. That’s all I am saying.
I don’t mean YOU!
So, please don’t quote me out of context next time, will you?

Out of context? Hardly. But regardless, I didn’t mean this to be directly about your comment - your comment was just used as the latest representative of its kind. And I know you didn’t mean me. But if you don’t like people pointing out that you’ve just told two posters they should leave, don’t do it. Sometimes silence or taking it to private channels are better options. And if I’ve misinterpreted what you meant, I apologize. My comment stands, however.

We have a feedback forum so we can discuss Forumosa - not only how its moderated, but its changes, improvements, policies, progress and setbacks. I count on the feedback because it reminds me that my perspective and experience are simply not enough. And having a special forum to collect this insight is critical

igorveni made a good point that some feedback we get is “unhelpful” - that is, it consists entirely of “I don’t like this place” or “I don’t like the moderating” as if any of us are expected to know what this refers to. Sometimes, we don’t know and we can only shrug and think, “well, thanks for stopping by”

When I change something on Forumosa, I can’t expect everyone to like it, get it, understand or want it. There are just too many of us. But what can I do with a comment like, “Ugh, you changed things again”? If this is all that is posted, all I can pretty much say is, “I’m glad he noticed”

Now, if he explains why the change isn’t a good idea, or even offer an alternative(!) - then this a completely different story. Not long ago, there was a complaint about our choices for words in our auto-censor. I am jaded about this - I dismiss it as an “annual rite” - and it’ll blow over. But there was a difference this year. The forumosan who complained about it didn’t just say, “this is fucking moronic”, but made the case that it made him feel like we thought he was being racist, when he certainly did not intend to be. In fact, he actually feels the opposite about racism.

I am talking to Maoman about re-thinking our very short list of slurs because of this. Since this “annual rite” happens so infrequently, I got to wondering if we it was ever really a problem here (it’s annual and the usage isn’t inflammatory)

This kind of change happens becauase we have a feedback form which we can check and refer to easily and regularly

Here’s a funny thing: I don’t like that moderating is needed in the first place. However, we have a Flame Forum full of recent reminders on why this chore is helpful and valuable. I am grateful that there are so many of us who moderate and who keep these forums readable and orderly.

Would it help if responses to non-specific complaints were not the “take it or leave it” variety? Instead, when someone posts something like “you guys suck eggs” moderators could say, “Sorry you feel this way, can you be more specific?” or “I’m sorry to learn you feel this way, but this is the way I moderate my forum. I am glad that you know where I stand”

Tetsuo, I’ve often see you say something to the effect of: I don’t mind that my posts are moderated, because I was being jerk. You are blessed to have that kind of self-awareness - and it would be cool for everyone if you weren’t always being a jerk when you knew it.

As Forumosa grows and evolves there will be new forums and new moderators to help. On those fronts, there are boundaries still being drawn, so having a feedback forum where people express their frustrations by point out possible errors in judgement or a need for change is indispensable (imo).

I hope this helps clarify things for you :slight_smile:

If this is the reaction we’re going to get - and inevitably at least one person makes this comment or a variation on it - whenever anyone dares question the mods, why do we have a Feedback Forum at all? If it’s a matter of like it or fuck off, what’s the point?

Undoubtedly someone’s going to accuse me of trolling with this, and while there’s definitely an element of emotional response involved, it’s not trolling. Whenever anyone questions moderating decisions, inevitably at least one mod posts with a response that amounts to “If you don’t like it, fuck off.” This is not how it should be. Are we somehow not entitled to raise concerns? Yes, some people go overboard with their complaints - either in frequency, tone, or aggression - but that is no excuse. Yes, some people should learn to take their lumps, and yes, we’re aware mods are volunteers, but why should we be expected to either submit to the will of the moderating team or leave? If this is going to be the response to criticism, why bother with a Feedback Forum? And if this response is not representative of the collective attitude - and I honestly don’t believe it is - why is there never anything even remotely resembling a rebuke when the comment is made?[/quote]
You start a thread quoting me and then take it out of context. I don’t know why you do that!
You are entiteled to raise concer, of course, disagree with decisions and post positive ideas as well. I have never said otherwise.
However when you reacha point where all you do is disagree and complaint, time to leave. That’s all I am saying.
I don’t mean YOU!
So, please don’t quote me out of context next time, will you?[/quote]

It’s late, and I’m too tired to form a coherent opinion on this one…

But, I just wanted to say that I was thinking exactly what Tetsuo wrote. I felt the poster was being told to leave as well, and that that was a particularly unhelpful comment. And slightly aggressive, considering that it was coming from a mod. Maybe that’s not what was intended, but that’s what I understood from the message.

Maybe–if it’s too tiresome or trite to ask irate posters to calmly lay out their complaint with specifics–silence would be better. I remember my first grade teacher used to say, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”