now that the management has changed and no one is encouraging censorship for deceptive or paranoid reasons (we profoundly hope), there is no need for draconian tactics in the forums any longer, if there ever was. what IS needed is a new set of guidelines - clear, logical ones - for members posting there, AND FOR WHOEVER IS MODERATING, stickied for all to see. flagging, as far as i am concerned, does not belong there AT ALL - it serves no real purpose and allows anyone with a vendetta to harass and even delete someone's else's post. also needed is a Board of Appeal for anyone who feels their post or thread has been unfairly deleted, or that they have been unjustly targeted for suspension. in truth, no single person should have the power to do more than "freeze" a post or thread, or post a warning on a profile - any stronger action rightfully belongs to a committee willing to hear all sides.
NO ONE should be a bully, on the Forums or on a message board. no one deserves to BE bullied, by ANYONE. ambassadors should be dealing with bullies, not acting like them. they are given that post as a privilege as well as a responsibility, and must live up to the standards they would have the members uphold. the climate of justified paranoia that caused this to be set up as a separate blog accessible only through a gatekeeper, rather than an open forum for expression, MUST END.
a bright new day is dawning for FooPets, site and members alike...it is time to chase away the old darkness once and for all.
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...well, we thought and hoped it was...judging by the hysterics of the past couple of days, perhaps not.
(NOTE : as the loyal opposition is clearly terrified as to what we wish to do, after leaving this up long enough for any who cared to look at it - with Comments disabled and hidden for obvious reasons - i have posted a screenshot in its place and have reopened Comments for interested parties. one post apiece ONLY, please, as it is a petition and not a conversation. thank you all for your patience during the recent nonsense - i wonder if those who came to dance in the Foop Comment thread truly realise how foolish they looked.)
Hear hear! I am one such member who has been "blacklisted" by certain moderators for not only sharing my feelings and opinions, but for standing up for myself after being condescended and bullied by certain moderators, who not only did so themselves but encouraged other members to do the same. I have also been suspended for no other reason than speaking up for myself.
ReplyDeleteWe need to remember that absolute power corrupts absolutely and one mod in particular has crossed over that line. She has serious issues and needs to be dealt with. Her behavior in the forums and on members' profiles is unconscionable and reprehensible. And I'm using quite a bit of restraint here.
My son left Foo directly after he discovered that I wasn't exaggerating the situation and left a message on his profile that says it all: http://www.foopets.com/member/20070421
Please, consider revamping your flagging system and putting adults in charge who can behave as such. Are these really the kind of people you want representing FooPets?
absolute power corrupts absolutely...anyone. final decisions belong in the hands of a team, ideally including at least one executive-level member. everyone is human, and under the best of conditions bias is inevitable.
ReplyDeletePlease add me to this of supporters for this petition. As someone who has seen but not been directly involved in some of the problems, I feel I come to this issue reasonably unbiased. I ask that the new management of Foo please take a similarly unbiased look at the issues described and think heartily about in what way and by whom they wish to be represented. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteConsider myself on board with this. Having been the center of their attentions, and also watching from the background how terrible they treat others and unable to help, I hope that this gets resolved sooner than later. Cyber bullying should not be condoned or ignored, and those who decide to act out in such an aggressive manner should step back and take care of what is causing them to lash out in such a terrible manner. No place should be uncomfortable, especially a website dedicated to pets and claiming to be safe. Either the forums should be permanently shut down, or entirely revamped and those who have created the most strife no longer allowed to do so.
ReplyDeletePlease add my suggestion into this. Please check into the members that have caused so much trouble in the Fooforums. Match up the names with the people here, if that can be done. You will see that many here are a base cause of troubles in the FooForums. Us kids get tired of adults telling us where we can post things and what we can say. Thank you
ReplyDelete(and i promised myself i wouldn't editorialize in here...sigh) who "us kids" are aside, while the names here are 'real' and can certainly be compared to Forum posts et al, this is not the "adult" group that was attempting to control who could post what on the Forums...pretty much completely the opposite, lol, these are the First Amendment people. i think you are mistaking us for the ambassadors, whose job it is as mods, quite properly, to let people know when they have misposted (and moving the thread/post to the correct location), and if they are overstepping whatever posting rules are currently in force.
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