Questioning a moderator's action

[pascal.nohl]

I see that many of my posts have been flagged and removed. Some may indeed have been unnecessary, but several were clearly on topic.

One post was even removed directly by a staff member. That’s a very different approach from moderating tone or guiding a discussion — it effectively silences viewpoints that are uncomfortable rather than inappropriate.

[kkossev]

@pascal.nohl Don’t worry — this seems to have turned into some kind of flagging game that not all of us fully understand.

@aaiyar

Since this thread was reopened, there’s been more than 20 flags

I think that’s a record for a single thread.

I definitely have better things to do, but for the sake of consistency I may go back through the thread and flag all moderators’ posts as well !

[marktheknife]

@kkossev

I definitely have better things to do, but for the sake of consistency I may go back through the thread and flag all moderators’ posts as well !

Challenge accepted .

[kkossev]

Its not easy ....

But I was rewarded !

I’ll stop here — we’ve played enough.

[bobbyD]

@pascal.nohl

One post was even removed directly by a staff member.

This is the post:

Reason for removal:

@bobbyD

Respect moderation actions. If a post is flagged and moderators agree with the reason for the flag, please avoid making minor word changes simply to unhide the post. Instead, take a moment to reflect on the feedback. You are welcome to revise the content to bring it in line with the guidelines, but repeated flags for the same post—especially attempts to bypass moderation—may result in removal of the post, temporary restrictions, or even permanent suspension from the community.

[thebearmay]

@pascal.nohl

see that many of my posts have been flagged and removed. Some may indeed have been unnecessary, but several were clearly on topic

What has generally happened when this occurs is that a few individuals (or more) have grown tired of what they see as repeated transgressions and decide that they will force the conversation to be shut down or become so heavily moderated that it dies under the weight. They may be right or wrong but it is a tactic that tends to work. So maybe take it as an indication that it may be time to let the subject die rather than a personal affront.

<soapbox>
Having done a turn or two at moderating and administering forums I will tell you that in general it is much easier on the moderator to let a thread run its course and die a natural death than to step in and attempt a redirect, and they know without a shadow of a doubt that they will get accused of heavy handedness everytime they close a thread - some times rather impolitely . Bad moderators exist, but generally not long as the admin quickly becomes painfully aware of their actions and will grow tired of defending them. By and large this forum is pretty lenient so when a moderator needs to step in the poster may want to examine why - don't have to agree but try to understand their viewpoint. If you disagree try and take it to a DM with remembering that both parties will probably be defensive.
</soapbox>

[jwjr]

@thebearmay

Having done a turn or two at moderating and administering forums

Ditto, and I agree with you completely: bad moderators do not last long, and forums who continue to hire bad moderators do not last as long as this one has.

[JumpJump]

To be fair I don't think the post is spam. If I look at the post the poster is only wrong in perhaps assuming everyone understands the point he is trying to make with an image.

He is trying to say that Hubitat uses the CSA matter logo. The rules for using the logo in marketing materials is that you have Certification.

So I pointed out that there is no certification by asking him to link me to something I know didn't exist. He posted a picture of marketing material for Hubitat that has a Matter logo. He was trying to say that this is a conflict. However, given the lengthy and heated debate and likely emotions running high some of this didn't come out in a cogent format.