In the forums I moderate, some folks get removed very very quickly, for the good of the community
I have thought about whether I should respond to this with my thoughts, because I am the most visible (but not the only) moderator for this section. Responding ends up taking the thread back off topic, but not responding just lets this comment "hang in the air" without people knowing how one of the people who has the "digital rights" to do stuff like this actually feels about it.
So, with an apology to the OP (and a request that if anyone has specific questions about what I am about to say, please PM them to me and I will attempt to address as appropriate), I thought I would give my
GENERAL, NOT DIRECTED AT ANY SPECIFIC PERSON OR SITUATION thoughts on this.
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Most of the moderators here on TMC are volunteers, including me. I personally like helping people, and like the help and information I have received from TMC during my hunt for information, and when asked if I wanted to help out, said "sure, I dont mind helping out". Frankly, its been a lot more "work" than I thought it would be, but I do really still enjoy helping people get to information, etc.
I also feel that we dont want to create an "echo chamber" where only one sort of reply / post is allowed. We are all different people, with different opinions, and just because someone has a different opinion than mine (sometimes strongly so) it doesnt mean they dont get to have it, or post about it, should they want to.
Opinions are one thing, disruption is something else, and many times there is a subjective line between the two. its ok for someone to have opinions that are different from mine (or everyone elses), and express those, as long as it stays respectful and not disruptive. We also dont just ban someone for posts we may not like, etc. I try to be very careful in this regard, and try to take actions to de escalate something rather than just "drop a ban hammer" on them.
Also, as I have said a few times, most of the time I am posting, it is as "myself", with my own opinions, etc. I feel I am still allowed to have opinions on things, but I do work hard to separate my opinions from actions I might (or might not) take as a moderator. That might be why (for example) I dont remove a post critical of some action or other I took, as long as it doesnt cross the line of being rude or disrespectful.
In any case, I do put thought into this stuff, and understand that its impossible for everyone to be happy with every action I take (or dont take). I apologize again to the OP of this thread because I am fully aware this is completely off topic, but as I mentioned, thought about this for a while and thought it would be better to respond than to just leave the comment hanging out there without any knowledge of what I was thinking about in general terms.
As I said, if someone has specific questions they want to ask me about, please reach out to me via PM and I will try to address them, if its something that needs addressing and not just "feedback".
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Back to your regularly scheduled programing.