Why are moderator actions above scrutiny?

[Jonj1611]

He was within his rights to report it though, that shouldn't have come into the reason for suspending someone. I cannot see any forum rules that state you cannot report a mod?

As for the insult I have already made my feelings clear to the board owner as you state and to other mods so won't be commenting on that here.

While I can understand at times mods do have difficult decisions to make and a lot of time and effort is spent making sure the forum is a better place, external factors should not be apart of that.

However confidence in the forum and the mods themselves is paramount to the health of any forum and suggesting that people will be banned for commenting doesn't bode well.

[Saracen]

I'm curious why discussion on mod action is allowed on most forums but not on hexus?

This isn't a dig at anyone. It's more of a general question as I'd love to know the reasons why.

The short answer is .... because that's the instructions we were given, .... exercise judgement.

The longer answer is that we don't always have time, or the inclination, to explain every last decision. Or, to explain it right there, right then, before everyone jumps in second-guessing.

Sometimes, we CAN'T explain. On more than one occasion, that would be on lawyer's instructions. It could even conceivably be on court order (though, clearly, not this time). And in that latter case, even the mod team may just be told what is to happen, or not happen, but not why. Or there could be all sorts of other reasons why not.

The point is that mod team decisions are not, for board members, subject to approval or agreement. Sometimes, they just are. Sometimes, we/I just don't feel inclined to waste hours trying to justify decisions to everybody.

[Saracen]

He was within his rights to report it though, that shouldn't have come into the reason for suspending someone. I cannot see any forum rules that state you cannot report a mod?

As for the insult I have already made my feelings clear to the board owner as you state and to other mods so won't be commenting on that here.

While I can understand at times mods do have difficult decisions to make and a lot of time and effort is spent making sure the forum is a better place, external factors should not be apart of that.

However confidence in the forum and the mods themselves is paramount to the health of any forum and suggesting that people will be banned for commenting doesn't bode well.

The simple fact is he broke a rule, was told to apologise, and refused. Instead, he decided to report that as mod abuse.

Anyone is free to report a mod. They are not free to break rules, and then ignore an admin instruction. If you do so, there are likely to be consequences.

As I'm typing this, several days have passed. My attitude is precisely as it was when this incident occurred, and for the reasons already given.

....

While I can understand at times mods do have difficult decisions to make and a lot of time and effort is spent making sure the forum is a better place, external factors should not be apart of that.

....

And sorry, but wrong again.

Moderating is not a jolly. It's work. Unpaid work at that. And, at times like this, thankless too. And some of us have lives to lead, paying jobs to do, and so on. How much TIME I have available at any given point varies. If someone breaks a rule and I see it at a quiet moment, I may deal with it more slowly. If I'm up to my backside in things, it's going to get dealt with in a rather more direct matter. Either way, it's really pretty simple. Forum rules say no insults, and to treat others "courteously and respectfully". If a member chooses not to do that, they will have to deal with the consequences. Sometimes, I have the time to be subtle, sometimes not. This occasion circumstances were "not". External circumstances were such that it was deal with in a peremptory fashion because that's all the time I had right then. Don't like it? Don't break rules.

This post is to respond to a post that got in before the lock, and is for information only. Thread is still locked.