Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help Where's Cecil (not Waldo)?

Didn't want to hijack another thread but did something happen that I missed ?

Same here. I've heard references of his leaving, but nothing concrete...

It's concrete...

Not all people realize how their supposed humor, or sometimes their direct comments, can affect other people.

Not all people have the thick skin of politicians or trained law enforcement to deflect these hurting comments. Oftentimes, like in this case, they don't quite meet the limits of moderation that us moderators try to keep as neutral as possible without going well into censorship.

When the two combine, it can produce some very deep wounds.

I would hope that Cecil will return. He is a very valuable Pond Boss friend. But, anyone who is regularly attacked in subtle ways that don't meet the requirements of being moderated, eventually gets tired of fending off criticism.

I would hope we could all bee mindful of this.

We are a group of people who should be learning from each other about fisheries management, not about the nuances of human nature.

I know I am one who hopes that Cecil will continue to provide his knowledge and experience.

I am also one who hopes that those who wish to take exception with others will hold it back, or take a far more friendly tone.

Ken
Moderator

Perfectly said Ken.

Guys and Gals, they're just frickin' fish. We all need to park the testosterone at the door, take whatever meds you need to stay semi-normal, and remember this forum is about helping people and having fun. It just pisses me off that common courtesy has to even be addressed by a mod.

I'll stop here before I say something really stupid.

And that was well said Al.

It is my opinion, that therein lies the problem. Subtle or not, if it is perceived as an attack by a reasonable number of non-participating forum members, including moderators, then the requirements of being moderated need to be addressed and/or amended.

Anyone can go too far on occasion. When you do, you recognize the fact, apologize to whomever was involved, AND MAKE EVERY EFFORT NOT TO DO IT AGAIN......repeat offenses indicate a pattern in my mind.

I love this forum, and think of the members here as family. PondBoss has helped me in ways that far transcend ponds and fish, and I am extremely grateful to everyone here for their support. However if I were to voice my one complaint, it would be that PB has such severe penalties for what is deemed confrontational behavior, that it has (in my opinion) raised the bar too high....you have to REALLY mess up before the axe falls here, but when it finally does it's serious.

Maybe, it should drop a little sooner, and not always deliver a fatal blow???

What's wrong with a mod saying: " Hey ***, back off okay?", in a pm? Having a no nonsense, screw-up-and-you're-gone policy is fine, but I think there should be room for intuitive reasoning somewhere.

The world would be easier if it were all spelled out in black and white, but it most often doesn't work out that way in my experience.

And, these remarks are meant in the most sincere, non-confrontational manner that I know how to express. Not meant as criticism, but rather observation.

Don't criticize the Moderators because they are doing the best job possible. I follow the discussions and trials that the Moderators go through. It is an impossible to difficult job dealing with personal conflicts between members.

As administrator, I would just flip the switch on this stuff. That is why I work on the machine and leave the hard part to the Moderators

A few years ago Sunil moderated me for NOTHING. Boo hoo boo hoo. All I did was repeat a quote, so Sunil was really moderating someone else. But I got the blame, all for NOTHING. Boo hoo boo hoo.
The guy got ten years.

Absolutely. I moderate on a couple of forums myself, and while I am fortunate that they are both comprised of great folks just like what we have here on PB, there will always be unfortunate instances where intervention on a mods part becomes necessary.

I hope Cecil returns, he is great guy and has shared a wealth of knowledge.

He checks in all the time.

You have to remember that Cecil blew a nut and quit the forum for some time a while back.

This problem is on his end tho.

This^^^

If a member feels they are being attacked then the offending person should be told to back off. Doesn't everyone deserve a peaceful experience on the forum?

Some people can be passively aggressive without breaking rules to get to others. This is still bad behavior IMO. Other forums give a warning via PM, then a time-out, then banning.

Is there a way to 'ignore' or block another member on this forum? This function keeps one member from seeing the posts of another.

Me too!!!

You can ignore a member by clicking on their profile and select to ignore this person.

Cecil darn sure better return, He owes me a PVC Muskrat!.....lol

We all have our quirks and buttons, some enjoy pushing buttons, and some quirks invite button pushing.

Cecil is one of my good friends, and one I have yet to meet, he adds a lot here!

JKB, your comments are exhibit A and B for what the guys are trying to nicely tell you by reposting Ken's original comment...

I'm positive in saying that I'm not the only one feeling like the wrong member left.

Cecil had a problem with DD1 and left the forum for quite some time. They kissed after DD1 offered the fig leaf, but it's just his nature.

I really like Cecil, and I'll leave it at that!

I too like Cecil and hope he returns.

I think the mods do a good public job and dont infringe on the freedom of speech.

I have seen several forums absolutely destroyed by power hungry mods. so much that I have left for good, I dont even creep (once a year) that often on them.

Perhaps we'd all be better served if personal interactions between members and the mods were left private as they were intended to be.

Along those lines AL, I would think that if you feel you are being attacked, insulted, etc. then you have a responsibility to report that to a moderator. The moderator should then handle it from there. Each individual is different and there is no way a moderator can know how a person may be feeling.

I think that we all have joked, teased, prodded, some individual at times. I think it is all in good nature or sometimes it's a way that an individual just happens to write can come off as "huh?". For example, if I would do that, and the receiving party didn't like it I sure would hope that the moderators would let me know. But the first step would be that the complaint goes to the moderator, if that don't happen how can any reconciliation form. And yes, all this should be done behind the scenes, as I am hoping it is going on now.

Also, the more an individual posts, the more likely they will subject themselves to be in this scenario. We all know that Cecil is at the top of the list for post count. I sure hope he can come back, he has done so much good.

Unfortunately there is no standard text, font, or color to indicate you are joking or it is intended in fun, or sarcasm. So much is lost in translation vs. face to face these days.

The sad truth is many of us are quite poor at the written language, and it can be taken wrong (or in many cases here, a complete mess leaving me scratching my head). I think we all need a babelfish in our forum ponds.

I will miss Cecil and his love of perch on this forum.

We have all enjoyed most of Cecil's posts but we must admit that he has on occasion stretched the rules and has done so for years. Nobody should be surprised if he has been challenged again.

We had a lot of behind-the-scenes discussions about this issue, as we do with any controversial situation. The moderators, including Dwight as the site administrator, take this very seriously. In some cases we can lock or delete a post or thread within minutes of a violation. We have banned a number of people without most active members being aware of the bans. Most of the moderators check the site multiple times per day, plus we all get automatic emails if you click the [NOTIFY] button at the bottom of a problem post. Similarly, we don't have to delete a lot of posts, but we do it discreetly and we notify those involved, unless they are spammers.

We also sometimes edit posts, and don't always notify if it is not controversial. Sometimes it is humorous. One of the mods recently edited a post by one of our well-respected noncontroversial members. He had a one letter typo in his post that made it appear extremely offensive. It was definitely not meant that way.

Grey areas get discussed a lot. In most cases, the posters receive PMs from one of the moderators.

We try to be as fair and understanding as possible.

Thankfully, we have few issues. We do keep a close eye on several who do sometimes post somewhat controversial or offensive subjects. We deal with them individually.

Ken
Moderator

This is what our society has come to today...We communicate via electronics like no other generation has done before... The day of meeting at the flag pole and taking care of a simple misunderstanding is gone...

I feel sorry for my kids because they will never be able to make the same mistakes that I made as a kid without the world knowing about it... With a camera on every phone and people with no compassion because they were never taught or because of what they have grown to know as the norm...

As for forums, yep been on my share... There are always going to be people that know and people that think they know.. There are also people that are passionate about the topics being discussed and head hunters (people looking to make a buck)... Sometimes its hard to tell the difference...Don't take this wrong, but I always check the facts of even the people that KNOW... I also feel sorry for the people that join a forum and take the first words of advice they get even it is correct..

My words of advice is it truly takes 2 for confrontation... And fuel usually adds to the fire...If you see something you don't like or misunderstand, let it be... If it was meant as an insult it will get buried fast.. If is was posted out of text, it will usually sort itself out by the original poster..