Questions about the site and its management.

Post Reply New Topic

From the front page

"Welcome

"WrongPlanet.net is a web community designed for individuals with Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, and other PDDs."

Question #1

Is this no longer the case?

Question #2

I have just been advised by a moderator that I am being 'warned'. I would be interested to know what rules govern moderators and their decisions, and indeed, how they come to be elected. Is this a secret? Perhaps someone could enlighten me about the general structures governing those who wield power here. There seems to be quite a lot of do's and don'ts for us plebs, so... I would like to know whether there are corresponding do's and don'ts for mods, and how they come to be chosen.

I've been curious about some of that stuff too, but I don't have any grudge against the moderators.

Also, is there some sort of differentiation between someone getting 2 or 3 warnings (or whatever the policy is) and someone who gets 2 or 3 warnings in a year?

I just refrain from profanity, slurs, and personal attacks- common sense stuff from everyday life.

For your information, Postperson received a warning for the welcome that she gave to a new member dragon2fire, specifically for her posts on this thread: http://www.wrongplanet.net/modules.php? ... pic&t=3072
See also: http://www.wrongplanet.net/modules.php? ... pic&t=3041
If you are puzzled what has made Postperson write these posts, you should know that we, as moderators, could not see the reason either. Postperson replied to our inquiry by accusing dragon2fire of manipulation and dishonest intentions. None of moderators could find any basis for that, and I hope that members will agree. These accusations, and attitude that Postperson displayed, were obviously hurting dragon2fire. It was so visible that I felt necessary to apologize to him in the name of our community. The problem was discussed at mod forum, and a warning was deemed in order. Postperson's response to my message (which I originally did not make an official warning), was to repeat unfounded accusations against dragon2fire, and to criticize the validity of my actions, and language of my messages.

Personally, it saddens me greatly that some members (not only Postperson) rejected a new member based on false preconceptions. This has happened many times to me: people would avoid me even though I never even spoke with them, only because they had heard that I was bad and rude. This time roles are reversed: dragon2fire was given a cold welcome because he was an NT. I oppose such an injustice, whether it happens to me or to anyone else, aspie or NT. Is that wrong, what I am doing?

WrongPlanet is indeed intended for people with Asperger's Syndrome (and other ASD). I don't think that this means that we should alienate ourselves from the rest of the world, automatically consider NTs evil and unwelcome, and act rude toward them. On the contrary, sympathetic NTs are exactly what we need. I sincerely hope that dragon2fire won't leave with a bad opinion about us and aspies in general. This is something that I feel we really should avoid. Does anyone agree with my point of view?

I agree completely.

As do I.

Well, firstly, you should know that Magic is the moderator who 'warned' me. I emailed him twice on the matter and was not satisfied with his replies. I'm shocked at his selective quoting of what I wrote to him, but I guess he feels implicated in this matter and is being defensive. His actions in ]warning' me may be technically correct but I think that people would have to see the entire correspondance between myself and Magic before they could form an opinion, and I don't like his selectively quoting me to paint a picture that suits him.

In any case, the warning may well be justified in terms of what are currently the 'rules' here. So in a way I'm not disputing my 'warning' or seeking sympathy here. I was disappointed that Magic did not answer some of my questons about problems with the actual process in this sort of situation. I actually heard from two mods on this matter and one of the things I wrote to magic is that i don't want to hear from every single mod about it. He made no response to that, but told me he acted on behalf of every mod although every mod had not had time to read the correspondance.

So....I'm not saying the warning is 'wrong', I'm saying I want to know what the process is and what rules govern moderators and their selection process. There is some attempt at a 'constitution' here but I think it's been abandoned. I'm not especially targetting Magic, (or anyone else) so please don't feel defensive. I think a lot of people would like to see some answers to my 2 questions.

I think that Magic has made some attempt to answer question #!, but no comment on question #2. So please don't feel attacked Magic, it's ok, I understand that you are required to warn me. I just would like some answers to my questions.

I'm curious as to how the moderator selection process is carried out as well because I think I might be interested in becoming a moderator eventually (assuming my opinions are considered moderate enough).

Assuming there is still an effort to form a constitution for WP, what reason would Alex have to relinquish creative control without being relieved of financial responsibility? Because if this was my site, I'd be pissed if somebody wanted to take away my pet project and leave me with the bill.

Ok, I'll attempt to answer some questions.

Firstly, moderators are appointed at the sole discretion of Alex, based on whether he thinks they would make good moderators based on their input to the site.

Secondly, yes, there are rules for mods - we are required to behave appropriately, and not to single out members unfairly. There is a list of guidelines for moderators on the moderators forum, which I have not included here but will post with Alex's consent, unless he wishes to do so himself. We operate mainly by consensus, for instance before magic wrote to you Postperson your comments and an appropriate response had already been discussed. Where a moderator acts using his/her own judgement, where there is any question that it is unsure whether they are acting 'within the law' the opinion of another moderator is sought first.

Disciplinary procedures are laid out in the Terms of Service - where more immediate action is necessary, for instance where behaviour is grossly unacceptable (trolling, repeated personal attacks, hate speech for example), action is also taken by consensus. In response to your question Sean, a sincerely made apology cancels a written warning - where the behaviour is flagrantly repeated within a reasonable time frame the original warning will still stand. These rules were drawn up and approved by the whole staff at the time they were created, in part as a response to suggestions made on the constitution thread.

Regarding your comments re the constitution discussion Sean, you make a valid point - this is Alex's site, though largely run by members. As such, members are requested to abide by the rules which have been set out in the Terms of Service as they stand. A charter at some point may be useful, but as a privately owned site the site owner has the right to run it as he wishes.

Hope this helps demystify things a bit.

Dunc

I agree with you Magic. Thanks Alex.

Isn't it just a little prejudiced to alienate NTs they way I am sure many of us have been in the past? I mean, doesn't that reek a little of petty revenge? Wouldn't it be better that we do not return the injustice and instead find the higher road???

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Prejudice is prejudice wherever you go.

I agree Sophist. We should respect people despite their differences.