Suggestions

[sd_admin]

First an announcement: While modbot seemed like a good idea at the time, it's proved to be unpopular with members. From now on we'll be using it only for admin posts, so that they can be edited by all members of the mod team.


We know that some members have had issues with the community and the mod team, and felt like they couldn't bring them to our attention. Here is your chance. If you've got a question, concern or suggestion about Scans Daily, here's where you can post it.

This post will be linked to in our profile, and checked regularly by the mods. Comments won't be screened, so you can suggest amongst yourselves.

Comments

[skalja]

I was a mod at scans_daily from late 2006 through April of this year. A bit over half that time I was the only mod, and very probably, some if not all of those posters you reference were banned by me.

Now, when you're the only mod of a community numbering thousands of members, you have to ban a lot of people. I'm not going to second-guess every decision I made, especially since frankly I don't remember a lot of the specific incidents from 3+ years ago. But I will say that on the occasions I banned people for being "vicious" or "mean" in speaking out against discrimination? I WAS WRONG. I was completely oblivious to the idea that in "keeping the peace" and "staying neutral" I could be punishing people for being upset about discrimination.

When I recruited the first wave of the new mod team, I was starting to think that the way that I had been doing things was the right way, and I specifically recruited people I thought had the skills and the insight to make the changes I was looking for, i.e. a comics community that is progressive in more than just name.

While scans_daily is far from perfect, I do think it's now a much better place to be than it was then. Your mileage, of course, may vary.

[freddylloyd]

I will say that on the occasions I banned people for being "vicious" or "mean" in speaking out against discrimination? I WAS WRONG. I was completely oblivious to the idea that in "keeping the peace" and "staying neutral" I could be punishing people for being upset about discrimination.

When I recruited the first wave of the new mod team, I was starting to think that the way that I had been doing things was the right way, and I specifically recruited people I thought had the skills and the insight to make the changes I was looking for, i.e. a comics community that is progressive in more than just name.

This suggests that there might indeed have been a change in the community's moderation policy, as some long-time members have said they perceive.

Obviously, you and the current moderation team see any change as very much for the better. And the current team have surely spelled out their principles for anyone to see, even if some members find the practice confusing.

Thank you for sharing your perspective and experience.

[skalja]

I guess we'll just have to politely disagree on the policy. *shrugs*

[freddylloyd]

I'm not sure I disagree with the policy, and have been trying to keep my comments neutral as I consider people's points. I do think there have been problems with communicating or implementing the policy, as often happen. But most of all in this thread I appreciated your sharing your unique historical perspective. ("Historical" in internet terms, of course.)

[skalja]

Fair enough! And yeah, three years ago? That's like the Stone Age on teh intarwebs.