Accountability and transparency.

I have had threads moved or removed before. Which is fair play. What I dont like is when you ask why a thread has been moved or removed and dont get a proper answer. If someone has taken the time to make a thread then it seems only polite that they get a far explanation in regards to its removal. If a thread is closed an explanation should be left at the bottem as to why it is closed.

I have had fiends on ATS that have been banned. Again fair enough. If someone is banned would it not be a good idea to put the reason for there banning on their profile. Would it also not be possible to leave their mail box working for incoming messages so that they can receive messages. I would be nice to be able to pass contact details on.

Just my little rant..

kx)

1. You will always receive a reply from a staff member. Perhaps your problem is that you didn't receive a reply immediately? Remember that staff members have "real lives" as well ( Just couldn't say that with a straight face) - i.e. they've got families, jobs, etc. as well, so they're not on ATS 24/7 to reply to your questions. And other times they read your message, but were busy at the time, and later forgot to follow up. Give them time to respond. If you don't receive a reply in an adequate time frame, then you can contact another moderator, or post a complaint via the complaints feature, and the first available mod will respond, if necessary.

See also Moderators are People too.

2. It is proper format to close any thread with the reason for closing it. Over the years I've perhaps seen a handful of threads that were closed without a closing post by a moderator, but then the reason is usually very obvious.

3. We don't discuss banned members. That's the way it is. And they've been banned from ATS, and that means being banned from messaging as well.
If you're good enough friends with someone on ATS, and you plan on communicating a lot with them, then perhaps it's a good idea to get a second contact detail if both parties are comfortable with it. Remember we respect our members' privacy, so we would never give out one person's contact details. Ever.
Please feel free to contact the staff if you have any additional questions or comments.

Days Of Future Passed

reply to post by purplemer

I hope you won't take this the wrong way, but this does remind me of something, if you don't object to a rather magniloquent, palaverous and decidedly self-indulgent trip down memory lane...

On ATS, Ignorance Is Winning

It seemed like a good idea at the time, but in the seven years since I wrote that rather epic series of text walls (and almost six years on the staff), you could safely say my thinking has changed somewhat -- although, ironically, quite a bit of what I was suggesting was already the way things were being done, or are being done now.

As a general rule, making sure members know and understand what we're up to is a good principle, and when we don't give you enough information, it's okay to ask.

We don't discuss the details behind account bans for several good reasons, including member privacy, and the fact that it's not fair to banned members to post things about them that they can't respond to, among other things. It also makes things less problematic if we should agree to rescind an account ban in the future (it's rare, but we have been known to do it if given good enough reaons).

If you're curious about why a mod did something, it's okay to send a private message and ask. If the answer wouldn't compromise another member's privacy, explaining things shouldn't be a problem.

If that doesn't work out for some reason, it's also okay to use the alert or complaint features to contact the staff as a whole.

All of us are volunteers who (allegedly) have lives outside ATS, we tend to be busy and can forget or overlook things, so please try to be patient with us when you can.

But as I found out after stepping behind the curtain, the reasons why we do things are never as sinister as they may seem from outside the curtain.




P.S. Should anyone actually make it through that behemoth of a thread, please do take note of my comment about "ironic punishment".

It's absolutely true.

reply to post by Majic


what she said - oh and PS that thread should be required reading for people who claim that ATS was better " back in the good old days "

reply to post by purplemer

This site has12 million mods with 12 million different personalities.11million mods might look at your thread, and in some cases, they might even reply, and then...it is that one mod for some ungodly, unearthly reason, they move your thread or trash it.

I wish one day they would divide a system that if one mod looks at your thread and did not delete it or move it, then no mod should.

You have your catholic mods, Muslim mods, Indian mods, republican mods, democratic mods, atheist mods, racist mods, mods with attitudes. So when you have so many mods with so many personalities, you thread will get pulled or moved for what ever strange reason it is 7 out of 10 times…even if 50 trillion mods looked at it before that one mod did…it is what it is.

reply to post by LastProphet527



It's a mod mod mod world out there, Nephew.

reply to post by LastProphet527


Founder: SimonGray
CEO & Community Director: Bill (SkepticOverlord)
COO & Marketing Director: Mark (Springer)
CFO Stephen (Crakeur)
Executive Admin: Djarums
Administrator: 12m8keall2c
Administrator: Majic
Admin Emeritus: William One Sac

"Super" Moderators
AboveTopSecret.com, ADVISOR, alien, asala, AshleyD, Byrd, chissler, dbates, DJDOHBOY, DontTreadOnMe, elevatedone, FredT, GAOTU789, Gazrok, Gemwolf, Hellmutt, intrepid, JacKatMtn, JAK, kinglizard, maria_stardust, masqua, Mirthful Me, neformore, niteboy82, sanctum, Sauron, semperfortis, The Vagabond, TheBandit795, William One Sac, worldwatcher, yeahright,

Forum Moderators
Ahabstar, argentus, ArMaP, Asktheanimals, ATSmediaPRO, Ayana, benevolent tyrant, burdman30ott6, defcon5, Dr Love, gallopinghordes, GENERAL EYES, getreadyalready, GradyPhilpott, greeneyedleo, Hefficide, Jbird, JohnnyAnonymous, kosmicjack, Maxmars, Nerdling, nyk537, parrhesia, seagull, Silk, Skyfloating, spacedoubt, Spiderj, TheBorg, TheRedneck, tothetenthpower, WikiEditor, WyrdeOne, xpert11,


That's the full list of moderators, admins and owners.

Quite a shy away from millions eh?

We are a diverse team, but we discuss every action before it is taken, ( unless a clear violation of the Terms & Conditions) and only the consensus rules.

So no, a mod cannot remove a thread, close it, or remove a post just because they don't agree with it, it must be first be agreed upon by the staff as a whole; and have a clear and explanable T&C violation behind it.

~Tenth

reply to post by tothetenthpower


I think he is using the term millions as a metaphor for many.

reply to post by LilDudeissocool


I know,

But in comparison to how many members there are, the staff is VERY minimal.

ive got a lovely bunch of coconuts ..... diddly dee