When is Moderation not Moderation?

[Anonymous]

I shall be careful how I word this given that unless your face fits on here you will get banned for asking a question, not getting it answered then asking it again.

The reason for the Community's existence is simple. A customer to customer forum where customers help other customers with advice and guidance with a bit of the human touch and with a bit of light hearted banter from time to time.

Of course with all Forums there must be general moderation to ensure that the Community works as it should. BUT WHAT IF THE MODERATION IS UNFIT FOR PURPOSE? Who moderates the moderators?

Why do I ask this general question? Because more recently i.e. Over the last 12 months there appears to be one set of rules for some on here and a different set for the rest. Why?

I am not breaking any rules by placing this post or asking these questions as I am querying moderation generally, not about a specific topic. (For those who followed last night's events I have taken those issues up privately with MarinaP and Toby and await their response)

So. Can we as o2 customers have a sensible debate about moderation?

[Anonymous]

Hi Nick

As far as I'm aware the moderators report to the site management on what they've moderated and why ,and then if necessary the site management take it from there if necessary.

If moderation is undertaken then they usually send a PM to the affected party / parties.

[Anonymous]

Ok so how does it work then if the following situation occurs:

Posts are put up on Community.
Some posts are moderated and removed.
Poster receives pm from moderator
Poster replies giving their opinion
Moderator fails to reply.
Moderator further moderates
Moderator reminds via pm of rules
Moderator still hasn't answered the query
Poster puts further posts up.
Poster gets a ban for "breaching rules" that have not been responded to via pm?

[Cleoriff]

I always understood that if a post was removed then the poster received a PM?

This surely is common courtesy?...

[Anonymous]

The way I understand it is a moderator does not get involved in a discussion about moderation but says in their PM if you take issue with the moderation applied then contact Site Management.

[Anonymous]

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@Cleoriff wrote:

I always understood that if a post was removed then the poster received a PM?

This surely is common courtesy?...

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I did ask that and was advised that a person will get a PM for a removed post if what was in the post did not fall within the guidelines. 

If a post is removed to bring the thread back on topic then that person may not always receive a PM. 

[Anonymous]

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piperdog123 wrote:
Ok so how does it work then if the following situation occurs:

Posts are put up on Community.
Some posts are moderated and removed.
Poster receives pm from moderator
Poster replies giving their opinion
Moderator fails to reply.
Moderator further moderates
Moderator reminds via pm of rules
Moderator still hasn't answered the query

Forum etiquette would in my eyes would be to stop at this point until contact had been made from site management. 

Then no ban would occur. 

Poster puts further posts up.
Poster gets a ban for "breaching rules" that have not been responded to via pm?

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I'm sorry if you don't agree with how I would see this situation. 

[Anonymous]

So here lies the crux of a potential issue.

The moderator fails to answer the question via PM but goes on to send a different pm about moderation rules. So clearly the question had been read then ignored.

But instead of referring to Site Management a 24 hour ban is put in place.

Hardly seems right does it?

[Anonymous]

See. I understand that last night some rules were broken. ......... by the MODERATOR.

Had the moderator taken the courtesy to answer my response to their PM (via PM) then none of this would have happened.

But by failing to discuss the issue, the moderator clearly felt uncomfortable being challenged by a mere customer so used BULLYING TACTICS to stop any further engagement.

The difference is that I am prepared to leave this Community tonight if it comes to it so a ban would be futile.

This thread is about a pure honest open debate about what we as customers expect from moderators in this Community.

[Anonymous]

And just for clarity this thread is not about specifics, it is about the generic conversation of moderation generally before any moderators decide it is about anything differently.