Democracy? WTF!!!

cat · September 6, 2010

Democracy is rife with "what ifs". Who moderates who? Who is to be trusted to be impartial and unbiased? This is an online, virtual, anonymous community. I would not want to be in charge of finding anyone perfect enough to meet the requirements of monitoring this board, as there is not one participant that doesn't have biases and self interest at hand, while still pleasing the masses that seem to demand their perception of perfection instead of practical application.

Given the pettiness, immaturity and nonsense I have seen on the board lately, I would gladly choose to have MOD continue as always and permanently ban the whiners, complainers and shit disturbers. The manipulation and games would push anyone over the fragile edge. I know many "valued" participants would be gone but it would give CERB a fresh start and I for one would be glad to see them go. MOD is constantly taken for granted by both hobbiest and SP alike.

Has anyone ever thought of what would happen if CERB were shut down? I mean literally, off the air. Having this board is a privilege not a right. It costs nothing to participate and we all gain from it, but it costs $$$, time, heart and soul to run it. This whole "democracy" issue should have never happened. Who has the right to question and complain about MODs decisions to begin with? It's his board, which means his game, his rules!!! He has the right to make decisions without backlash or complaint from anyone in any form. If you don't like his decisions, LEAVE. There are other boards out there for you to participate on. Don't like those, start your own board. To all of those who have pushed MOD to this, those who complained and pitched hissy fits, give your head a shake, grow up and get a life. You have brought this on CERB. It would serve all those involved if MOD decided to simply close up shop and move on to something that doesn't require hyperbaric sensory deprivation treatments to maintain his sanity.

You know who you are. All of you who chose to PM him, giving him a hard time about bans and suspensions. All of you who question his decisions. All of you who take petty squabbles to him instead of being an adult and taking the high road. All of you who feel it's more important to be right than it is to be happy. Life doesn't always work out the way you want it to. Accept it and move on. For those who have been banned, take responsibility for your part in it and....move on. Perhaps if some apologies and self policing were implemented, this would all go away. Use a little common sense and empathy from now on and maybe all of this can be resolved without complicating life any more than it already is.

cat

mod · September 6, 2010

thanks cat. this post has lifted my spirits a little more. the site has grown so large that I really can't do it on my own and I have been pushing myself this last year to a breaking point. people are constantly complaining and everyone seams to feel they need to tell me how to do things. most people do not consider that they are just one person demanding my time with frivolous complaints, whining and my favorite... redundant bitching (when they just repeat themselves over and over than get pissed off when I tell them where to go or remove them)

with the site growing so large we have 10 times more spammers (you rarely see these as I remove them before you ever see them... only a few get by recentlybecause some exploit exists that has not been patched yet that allows the spammers to circumvent the moderation queue) .. I would estimate 300+ spam posts are removed each month.

title infractions.... we don't want the site to lookk like cl with all the crazy post titles trying to out do the next one and gain the most attention... so i have very specific rules to stop this and i use to take the time to pm each person and tell them what they did wrong... i found that even when i took the time people would ignore the pm and continue to break the rules so now i just delete the post and give them a infraction with a link to the rules.. I get people every day wasting my time asking me to elaborate on what they did wrong... did they read the link with the rules??? NO... They are just wasting my time. about 300 posts a month break this rule and more than 1/2 of them break the rule over and over again. This is disrespectful and these people do not deserve to use the site so I just keep deleting the ad posts and eventually just remove them. if they are literate enough to post an ad they can dam well read the rules or they are not welcome here.

when I suspend someone (especially a SP or a male member with 50+ posts) i get people PM me (who only hear one side of the story) demanding I let them back or telling me I was wrong or calling me a dictator. These people run to the other sites and tell everyone how horrible I am (and really that did not bother me in the past but now its getting a little annoying)..

FINALLY... we have those idiots who post shit like "I am affraid to post on cerb because I will get in trouble" or "I know the rule is... hopefully the mod does not remove me" or the really big idiots who want to fight with me on the site and don't think I have the balls to kick them off!! Yes, it wears on me!! Yes, I am done with it and yes I would not wish this job on anyone.

Cat probably meant to post this in the PRIVATE area away from public view but we can let everyone know. I am done and I am working on a way to keep the site moving forward. We are looking for a way to have the community help moderate the site (Myself, the SP's who have SP ONLY access and the ELITE members have a private discussion thread where we are trying to come up with a solution that will keep the site moving forward and keep the integrity of the site alive. I have confidence in our members (Most of them) and I think a few should be removed who are trouble makers but I will leave that up to the people who will take my place as the decision makers.

This is not open for public debate but if you are an elite member or a SP ONLY member you are welcome to comment in the private area and have your say. We would love to hear any idea's. If you are not able to see that area please DO NOT pm me. My PM is very busy and full with all this.

I am willing to help the transition go forward smoothly (I am not walking away tomorrow or anything) I will continue forward and make sure the site is in good hands before I move on. I will probably always be part of the site in some sort of way (System admin, Server Admin, Software upgrades, etc... after all I am a computer guy and not a politian).