DiscussMormonism.com

In the Will/Runtu thread over at MAD, Chris and I were chastised for not reporting the offending post.

I thought about reporting it, but since I don't know who the Mod's are, I didn't dare!

What if Will is a mod? What if he reads my report and retaliates against me. We all know they don't need any reason what-so-ever to ban someone. He could see my report and click the ban button, no questions asked.

Do you guys ever hesitate to report a high profile poster for fear that the offending poster may be the one reading the report?

Scottie wrote:In the Will/Runtu thread over at MAD, Chris and I were chastised for not reporting the offending post.

I thought about reporting it, but since I don't know who the Mod's are, I didn't dare!

What if Will is a mod? What if he reads my report and retaliates against me. We all know they don't need any reason what-so-ever to ban someone. He could see my report and click the ban button, no questions asked.

Do you guys ever hesitate to report a high profile poster for fear that the offending poster may be the one reading the report?

Before I got censored, I started reporting some of the more vitriolic posters to see if there would be any consistency from the moderators who kept telling me to stop "putting words in other people's mouths." Needless to say, they are still there, I am not. My advice would be to walk on eggshells, don't criticize the church to seriously, and don't report anything.

Scottie wrote:Do you guys ever hesitate to report a high profile poster for fear that the offending poster may be the one reading the report?

Nope.

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Anecdotal story that pretty much has no bearing on the question at hand: I once reported one of my own posts (seriously).

Doctor Steuss wrote:I once reported one of my own posts (seriously).

Good. I'm glad somebody is standing up and telling it like it is...

I only bothered to use the report function one time, against Juliann. I had tolerated being called names by her, being called a liar and a plagiarist, and I finally had it with her on one thread in particular where she kept insisting I hadn't answered her question despite the lengthy posts I'd made (including several citations) that did just that. The end result was that *I* was banned.

The original mod ruling was to not censor Juliann, nor me. Then the board's main administrator (whose name escapes me at the moment) swooped in and banned me for not being "cooperative" with moderators. WTF???

I returned for a short stint about a year after my banning, but never bothered to use the report function again, nor considered it a real option for critics.

I think I've reported posts twice. I had been reluctant to do so, since I didn't want to be seen as a complainer or trouble-maker. It's hard to know where to draw the line. What if you report posts where believers are acting badly - does that put you on a "watch" list? Or, as Scottie points out, since we don't know who the mods are (sort of), we can't be sure whether we're reporting on one of them, and if they'd retaliate. It's a thin line to walk.

When I first started on the board I never reported anyone. I didn't want to be the one to get them in trouble. I would usually say something to them on the open board. However, I was accused of board nannying and told to report bad behavior so the mods could deal with it. Since then I have reported posters a number of times--always TBM's...I don't think I've reported any critics; when I've seen them cross the line, it was usually because they were badgered by a TBM. Also, other posters on the board are certain to report the critics.

I have not concerned myself that the person might be a mod. If they are a mod, they ought to straighten up and set a better example. And if someone is going to suspend or ban me for pointing out bad behavior, so be it.