Do you find that fluther moderators target certain "patrons"?

Read the guidelines. The last two moderations relating to your comments were clear and blatant violations.

Because of a link?

Yea I’m curious- what were your last two posts and why were they deleted?

Btw if the mods delete this question or delete this response by me, then I’m cancelling my fluther account
.

The question was about having a deficiency and how cravings relate to that. I mentioned a company I heard about that tests your DNA to find out what you are lacking and then sends you monthly vitamins. I thought it was cool and s/he asked about vitamin deficiencies. Maybe it had to do with putting a link to their website so she could find it, but there were two or three other posters who had about three or four links in their own answer and it wasn’t deleted.

So they thought you were violating the spam rules, right? Interesting.

Do you still have the text of your question, and if so would you PM it to me? (Does fluther have PM’s?)

[Fluther moderator] Links to helpful or educational websites are not spam and in fact are most welcome. Links to companies contained within a clearly positive quip that appear to be spamming will be deleted as a violation of the Fluther guidelines.

Thanks moderator. Still hoping to hear from Rockefeller. Case isn’t closed.

Yeah, here it is:

I am not so sure about the sugar craving, but I know that sometimes when you crave something it is because you body is lacking. If you think you have a deficiency, you should try customized vitamins. Code Nutrition actually bases it off your DNA to find out what you are lacking. Who knows; maybe it will help your sugar craving. :) But honestly, I have the same problem with sugar. In fact, I am eating ice cream right now. :)

I just think it is a pretty cool concept. I mean, they actually do a cheek swab. :)

mods, confirm this?

I can see how that statement might be construed as an advertisement… if it makes you feel any better. If I was a mod, I might’ve removed it also… or asked you to re-word it maybe.

Who are the moderators, anyway?

Yeah, I guess so poofandmook. I just thought the asker would want to know what I was talking about and s/he could look at it if they wanted.

Basp: I only have come in contact with the moderator above. I am not sure who the others are.

http://www.fluther.com/disc/15346/who-are-the-moderators/

for a previous discussion identifying the other moderators

@poofandmook “I can see how that statement might be construed as an advertisement”

Yea and I can also see how a bunch of inocent people are in jail because they were assumed guilty instead of assumed innocent. Or, phrased another way:

I can see how that statement might be construed as NOT an advertisement.

@Rotwang: Take it down a friggin notch. You can’t possibly compare innocent prison convictions to a question about sugar deficiencies being deleted on a Q&A website. Bleeding heart, much?

Who’s comparing prison convictions to questions about sugar deficiencies? I’m comparing the reasoning of one guilty verdict to other guilty verdicts.

In this great language we call English, they would call the use of an analogy a COMPARISON.

I stopped using fluther for a little while becauseofsomething I said a long while back that had two of the mods askingme to reword all my questions and taking down my answers. It is lame however it is needed and I don’t take it personally. Fluther is sortof like adult high school drama class complete with goodie two shoes, hipsters, nerds and the occasional burnout. I myself enjoy it this way. It does not matter if the mods like you or not. There are plenty of other websites that are just like this one. You can feel free to join one that is not so heavily modded.

I can’t agree with your last few sentences enough, judochop. I would seriously recommend that to some specific people at this point, who have already threatened to delete their accounts over something that had nothing to do with them.

Actually- judochop, can you name one? I’m not, you know, trying to like challenge you to name one- I’m actually interested- is there another answer site that’s less modded than fluther and ask.com? I may actually take your advice and switch! Thanks.

BTW poofandmook, the policies of the site I’m posting on have everything to do with me. If the government hauls the guy next to you to jail without charges, I suppose that “has nothing to do with you” right?

[Fluther moderator] As an FYI to all, I (and the other moderators as well) try very hard to address these issues privately. This came out into the open because the user felt like doing so. For further discussion of our moderation policy (and any concerns), feel free to send me a PM.

WHAT?!??!

Why can’t you talk about it in the open??!?!??!

Secret police, anyone?!?!

Oh Rotwang, go find another site to post on and leave us and those who are happy here alone.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/question_and_answer_sites.php

This blog lists about 30 different Q&A sites.

BTW, shilolo. No mod ever addressed me privately when I upset some people with an answer and I do believe that it was you. Now with that said you are one of my fave answer people on here. I tend to agree with most of what you post however early in the summer I upset some folks and the mods were having me re-word every question I posted despite them being worded just fine so I just quit. I flip between here and another Q&A site on a regular basis now and suprisingly there are more than a few people on that site because of the mods here. All well….Such is life, can’t make everyone happy though some people try.

Rot: It’s not about being secret police. It’s about keeping questions relevant.
There are ways to resolve your issues without all of this silliness.
Do you want attention or do you want your issues resolved?

I want my issues (and the op’s issue, ALL FLUTHER USER’S ISSUES with the moderation policies) resolved publicly. That’s what I want.

Ironic that a community oriented discussion site doesn’t want to discuss the rules of the community oriented discussion site in the community.

If they’ve attempted to resolve it in private first, I’d welcome the public discussion.
Kind of like, if they haven’t even bothered to Google it…why are they asking me?

Note: Second part added for clarification.

@Nimis “If they’ve attempted to resolve it in private first, I’d welcome the public discussion.
Nimis (2808 points)“Great Answer” (0 points) Flag as…”

I move that this answer is fundamentally (and very obviously) flawed.

May I direct all of you here for something related to this question and my feelings on the subject.
http://www.wisebread.com/files/fruganomics/imagecache/blog_image_full/files/fruganomics/blog-images/crap%20for%20sale.JPG

In order to join this community, you do agree to abide by the guidelines.. It is not and does not claim to be a free-for-all.

If the querent likes his wording but many others don’t, then we have a disagreement with a minority of one.

These belligerent and bellicose arguments are sounding horribly familiar. Please tell me I am wrong.

Who on this thread has asked for a free-for-all?

Can we get a group hug here or what?

le sigh

Rotwang, are you having a bad day or something?

Since this has become a public forum, I thought I’d tell everyone what really happened here.

A while back fluther was listed on a big list of “follow” websites (even though we are nofollow right now)—meaning that since then, we’ve had a steady stream of spammers looking to improve their google ranks.

The user “Rockefeller” works for a company called vizad, a “viral marketing and SEO company”. Vizad has created 7 accounts on Fluther, all of whom spam links on old and new questions. It just so happened that “Rockefeller” was a bit more cunning in her ability to mask the spam.

All 7 accounts have been banned from the site. We take spam very seriously, as this community—and its quality—is our primary concern.

@judochop: In recent months I’ve made a concerted effort to steer the moderation team into providing more feedback during moderation. I’m sorry if things before were confusing or you felt like you couldn’t talk to us about the moderation. We’re happy that you’re back!

@rotwang: The “secret police” argument, I’m afraid, is nothing new. The vast majority of questions like this are unfortunate instances where a user, instead of speaking to the moderation team directly, decides to make a popular plea in order to round up supporters with cries of “witch hunt” and “favoritism”.

In this case, rotwang, you were fooled by a clever spammer.

I take issues of community, censorship, and privacy extremely seriously. The moderation team, Ben and I do (and have) welcomed and invited criticism and critique from the collective. Please, PM me directly or stop by the chatroom. You’ll find that the moderators and I are easily accessible.

The moderation team, with richardhenry and PnL as community heads, discuss every moderation decision in depth—for many hours each day. We bend over backwards in order to accommodate users who have questions about moderation decisions, and work with users at length to explain the policies and provide positive suggestions for rewording.

Ben and I are deeply indebted to the moderation team. Without them, this site, and its community, would be nothing. I stand behind them.

If, on the other hand, anyone would prefer a less rigid environment and doesn’t want to bother contacting us, please, feel free to visit another site.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to work on the site some more.

reminder to Andrew: improve fluther search. If it isn’t whine thing, it’s another.

The Mods are just like some elected officials. They are a necessary evil, and you have to trust that they are looking out for everyone’s best interest. However, they ARE human, and if you piss one off, they might have it in for you for a while.

Strat: Did you read the thoughtful and long answer that Andrew wrote ^^? Do you think he was just talking trash? And if you really believe what you write, and find fluther populated with evil mods who take vengance when they are “pissed off,” why hang around?

“Ben and I are deeply indebted to the moderation team. Without them, this site, and its community, would be nothing. I stand behind them.

If, on the other hand, anyone would prefer a less rigid environment and doesn’t want to bother contacting us, please, feel free to visit another site.”

Andrew,
Well, based on your response, I’m going to take your advice and go to another site, especially if you’re someone in a position of authority here at Fluter. (Actually, I think I’ll make/fund one, because that’s what I do.) So, you’re rid of me, congrats. In the spirit of me being “fooled by a clever spammer”, I should say your poor moderation policies (and secrecy policy) have also just ridded you of at least one non-spammer as well.

I completely and totally stand by the argument that discussions over the censorship of an online community should be public and observable by the online community.

And I don’t know why you linked to youtube??? It’s not even an answer site. For the rest of those viewing this who want to take andrew’s advice and leave- here’s a better link, that was posted earlier on this thread (which means Andrew probably knows this): http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/question_and_answer_sites.php

I bet it’s really uncomfortable when your panties are in that much of a bunch.

gail, I probably shouldn’t have said “necessary evil”, I meant NO disrespect. I only meant that it seems like mods get in the way sometimes when we haven’t read the guidelines closely enough. I know that Fluther is the best yet, that’s why I’m here, and intend to stay.

@nikipedia: “Rotwang, are you having a bad day or something?”

@poofandmook: “I bet it’s really uncomfortable when your panties are in that much of a bunch.”

Both of these are brilliant, thorough arguments that I cannot possibly refute.

Back to the original question: You’re not a patron. You’re a guest. Patron implies some sort of payment. Since Fluther is free, we are all guests of Ben and Andrew.

I thought you were leaving?

If you thought I was leaving then why did you respond to me “I bet it’s really uncomfortable when your panties are in that much of a bunch.”?

I was making a general statement to everyone here.

(in second person.)

CATFIGHT!

If anyone is curious about “public debate” of Fluther moderation policies, why not explore the tag? It’s been discussed vigorously and repeatedly.

@stratman – I was going to say the same thing, but I realized that Rotwang is an owl.

And between that particular owl and a pussycat, don’t make book on the cat.

Although, now that I think about an Owl and a Pussycat;

http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/ns/pussy.html

your nit-picking. Why?

@strat: No, I’m starting my New Year’s resolution early: “Try really, really hard not to fight with imbeciles, because they are imbeciles, and anything anyone ever says to you can’t be nearly as bad as being an imbecile.”

@Poof: remember that Edward Lear had his particular Owl and Pussycat going to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat, (skip a few verses), they got married and lived happily-ever-after.