Hey everyone,
I do not post much anymore, but I do watch. I used to post daily and then I was asked to be a mod. I was a moderator for about two years. Trust me everyone, it is a tough job. I constantly had to hear griping, moaning, bitching and I attempted to keep the peace without censoring any opinions, thoughts, or ideas. The mods have a rough job and with no gratitude and the pay really sucks, lol.
Having been a mod, I am very familiar with the rules of this board. I am also familiar with policy of not censoring members. I have seen the drama recently played out in this forum and it is very hard for me to remain quiet, thus this post.
I am not familiar with any rule of not posting dates in a co-ed thread, in fact a thread was just started concerning vacation with dates in it, no reason to close or delete that thread in any rule I have ever read. No reason to close the thread that was closed this morning IMHO. If the member is getting off topic, I always posted a small post requesting members stay on topic. I never closed or ever heard of a thread closing because it became an ad or had a date in it. I tried hard not to delete or censor any posts. I removed things that were clear violations of the rules not remove things to keep the peace. We all have opinions and from time to time they will differ, that is part of what is great about a website like this, we can share differences as well as similarities as long as it is done in a respectful manner.
In fact if the following threads are not somewhat ads in the Co-ed section I am not familiar with what an ad is:
http://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?t=790300
http://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?t=770538
http://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?t=783921
http://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?t=774443
Every time a provider posts she is flirty and is working, every post is an ad for her.
Furthermore, Rule #22 states:
#22 - ECCIE Staff will go to great lengths to avoid editing, deleting, or censoring our members posts or threads...unless absolutely necessary. Forbidden topics such as underage sex, illicit drugs, bestiality, revealing personal info, medical speculation, or images not in compliance will be removed from public view. Controversial, troublesome, or objectionable posts may draw staff attention or in some cases disciplinary action, but the offending post will not be removed from the view of our membership in any but the most extreme cases. Often times you will find directions, footnotes, or other guidance from staff edited INTO posts which draw our attention. These are for the purpose of educating the readers of what is and what is not acceptable as well as informing others about how these issues have been dealt with.
I have not seen any underage sex, illicit drugs, bestiality, revealing personal info, medical speculation, or images not in compliance posted in any of the threads. I am confused as to why a post was completely deleted and another thread closed. Maybe, I am misreading the rules. I see nothing in ad guidelines nor forum guidelines where a member is not allowed to post dates. It is possible the poster got a little off topic but no where near close enough to warrant closing of the thread IMHO. Further the post earlier in the week that was completely removed appears to have been done so because the OP did not like it.
I allowed members to even bash me in the past, it was their opinion and as long as stated in respectful manner, I did not remove their opinions or posts even if off topic, I some times warned them about rudeness but not one time did I remove a post unless it CLEARLY violated a rule. People do not like me, that is okay, they do not have to like me nor like my posts, but that IMHO was no reason to censor it. I allowed people to express themselves.
And here is the reality, we ALL post dumb things from one time to another. I know I have posted some crap in the past I wish I could have taken back, but I did not. It is a website of information and to censor one post or one member or any thought, idea, or data because other members are upset kills the reason for this website. If ECCIE was intended to be a small group of friends and only their opinions mattered than I would say go at it and enjoy, but that has never been my understanding of this site.
The post that was removed, again, I saw no egregious violation, was it off topic, yes, but so what? Allowing for human error is part of the journey in life and part of this board. The drama seemed so high school and immature to me. My job as mod was not to kill the drama but provide for a free flow of info, ideas, and comments whether liked or not.
I know Rule #9 states:
#9 - No form of private communications between members are to be posted in our forums. This includes the contents of emails, PMs, IMs, private chat logs, privately shared images, etc. This is an invasion of another's privacy and will not be allowed.
This is a rule that apparently was violated and properly the contents were removed as I would have done the same. The purpose would be to protect the privacy of the other member.
Look everyone, I realize that we are all waiting for the drama to die down and in time it most certainly will. Just seems one member is being censored to me which I think is a crying shame. I liked the site because of the diversity. When we start putting pressure on any one member, that member will think twice about posting again and that just reduces the fun for all. The fewer members posting the less to read, the less to converse or debate over. Just my .02. I know in the reviews section many were chased off in this same manner.
The co-ed section used to be alive with plenty of new threads started each and every day. I remember a time when it took me over an hour to review all the posts in CO-ed from the night before. Now it takes 5 minutes, and well that discourages any person from posting or commenting.
I suggest we keep this a fun and informative place to play without censorship. Mods I know the reality of your job and I am just trying to help. I am not telling anyone how to do their job, I am only posting my opinion of my observations and if that warrants censoring so be it, not my website, I am only a mere humble member.