Observations on the List - "Be More Kind"

[Peter J. Holzer]

On 2018-10-08 12:46:48 -0700, Ethan Furman wrote:
> On 10/08/2018 07:43 AM, Rhodri James wrote:
> > I appreciate that the moderators are volunteers, but they have official
> > power on this list.  Being volunteers doesn't mean that they can't get
> > it wrong, or that we shouldn't call them on it when they do.
> 
> I completely agree.
> 
> > They have got things wrong,
> 
> I completely disagree.
> 
> > and I have called them on it.
> 
> Yes, you and a few others -- and nobody has actually talked (emailed) us
> directly, but rather talked *about* us on the list [1].

I haven't posted on the issue before, but I think that the right place
to discuss moderation policy is on the list and not in private
communication.

I also think that it would be better if you warned people with
unacceptable behaviour in public. Looking back through my archive (I've
been on the list only for a year or so, I was reading the newsgroup
before), I see that you did ask people to tone it down a couple of
times. That's good. But AFAICT these people were newbies. You didn't
admonish Steve or Mark or Bart or Rick (all of them long-time regulars)
that they are getting close to being banned (instead you wrote once that
people should just ignore Bart). This created the impression that their
behaviour was ok for the moderation. And then - seemingly out of the
blue - they were banned. In some cases without an explanation (at the
time). This makes it a bit hard to know what is and is not acceptable on
this list.

[explanations snipped]

        hp

-- 
   _  | Peter J. Holzer    | we build much bigger, better disasters now
|_|_) |                    | because we have much more sophisticated
| |   | hjp at hjp.at         | management tools.
__/   | http://www.hjp.at/ | -- Ross Anderson <https://www.edge.org/>
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