Ohhh where to start here.
Alright a lot of good points are being made here but let me first start off by saying this. We are not here to make you guys miserable we are simply here to keep order of things. Also, let me address this whole electing mod thing. Alex picks mods because it is seriously a hard job. You have to have people that can know when to draw the line in certain situations. If we elected mods here then it would be the same as any other conversation on the website, you agree with who you like and what YOU want. So selecting a mod isn't a popularity contest, Alex does this by selecting people he feels are not biest to what everyone wants. For instance when I came to AD NO ONE knew me but Alex did, I took a website of his and I personally cleaned it up and made it a safer place for all of the members. I can still remember what it was like when I first went there and then when he hired me on as a mod how much better it was to have someone he could count on that was going to be there, and guess what I DID THAT BECAUSE I WANTED TO. I wasn't getting paid I wasn't doing it to get anything out of it, I simply just cared about the members and wanted it to be a safe place for people to meet other Deaf/HOH/Hearing people. And as it goes, he was looking for someone over here to be a mod and I offered a gesture. Did people get mad, sure but I think people have realized that I am fair, I don't pick sides and I usually do or what I think is the best thing.
Here is the downside to this job, we wont always make everyone happy. Here is also something you probably don't know. 3/4 of the reports we get are of personal issues people have with one another. But we deal with it, we deal with it if we are woken up at 4am because our phones won't stop buzzing from emails that ping our accounts one right after another. We deal with it when we are have CHristmas dinner with our families or another other time of the day. NOT EVERYONE WILL GET ALONG! People all have their own opinions and the problem here isn't the mods just banning people, the problem is that people here don't respect each others opinions. Things people say offend people and rub them the wrong way and as a mod HERE it is our job to stop that from happening.
It is heart breaking to sometimes see new members who come here seeking info only to be scared off because of the lack of trust our members have because of one another and the lack of respecting other ideas and thoughts.
I have never just banned someone that has never been banned before. But big surprise it rarely happens. Most of the bands here are repeat offenders, we all know this, this isn't something new. I will admit though if I am being really honest that sometimes I have banned someone that may have done something that wasn't huge but because there had been maybe like 3 or 4 days of bickering between a lot of members and you just get sick of it, to let there be peace because you know that if that person was banned for a little while for the things they say to just piss other members off, that we mods can rest and not feel like we are babysitting adults.
The amount of disrespect some members show mods after doing something terrible or saying something terrible and just being warned is awful sometimes. I get called a b*tch and cussed out at because it is me who is trying to bring peace to a place I love to come to. If most people knew me they would know I am far from being a B*tch and I am the nicest person to get along with.
Sometimes members just see what is going on in front of them and they don't see the behind the scenes things that some members do to eachother or say about eachother. I do, and I do WHAT is right and sometimes I may not agree with it but for the most part I do what is right or at least I hope I do.
And it isnt anyone decision to think of who would be a good mod here or not, its Alex's. So please, take it easy on us. We, just like you are people behind a screen, with feelings and emotions. I know I know I just took the whole illusion of us being crazy moderators away but its true.
Also, another thing about the banning. There are a lot of repeat offenders you may or may not like that should be banned permanently if we went in the order or all things considered but we hate to have to do that so we do give more chances. But the times when people get banned for something small its because they get many chances and never learn.
Anyway, sorry I just rambled on and on. I hope this gives you a little light of what you guys are talking about.
CBE