Flame — HabitableZone

Flame » in reply to ER speaks

Robert responds
Robert — (archived)

I'm glad you're not taking DL too seriously. A disgruntled former member of the community...what can I say? That we have them is a backhanded compliment--people end up with strong feelings about this place. Just make up your own mind...informed by the fact that because this place is constructed entirely out of contributed words, you can influence the development of the Zone and make your own place.

I haven't received any email from you. You might be confusing RL, whose first name is also Robert, and who has an @habitablezone.com address, with me. My email address for ordinary purposes is robert@habitablezone.com; for dire official business, I use ubermoderator@habitablezone.com.

To introduce the panoply: For a long time I was the only moderator. About a year ago we added four moderators to take over frontline moderation of specific board: RL (aka "ModBob") on Space/Science; FrankC and Fox moderating CurrentEvents; and Mary Anne moderating OffTopic. I directly moderate Community, as a sort of "office" where we can discuss site business; and Flame, which I try to moderate as little as possible.

BTW, though you started a topic that's likely to trigger some passion, that doesn't necessarily mean it has to go on Flame. The formal definition is that a flame is an attack on a fellow community member. Harsh criticism of third party public figures isn't inappropriate on the other boards, as long as you walk the fine line separating criticism of the public figure from attacks on his/her partisans here. This is a grey area, and many people, such as Tom, sometimes decide on their own to start a topic here on Flame anticipating fights. That's not strictly necessary, and note that moderators can move a thread here if it bursts into flames elsewhere. The five moderators are more a safety net than cops; try what feels right, and we'll fix it if you get it wrong. No big thing.

I wouldn't have helped start up this place five years ago if I didn't also enjoy participating. Sometimes administration really cuts into participation. It's only now that I can add that, now that you point it out, I too don't know of anyone who experienced the spitting and other behavior firsthand. It was always somebody else, and among the people I've asked are people you'd expect to be favored targets, such as Special Forces/Green Beret. Fascinating to consider that it might have started as yet another vicious smear by the Right, but that unchallenged, it's solidified into "common knowledge". We Liberals have fallen for that too much the last three decades; when did we start feeling ashamed of the title "Liberal"? We really oughta stop listening to the Right's opinion of us. It's patent bullshit.

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