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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Posts
    417

    New Moderation Effort

    Community,

    During the past few weeks WebHostingTalk has been lucky to gain the assistance of some additional much-needed moderators. These respected members of the community have contributed endlessly to the forum, and have given the honor of moderating such an active discussion board.

    It is my opinion that a select few of the moderators are unable to work as a team, act without prejudice, maintain the level of professionalism, and carry out their moderation duties as deemed appropriate by the community standards. This in conjunction with a visibly deteriorating community structure has resulted in a forum in disrepair.

    Regarding moderation, specifically, a member of WebHostingTalk's moderation staff played an instrumental role in the founding of an Anti-Web hosting web site, with a sole purpose to slander those hosts who have disgruntled customers. Dedicating a web site to a minority who often provide little solid data does nothing but bring down the community. It is my understanding that the moderation staff are intended to be community leaders, which I no longer feel to be true.

    A member of this moderation staff had lied about their business practices, and has methodically portrayed a fictitious persona.

    I don’t wish to go out with a bang or bring any others down with me, but I can no longer be part of a community who continues to disintegrate before me. If MattF or one of the folks at EV1 would like to confirm my allegations, you are more than welcome to contact me, but I do not feel it important to continue the cycle of slander.

    Im relatively new to WebHostingTalk, I came here in the summer of 2001. I’ve read the posts daily, have learned more than I ever imagined, and hoped to contribute something to a forum which has taught me so much. Over the years I have bookmarked and printed out posts which I felt would be beneficial for my future business, and I can’t say how instrumental WHT will be with my future business ventures.

    But WebHostingTalk is no longer a place for hosts to come and share their knowledge. People no longer feel an obligation to give back to the community. Of all the hosts that make hundreds of posts in the requests and ads forum, few give back to the community. Over time there have been more one-line responses, and the content quite frankly is gone. With the $99 server came those who wish to get rich quick. When I first came here, trying to get a $200 server was a deal, and cPanel cost $99 a month. Times have changed, as they always do, but the crowd that once contributed so much has left too.

    WebHostingTalk is no longer a haven for hosts to come and discuss hosting issues. The day of the reasonable request is far behind us as is evident reading through the forums. I have never seen such utter disregard for the SEARCH feature, and posts have become more and more careless. With the commercialization of WHT came a promise that things would not change dramatically. They have. WHT is now a business with endless ads. No longer are companies screened by the owner to ensure they are fit, and so continues the perpetual destructive cycle.

    Remember that the power of this forum not only lies in the moderation, however inept I feel they may be, but also lies with the user.

    I’ve learned so much from you guys, I cant thank you enough. But I think its time to move on. I no longer feel my contributions are valued, and I question whether anyone values this forum at all.

    Thanks again, and I look forward to a time when we can talk in an open forum again.

    Respectfully,

    Matt

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Location
    Dayton, Ohio
    Posts
    4,977

    Re: New Moderation Effort

    Originally posted by TheMMIz
    Community,

    During the past few weeks WebHostingTalk has been lucky to gain the assistance of some additional much-needed moderators. These respected members of the community have contributed endlessly to the forum, and have given the honor of moderating such an active discussion board.

    I agree, its been a much needed addition....

    Originally posted by TheMMIz
    WebHostingTalk is no longer a haven for hosts to come and discuss hosting issues. The day of the reasonable request is far behind us as is evident reading through the forums. I have never seen such utter disregard for the SEARCH feature, and posts have become more and more careless. With the commercialization of WHT came a promise that things would not change dramatically. They have. WHT is now a business with endless ads. No longer are companies screened by the owner to ensure they are fit, and so continues the perpetual destructive cycle.
    You can't just tell someone to search the forum anymore.. The search index has been screwed for sometime now... WHT is just so large its almost impossible for it to get every post index with the method that vBulletin currently has...

    I'm sure Robert spent quite a bit of money just buying WHT, then tack on buying the 4 Xeon servers powering it, and the bandwidth this requires, and all the advertising he's been doing has got to be costing a small fortune... Why shouldn't he make this into a business and try to either break even or make a profit? Other than a redesign what has dramatically changed about how WHT is? The ads are even smaller than they were before the purchase...

    Companies were never screened by moderators to see if they were legit, its always been up to the members to check people out before they buy a service or good...

    [EDIT]Had to do a quick spellcheck [/EDIT]

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Location
    Mississippi
    Posts
    692

    Re: New moderation effort...

    Matt, isn't a wonderful thing that you are free to voice your feelings about this? I think it is invaluable, myself.

    However, I can only agree with one part of your soap box episode.
    During the past few weeks WebHostingTalk has been lucky to gain the assistance of some additional much-needed moderators. These respected members of the community have contributed endlessly to the forum, and have given the honor of moderating such an active discussion board.
    And I can not agree more, on this fact. People have been pleading for this for quite some time.

    The other things you posted, specifically about a "few of the moderators" is most likely the same opinion some other members may feel, but I'd bet it is not the concensus of the community as a whole. They deserve to be kindly thought of since they were willing to take on the task of sorting through all of the crap that goes on here. Yes, WHT has more than their share of that. In order to clean it up, you have to actually enforce the rules. To do this, is going to require stepping on some toes of people who may feel they don't deserve it.

    While it has been brought it up, I think you most likely are still carrying a personal grudge against one of these "moderators" as you put it, over a particularly funny website - and that's a shame. I read your post about that matter from long ago. My feelings on it are this, that was to long ago to still be carrying around with you. Take it for what it's worth, you don't have to agree with everything - everyone does or says. Just because you don't doesn't make it any more right or wrong, it's just your feelings, which we all are clearly entitled to.

    Though you made the effort of addressing the entire community with this thread, it's clear you are only speaking to a few select members (moderators and Robert) to which you don't agree with.

    Here is my theory on righting a wrong. If you feel injustice is being served (by anyone) and feel compelled to voice this opinion, you should take more of a proactive stance, verses a reactive stance. Others may or may not agree.

    With all of that said now, I am sure that you leaving WHT behind is something you feel the need to do. Most likely, when you decide you want to take part in the community again, your pals of WHT will still be here waiting to welcome you back.

    I seriously intend no disrespect with any of my comments, and hope you have taken none. I took the time at least to dig into a bit of the history you were speaking of, because my initial reaction to your post wasn't one that I would have wanted to blurt out.

    Best of luck for the future,
    Steve

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    24,027

    Re: New Moderation Effort

    Originally posted by TheMMIz
    Thanks again, and I look forward to a time when we can talk in an open forum again.
    See you soon.
    WLVPN.com NetProtect owned White Label VPN provider
    Increase your hosting profits by adding VPN to your product line up

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Posts
    3,729

    Re: Re: New Moderation Effort

    Originally posted by Aussie Bob
    See you soon.
    Have you Floble'd today?

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