Joesitz said:
Easy on personal attacks. Millie, I think it is your use of the Rofl smilie that gets posters worked up, There doesn't seem to be any reason for them except to debase a skater. Most posters use them when something is funny like a remark by Johnny and not to debase Johnny. Yours seem to represent a joke you made and at the expense of a skater. JMO.
Joe
JMO, but I think you, Joe, are the one who owes Millie an apology. You call her out based on a remark she made linking Michelle to a movie you've never seen and then you say you think it is Millie's use of the ROFL emoticon that "gets posters worked up." In the post in question, Millie used two. Plus you assume that the only reason people seem to use them is to debase a skater. IMO, it would have made a lot more sense and set a far better example as a moderator to either PM Millie or in a post, ask her what she meant by her post rather than make assumptions about information you knew nothing about.
Also, Paralegalmkfan posted to Millie,
I mostly lurk and very seldom post, but I have to say this. You are truly one of the most annoying people on this board ~ and you're not funny. Well, maybe in your own mind you are.
Yet you, Joe, went after Millie, saying, "Easy on the personal attacks." Paralegalmkfan posts to Millie, "You are truly one of the most annoying people on this board..." Paralegalmkfan's (PLMKF) direct insult to Millie is clearly a peresonal attack, but never even referred to that.
Millie responded to this direct attack by PLMKF by posting:
What did I say that was so wrong in my post? I was stating an opinion! The girl has been injured all season, hasn't skated or trained because she has been injured. Could hardly walk for awhile and seeing doctors. Any of this sound familiar or are living in a dream world with the
. Face reality, the girl is going to have to work her -ut of[f] within the next few days to get herself back into shape and true form. She probaly can do it, but wouldn't you like to see her pull a Forrest Gump and not to have to go through all the pain of trying to get into shape.
Lurk--to stay hidden, ready to spring out, attack, lie in wait.
Are you a lurker?
The first part of Millie's post is an explanation of her post. I don't see any personal attacks of PLMKF in that part at all. In the second part, Millie provides a definition of "lurk." A case can be made to suggest to Millie that she say that although she knows "lurk" has a different use on forums, this is the dictionary defination of "lurk." In that regard, I suppose the second half could be interpreted as an insult, but still, Millie asks, "Are you a lurker?" in the dictionary definition. She does NOT say to PLMKF, "Obviously you like to stay hidden so you can be ready to spring out and attack," the way PLMKF directly attacked Millie.
IMO, one of the main purposes of the moderators is to try to help settle problems between or among posters, not exacerbate them. It seems to me that more of an effort could have been made on your part to be fair to both posters. I made a previous suggestion of what you could have said to Millie. To keep things even and not single out one poster for calling out when the other poster, IMO, made a clear and direct attack on another poster, in my very strong opinion, PLMKF should have been treated the same way as Millie, even though I don't think you treated Millie's post well at all.
I wouldn't bring this up if it were an isolated incident, but especially since September, it's an unfortunate trend I've seen with you, Joe. Posters have even PMd me about it, ie, "What's wrong with Joe?" That is not a quote; it's the gist of the purpose of the Joe-related PMs I've been getting. Perhaps I should have PMd you about this whole situation, but you seem to either ignore or mock my posts in your replies to me. Also, there is no way I've found to deal with a moderator who has begun a strong pattern of favoritism and taking odd "pot shots" at posters. It seemed pointless to PM the other mods and Paula expects us to deal with these problems ourselves. But the biggest reason is that your pattern of "moderating" I described above seems to me to have gotten worse as time has gone on. I thought that before the Olympics, it should come out in the open so, as Paula wants us to do, we can deal with this problem ourselves.
My original post here was sarcastic and actually treating you the way I saw you treating certain posters, which I regret posting. As soon as I could, I edited it and hopefully it has the tone I intend, which is not to personally attack you, but rather to make you aware of a situation that more than a few people have noticed in the way you are moderating.
The only other remark I have is related to your post #45, in which you say,
As for Sasha, I have come to object many times to posters who dish Sasha. There was one in particular whom we had a few pages of interactive bs.
Since the exchange you refer to was posted, I'd like to know what it is and who exactly said what, because I've never seen you object to posters who diss Sasha. I hope it's clear to the posters on GS that since 2003 and "Aranjuez," I've liked Michelle's skating a lot. In fact I go back and forth as to who I think is doing better, Michelle or Sasha. So I have no preference there. Even prior to 2003, my posts about Sasha were mainly in defense of her because certain posters, one of which has been banned, partly due to what his hatred of Sasha led to, repeatedly posted really ugly things about Sasha. Sasha had and still has a lot of things to work on, but I figured
somebody should point out her strengths.
Unfortunately, since about the beginning of the season, it seems that you interpret a lot of even positive remarks about Michelle as if they were negative, for reasons of ignorance, misreading, or who knows why. From then on it becomes as if that poster is put on Joe's hit list. The same happens the opposite way with Sasha. Posters you perceive as intense Sasha fans, whether their posts support this assumption or not, also are on Joe's hit list.
This is probably in vain, IMO I've been on your "pot shots" list almost since I joined GS, but I do value the atmosphere at GS and I know you do too. I don't think you would purposefully do anything to undermine the comardery, with natural disagreements, at GS. So I took this chance. I hope what I've said is taken in the spirit with which it was intended.
Rgirl
