Inappropriate mod language

tallaght01

Hi all,

Just a not to see what others think of receiving abuse in public forums and PMs by moderators. I have received both. I'm completely unperturbed by both, but realise that there's lot of youngsters who use boards, and a lot of people who take what is said here a whole lot more seriously than I do.

The background is that I got a ban from some thread about boards beers in the "events" section, a week or so ago. I made what i thought were few harmless jokes, and I got banned. I don't care about that. I only really use the biology/medicine forum, where we all live in relative harmony :P So i'm not here appealing or complaining about the ban, because, whilst I think it's nonsense, it's unlikely I would have used the forum again.

What I do think is potentially worrying is the fact that Amp referred to me as "mentally defeicient" and as a "pathetic arsehole" in the public thread and then as a retard in a private email, after i'd sent him a very civil note regarding the above. (I'll happily post the above PMs if anyone wants to see them).

Now, like I said, I have a reasonably thick skin. I get screamed at by junkies and drunks on a daily basis working in the health service. An internet moderator calling me names isn't going to bother me. BUT, like I said, there are people using this site who are not as old as me and might be upset at comments like this. Terms like the above are also offensive to people who have relatives with mental illness or a handicap. I would like to think that the powers that be wouldn't condone language that can offend aan already vulnerable section of society.

I'm sure this is also not the image that boards wishes to portray in public. As Amp is, essentially, an ambassador for boards, I think it makes his behaviour even more unacceptable. God knows if I said those things to anybody where I worked, regardless of what they'd done or said I would be fired straight away, and rightly so.

I'm not asking for you to get rid of Amp. I appreciate that some people have nothing in their life outside the internet, and I don't wish to take that away from anybody. I also know that there's a tendancy to close ranks and round on the complainer, when complaining about a moderator. In fact, it was this tendancy (that I noticed whilst reading other threads in this forum) that made me hesitate in posting. But then i decided that i don't care :P

Anyway, you have the info,do with it as you please. i shall go back to the land of nerdy medicine chat, and I wish you all well.

Kind regards.

raido9

tallaght01 wrote:

I'm not asking for you to get rid of Amp. I appreciate that some people have nothing in their life outside the internet, and I don't wish to take that away from anybody.

Nicely put in there.

Amp, do you want some water for that burn!

r3nu4l

I can see your point. As you say, there are a lot of people that wouldn't be bothered by it but there are some who are.

A few years ago I jokingly referred to someone as a 'retard' (not via the internet, in real life). He asked me to retract what I'd said. Now because I know the guy, I knew that this was unusual, he's thick-skinned and normally wouldn't bat an eyelid. So I retracted the comment, apologised and later discussed it with another friend. Turns out the guy I called a retard, has an older brother (in his 30's) in a home for the mentally challenged/disabled/whatever.

Needless to say although I didn't know that at the time I called him a retard, I still felt like a sh*t for casually using a phrase that can be hurtful to others.

I do thin kthat when a mod is 'modding' a post, they should consider that the user may not be an adult and act accordingly. Also there are people who have emotional difficulties and name-calling, on top of a ban, is not exactly the way to go with these people.

Some might say that they shouldn't be on the internet if they can't handle it but that's not even worth commenting on.

tallaght01

I was in the same boat when I was a kid. It was a lesson learned the hard way. I was just sitting on a wall outside me neighbours house with a few of the boys. I used the word "spa" to slag me mate (we were about 14 years old at the time) quite a few times. My neighbour and his wife heard me, and went to my parents very upset. There son is in his 30s with severe cerebral palsy, and they found my comments very hurtful. They're lovely people, but obviously the comments of me the idiot teenager had touched a raw nerve. I felt like dirt for ages afterwards, and it was months before I could look them in the eye. I also work with a lot of people with severe learning difficulties, and while they are usually oblivious to language like the above, their familes get very upset when people use words that have, sadly, become ingrained in our day to day language.

( . )( . )

tallaght01 wrote:

I get screamed at by junkies and drunks on a daily basis working in the health service.

Not addicts then?

tallaght01 wrote:

God knows if I said those things to anybody where I worked, regardless of what they'd done or said I would be fired straight away, and rightly so.

:rolleyes:



Amp is a bollix get over it

tallaght01

( . )( . ) wrote:

Not addicts then?


:rolleyes:

The majority of people who are high on drugs or are drunk are not addicts. If you're looking to compare that to the comments that amp made, I would argue that most junkies refer to themselves as junkies (when you see them in hospital, and you're talking to them about their drug habit, they'll say things along the lines of "I've been a junkie for 2 years now" etc etc). Most people who are mentally handicapped don't refer to themselves as retards, in my experience.

Amp is a bollix get over it

Exactly the type of comment that made me reluctant to post. Anyway, not to worry.

( . )( . )

tallaght01 wrote:

If you're looking to compare that to the comments that amp made, I would argue that most junkies refer to themselves as junkies (when you see them in hospital, and you're talking to them about their drug habit, they'll say things along the lines of "I've been a junkie for 2 years now" etc etc). Most people who are mentally handicapped don't refer to themselves as retards, in my experience.

I'm not looking to compare comments I'm just pointing out what you posted in your original post, you said "I get screamed at by junkies and drunks on a daily basis working in the health service." then you said "God knows if I said those things to anybody where I worked, regardless of what they'd done or said I would be fired straight away, and rightly so."

I was just wondering do you refer to these people as junkies and drunks to your superiors?

tallaght01

( . )( . ) wrote:

I was just wondering do you refer to these people as junkies and drunks to your superiors?

yes I do. I might say, for eg "watch yourself when you're going to see little Timmy, his dad is drunk and is being abusive" or "watch yourself when you're going to see little Timmy, his dad is a junkie and is very high and is being abusive"

When one of our mentally handicapped kids becomes agitated and aggressive I don't say "watch yourself with little Timmy boss, he's a retard and he's going nuts out there".

I hope that answers your question, although I'm not sure what your point is.

Hobbes

I thought everyone was "mentally defeicient" compared to Amp? I know I am.

PLEASE WONT YOU THINK ABOUT THE CHILDREN AMP! WHY DO YOU HATE CHILDREN AMP!!!!

6th

tallaght01 wrote:

yes I do. I might say, for eg "watch yourself when you're going to see little Timmy, his dad is drunk and is being abusive" or "watch yourself when you're going to see little Timmy, his dad is a junkie and is very high and is being abusive"

When one of our mentally handicapped kids becomes agitated and aggressive I don't say "watch yourself with little Timmy boss, he's a retard and he's going nuts out there".

I hope that answers your question, although I'm not sure what your point is.

Very well explained and more than a little bit funny.

humbert

tallaght01 wrote:

yes I do. I might say, for eg "watch yourself when you're going to see little Timmy, his dad is drunk and is being abusive" or "watch yourself when you're going to see little Timmy, his dad is a junkie and is very high and is being abusive"

When one of our mentally handicapped kids becomes agitated and aggressive I don't say "watch yourself with little Timmy boss, he's a retard and he's going nuts out there".

I hope that answers your question, although I'm not sure what your point is.

I think it's a case of, if I can show the person making the point to be a hypocrite I can ignore the point, kind of thinking. I agree btw, there are some of the mods that seem to treat the place like their personal play pen. It doesn't bother me but it is likely to give some people a bad impression of the site. Though Amp doesn't spring to mind when I say that.

biko

Amp usually hangs out in TCN where anything goes and where he has a following of posters. I just ignore his antics but as you point out he does have a history of abusing posters. I don't have any examples right now and have never been personally subjected but anyone who been on boards, or in TCN, a while would prob know what I'm talking about. See Hobbes above.

seamus

First off, please post a link to the relevant posts. That way, we can at least begin to discuss the topic at hand with some semblance of knowledge as to the issue being referred to.

Thanks

Time Magazine

That'd be the one, Ted.

tallaght01

seamus wrote:

First off, please post a link to the relevant posts. That way, we can at least begin to discuss the topic at hand with some semblance of knowledge as to the issue being referred to.

Thanks

For a start I wouldn't have a clue how to do that, and secondly I'm not sure if it's possible when i'm banned, so can't even get at it meself :P

amp

tl:dr

biko

tallaght01 wrote:

For a start I wouldn't have a clue how to do that, and secondly I'm not sure if it's possible when i'm banned, so can't even get at it meself :P

Log out, then find the posts in the forum you're banned from. Log back in.

Trinity

biko wrote:

Log out, then find the posts in the forum you're banned from. Log back in.

Ibid already posted the link above.

amp

biko wrote:

Amp usually hangs out in TCN where anything goes and where he has a following of posters.

Hehe at last, somebody believes the hype!

I just ignore his antics but as you point out he does have a history of abusing posters. I don't have any examples right now and have never been personally subjected but anyone who been on boards, or in TCN, a while would prob know what I'm talking about. See Hobbes above.

It's so true, all these years and all the abuse I have handed out. And truth be told none of these poor innocent users deserved to be abused. You see I have a dice and I roll it twice and I add it together and then I abuse that poster*

For those interested, I warned a user for posting rumours that the beers were cancelled. I was fairly clear in that warning. That user apologised and the thread continued. tallaght01 thought that it would be funny to both ignore my warning and continue a joke that was never funny to begin with.

I care about Boards Beers, they're great fun and it pisses me off when some people think spreading disinformation that might prevent people from going is funny. Therefore tallaght01 was banned for ignoring a moderators warning. It was a stupid way to get him/herself banned and thus my comment.

Of course after I banned him/her I furiously masturbated for 17 hours. Then I reread "How to win friends and influence people" for the 6th time before I recompiled the kernel of my Linux installation. TINFOIL FTW!

tallaght01

amp wrote:

It's so true, all these years and all the abuse I have handed out. And truth be told none of these poor innocent users deserved to be abused. You see I have a dice and I roll it twice and I add it together and then I abuse that poster*

For those interested, I warned a user for posting rumours that the beers were cancelled. I was fairly clear in that warning. That user apologised and the thread continued. tallaght01 thought that it would be funny to both ignore my warning and continue a joke that was never funny to begin with.

I care about Boards Beers, they're great fun and it pisses me off when some people think spreading disinformation that might prevent people from going is funny. Therefore tallaght01 was banned for ignoring a moderators warning. It was a stupid way to get him/herself banned and thus my comment.

Of course after I banned him/her I furiously masturbated for 17 hours. Then I reread "How to win friends and influence people" for the 6th time before I recompiled the kernel of my Linux installation. TINFOIL FTW!

I think the issue was not the banning, it was the language used and the abuse directed at me ( I think the ban was nonsense aswell, but I'm not bothered by it enough to argue that point).

I believe I clearly pointed this out at the beginning of my post.

If anybody else had trouble understanding that part of my post, feel free to contact me and I could edit the original peice.

Kind regards

homah_7ft

I would like to say Amp has in my experience been a fair-minded moderator. There is a term in common law known as fair comment. In my opinion this is a case in point.

tallaght01

Homah, if you believe having a bit of banter justifies being called

1) mentally deficient

2) a retard

3) a pathetic arsehole

Then that's fair enough. I respect your right to an opinion. I guess I inhabit a world where that's not really acceptable, particularly when the person in question is a representative of a larger body of people.

But, different opinions and all that. It's what makes the world go round, innit :P

amp

tallaght01 wrote:

I think the issue was not the banning, it was the language used and the abuse directed at me ( I think the ban was nonsense aswell, but I'm not bothered by it enough to argue that point).

You think the ban was nonsense? That if a moderator issues a warning that he shouldn't back that warning up with action?

As for the language, you clearly demonstrated your abject stupidity by ignoring my warning and with this very thread. The pathetic arsehole comment was a response to this:

although we know the real answer is "Not much , unless you're into blokes with long hair who love computer programming"

Of course there's nothing wrong with long haired male computer programmers but the implication is there in your post. So please cut the "I'm just an innocent user trying to make people laugh" crap. You had nothing but malicious intent in that thread. If you have no interest in going to a boards beer then what were you doing in that thread in the first place? Your stereotyping and just plain arrogant and indeed ignorant attitude is not welcome in a forum that's there to promote fun events .

You accuse me of having no life. You did so in that pm you sent me. You have no evidence of this. That's abuse. Pointing to evidence that you are mentally deficient and a pathetic arsehole is not abuse, it's just plain fact.

But by all means, continue the good and noble fight against the forces of oppression. That's much easier than simply accepting that you made mistakes and were punished accordingly.

6th

amp wrote:

Of course after I banned him/her I furiously masturbated for 17 hours. Then I reread "How to win friends and influence people" for the 6th time before I recompiled the kernel of my Linux installation. TINFOIL FTW!

See I knew it was all about me ... though I'm not happy with my name being used in the same statement as one that creates an image of a self abusing/loving mod.

Anyway going just by the OP I thought "yeah thats a bit bad of the mod" even though I've had nothing but pleasent dealings with amp both on here and in person. Still after seeing what this is all about (the Beers rumours) its obvious that Amp was 100% bang on. Tallaght01 has no interest in the Beers and his actions could be taken to be those of a social retard who's own fear of his ineptitude causes him to try spoil a good social outlet for others who dont hide in their parents shed.

tallaght01

amp wrote:

You think the ban was nonsense? That if a moderator issues a warning that he shouldn't back that warning up with action?

As for the language, you clearly demonstrated your abject stupidity by ignoring my warning and with this very thread. The pathetic arsehole comment was a response to this:



Of course there's nothing wrong with long haired male computer programmers but the implication is there in your post. So please cut the "I'm just an innocent user trying to make people laugh" crap. You had nothing but malicious intent in that thread. If you have no interest in going to a boards beer then what were you doing in that thread in the first place? Your stereotyping and just plain arrogant and indeed ignorant attitude is not welcome in a forum that's there to promote fun events .

You accuse me of having no life. You did so in that pm you sent me. You have no evidence of this. That's abuse. Pointing to evidence that you are mentally deficient and a pathetic arsehole is not abuse, it's just plain fact.

But by all means, continue the good and noble fight against the forces of oppression. That's much easier than simply accepting that you made mistakes and were punished accordingly.

hey, I thought the long haired male computer programmers thing was funny :P But if anyone was offended by it, of course I apologise. I will even apologise by PM if anybody was offended and would like to contact me. I'm big enough to do that. I thought my comments were very obvioulsy light hearted and tongue in cheek, which is where they are very different from yours.

You accuse me of having "nothing but malicious intent", whilst in the same thread compare me having a laugh at a stereotyped view of the type of people who inhabit internet message boards (of which I am one) with your assertion that I'm a "retard", a "pathetic arsehole" and "mentally deficient".

It might be just me, but I think they're in a different league. It's very obvious from the thread that I was just having some banter, whereas you were just plain rude.

And in the PM I did indeed question what kind of a life you must have to use that type of language towards people who are just having a laugh. It strikes me that you do spend too much time on the internet, in a world where you don't have to face the consequences of your actions, and where you can just spurt vitriol at other people without ever having to face them. I could be wrong, but I would guess that I am not.

"Pointing to evidence that you are mentally deficient and a pathetic arsehole is not abuse, it's just plain fact."

Again, as I said in my PM, if you were to measure who is less "mentally deficient" by any objective validated means, I'm reasonably confident I could give you a run for your money, although again I could be wrong.

Kind regards

Beruthiel

amp wrote:

Of course after I banned him/her I furiously masturbated for 17 hours.

I can confirm this to be mostly likely true, when he turned up to the beers on Sat. night, his hands were sticky and he couldn't see properly.
Sicko.

amp

tallaght01 wrote:

hey, I thought the long haired male computer programmers thing was funny :P But if anyone was offended by it, of course I apologise. I will even apologise by PM if anybody was offended and would like to contact me. I'm big enough to do that. I thought my comments were very obvioulsy light hearted and tongue in cheek, which is where they are very different from yours.

Please explain to me how posting three times that the beers was canceled is funny. Please show evidence that other people posted anything but annoyance at your trolling. Then I will accept that they were lighthearted and tongue in cheek.

You accuse me of having "nothing but malicious intent", whilst in the same thread compare me having a laugh at a stereotyped view of the type of people who inhabit internet message boards (of which I am one) with your assertion that I'm a "retard", a "pathetic arsehole" and "mentally deficient".

I regard spreading rumours that the beers were canceled as malicious intent. Your final post was just stupid and blatantly unoriginal.

It might be just me, but I think they're in a different league. It's very obvious from the thread that I was just having some banter, whereas you were just plain rude.

Accusing me and others of having no life isn't rude? Hypocrite much?

And in the PM I did indeed question what kind of a life you must have to use that type of language towards people who are just having a laugh. It strikes me that you do spend too much time on the internet, in a world where you don't have to face the consequences of your actions, and where you can just spurt vitriol at other people without ever having to face them. I could be wrong, but I would guess that I am not.

And you're still doing it. Do you think repeating the same abuse over and over again will make it true? If you want a face to face conversation about this then please let me know the time and the place and I will happily meet up with you to discuss this.

"Pointing to evidence that you are mentally deficient and a pathetic arsehole is not abuse, it's just plain fact."

Again, as I said in my PM, if you were to measure who is less "mentally deficient" by any objective validated means, I'm reasonably confident I could give you a run for your money, although again I could be wrong.

Kind regards

I take warnings seriously, you do not. QED.

tallaght01

Yea, this is going where i figured it might go ie a discussion about whether I "had it coming".


I think this misses the point somewhat.

For starters, I had every intention of going to boards beers. Faceman and I have been mates since we were babies. I'd just finished nightshift in Glasgow, and had specifically arranged to fly into dublin that night so I could go with him. I paid a lot more for my ticket because I specifically wanted to book a flight that would allow me to make boards beers. At the last minute faceman had to pull out. I'm sure he will be happy to verify this.

Secondly, the issue about my post is not, despite what you might think, the relevant issue here. Amp decided I was out of order, and he banned me. I disagree, but who cares.

The point is that if somebody acts in a way that you don't approve of, it's basic adult manners not to let it degenerate into an avalanche of abuse. For example, one of my patients' parents called me "a thick fenian c*nt" a few months back. I told him I was sorry he felt that way, but I would have to get security to escort him out. This is what I did. It's the equivalent of a ban, you could say.

If I'd had called him "a retard" in front of the staff, I would have been subject to disciplinary proceeedings. When you're in a position of authority, and when you represent a body of people, you have to be the bigger man.

That is my point. We can disagree about what I said all day. I was banned. That took care of that situation. The situation that hadn't been taken care of was that of one of your moderators using extremely offensive language towards a member of the public. I personally regard that as highly unprofessional.

But, like I said, Ive given you the information, and you can do with it as you please.

Take care

6th wrote:

See I knew it was all about me ... though I'm not happy with my name being used in the same statement as one that creates an image of a self abusing/loving mod.

Anyway going just by the OP I thought "yeah thats a bit bad of the mod" even though I've had nothing but pleasent dealings with amp both on here and in person. Still after seeing what this is all about (the Beers rumours) its obvious that Amp was 100% bang on. Tallaght01 has no interest in the Beers and his actions could be taken to be those of a social retard who's own fear of his ineptitude causes him to try spoil a good social outlet for others who dont hide in their parents shed.

walt0r

Amp is a loser. He can't help it. He's been at this **** for years and gets away with it again and again. Just let it go because nobody will take Amp's mod status away because he'd more than likely do himself in.

6th

You keep pointing out a connect or similarity to your job and a modship ... fact is that there are none. Mods are not paid.

You acted a dick saying the beers where cancelled ... no one found it funny and it did make you look like a shít stirring asshole.

Now you are playing the "this is going where i figured it might go" crap which doesnt mean anything. If even one person saw your post and didnt turn up at the beers I would ban you for life.

Amp called you those names because thats how you acted .... GET OVER IT!

Dragan

tallaght01 wrote:

If anybody else had trouble understanding that part of my post, feel free to contact me and I could edit the original peice.

Kind regards

Seems to me you acted like a moron and are now giving out about being called "mentally deficent". I can only assume you are claiming to not be mentally deficent but it should be noted this is kind of in the face of the evidence, no?