There are occasional recurring puzzle pieces which convincingly indicate that one or more ?RC? Mods [or serious sympathizer(s)] is sharing inside info with other RC’s.
Some of the more rabic clique sorts of RC’s will then even publically—USUALLY—occasionally in FREEPMAIL,
beat Proddys in general or in specific about the head and shoulders with said insider info.
It happened within the last couple of weeks to a degree even I was shocked by.
It virtually always happens when our regular RM SEEMS to be occupied elsewhere.
I don’t have the link for those posts handy and no time to track them down.
IIRC, the most offensive post could probably be tracked down from MarkB’s INFORUM listings within the last 2 weeks.
Perhaps someone on my consultants’ list will have the link.
I’m personally a bit of two perspectives about it all.
1. Life and FR are complex.Such is to be expected. Even if mods were paid $4,000/month, it would still happen. Given their tireless volunteer status, they do way above and beyond the call of duty. And, most are quite honorable, if my distant perspective is any clue. Proddys obviously have thicker skins week in and week out and we can handle it.
On the other hand with different fingers,
2. SOME occasional examples of the above really are outrageous. Proddys realize that life is not fair and we are to count it all joy. However, some of the outrageousness really is unmitigatedly awful in such a public forum where at least tacit surface civility is called for.
3. It SOMETIMES FEELS LIKE, APPEARS LIKE the RC’s and/or sympathesizers involved have GAMING THE SYSTEM to their advantage down to a very clique-ish art form gleefully, sadistically and harshly engaged in. Sometimes that gets to be more than a bit much—unless I’m alone in that perspective—the consultants’ group can let us know on that score.
4. I guess the bottom line, for me is . . . I don’t think there’s much you or the FR officialdom can realistically do about such. I doubt mods are that easy to come by. Punishing a volunteer mod for outrageous favoritism and gaming the system in harsh ways toward that mod’s out-group(s) would not likely do much for mod morale.
5. I think when the regular RM is obviously on-duty—as evidenced by his characteristic wordings and posting style, he keeps a reasonable reign on such things. And, I’m glad that he doesn’t typically reach into the past to try and fix what’s quickly ancient history.
6. Nevertheless, sometimes, the outrageousness is so outrageous as to really annoy some of us Proddys. It would FEEL better if such doings at least got a stern set of rapped knuckles or a week or so’s time out for the clear offenders.
imho.
OF COURSE, one of the problems with such a thrashing of Proddys by a rabid clique RC with purported insider info—actually—has to be insider as there’d be no other way some such could be known—is that it’s very hard to tell how accurately related said insider info is.
That is, Maybe there’s insider info that XYZ Proddy posters posted on such and such a date about such and such a topic. Yet, what’s alledged about said posting as well as motives and a list of hogwash may be total fabrication piggy backed onto what may be more or less neutral insider information which has then been made to sound totally incrimminating to Proddys.
IIRC, the recent example alledged something about Proddy FREEPMAIL exchanges. I don’t remember the details. I remember at the time being rather insensed that anyone would brazenly assert such a thing publically in a thread. Then I was more than a bit annoyed that the allegations were so inaccurate. It’s like they were accurate in terms of Proddys exchanging FREEPMAIL discussions about a topic. They were inaccurate in how such exchanges were characterized.
Again, I don’t think there’s a solution for that, per se—unless maybe it would be giving a considerable time out for such a violation of say the sanctity of FREEPMAILS or other insider info.
It’s just seemingly too frequent and a bit galling to some Proddys when we see that sort of thing flaunted so outrageously as often as seems to be the case.
And, I’m not advocating outting insider info from the mod levels. A lot of that is wisely and fittingly suited only for those circles.
It’s just more than a little annoying to not only be accused inaccurately and outrageously—but to have absolutely no means to do anything effective about it.
Yes, our thicker Proddy skins can handle it. Maybe not always leaping and singing for joy.