An Open Letter

[Pneu]

I am rather saddened that I am having to sit here and type this; it's a sad state of affairs when the few cause such problems. As some of you are no doubt aware there are a number of blogs that surround this diabetes community.. some of the information they contain is quite useful.. a lot of the rest of the posts contains vile vitriol that is directed at what some of these rather sad individuals perceive to be 'factions' on this board.

I have in the past found myself to be the center of such unpleasantness as have a number of others however in the last couple of days this unpleasantness has turned into a questioning of my fairness and impartiality as a moderator. As any individual that posts on this forum I hold a personal opinion about diabetes and control; however I always as most of us do try to stress to those that are struggling that they need to read the evidence for themselves and make up there own minds as an adult about what will or will not work for them. I would like to believe therefore that for the most part I am impartial although I would never claim to be infallible; as humans none of us are.

Therefore if any of you seriously do have an issue with my moderating or believe it to be bias then I implore you to send a message to the Benedict the admin on this forum.. I am not here to be involved in politics or have my personal values questioned. If the forum in general believes me capable and impartial then I will happily stay.. otherwise I will happily go back to being a 'normal' contributor.. I will still share my experiences and help those that I can.

What I don't think anyone should have to put up with is having their integrity questions by a bunch of individuals hiding behind the anonymity of the internet.

Thanks

Pneu

 

[noblehead]

What I don't think anyone should have to put up with is having their integrity questions by a bunch of individuals hiding behind the anonymity of the internet.

Sadly this has been going on for some time now and the members, staff and the owners of DCUK have all come under attack by these individuals on a certain blog, they are banned ex-members who hold personal grudges even though they don't know anything about the individuals they persecute, I think the term 'Cyber Bullies' springs to mind to describe these individuals and they are best ignored IMHO, the Admin and owners of DCUK are well aware of the activities and take a very dim view of the blog in question.

 

[michael D]

hi new member (still shiney )
being a mod is a thankless task on a forum the only folk that get to decide if your a fit mod are your fellow mods and admin
if they had a problem with you ,you would know it
you serve the forum not the members
the members are here to partake of the forum under the rules of the forum
so ignore them and keep doing your job

p.s
only good mod is 1 that totally agrees with me :>

 

[DickM]

I am a Mod on 2 different forums and agree that it is a thankless task at times, unfortunately there seems to be 'people' who are more than happy to 'troll' and abuse those who keep forums running.
If they are not 'trolling' the mods then they are picking on forum members who are doing nothing other than trying to offer advice to others.

 

[CarbsRok]

I am a Mod on 2 different forums and agree that it is a thankless task at times, unfortunately there seems to be 'people' who are more than happy to 'troll' and abuse those who keep forums running.
If they are not 'trolling' the mods then they are picking on forum members who are doing nothing other than trying to offer advice to others.

Yep and if the Mod/s are daft enough to post on a blog that does nothing but run down certain members of this forum, then in reality s/he/ they can not complain. :roll:

 

[Dillinger]

Pneu, I think you are an excellent, calm and sympathetic mod.

Please disregard the jabber.

Keep on with the good work; and as it is probably so thankless may I take this opportunity to thank you and all the other mods for the time and effort you put in.

Best

Dillinger

 

[Hobs]

I own three forums as well as help run another and any member stepping out of line gets just the one warning before their membership is terminated and their e-mail addy blocked along with their IP listing.
By following those rules, the forums are kept comfortable and friendly for the majority :thumbup:

 

[desidiabulum]

Pneu, I think you are an excellent, calm and sympathetic mod.

Please disregard the jabber.

Keep on with the good work; and as it is probably so thankless may I take this opportunity to thank you and all the other mods for the time and effort you put in.

Best

Dillinger

+1 :clap:

 

[Momblegoose]

Pneu .. I am sorry that you feel so bad.

I do not doubt your integrity and nor, I suspect, do most others.

Keep smiling and don't let them grind you down.

 

[shop]

Pneu,

I am fortunate not to have read such vile posting (the one to which you are refering ) and know that as most of the community on here value you as a Mod. I do think that we as a community often unwittingly alow these trolls by simply replying or commenting on thier posts/ threads.

We do this simply because as a community we ofetn feel strongly that we need to stand up/ stand together against such vile behaviour. However by doing this, what we do is feed this troll by giving it air time so to speak. If we can, I think we could do with a sign to warn others that by replying we are supplying it with oxygen. By ignoring we can then hopefully stop its oxygen supply and not give it what it wants....... a reaction.

I have been guilty of this in the past.

Hold your head up high,

Lucy xxx

 

[Defren]

Pneu, I think you are an excellent, calm and sympathetic mod.

Please disregard the jabber.

Keep on with the good work; and as it is probably so thankless may I take this opportunity to thank you and all the other mods for the time and effort you put in.

Best

Dillinger

+1 :clap:

+1 from me too. There are times when I have seen Pneu pushed, yet is always dignified, calm and understanding. A real asset to this forum!!

 

[borofergie]

I am a Mod on 2 different forums and agree that it is a thankless task at times, unfortunately there seems to be 'people' who are more than happy to 'troll' and abuse those who keep forums running.
If they are not 'trolling' the mods then they are picking on forum members who are doing nothing other than trying to offer advice to others.

Yep and if the Mod/s are daft enough to post on a blog that does nothing but run down certain members of this forum, then in reality s/he/ they can not complain. :roll:

Unless they post it using an anonymouse username eh Carbs?

 

[Pneu]

I am a Mod on 2 different forums and agree that it is a thankless task at times, unfortunately there seems to be 'people' who are more than happy to 'troll' and abuse those who keep forums running.
If they are not 'trolling' the mods then they are picking on forum members who are doing nothing other than trying to offer advice to others.

Yep and if the Mod/s are daft enough to post on a blog that does nothing but run down certain members of this forum, then in reality s/he/ they can not complain. :roll:

Let me be clear.. although I condone the odd poor attempt at humor on eddies blog (personal attacks are never justified) this is not the blog I have real issues with; to be frank that one isn't so bad there are others that are worse...

If however I am attacked personally then I will defend myself I don't see why I should continue just to take it. If someone has an issue then address it to me.. why hide behind a tag.. or if they want to keep hiding behind a tag they can now send a PM to admin.. I will quite happily step down if that's the consensus. Of-course they can continue as they are and not act on this open invitation and everyone that reads the blogs and lets face it knows who these people are on here will know them for exactly what they are... cowards, people who hide behind anonymity because all they have to contribute to this community is disruption and personal attacks.

Anyway I will make no further public comment; I have asked the question and offered my resignation.. it's up to all those anonymous posters now to PM Admin and tell him how un-believably biased I am.

 

[Grazer]

Simple one Pneu - you're the best mod we've got, and it would be criminal to lose you. Ignore the nonsense from people who talk about you posting on other blogs. We know that's just inflammatory rubbish, and people who raise comments about other blogs are obviously deeply entrenched in them themselves.

 

[Grazer]

What I don't think anyone should have to put up with is having their integrity questions by a bunch of individuals hiding behind the anonymity of the internet.

Sadly this has been going on for some time now and the members, staff and the owners of DCUK have all come under attack by these individuals on a certain blog, they are banned ex-members who hold personal grudges even though they don't know anything about the individuals they persecute, I think the term 'Cyber Bullies' springs to mind to describe these individuals and they are best ignored IMHO, the Admin and owners of DCUK are well aware of the activities and take a very dim view of the blog in question.

There's actually more than one Blog that posts vitriol about members on here Richard.

 

[Sid Bonkers]

Well having been on the receiving end of this filthy vile blog for a number of years now all I can say is that IMO no one who posts there and therefore supports their libellous behaviour should be allowed to hold a moderating position here.

These vile people will stop at nothing to mock and ridicule both the owners of this forum its management and a number of its members too, and yet a number of members apparently are allowed to post there yet still remain as members here, some of them have already posted to this thread showing their support for their 'brother in arms', Pneu.

Personally I find it extremely distasteful that they are allowed to do this when they know full well what is being written about myself and others here.

Some of those who have added their support to Pneu on this thread would be quite shocked at some of the things said on that blog about some of the members here.

Now I dont have any personal problem with you Pneu but when you openly post to that blog then I'm sorry but I see you as being no better than them, and you are not alone are you? There are others here who post there some of them regularly, some even joining in with the ridicule aimed here and as a moderator here it should be your job to deal with those people not join in with them. So whilst I have no problem with you personally I think you should decide where you want to post and stick to ether being a moderator here or a poster over there and that applies to anyone who posts at both places. Free speech does not mean anyone has the right to say what they like about others and those who support such actions become to party to it.

 

[borofergie]

People in glass houses.

 

[lucylocket61]

Always look at the source before responding or getting upset.

If the poster is anonymous, then I would not take it to heart if I were you. You are doing a good job on here, and elsewhere. Please dont let cowards who hide behind the secrecy of the internet, get to you.

:thumbup:

PS I second the idea of finding a way to stop posters responding to obviously provocative posts, and then having an informative thread shut down.

I also moderate another forum elsewhere. We have a big sign at the front saying

"remember its not personal" to try to stop people thinking they are being personally attacked. I am NOT suggesting this is what is happening in this instance, but often offence is taken where none was meant. (I was very guilty of that in the early days)

Also, banning the use of the word "troll" may stop inflammatory posting??? maybe??

sending hugs :wave:

 

[Momblegoose]

I must have missed something I think? I assumed we were talking about Pneu's being a Moderator on this forum?

I stand by what I said, there is no questioning Pneu's integrity.

 

[noblehead]

Let me be clear.. although I condone the odd poor attempt at humor on eddies blog (personal attacks are never justified) this is not the blog I have real issues with; to be frank that one isn't so bad there are others that are worse...

I'm afraid you could never call it 'humor' on Eddie's blog when he ridicules and persecutes members, moderators and admin of this forum and the owners of DCUK. We had a member on here who he relentlessly persecuted to the point where he was phoning her at work, this member had to involve the Police to warn him off.......therefore it would be hard to think of a more nasty man and one that does more harm to the diabetic community!