@Rachmaninoff:

"Don't you think it's time to let it die already? I kept my response to you in Whispers to avoid dragging things out, I even left chat since it was upsetting me more than it should and I figured people didn't need me snipping in return."

To which I give many props towards. I merely use this to show what I deemed as really unreasonable reaction on someone's part. I know I wouldn't probably have had a cooler head in that situation. So your age and wisdom speaks volumes to you here.

"When we joke, we don't always know when it crosses the line. And I'm not liking the vibe of being above approach that I'm getting from your post here. No one is above it, you're making the faulty assumption that we somehow think we're beyond being pranked instead of owning up to the fact that this one got out of hand."

I admit it got out of hand and since I contributed to it, I'll call my foul. But no matter what prank gets thrown my way, I take it with a grain of salt. I realize people will make fun of me and I'm not about to kick members or even hint at kicking members for mobbing others when they have done this many times in the past (e.g. calling Delitor a pervert) and we haven't reacted to that near as much. So you can see my questioning here, I hope.

It is unfortunate that this had to happen and you have my sincere apologies Darren for pestering you about it.

@Indi:

And how professional is it to spread banners and poke fun of fellow moderators? You two started a joke, it got out of hand. Don't try to pass the buck on fellow moderators. Especially for getting frustrated when they didn't understand why they were suddenly being verbally mobbed by members.

Now, I didn't promote the antagonizing of moderators directly, nor did I influence the members to mob people. That was beyond my control. But I do believe that I've said enough on the situation and obviously me making a point about it doesn't seem to ever be passable.

You're making a cry for professionalism here, it goes both ways. You represent the law to members so when you make fun of someone, even as a joke, that indirectly gives it a stamp of approval that says: "It's okay because the Moderators are doing it."

Then I would expect the same mantra to be followed by fellow moderators when people bandwagon against "the perverts" on theO. I don't see Delitor or Chibi Andy ranting and raving to moderators about people were picking on them and bandwagoning on them.

Like I said I'm not above being told I'm wrong. If I do something that people don't like, then that's cool. I'll make the steps to correct my behavior. But I'm not about to jump on the double standard bandwagon and even HINT that I'm going to kick members for doing something that gets under my skin.

In retrospect, Bethany did the right thing by not acting on it and that's to be commended. From what I took from the post and from others who had brought up the issue to me in AIM conversation, I felt the situation could have been dealt with in a different manner, but that's just my little old opinion anyways.

People always seem to forget that Moderators are people as well and we have just as much right to pick on others as the members do. We do need to show restraint, and in hindsight Boo did take it too far. I knew the fine line to straddle between good fun and just being mean. That's why I didn't take the joke any further besides the one comment I made to Darren.

Don't underestimate the influence you wield as a moderator and don't hide behind it to excuse the fact that your little joke got out of hand. I understand that it was unintentional and that no harm was meant. But your attempts to pretend it didn't is what's unprofessional.

Who's hiding? The joke did get out of hand. I will whole heartedly admit that. I just found someone else's feelings to be a little overreacting. If that's a crime, then I'd rather just keep my opinions to myself.

~Korey

Well you already know my opinion but I refuse to put it on here sorry

I really don't want to have to come down heavy on people over this since personal blogs are just that, personal. But if this pointless bickering among all of you doesn't end, I'll have no choice.

This finger pointing and insulting people over venting on a personal world needs to end. We don't punish people because they felt like kicking or telling someone off, no moderator is immune. What makes them professional is they don't act on those feelings and try to work it out instead.

Unlike many of you talking about this, I have chat logs and more extensive details as to what happened. My judgment is that the heckling had reached the point where it warranted kicking members out if necessary. Which it wasn't since people dropped it when asked.

Also, as Darren explained, my only action was to request a cease and desist on passing the banner out since the joke had gotten out of hand. No one is in trouble. It's a prank that was taken the wrong way, nothing more.

Case closed.

Don't you think it's time to let it die already? I kept my response to you in Whispers to avoid dragging things out, I even left chat since it was upsetting me more than it should and I figured people didn't need me snipping in return.

When we joke, we don't always know when it crosses the line. And I'm not liking the vibe of being above approach that I'm getting from your post here. No one is above it, you're making the faulty assumption that we somehow think we're beyond being pranked instead of owning up to the fact that this one got out of hand.

And keep in mind, I know it's not your fault it got out of hand, that's not really the point here. The point is it did and I understand that the only action that happened is Beth asked for the banners to not be given out since people were taking it too far. Not yours or Boo's fault, but still reasonable to ask.

So don't pull the snob switch of "It was only a joke" We get this, just as we get that you couldn't have known people would go nuts with it. I try to keep that in mind and edit things accordingly when looking back has me thinking I might have overdone the joking at one time.

Fastidious spelling snobs pushed over the edge

You can see by the edit date for both of my posts that I did this long before your post here. I did it because I don't consider myself above being called on a joke that didn't go over well. I did it because upon reflection, I realized that you were probably irritated with it.

You're talking about professionalism... Crystia said it well, don't underestimate our influence as moderators. The kids look to us for guidance and on how to behave. You've now learned that jokes that we start have the power to be taken way too far. Why not learn from it instead of getting upset and defending the honest mistake?

We need to, as moderators project an image of professionalism.

And how professional is it to spread banners and poke fun of fellow moderators? You two started a joke, it got out of hand. Don't try to pass the buck on fellow moderators. Especially for getting frustrated when they didn't understand why they were suddenly being verbally mobbed by members.

You're making a cry for professionalism here, it goes both ways. You represent the law to members so when you make fun of someone, even as a joke, that indirectly gives it a stamp of approval that says: "It's okay because the Moderators are doing it."

Don't underestimate the influence you wield as a moderator and don't hide behind it to excuse the fact that your little joke got out of hand. I understand that it was unintentional and that no harm was meant. But your attempts to pretend it didn't is what's unprofessional.

~Crystia

Ublah? Oh, the signature that Boo uses... Utah, more like U-Blah... I don't get it that much... :D