Screenshot shows three comments being removed from [email protected] (this community) by one of 196’s mods with the reason for removal being “.” (literally just a period).

I looked into this and discovered that the comments were just some fairly polite, if snarky, comments in response to the mod themselves. I could not identify a reason for comment removal per the site or community rules, so if there was one, “.” doesn’t cut it.

This is a callout post y’all. Do better. Start putting actual moderation reasons into the modlog for the benefit of you and other mods, otherwise what is the point of a transparent and federated platform?

As of now, it looks like the mod involved is just using their mod powers in a self-serving fashion. I am not making that accusation now, but that’s how it looks.

Please and thank you. Mods here do an excellent job keeping 196 on Lemmy a bearable place to be, and I know you are already struggling to staff the positions, but please also hold one another accountable when it comes to misuse of power. Thanks :)

  • funky-rodent [he/him]@lemmy.blahaj.zoneM
    0·
    6 months ago

    Thank you for that call out, we will discuss this with the other mods and make sure that removing and banning reasons are used transparently

    In the meantime I would love to remind y’all that we are moderating this forum in our free time as volunteers, it takes time and capacity. Sometimes it works better sometimes it doesn’t

    Feel free to write in the mod-application post if you feel like becoming a mod here would help.

    Best wishes and a good night from Germany Funky-rodent

    • MindTraveller@lemmy.ca
      0·
      6 months ago

      Meh. Y’all get more than enough applications every time. I don’t think it’s fair to complain about having a position of power over everyone else that you could ditch in a heartbeat if you wanted to. I don’t think users owe moderators patience. Rule following, yes. Patience, no.

      • Hugucinogens@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        0·
        6 months ago

        Bruh what are you talking about. The “We need mods” post is still pinned in the community, first thing everyone sees when they browse the community itself.

        This is not just power, it’s also a demanding service, done out of responsibility and goodwill, and that is proven by this accountability-seeking post itself we’re in.

        We’re a long, long way from being Reddit, as of yet.

  • Queue@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    0·
    6 months ago

    Alright, I’ll try to do better. I will say that while this doesn’t defend my actions, I’ve been under a high amount of stress in the last 2 weeks. If people want, I will resign as mod without question.

    EDIT: Restored the posts with “Restored due to community feedback/me being a dick.”

    EDIT 2: I am going to do some shopping and chores, if the community wants me gone, I will remove myself when I am back, or have the mod team boot me.

    • Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      0·
      6 months ago

      I wasn’t involved in the post in question, but FWIW I appreciate you taking feedback into account and putting the posts back up. Everyone’s human and is going to make sub-optimal calls sometimes, being open to fixing it is basically the best that can be asked for.

      I don’t want you to resign over this or anything like that, but please do take care of yourself even if that means taking some time away. If internet modding is adding to your stress in an already stressed time, you gotta put on your own oxygen mask first before you assist others, you know?

      • Queue@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
        0·
        6 months ago

        Mainly because I sometimes need a reality check. I agreed to be a mod here at a normal point of the last year, and the last ~5 months have been putting so much weird shit in my brain it’s not been healthy.

    • Barbarian@sh.itjust.works
      0·
      6 months ago

      Gonna throw my hat into the ring here and say this kind of self-reflection and improvement is exactly how communities of any kind improve.

      People have problems, stress and issues. This shit happens. The ability to say “I fucked up”, then fix the fuckup and prevent similar fuckups happening in future is how we as a global society improve and become better people.

      In short: everyone should attempt to be better, that’s all anyone can ask.

    • nickwitha_k (he/him)@lemmy.sdf.org
      0·
      6 months ago

      I think that your willingness to self-examine, admit fault, and attempt to make amends speaks well of your character and suitability as a mod (if you desire to continue and it is healthy for you to do so). You come across as genuine and willing to try to listen and self-correct.

      We all have bad days/weeks/months/years. It’s unfortunately just part of being human. And we all do things that we may not think are necessarily right when reflecting on them, often because of emotional state, etc. That’s ok. Yeah, it may cause some hurt or upset, and damage that we do may not always be repairable but, that’s just life as a social being. As long as you try to do better, there’s nothing more anyone can legitimately ask of you. Personal growth and emotional health isn’t linear - don’t beat yourself up if you hit a rut. You’re human; screwing up is one of our species’ greatest talents.

      Please take care of yourself and see what you can do to address stressors in your life, where possible. Your well-being is more important and any moderation queue. If taking some time away is needed but you wish to continue, please coordinate with the other mods to get it.

  • Peachy [they/them] @lemmy.blahaj.zoneMEnglish
    0·
    6 months ago

    Reminder that we have our email [email protected]

    Important tool for those who have been banned and feel it undeserved, etc. While it’s awesome that we have a small active community to double check the mod log and post any oddities right now, this may not always be the case. Hierarchies are wack and knowing the tools to hold people accountable is always a good thing. I do occasionally go back and check on our sent folder to see if anyone is being treated unfairly (which to be clear I haven’t seen anything on the email side).

    Thanks for the post ✌️

  • yetAnotherUser@lemmy.ca
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    6 months ago

    Edit: I kind of regret writing this instead of just talking with the mods, but I’ll leave this up so that the replies aren’t left without context.

    This kind of reminds me of that time someone looked at the mod logs and noticed that someone who got banned for allegedly being transphobic got unbanned and made a mod (the unbanning reason was something like “became a mod”). This was on the last call for mods. I mean, nothing against if the person regretted writing the thing that got them banned, but it’s fucking sus that the mods did this without talking with us about what was happening (and nobody fucking knows who the mods are because they never “presented” themselves as mods, they could’ve just said “hello, my name is X and I’m a new mod”, but they never did).

    • Queue@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      0·
      6 months ago

      So funny enough, I was the person who banned them like a week before, and it was due to me not following the chain of comments. If you want, I will share the discord mod log where I found out who and any, and double-checked the reality of the situation.

      Believe me I don’t want transphobes running the biggest community on a trans server. But if every mod saw no issues, and I did, I assumed I was weird. And I was.