Posts by Megan White4

Steven Ruiz said:@ silverpanther13, the rules aren't set in stone, you know? They’re actually evolving and being updated all the time based on what the community thinks, so I'm not quite sure why you feel like we can't have a discussion about them...
For instance, we're currently in the middle of tweaking the rule regarding image dimensions right now. There's a poll live, so go ahead and weigh in if you want to make your voice heard!

Yes, and clearly this is just one more thing that eludes your comprehension, highlighting your moderator (in)competence. If you were clever enough to realize those five images are intended to be viewed as a single cohesive unit, you could have easily turned them into links—simply by swapping the IMG tag for a URL tag. Unfortunately, my window for editing the post had already closed.

hiddensailor14 said:Look, Megan White4, you basically asked for this when you kept calling the moderator an idiot. Multiple times, actually...😁
Just lay low for a few days and it'll blow over. Honestly, a little break from the forums might actually do you some good :P

And yeah, you definitely earned that ban😁

Thanks, really... Just an FYI, "amateur" actually means someone who does something for the love of it—a hobbyist. It doesn't mean they're bad at it. ☕

Ryan Wilson2 said:Isn't a forum essentially like someone's private apartment?

Not really. A forum isn't a private residence; it's more like a pub—a private establishment serving a public purpose. ☕

Ryan Wilson2 said:You agreed to certain terms when you joined, and if the owner or the staff doesn't like you, they can kick you out.

Sure, there are terms set by the owner, but that doesn't grant them the right to terrorize their guests.

For instance, if the rules prohibit smoking, you can't just toss someone out simply because you suspect they’re a smoker or because they happen to be carrying a pack of cigarettes.

Or bar someone from entry just because they called someone else an idiot. (Politeness policing is a leftover relic of old-school authoritarianism, and frankly, people are usually only as offensive as their egos are fragile).

😁

Welcome to the club....

1. Moderators are selected based on how much they fit the vibe rather than actual competence.

2. No matter how much users complain about a particularly irritating moderator, they rarely get replaced. The same applies to user requests regarding who should be appointed to the role.

3. Most moderators are subjective—either biased or convinced they have a divine intuition. This creates a double standard: you can't say what you think if a mod takes offense, yet blatant outbursts often go unsanctioned. Or, they just hand out bans "preventatively."

3. Everyone (admins and mods alike) tends to enforce their own rules with zero room for nuance or common sense, even though we all know exceptions are what make rules meaningful. This rigid intolerance is exactly what triggers user backlash, which the mods then meet with nothing but more bans.

4. Generally speaking, the difference between God and a forum moderator is that God doesn't think he's a forum moderator.

☕

silverpanther13 said:Megan White4, you definitely earned that ban for being insulting. Breaking the rules needs to be stopped, sure, but arguing about the rules themselves shouldn't be off-limits. I think exceptions—like the one you needed—should occasionally be allowed if they actually make sense, provided there’s an agreement and permission from the higher-ups, rather than just doing whatever you want. What else I want to mention—and this is something that usually blows up in my face—is criticizing the moderators' work, especially when they aren't doing much, or rather, when they're neglecting their duties. As just an average user, I don't have a "right" to do that, and it's not up to the users to decide who should or shouldn't be a moderator. Then everything gets flipped onto a personal level, and suddenly I'm the bad guy because I'm calling out individuals, which isn't true at all. It's not like anyone bothers me personally; in fact, in certain cases, I actually really like certain people and value what they do—I'm honestly sorry when they aren't around. But if they aren't performing the job they were chosen for, why shouldn't that be noticed and pointed out? Meanwhile, you have people contributing to the site, people who actually care about things running smoothly and who willingly set aside time for the good of the community. Why can't the moderator selection process be more transparent? And why shouldn't the voices of the users be heard—not to pick the moderators, but to express their opinions? I think everyone would be more satisfied that way. Unless I'm wrong in thinking that the forum exists for the users, and that the users are what make the forum. And as for why it's always the same handful of people complaining... I wonder that myself too.

It doesn't really matter now; I have no interest in arguing with fools. The smarter person usually just lets it go...

slycrane94 said:If it makes you feel better. You acted like you were giving me high blood pressure just so you could go mess around with options.
Just because you disagree with how things are moderated doesn't give you a free pass to cause chaos here. 😉

To paraphrase a famous photographer: Forum moderation is the fine art of resisting the urge to hit the ban button.☕

Steven Ruiz said:Everything mentioned above is just pure trolling. I don't get why...
Even if we ignore the trolling aspect, this was all written right after you were hit with a permanent ban. So, those intentions might be real, or they might not be, who knows...

Every single online community has its own set of rules; there are the general site guidelines and then the specific rules for each individual sub-forum.
You clearly seem to think you're somehow exempt from these regulations because you view my moderating as "idiocy." And sure, maybe we act like total sticklers for the rules sometimes, but there's actually a reason for it, rather than just trying to make someone's life miserable...
If I start making exceptions for you, then everyone else is going to come crawling back asking for their own special treatment.
You knew the rules before you even signed up, and you've been on this platform long enough to know exactly how things work here. But instead, you just break them, knowing full well you're breaking them, and then when your extra content gets deleted or you get called out for chatting in a thread where it doesn't belong, you have the nerve to complain about it...
If it was really that important to you that those five images stay together as one unit, you could have simply posted them in two consecutive posts.
I can't just give you a pass and then have to explain to everyone else why you're getting special treatment while they aren't.

Furthermore, you didn't get banned because of that specific issue, but because of the insults. To be honest, I wasn't even aiming to ban you, I was just going to issue a warning, but since you already had warnings from other moderators, it triggered an automatic permanent ban...

The fact that you kept insisting you were going to "get to the bottom of this" with me once you returned, combined with all that tactical maneuvering, is exactly what landed you in this mess—which is a partial permanent ban...

It seems you lack the capacity to understand that rigid rules and an obsessive insistence on following them tend to do exactly one thing: make life difficult for everyone else. When you get that caught up in the weeds, you lose sight of the forest for the trees. Using some vague sense of "purpose" as justification is really just an excuse for it.

Steven Ruiz said:Everything mentioned above is just pure trolling. I don't get why...
Even if we ignore the trolling aspect, this was all written right after you were hit with a permanent ban. So, those intentions might be real, or they might not be, who knows...

Every single online community has its own set of rules; there are the general site guidelines and then the specific rules for each individual sub-forum.
You clearly seem to think you're somehow exempt from these regulations because you view my moderating as "idiocy." And sure, maybe we act like total sticklers for the rules sometimes, but there's actually a reason for it, rather than just trying to make someone's life miserable...
If I start making exceptions for you, then everyone else is going to come crawling back asking for their own special treatment.
You knew the rules before you even signed up, and you've been on this platform long enough to know exactly how things work here. But instead, you just break them, knowing full well you're breaking them, and then when your extra content gets deleted or you get called out for chatting in a thread where it doesn't belong, you have the nerve to complain about it...
If it was really that important to you that those five images stay together as one unit, you could have simply posted them in two consecutive posts.
I can't just give you a pass and then have to explain to everyone else why you're getting special treatment while they aren't.

Furthermore, you didn't get banned because of that specific issue, but because of the insults. To be honest, I wasn't even aiming to ban you, I was just going to issue a warning, but since you already had warnings from other moderators, it triggered an automatic permanent ban...

The fact that you kept insisting you were going to "get to the bottom of this" with me once you returned, combined with all that tactical maneuvering, is exactly what landed you in this mess—which is a partial permanent ban...

The exceptions are what define the rules.

Steven Ruiz said:Everything mentioned above is just pure trolling. I don't get why...
Even if we ignore the trolling aspect, this was all written right after you were hit with a permanent ban. So, those intentions might be real, or they might not be, who knows...

Every single online community has its own set of rules; there are the general site guidelines and then the specific rules for each individual sub-forum.
You clearly seem to think you're somehow exempt from these regulations because you view my moderating as "idiocy." And sure, maybe we act like total sticklers for the rules sometimes, but there's actually a reason for it, rather than just trying to make someone's life miserable...
If I start making exceptions for you, then everyone else is going to come crawling back asking for their own special treatment.
You knew the rules before you even signed up, and you've been on this platform long enough to know exactly how things work here. But instead, you just break them, knowing full well you're breaking them, and then when your extra content gets deleted or you get called out for chatting in a thread where it doesn't belong, you have the nerve to complain about it...
If it was really that important to you that those five images stay together as one unit, you could have simply posted them in two consecutive posts.
I can't just give you a pass and then have to explain to everyone else why you're getting special treatment while they aren't.

Furthermore, you didn't get banned because of that specific issue, but because of the insults. To be honest, I wasn't even aiming to ban you, I was just going to issue a warning, but since you already had warnings from other moderators, it triggered an automatic permanent ban...

The fact that you kept insisting you were going to "get to the bottom of this" with me once you returned, combined with all that tactical maneuvering, is exactly what landed you in this mess—which is a partial permanent ban...

Then they wouldn't function as a cohesive whole anymore. But I suppose that's a concept you're finding particularly difficult to grasp.

Steven Ruiz said:Everything mentioned above is just pure trolling. I don't get why...
Even if we ignore the trolling aspect, this was all written right after you were hit with a permanent ban. So, those intentions might be real, or they might not be, who knows...

Every single online community has its own set of rules; there are the general site guidelines and then the specific rules for each individual sub-forum.
You clearly seem to think you're somehow exempt from these regulations because you view my moderating as "idiocy." And sure, maybe we act like total sticklers for the rules sometimes, but there's actually a reason for it, rather than just trying to make someone's life miserable...
If I start making exceptions for you, then everyone else is going to come crawling back asking for their own special treatment.
You knew the rules before you even signed up, and you've been on this platform long enough to know exactly how things work here. But instead, you just break them, knowing full well you're breaking them, and then when your extra content gets deleted or you get called out for chatting in a thread where it doesn't belong, you have the nerve to complain about it...
If it was really that important to you that those five images stay together as one unit, you could have simply posted them in two consecutive posts.
I can't just give you a pass and then have to explain to everyone else why you're getting special treatment while they aren't.

Furthermore, you didn't get banned because of that specific issue, but because of the insults. To be honest, I wasn't even aiming to ban you, I was just going to issue a warning, but since you already had warnings from other moderators, it triggered an automatic permanent ban...

The fact that you kept insisting you were going to "get to the bottom of this" with me once you returned, combined with all that tactical maneuvering, is exactly what landed you in this mess—which is a partial permanent ban...

Anything is possible if you actually have the willpower. It’s only an issue when someone decides to take the path of least resistance. If being a moderator meant occasionally explaining why you made an exception here or there, some people would actually be up to the task. On the other hand, you were the one who drafted the local guidelines in that PDF; you had every opportunity to build in some flexibility from the start. You didn't. Now, because of minor, trivial infractions, everyone else has to deal with this unnecessary display of rigidity.

Steven Ruiz said:Everything mentioned above is just pure trolling. I don't get why...
Even if we ignore the trolling aspect, this was all written right after you were hit with a permanent ban. So, those intentions might be real, or they might not be, who knows...

Every single online community has its own set of rules; there are the general site guidelines and then the specific rules for each individual sub-forum.
You clearly seem to think you're somehow exempt from these regulations because you view my moderating as "idiocy." And sure, maybe we act like total sticklers for the rules sometimes, but there's actually a reason for it, rather than just trying to make someone's life miserable...
If I start making exceptions for you, then everyone else is going to come crawling back asking for their own special treatment.
You knew the rules before you even signed up, and you've been on this platform long enough to know exactly how things work here. But instead, you just break them, knowing full well you're breaking them, and then when your extra content gets deleted or you get called out for chatting in a thread where it doesn't belong, you have the nerve to complain about it...
If it was really that important to you that those five images stay together as one unit, you could have simply posted them in two consecutive posts.
I can't just give you a pass and then have to explain to everyone else why you're getting special treatment while they aren't.

Furthermore, you didn't get banned because of that specific issue, but because of the insults. To be honest, I wasn't even aiming to ban you, I was just going to issue a warning, but since you already had warnings from other moderators, it triggered an automatic permanent ban...

The fact that you kept insisting you were going to "get to the bottom of this" with me once you returned, combined with all that tactical maneuvering, is exactly what landed you in this mess—which is a partial permanent ban...

I honestly don't know how I'm supposed to carry on knowing I've been permabanned. Might just have to call it quits entirely... 😂🤣

Ultimately, if you and the admin want to play it this way, fine. The wise ones usually concede; after all, only the foolish and the dead are incapable of changing their minds...

☕

Steven Ruiz said:Look, based on your posts quoted below, it’s pretty clear you're cooking up some tactics with the intention to troll and just straight-up disrupt how this PDF operates. Honestly, if you're planning on being a troll, maybe don't announce it to the entire internet with such big fanfare, because then we might actually catch you... 😉

"I posted a poll over in the Photography sub-forum asking if people were down to replace Kim. Naturally, Kim moved it over to unknown immediately, and of course, people who aren't even active in photography started showing up, and then some unknown chimed in saying things like those kinds of polls don't even belong here. So much for this forum. My takeaway is that the hardline clique of admins and moderators clearly thinks we 'regular' users are only here because of them, rather than them existing because of us. It really brings up that old question, 'Who watches the watchmen?' But all I know is that once my ban expires, I'm switching up my strategy, just to see if Kim starts acting crazy again..."

"If I've got my dates right, my ban lasts until November 22nd at 3:00 PM. So, I just have to hang in there for a few more hours... And then it'll be time to start sipping Kim's blood through a straw. And I'll do it in a way where they won't even be able to claim I'm breaking any rules."

If this platform ends up being disrupted, it's because of you—someone who fails to follow the rules and meddles in other people's threads regardless of the context.

Steven Ruiz said:Look, based on your posts quoted below, it’s pretty clear you're cooking up some tactics with the intention to troll and just straight-up disrupt how this PDF operates. Honestly, if you're planning on being a troll, maybe don't announce it to the entire internet with such big fanfare, because then we might actually catch you... 😉

"I posted a poll over in the Photography sub-forum asking if people were down to replace Kim. Naturally, Kim moved it over to unknown immediately, and of course, people who aren't even active in photography started showing up, and then some unknown chimed in saying things like those kinds of polls don't even belong here. So much for this forum. My takeaway is that the hardline clique of admins and moderators clearly thinks we 'regular' users are only here because of them, rather than them existing because of us. It really brings up that old question, 'Who watches the watchmen?' But all I know is that once my ban expires, I'm switching up my strategy, just to see if Kim starts acting crazy again..."

"If I've got my dates right, my ban lasts until November 22nd at 3:00 PM. So, I just have to hang in there for a few more hours... And then it'll be time to start sipping Kim's blood through a straw. And I'll do it in a way where they won't even be able to claim I'm breaking any rules."

And look what he says next...!?!

Is this perhaps it?

...
Regarding Steven Ruiz, since I've been banned from photography (and I doubt they'll lift it), I can finally tell you what I actually intended to do (how I planned to pick at him): for instance, at the end of every new thread I started, I'd write "please don't chat with me, I wouldn't want to upset Steven Ruiz", or I might use Photoshop to combine four images into one (staying within size limits) and then post four of those in a single thread, and so on... (they couldn't touch me because everything would technically follow the sub-forum rules)... and things like that.
...

Yes, he does say that, but of course, people tend to ignore anything that doesn't support the mods and admins in their pursuit of strictness....

☕

... 🙂

copperwolf112 said:Damn. Stop obsessing over semantics and just go take some photos.

Tu quoque!

Jonathan Baker97 said:Man, what are you smoking? What on earth were you thinking...

They call someone insane simply because their version of madness doesn't align with the majority. ☕

The moderator in question seems to jump into discussions constantly, editing posts even when it isn't necessary. Furthermore, she appears incapable of making exceptions to the rules, even in truly exceptional circumstances.

I’m putting this poll together to get a clear sense of public opinion on the matter...

Linda Davis2 said:Get used to the fact that on this forum, might makes right...
And I don't mean just regarding this specific thread—I mean generally.

It isn't "might makes right." It's more like the rule of the weak, who are all too eager to suck up to whoever has influence until it becomes the trend. You don't see someone's true colors until you actually hand them a shred of authority. ☕

Worst of all, we can complain about how the moderators act until we're blue in the face, but nothing ever changes. If you push back, you're labeled an "anti-community" element, and then comes the wave of warnings, bans, and deleted posts... ☕

Daniel Perez6 said:The sheer amount of prejudice out there is driving me up the wall... 😲 😲 Seriously though... we’re living in the 21st century... 🙏

Prejudice stems from stereotypes. Stereotypes come from generalizations. And generalizations? They're just a byproduct of being superficial. ☕

Superficiality and arrogance.

dustyangler43 said:Personally (though I’m just offering my humble opinion here), I don't think politics has any business being brought up during family meals...😁

Politics is a dirty game, and you don't sit at the table with players like that.

driftingtrucker4 said:Sad, but eloquently put. You honestly come across as outdated and naive if you think being POLITE AND THOUGHTFUL
matters.

It’s a bit disheartening to have witnessed how modern etiquette has slipped. It seems that for many women today, having a man hold their coat or pull out a chair has become something they view as beneath them.

Oh, the decline of modern standards! 🙄

Because when flaws become trendy, they’re suddenly rebranded as virtues. And that shift is dictated entirely by whoever holds the most influence or power...

Alex Patel96 said:Do you ever feel like people just don't get you? For me, it’s a weird one: while everyone else seems to think I’m overachieving, the people who constantly underestimate me are actually my own parents. I guess it's not that uncommon, though. Even when there's plenty of objective proof that I've earned respect, they still manage to overlook it. Anyone else dealing with this kind of stuff?😠

I’m dealing with the exact same thing... My folks always insist on stepping in to do everything for me because they think I can't handle it. No matter what I manage to get done, they always find a way to nitpick and tell me it "isn't quite right."

Ads have become genuinely obnoxious. I don’t mind a banner at the top or bottom, or even some sponsored text, but for heaven's sake, let me actually click the links I need without some pop-up getting in the way.