IRS Moderator

Henry Moore2 said:That warning about the mimosa was actually aimed at those comments about "Americans," not me.

I already said this in a DM, but I’ll say it here too: she’s just one frustrated person with mood swings running the show, and her moderation changes depending on how she feels. That's the bottom line. And since you guys are basically pushing all the expats out of the USA, I wonder who's actually going to provide any real info... maybe Disney, since she’s already told people a few times to just go ask the embassy themselves.

I'm done with this argument and done with how this forum is run. Like someone else mentioned, I solved my own problems. Moving to a new country is the ultimate test of willpower and grit...

Best,

Nancy Jones91 said:I already said this in a DM, but I’ll say it here too: she’s just one frustrated person with mood swings running the show, and her moderation changes depending on how she feels. That's the bottom line. And since you guys are basically pushing all the expats out of the USA, I wonder who's actually going to provide any real info... maybe Disney, since she’s already told people a few times to just go ask the embassy themselves.

I'm done with this argument and done with how this forum is run. Like someone else mentioned, I solved my own problems. Moving to a new country is the ultimate test of willpower and grit...

Best,

It's funny how it always turns out that only the expats from the USA are being "pushed out." We're just supposed to forget that, right? Based on my experience with that thread, those same users are usually the loudest, most arrogant ones, looking down on everyone else... ☕

Look, it's great to have them around and get their info, really. But I'm not some dog that needs to be kicked around just because I’m some nobody from America daring to ask a question to the local nobility... 🙄

mimozaaa said:I find myself agreeing that we really ought to have a way to appeal, because this version of democracy on the forum feels like whatever the moderator decides it will be—otherwise, you just get a warning or a strike even if you haven't actually done anything wrong.
It truly saddens me to see someone receive a yellow card simply because they were responding to me and my own baseless warning.
It is honestly quite shameful that someone can pull this kind of stunt on us without any justification.
So, let's start right here by asking publicly: who exactly is the authority we are allowed to complain to regarding a moderator's lack of objectivity?
I'll go first, so feel free to ban me for good... or just ship me off to the USA...😁

YouTube said:...THE TRUTH... The absolute truth!! ...and the truth hurts...

..now hurry up and give me a strike too, please...

bronco said:I completely agree; the moderator has lost all sense of direction, and one wonders if the higher-ups ever actually monitor what is happening here. Perhaps they will eventually just shut down the entire expatriate community just to ensure no one dares to write anything against the single narrative.

Here are the exact kinds of statements that caused three different people to get a red card. There was no insult involved, merely an expression of dissatisfaction with the moderation, yet it resulted in an automatic ban. It is the most effective way to silence someone.

What seems to be escaping your understanding is that these instances will only become more frequent. This isn't just isolated to one specific thread; things spiraled out of control there because Disney was deleting posts and issuing warnings without any legitimate cause—so it is perfectly natural that people are expressing their frustration there, and that sentiment is beginning to spread. With every new penalty issued, the number of dissatisfied users will only grow.

If anyone here actually understood how to moderate these people, these unjustified bans would be overturned, Disney would apologize and admit her mistake, and perhaps everything could return to normal; instead, the situation will only deteriorate until half of the expatriate community rebels, at which point you might finally have no choice but to replace her.

But as I have already said, I no longer have any intention of participating in such an undemocratic forum, so as far as I am concerned, you may close this topic whenever you wish... this will be my final post.

Drew Martin84 said:Here are the exact kinds of statements that caused three different people to get a red card. There was no insult involved, merely an expression of dissatisfaction with the moderation, yet it resulted in an automatic ban. It is the most effective way to silence someone.

What seems to be escaping your understanding is that these instances will only become more frequent. This isn't just isolated to one specific thread; things spiraled out of control there because Disney was deleting posts and issuing warnings without any legitimate cause—so it is perfectly natural that people are expressing their frustration there, and that sentiment is beginning to spread. With every new penalty issued, the number of dissatisfied users will only grow.

If anyone here actually understood how to moderate these people, these unjustified bans would be overturned, Disney would apologize and admit her mistake, and perhaps everything could return to normal; instead, the situation will only deteriorate until half of the expatriate community rebels, at which point you might finally have no choice but to replace her.

But as I have already said, I no longer have any intention of participating in such an undemocratic forum, so as far as I am concerned, you may close this topic whenever you wish... this will be my final post.

Hold on... So, you're saying the moderator should apologize just because people are breaking the forum rules and she's enforcing them?🤷 Whether it's insults, off-topic rambling, or trolling, you get a card. It's all against the rules. The only difference is how many points you lose.

And then you have YouTube over there practically begging for it, saying, "...yeah, go ahead, give me a card now, please..."

Unfortunately, if you can't read the rules and follow them, I think you'll find plenty of other "undemocratic" forums out there.🙄

brightpuma said:Hold on... So, you're saying the moderator should apologize just because people are breaking the forum rules and she's enforcing them?🤷 Whether it's insults, off-topic rambling, or trolling, you get a card. It's all against the rules. The only difference is how many points you lose.

And then you have YouTube over there practically begging for it, saying, "...yeah, go ahead, give me a card now, please..."

Unfortunately, if you can't read the rules and follow them, I think you'll find plenty of other "undemocratic" forums out there.🙄

No, she is the one who owes an apology because she set this entire mess in motion:

1) Seomag was insulting acquaintances of wanderingharbor492 on that thread—I have already posted the quotes here if anyone cares to see them—yet instead of issuing him a warning or a sanction, she completely bypassed him under the flimsy excuse that she was "busy" and somehow "missed" his posts,
2) Instead of addressing him, she went after Mimosa, simply because Mimosa stood up to Seomag (which was entirely justified), which Disney deemed off-topic, regardless of how much off-topic content Seomag himself had been pumping out, which apparently doesn't matter at all in this scenario,
3) After that warning was issued to Mimosa, several of us pushed back against such blatant unfairness, and it wasn't until the situation migrated here that Disney finally realized her mistake and concocted that ridiculous excuse about missing Seomag's posts—though honestly, they are sitting right there just a few comments above Mimosa's, so clearly she didn't miss those, and she claimed she would sanction him too, though I haven't checked and it doesn't look like Seomag received a red card for his insults and off-topic rambling, while everyone else who uttered a single word against Disney received an immediate red card,

If that is what passes for fair and just moderation, then she hasn't done anything wrong and has no reason to apologize, and for her and the rest of the moderation team here, this is clearly the standard way of doing things...

Rather than admitting her error—specifically the unequal treatment of certain users, namely Seomag and Mimosa—and offering an apology or at least unbanning the people who didn't deserve it, she continues to double down and hand out red cards to anyone who dares to protest, and I suspect there will be more and more of us doing exactly that, since we went from just a couple of people a few days ago to over a dozen now...

Here is a quote from an excellent post found in the thread about the USA:

GLAVATAR said:maybe try reaching out to the admin, perhaps they can assist... based on what I've gathered, this doesn't seem like grounds for a ban (personally, I feel that if there aren't any actual complaints, then there shouldn't be a reason to issue a ban, regardless of how heated a debate might get—and this certainly wasn't the case here), lately it seems like the moderators have actually started working against the interests of the forum (this isn't just an isolated incident), I follow quite a few threads and several of them have completely died off because the moderators drove people away with this kind of behavior....

a bit of friendly advice for the moderators— it’s fine to clash with one or two people, but if a handful of users start questioning your actions, then perhaps you should take a moment to reflect, as you might not actually be in the right....

one ought to be able to accept criticism with dignity, rather than simply handing out bans and driving people away the moment someone says something you don't care for....moderators, you are on this forum for our sake, not the other way around

brightpuma said:It's funny how it always turns out that only the expats from the USA are being "pushed out." We're just supposed to forget that, right? Based on my experience with that thread, those same users are usually the loudest, most arrogant ones, looking down on everyone else... ☕

Look, it's great to have them around and get their info, really. But I'm not some dog that needs to be kicked around just because I’m some nobody from America daring to ask a question to the local nobility... 🙄

What are you even talking about? You're just generalizing and being insulting now. I'm no big shot; I was just like you, some guy from America, so I get it and I empathize with people. And again, tell me exactly when I was ever loud or arrogant. Look at all my posts before you judge, otherwise you're just trolling and should probably get a ban per the rules. You need to be objective and look at yourself first, which is always the hardest part...

Nancy Jones91 said:What are you even talking about? You're just generalizing and being insulting now. I'm no big shot; I was just like you, some guy from America, so I get it and I empathize with people. And again, tell me exactly when I was ever loud or arrogant. Look at all my posts before you judge, otherwise you're just trolling and should probably get a ban per the rules. You need to be objective and look at yourself first, which is always the hardest part...

First off, if you actually read my posts with some comprehension, you'd realize I'm a guy.

Second, I wasn't calling you out specifically. My post was about how things used to be with the expatriate community, especially on those threads about the USA back when William was around and Wog Boy used to get a little carried away.

Also (and this goes for both you and Drew Martin84), you need 100 points to trigger a ban. Trolling gets you 35, insults get you 45, off-topic stuff is 10, and breaking forum rules is 30. So, to hit that 100-point mark, you actually have to rack up several violations in a short window, like a month or so.

Another thing: ignoring a moderator's warning (like a yellow card or penalties 🙄) is handled differently. That usually results in an automatic 3-day cooling-off period, which counts as 100 points right there. I don't get why everyone is acting surprised now. Aren't the rules pretty clear on that... 🤷

Drew Martin84 said:Here are the exact kinds of statements that caused three different people to get a red card. There was no insult involved, merely an expression of dissatisfaction with the moderation, yet it resulted in an automatic ban. It is the most effective way to silence someone.

What seems to be escaping your understanding is that these instances will only become more frequent. This isn't just isolated to one specific thread; things spiraled out of control there because Disney was deleting posts and issuing warnings without any legitimate cause—so it is perfectly natural that people are expressing their frustration there, and that sentiment is beginning to spread. With every new penalty issued, the number of dissatisfied users will only grow.

If anyone here actually understood how to moderate these people, these unjustified bans would be overturned, Disney would apologize and admit her mistake, and perhaps everything could return to normal; instead, the situation will only deteriorate until half of the expatriate community rebels, at which point you might finally have no choice but to replace her.

But as I have already said, I no longer have any intention of participating in such an undemocratic forum, so as far as I am concerned, you may close this topic whenever you wish... this will be my final post.

Look, expressing frustration with the moderation team isn't allowed on these threads—that’s exactly what the community guidelines PDF is for. I honestly feel like we've made that clear more than enough times by now. Since the moderator gave several different warnings that were just ignored, she decided to go with a harsher penalty, which is totally within her rights.

Anyway, we’ve reached an agreement that moving forward, it’s enough to give one warning before handing out the standard infractions. We won't be jumping straight to bans, though keep in mind that depending on someone's total point tally, even a single infraction might trigger a ban automatically. That said, if there’s major chaos—like actual insults or other serious violations, especially if they keep happening across multiple posts—the moderator can issue infractions immediately without any prior warning.

As for those comments suggesting we shouldn't sanction anyone unless someone actually reports them, that's just not going to fly. Most people here tend to jump straight into a confrontation instead of just reporting the issue and stepping away, which really ruins the quality of the discussions. The moderators are here to uphold the rules in the handbook, and user reports are just a helpful tool, not the only way we operate.

Please just be careful from here on out and take the moderator's warnings seriously.

Case closed.