Sophia Watson24 said:I once did the exact same thing as Rosie. I didn't mean any harm by it. A fellow user sent me a DM, I apologized, and edited my post. Everything was settled with four DMs and one quick edit.
And? I’m sure I’ve broken a rule or made a blunder myself at some point.
When I post nonsense, it's because, as a standard user, I'm allowed to. I have total freedom: a user can be brilliant or an idiot, malicious or kind, a fool or frustrated, illiterate or out of control, an intellectual or a propagandist—honestly, even a monkey could be a user if they manage to register.
A user can be whatever they want or whoever they are. However, from those who hold authority, I expect more than that—specifically regarding Reddit etiquette and following the rules, based on the expectations of both sides. Not talking about real life, obviously.
I'm just wondering if she would have reacted this way if it were some guy with a blue badge, or does it matter that it was the Moderator?
Of course she wouldn't. That’s the whole point of what I’m saying.
It matters immensely.
(Now that it's clear this thread is a total riddle, I can finally say you've uncovered the secret topic.😁)To earn my trust and my desire to keep writing here, I need to feel comfortable. And I don't feel comfortable if things aren't handled correctly and securely.
Maybe that sounds strange to some people, but to me, it's fundamental.
I view moderators—and I hope I'm not alone in this—as the people meant to maintain order when there's chaos, enforce the rules, watch for violations, manage discussions, and ensure users maintain a decent level of communication... basically everything else that regular users don't have to do, which is precisely why moderators exist.
Period.
And to perform those duties effectively and keep everyone satisfied, certain traits are required.
Personally, I expect them not to be, for example, a psychopath, someone with low intelligence, a malicious individual, or someone incapable of understanding their job or paying attention to detail (no offense to anyone who actually struggles with those things, I'm not discriminating).
Now, I can't
know why the moderator addressed me using my old username.
My immediate reaction was that it was intentional. As I mentioned, since I was recently insulted in a way that violated both the rules and basic decency, my first thought was that this was deliberate rather than a simple accident.
If I assume it was intentional, then it's a massive red flag. Given my previous experience, my mind starts racing through all sorts of possibilities.
That is why I don't feel comfortable here.
The second possibility is that it was an accident. I'm willing to consider that, certainly.
But then I have to wonder: what kind of situational awareness do you have on the very platform you moderate if you can't even notice the nickname of the person you're talking to, and you slip up on a name because... 🤔 ...I don't even know.
Terrible, if you ask me. For a Reddit moderator, who I expect to have "eyes and ears" and some level of focus, this is just bad.
Also, if you aren't focused—if you aren't reading, watching, or paying attention, and instead you're just making assumptions without being sure (especially when you're a moderator)—then is it really necessary to bring up the
name of a Redditor several pages deep into a thread when you could just write "
someone said it"? Is the name even necessary when you aren't even certain who actually said what you're trying to recount?
And then, to top it off, you don't even write the name of the person you're mentioning, but someone else's instead. 🤷 Does that make any sense?
Especially since, by your own admission, you're trying to avoid "clashing" with this specific user, so if you had an ounce of common sense, you wouldn't unnecessarily drag them into it (in this case, it was clearly unnecessary based on the context of the post).
If you have even a slight grasp of how a forum works and how people interact here—and if you're a mod, that should be a given, otherwise why would you be a mod?—then this is, all things considered, an incredibly stupid decision.
Look, fine, it’s not the end of the world... a wrong and stupid decision... mistakes happen.
But what really gets under my skin in a situation like this is that these kinds of errors create discomfort. I lose confidence that I'm in "good hands" here, if you know what I mean.
It makes me start thinking that if it's possible—and this case is my proof—that there are moderators who are either unable or feel it isn't important to follow a thread with at least minimal attention and understanding (and honestly, if someone doesn't notice what their interlocutor's name is, that's a clear sign they lack that attention) before they try to reference it, then if such moderators exist, why couldn't there also be moderators who are... I don't know... malicious or psychopaths or whatever.
! I'm not saying they exist or that I suspect anyone (😁, quite the contrary, what I am sure of is that among them—the moderators, not the psychopaths—there are those I respect deeply, those I care about, and even those I like, in a forum sort of way), I just want to clarify that examples like this open up space for me to question where I am, to have a reality check.
Normally, I don't think about this while I'm writing, venting, reading, or hanging out on the forum...
Once I start dwelling on it, I lose interest, you know?
And that's the point.
If it was intentional—it's awful.
If it was accidental—it's less awful, but it doesn't make me any less concerned.
Sickness? Paranoia? Naivety? Stupidity?
Who knows, maybe it's all of the above. But as long as it's legitimate for me to be that kind of user, I don't see a problem.
I've seen other people's nonsensical threads and people losing their minds over trivialities, nitpicking, and nonsense, and so what? I read it, I write what I think or I don't, I draw my own conclusions and move on to something else more interesting.🤷
Is it allowed to have questions, even if they seem stupid to some, and to want to discuss them without being forced to provide suggestions or being pressured with stuff like "whatever you want, tell us more of what you want!!"?
Why am I being asked to give a suggestion, when I was actually looking for a suggestion through this very thread?😕
If it's allowed to make mistakes (and it is, I'm not disputing that), then I assume it's also allowed to have feelings.
Well, I'm just feeling things, that's all.🤷 I don't know why that's such a hard concept to grasp.
.
..and moderators are just people...For Christ's sake, users are too.
