Moderating PDF car listings

It’s been over two months now, and I feel like I need to speak up about how Michael Lee4 is running the car subforum.

The guy basically acts like his own judge and jury. I know at least two other users who feel like he’s grabbing way too much power—acting like a dictator without any consistent rules for everyone else. Honestly, I can't even log into that subforum anymore. One of those two guys actually reached out to the Democratic Party admins personally, but according to him, there was NEVER any response...

You don't need to be a mechanic to see the bias. In some threads, certain comments are totally fine, but in others, the exact same thing gets flagged, moved, or just nuked. Sometimes they move old threads for no reason, and other times they just ban someone for having an opinion in a specific discussion...

From what I've heard from those two users I mentioned, sending private messages to the admins doesn't seem to do anything at all...

If you look at how this guy moderates, it's obvious he's just going by his own gut feeling instead of any actual universal rules. I don't care what his username is, but for the sake of everyone on Reddit, I think he shouldn't have this much authority. It's hurting the reputation of this site and goes against everything we're supposed to be doing here...

I'll try reaching out to the Democratic Party admins again once I get their handles... (Desiree is dodging me)

Unless, of course, this gentleman hasn't denied them the same opportunities...

If I had to list the users (just two so far) who feel like he's making life difficult and stifling free speech...

Michael Lee4 actually asked for a thread to be started about removing him from his position, but they blocked it. Moderator Grace Turner said the thread would be deleted, and sure enough, it was...

I’m looking for help here. That subforum probably has at least four moderators if my memory serves, yet whenever there's a complaint, they just point to one guy: Michael Lee4. People are actually afraid to speak up publicly because they'll just get blocked, have their posts deleted, or get banned immediately...

Just doing this for the good of the community...

Here was the original question from two months ago, the last topic... http://reddit.com/showthread.php?t=251470

Thanks,

Best regards...

EDIT: Unfortunately, the Democratic Party contact Desiree keeps getting an error saying her inbox is full. Is there anyone else who might see this and check it out? Or maybe someone I can DM? Thanks... This public thread has been sitting here for two months...

PS.
This is a major site with ads and a significant influence on the American online public. I'd like to think someone cares about what happens in the subforums, or at least should...
The gentleman in question actually said that if his way of thinking isn't wanted, he'd be happy to step down so he stops "terrorizing" people. It's baffling to me that NO ONE among the people in charge of this subforum (and others) has ever voiced an opinion or even shown interest in fixing this... No offense intended, because this isn't the only site in the world, but it seems to be the only one where you can't even message the admins to report irregularities. But hey, if this is it, this is our home, this is www.reddit.com

This is the only way I can present my views, and the views of other users, to the public without being silenced by this guy... (
I hope something gets done for the common good. To quote Michael Lee4 himself, he has no problem giving up his authority if it means solving the issue...

No hard feelings to anyone. And thanks again...

Thanks... the core, base, and heart of the issue is laid out above. I've got plenty of arguments ready; I'll just pull from the fresh PDF and counter everything. Most of the older stuff probably got wiped, but nothing's ever truly gone. It’s impossible.

If it helps, I'd be happy to lay it all out again. But honestly, there needs to be some mutual interest for that to work.

Personally, I'm not really about the Democratic Party; I'm just here for the public discourse—which is what Reddit is for. But this feels more like something for the Democratic Party. I wasn't sure who to reach out to. I guess I had outdated info regarding the admins, which is why I ended up over here after two months of total silence.

To be honest, you can just read through the car PDF and the comments in those specific threads. Just look at which topics vanished right after people started demanding they be reinstated, and you'll see. There's no point in me repeating myself.

I can send a direct message to the Democratic Party if that makes sense. If not... why waste both our time and energy?

PS.

Sorry for all the typos in my first post. Hope it was still readable. I didn't catch them in time to fix them.

Anyway, thanks for the heads-up.

Edit: if a link to this post ends up appearing in the car PDF, I bet at least one or two Redditors will have the guts to DM you. I can't post it over there myself.

The real issue here is that this PDF includes a section that essentially mocks people under Michael Lee4's sponsorship. It’s primarily targeting Laki and Samuel Palmer10. Laki actually takes it a step further by using the space to plug his own driving school. Personally, I have no desire to ever open this PDF again just to deal with a group of people clearly overcompensating for their own insecurities. If you take a quick stroll through the document, you'll see exactly what I mean by those arguments.

William Green4 said:The issue is there's this clique on this forum that just mocks people under Michael Lee4's protection. It's mostly Laki and Samuel Palmer10. Laki goes even further by using it to plug his driving school. Personally, I’m done visiting this forum if I have to deal with a bunch of insecure losers. Just scroll through the threads for a second and you'll see what I mean.

I don't know your handle; you aren't one of the two guys I mentioned. Thanks for chiming in, though. I guess I was born naive, so I don't notice everything immediately. It's a struggle. If you say a Ford Polo is ugly, Michael Lee4 will lose it. Other cars can be ugly or weak too, whatever. You can't count on one hand how many posts he's deleted under the Polo thread that only I seemed to notice...

I get that those are the arguments, but I just didn't realize there were more people involved in the chain. Honestly, I don't care who else is in it. It's obvious this forum is toxic, and if you make fun of Mr. Stinger, it all depends on his mood.
Hopefully, there will be some public call-outs soon, so I don't have to be the one dumping arguments here—though that's fine too. I've personally seen so many messages from Mr. Stinger where he straight-up insults people, but unfortunately, they aren't saved offline. I don't know if the admin can see them if they actually bother to look...

I suspect a lot of compromising comments and messages might vanish over the next day or two if he thinks it's necessary, though I think that part is highly questionable, at least for now.

Here’s the topic Michael Lee4 started, which eventually got shut down and banned from ever being mentioned again. Honestly, looking back, even my own comments in there weren't exactly top-tier... But the facts haven't changed. (Not that most of the guys over at the muscle car forums were actually brave enough to speak their minds here either)

Maybe this part will actually impress hollowtrucker77 if he’s interested and decides to use it as leverage.

It’s wild how much this guy—who, in my opinion, isn't even an expert and barely knows anything about cars—can just walk in and start shaking up the well-meaning regulars on this board with fear tactics...

Maybe you’ve got a point. Or maybe people are just burnt out. Honestly, I can't tell if everyone's exhausted or if it's just me. There’s plenty to read in the thread I linked, and I didn't even realize you had jumped into that conversation yet.

At the end of the day, anyone should be able to ask questions or say what's on their mind. One Reddit user actually went out of their way to explain why they stopped visiting the site in the first place, based on the title alone...

We'll see how it plays out.

You know what, you’re totally right. Nobody actually cares, even if it wasn't officially taken down. And honestly, nobody got banned from accessing the PDF files because of it—maybe because they aren't under anyone's thumb, or maybe you just actually believe in freedom of speech.

Arguing about "what if" scenarios is just a waste of breath since nothing actually happened, at least not publicly.

Bottom line: Michael Lee4 is pretty chill and lets a lot slide, which is fine by me.😁

hollowtrucker77 said:I’m really curious what Samuel Palmer10 would have to say about Michael Lee4 playing favorites...
😁

I don't get why everyone's acting shocked. Michael Lee4 is my lifelong best man, and I'm the godfather to his son. Plus, his wife is my cousin...

I have to say, I am generally quite dissatisfied with how this subforum is being moderated. Here is a direct message intended for hollowtrucker77. If you recall, I sent you a private message some time ago requesting that a specific thread be moved over to the miscellaneous section or somewhere else where it actually belongs. Your advice at the time was for me to reach out to one of the moderators to handle the relocation...

Well, I went ahead and did exactly what you suggested, but guess what? The moderator hasn't even bothered to reply to my PM, let alone move the thread. How should I characterize that behavior? Is it a lack of basic courtesy, sheer rudeness, or simply a total failure of moderation??

Honestly, I am at a loss for the right word to describe it. I followed your instructions to the letter, yet I have achieved absolutely nothing from the effort..😢

I have already gone ahead and deleted my private messages, but I am under the firm impression that we are dealing with a depressive episode here.😬

I didn't suspect Spinnaker because I noticed he hadn't been online since February 10th, so I began looking into which other moderator had most recently logged on,😁 and that would be Setra, though I haven't received any actual feedback from him yet.😢

Setra barely shows up on the PDF. It’s almost non-existent. And Spinaker hasn't been around for quite a while now.

restlesstiger102 said:I've already deleted the PMs, but I'm pretty sure we're looking at a suicide cluster...😬
(

You should have sent me a DM...
Then I’d just play along...
Then he’d make life easy for Mr. Stinger...
Michael Lee4 would have handled that...

Samuel Palmer10, darling, I didn't mean to overlook you 😢 but please don't worry, if I find myself in that situation again, you will be the very first person I notify 😬

Grace Turner, when I was checking to see who had been online most recently, I was scrolling through that sidebar list. Since, as I mentioned, I noticed Spinnaker hadn't been around for a while, I clicked on the next name 🤣, which happened to be Setra, and it showed he had been active just a few hours ago or perhaps last night—I can't recall the exact timing—so naturally, I sent him a private message. Had I noticed he had also been offline for several days, I would have moved right along to check the profile of the next moderator 🤦😁

Dennis Carter9 said:I’ve personally seen so many of Michael Lee4's posts get deleted where he’s straight-up trashing people's families.

Admins, I can still see everything that was deleted; those posts aren't actually vanishing from the site. Please go through those removed entries—you know exactly which ones they are—and check where I’m supposedly "talking trash" to someone.
I’m just wondering what happens when everyone realizes I haven't done anything to anyone. Go ahead and pass my address along to those same admins so I can sue them for defamation. ☕
I already told you in those DMs where you were "graciously" throwing insults at me: stop wasting your breath and go find a professional. No one here is going to help you. 🤷

restlesstiger102 said:I’m pretty much fed up with how this subreddit is being moderated. Here's a little something for hollowtrucker77. Remember when I sent you a DM asking if we could just move that thread over to the random section or somewhere else where it actually fits? Your brilliant response was basically telling me to go bother one of the mods to handle it.

Yep, did the exact same thing, but guess what? The mod replied to my DM instead of just moving the thread. What do you even call that? Lack of professionalism, plain rudeness, or just straight-up bad moderation?

I honestly don't even know how to put this. I did exactly what you told me to do, but I still haven't achieved a single thing.😢

I haven't heard a peep from you in my inbox, so I guess that makes me the rude one. 🤷

Michael Lee4, I was actually referring to one specific moderator😉.. nobody was calling you out specifically 😉

Honestly, the idea of me having to send a private message to every single moderator just to address certain issues is completely absurd. If Spinnaker and the others don't want to moderate because they clearly aren't active or doing their actual "job," why is it such an immense struggle to simply replace them? I truly can't help but wonder if it is really that difficult to find people who actually possess the necessary knowledge and have the genuine desire to moderate.😕

restlesstiger102 said:Samuel Palmer10, honey, I didn't even think about you😢 but don't worry, if I ever find myself in that spot again, you'll be the first to know.😬

Grace Turner, when I was checking who was last online, I was just scrolling through that sidebar list. Since I noticed the Spin guy hadn't been around in a while, I clicked on the next one 🤣, which was Setra. It said he'd been online a few hours ago or maybe last night (can't remember exactly), so obviously I sent him a PM. If I had seen he’d only been active like xy days ago, I would’ve just moved on to the next mod on the list 🤦.😁

There you go... that's what happens when you don't know who the big shots are on this PDF.😬

The second time around, just hit me or the Brazilian woman up; we're usually around, basically running this whole forum... obviously, whoever Samuel Palmer10 and Luck recommend gets priority, but we've got our own circle, you know?😉