This post was not from me !
I'm Kennys and not Kenny !

I got it spike
and Kenny, I also knew the post was not from you.

careful spike. she will close the thread as usual. thats why there are SOOOOOO many new threads lately.

Yo jonathan...you sound like my mother. Barbara 1 has a job to do...and IS fair at what she does...so cut the crap !!

Thank you spike, you beat me to it.

Respectfully,

pat
:-) :-)

PAT READ. I THINK WHAT JONATHAN IS REFERRING TO IS THE FACT THAT THERE USED TO BE MANY MANY MORE POSTS BUT PEOPLE GET SICK OF BARBARA DELETING EVERYTHING SHE DOESNT LIKE OR DOESNT AGREE WITH.

for the record, I never delete anything I don't agree with. everyone is free here to express their opinion.
what I do delete is advertising.
I also delete hostile or attacking posts.
Remember, we are here to share information, and also please remember this is supposed to be "friendly place."
we try to keep it that way.

tom2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> PAT READ. I THINK WHAT JONATHAN IS REFERRING TO
> IS THE FACT THAT THERE USED TO BE MANY MANY MORE
> POSTS BUT PEOPLE GET SICK OF BARBARA DELETING
> EVERYTHING SHE DOESNT LIKE OR DOESNT AGREE WITH.

tom2,

I've followed this board since its' inception. It was created with the original intent for it to be an information forum - not a chittychatty or revenue producing forum. And there's nothing wrong with either but if that's what some are looking for this isn't the place. But it was not created to be a playground for those who wish to vent their personal frustrations in an anonymous but public format as started to happen more and more.

Barbara was brought on board in her capacity as a moderator because the owners felt it needed supervision since many posters couldn't behave themselves appropriately in their eyes so she was chosen to be an impartial ombudsman, if you will.

No moderator will ever make everyone happy but her moderation has never changed the intent of reasonable posts to the best of my personal knowledge and what she has managed to do is get rid of many of the jerks who used to cause so much contention and drive so many first time posters away.

Many of us have managed to have a few posts locked or deleted over the years but for the most part she's been fair and her moderation has returned the board to be more in line with the owners intention.

And if there are fewer posts thats not a bad thing as long as the original intent of the board is still there and those who come here genuinely looking for answers to reasonable and specific questions can still get them. And there's still room for some polite discourse, too.

Respectfully,

pat
:-) :-)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/20/2007 11:10AM by pat.

Pat, I could not say it better myself. Very good post!

Annie

This used to be a fairly active board. In fact, it was a top five in a Google search. Now, there's a reason for the abrupt change and it coincides, exactly, with the the addition of the current heavy duty moderating.

Barbara1 does indeed delete and lock posts based on what she personally doesn't like or doesn't want to hear. People get turned off, alienated, and stop posting/reading. There is no, or very little, in the way of unique tourist oriented visitors because it's an inactive board.

Despite the three or four cheerleaders who somehow believe that a dead board is better than a board without Barbara1 as moderator, the truth of the matter is, there was far more St Martin content than flame threads before the moderated version of the board began. You can like Barbar1, but that doesn't mean she isn't a bad moderator. There's zero attempt towards a balance between a board having discussion/disagreements and letting flame threads go on and on.


The moderator is supposed to serve the best interests of the board, (the board is made up of the contributors, btw) not their own personal views. If people get into arguments, so what; it's human nature. If people think Derek is ripping them off, maybe he is.

Delete blatant trolls, not the core contributors of a board.

If threads get a little heated, so what.
If a thread turns into a flame thread and goes on and on for pages, then lock it. People feel that this is a board that's not worth the effort of posting. If they can't discuss anything, they don't get involved with the board.

When is the last time anyone saw the moderator initiating topics, or thread starter comments about the island? When is the last time anyone saw the moderator telling someone what they can't do, and that they're bad...uh, what time is it?


At the time of the moderator decision, Gert said: there'll be light moderation. I don't see that.

We should barely know that there is a moderator, not see a moderator reprimanding adult posters like they're third graders, on every other post. Of course, there isn't anyone left to reprimand, now. Seriously, it really is the most biased moderating I've ever seen. If a thread/subject doesn't appeal to the moderator, if it's a thread the moderator wouldn't be intersted in, that doesn't mean that the thread should be locked under the pretense of: "I think this question has been answered". Who cares what you think.

Without heavy duty "moderating": active and interesting board. With heavy duty moderating: no board.

Ed

for your information, I have never deleted anyone for posting something I don't agree with. I don't operate that way.

and heated discussions are fine, but insulting and calling people names is not and that was what was happening on this board.

shall I tell everyone the names you have called me, Ed? I still have those PMs and emails , you know..

Barbara , got to agree w/Ed. The board is as dry as dust.Hardly any posts .I don't think you are biased,maybe a little quick pulling the plug on some threads.Sincerely, Tom.

The board is dry Tom. I agree. I don't think it's because I pulled the plug though. I really don't. I barely do that. Neil did a lot more of that than me actually.LOL
but as I stated I will not let threads degenerate into name calling , bullying, and flaming.
and you have to admit, that did used to happen a lot on here.

I can always lighten up if you all think I should and see what happens.
I have no problem with that.

Ah come on, Ed...you can't blame Barbara if the board is dead. And you have to admit that for awhile it was getting very bad with all the nasty insults. And it did need some moderating. So why don't you post more and tell us about your St. Maarten/St. Martin experiences?

Hugs, Annie

Barbara1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> for your information, I have never deleted anyone
> for posting something I don't agree with. I don't
> operate that way.

Please...that's a joke, right?



> and heated discussions are fine, but insulting and
> calling people names is not and that was what was
> happening on this board.

That's your "fall back" excuse. You're hiding behind this non existent name calling hysteria you've made up. I haven't even seen any name calling on the board, but there have been countless locked and deleted threads with zero name calling content. How do explain that?



> shall I tell everyone the names you have called
> me, Ed? I still have those PMs and emails , you
> know..


I insist that you do. I can't imagine anything that wasn't accurate.


You've grossly exaggerated in each of your points and they all have your "name calling" as a common theme. No one's buying this put-on drama. You're enjoying throwing your weight around as queen of the board, that's what's going on.

Ed