Dear Conspiracy, We Need to Talk.

0  2014-02-06 by Flytape

Should I stay on as a mod?

I typically focus on warning people for rules violations and petty name calling.

The last person I banned was 6 days ago http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/1wn50x/how_many_niggers_does_it_take_to_screw_in_a/

I really do care for the overall quality of this community and that this community has a safe place to discuss unpopular topics.

What do you think /r/conspiracy? I need your help.

188 comments

You're too emotional to be an effective mod, IMHO.

Suffixes speak a thousand words.

See?! You react, even when obviously baited. I don't know why you even posted this question, if you wanted to stay in utter denial. Shit, I suspect some of these "positive" comments are even your sockpuppets.

Do us all a favor and wait a full 72 hours from post time, if you want to see the "true" opinions of this sub.

Lmfao.

Honestly man, are you just pretending that conspiratard and SRD don't exist?

What do they have to do with my comment? ...

And honesty, if you're a mod, you should be familiar with regular users here, correct? I'm female, man...

I'm very familiar with your name. Your sex hasn't been my concern.

My opinion doesn't seem to be your concern either, though you readily asked for it. I'm not upvoting myself, others agree you're arrogant, reactive and have viewpoints that are inappropriate for the type of moderation this radically diverse sub needs.

But I'm going to end here. I get so disgusted WITH MYSELF for even trying to converse with someone who is so obviously in love with them self, that they feel like reddit is a life mission. You need some priorities, and I suspect, some IRL friends to shock you into self awareness. You can blame your personality defects on the hive mind, but it's not until you meet new people who then are offended by your actions, that you'll really have to look at YOURSELF.

Honestly man,

Your opinion doesn't matter to me because your opinion is only "reinforced with votes" after any particular thread is cross posted to the very people who don't want /r/conspiracy to exist.

That's why you say things like "why don't you wait 72 hours and see what this community really thinks" because you understand exactly how the votes here are constantly manipulated. The regulars and backbone of this community doesn't need 72 hours to weight in because they browse here every day. The metadrama subs however do need 72 hours to make imaginary popcorn and jerk each other off over how cool they are that they can destroy a subreddit they don't agree with.

Its pretty obvious when 99% of the negative comments towards me are from usernames that never participate in conspiracy and most of the time are involved on a daily basis in conspiratard or SRD. And that other 1% of the time its someone who is upset because they were breaking the rules, I warned them and they feel like they should be able to break the rules because their target was a "shill".

Omg, you honestly DO deny that any regulars here don't want your moderation. So technically, all the brigades against you are personal and only coming from "trolls". WOWOWOWOWOWOW, I actually feel really bad for you, you are the definition of delusional.

So are you actually surprised that the kind of person who would be interested in modding r conspiracy is under the impression that any and all criticism is the result of...wait for it...a conspiracy against them?

Said the guy that mods a sub about fictional armies...

Mmm, I love the smell of ad hominem in the morning. Because clearly liking something you don't like invalidates all my opinions. Well done.

Except...that's exactly how you operate on your own shitty subreddit...

There is one that I know of for sure that doesn't like me.

It's not that I don't like you, it's that I don't respect you. I am entitled to my opinions on what is constructive commentary and what is drama. I don't think you possess the skills to be an impartial and fair moderator. That was your original question, right?

Its hard to judge such things when you don't see the mod mail. I understand where you formed that opinion of me however.

And i'm sure that i'm guilty of being unfair to people in certain instances. You kind of grow weary of listening to people's excuses for breaking rules and their justifications for breaking rules after listening to thousands of trolls spin a story, giving them a break, then having them throw it in your face with a big TROLOLOLOLOLOLLLL!

After a while you just start enforcing the rules and leaving the fairness in people's own hands. Its pretty easy, follow the rules and there won't be any debates about fairness. Break the rules and thats on them.

The community actually has improved since the mods quit allowing "conspiracy regulars" to break the rules. Everyone acts right or they don't get to act.

The last paragraph I utterly disagree with. I get constant disrespect when I mention Christianity, despite the sub rules.

Honestly man, are you just pretending like those are the only people that find you grating?

LOOK AT ME, I'M BEING PERSECUTED. PAY ATTENTION TO ME!!!!

Why are you even here?

Well first there were dinosaurs, but they got big and dumb and died, and became oil(at least according to TPTB), then the Arabs bought Mercedes Benzii. Next, over 35 years ago, two people who were attracted to each other, possibly because of alcohol, got together and had sex. Then the stork dropped me down the chimney. If you want to know what sex is, I suggest you ask someone else.

So then you agree that you don't belong in conspiracy?

I'm pretty sure SWS unbanned you and his other buds. You're just here to mock me and others? This is the second time you tried to make this about me wanting attention. I ignored you the first time.

Would you like to stay here?

Consider this your warning, shape up or you're banned.

Nope. I don't agree with whatever you read into my comment.

And wrong again. /u/mr_dong unbanned me. I DO thank you, however, for not making fun of my autism or appearance, assuming you don't again.

As for shaping up, look at my history. NONE of my comments in this sub for at least the past month are in the negative. Can you even claim that, even for the last day or two? Heck my last submission to this sub is in the positive count. Not even this post itself is positive.

I'm just calling it like I see it. You seek external validation and want to believe you are being persecuted, and will try to find anything to confirm what you believe.

And you prove why I banned you originally by coming in here to mock people.

Number one, lets remember that you claimed you didn't originally ban me, but instead said it was another of the mods. Glad to know I was right that it was you behind it the whole time, instead of the listed, at the time, Rule 6, which stated that bans were ONLY done after mod consensus. Yeah, one of the side effects of the Autism is that I have great memory, even of convos nearly a year ago. That said:

Entering a conversation where one posted in order to get opinions from others is not "mocking". It's exactly what you wanted when you posted. YOU ASKED for opinions. You just seem to have a problem with people who are being truthful and not fitting what your version of reality is. I bet you blame any downvotes you have in this thread on me, but I hate to tell you, but all the upvotes/downvotes are from others besides me, e.g. /r/conspiracy readers.

I'll totally post a screen grab for proof, but lets just settle for the text of your message:

from Flytape [M] via /r/conspiracy/ sent 9 months ago

I wasn't the one who banned you either time.

You were banned this time for a junk post by EMF. don't try to hang me with your rope.

You've been banned and unbanned like 5 times.

you were banned this time

Actually, it was only TWICE. I am currently posting after my second and so far last ban. Stop trying to lie your way through this. I'm not known for my bullshit. I'm actually known for being VERY honest.

You however, tried to elicit sympathy from me over being banned, because we are both supposedly "the same" , b/c you forgot you banned me months earlier.

You failed to take the warning I gave you to heart.

Bye

Rule 6 - No caps lock.

Comment removed.

Well, they didn't fully get here til this morning. And fuck, I'm partly to blame. Smdh.

This thread has been linked to from elsewhere on reddit.

I am a bot. Comments? Complaints? Send them to my inbox!

Lmfao!

The pathetic, human slime "Flytape" goes fishing for compliments, all while using illegal lures which have been banned by PETA.

You would think I was North Korea or something. Forget about the warlords in Africa slaughtering children to steal their UN food aid. Flytape is fishing for compliments... someone call the SPLC!

I personally find it odd that anyone would have to criticize you for being democratic diplomatic*, for people voicing against you as a mod, you were simply asking for a consensus, I don't see the problem here.

I'm glad the matter is resolved though personally, I've never had a problem with you in general.

They aren't criticizing him for being "Democratic" (asking in a sub you control is democracy??), they are criticizing him for seeking attention and compliments.

Sorry I meant to say diplomatic.

If that's what you'd like to call self aggrandizement

I want to hear the opinions of /u/mr_dong, /u/axolotl_peyotl, /u/SovereignMan, and /u/AssuredlyAThrowAway.

Here I am!

I think that Flytape should stay on as a mod.

I would too actually.

Just to clarify, I personally have no beef with you. As long as you don't let your political bias affect your mod duties.

And the more you keep conspiratard away from this subreddit, the more you'll receive my blessing.

Should be pretty easy for me since I'm apolitical.

Is it a valid way to solicit feedback having a poll from a controversial mod who has a penchant for banning anyone who looks at him crossways, while he retains the full power to punish dissenters? I guess it is if you are after a predetermined outcome.

This is a sub that is notorious for smashing dissent and banning anyone who doesn't adhere to the sub's orthodoxy. Among both mods and followers here there is a widespread and wholly sincere belief that anyone who disagrees is a literal enemy, a literal agent of the government (or some other nefarious agency), and that these enemies need to be purged and punished. This is heart of fascism stuff, totally contrary to American values but perfectly consistent with the values of extreme right wing authoritarianism.

The point is that having a paranoid, ban-happy political extremist who believes he is waging a literal war for the survival of a besieged minority ask in a forum he still moderates if he should retain his authority is not the best way to get candid, honest feedback. Very few people are going to feel free to say anything against Flytape as long as he continues to have the power to eliminate them.

The outcome of this query was rigged before it began.

(Throwaway account created for this occasion, simply because dissent is punished in this sub and freedom of thought and expression are expressly prohibited and regularly punished - as everyone here knows.)

This post was removed by auto moderator. Then approved by... gasp Flytape.

Are you denying his assertion or pretending that your post is in itself a rebuttal of his assertion?

I have no issue with you being a mod of /r/conspiracy, I think you are very suited for the job and represent the community well.

However if you felt like you wanted to step down from /r/xkcd, then be my guest, I wouldn't stop you.

Oh I could easily step down from xkcd.

But then what are you left with there? I have actually been attempting to work out a negotiation with soccer to find out what it would cost in trade for him to give up xkcd. Meanwhile I'm crucified for just being there. Short sighted concern trolls won't accomplish anything productive. They just make sure the barriers grow stronger.

God, are you capable of posting anything on any sub without it devolving to a childish argument between you and some other person. How about you just give the sub back? What do you and soccer even care about xkcd anyway? It obviously doesn't gel with your worldview. Just quit ruining the sub for everyone that actually enjoyed it and give it back already. Or don't and fuck off.

I didn't even know your name an hour ago and just a brief look into your comment history and these asinine, petty little bitchfights you have on EVERY FUCKING THREAD is enough to make me sick of you. You really bring the hate on yourself I hope you realize that.

People are actively enjoying the sub right now. its a non-issue.

by the way you are replying to a several days old thread that has been well dead.

It being a few days old doesn't make my observation any less relevant. And yes, it is an issue. The way you can it is still an issue is because people are still talking about it.

people are still talking about Genghis Khan too. I'm pretty sure thats a non-issue too.

The main point is that xkcd continues to operate as normal and people are still enjoying it. Its unfortunate that your favorite mod decided to start metadrama over a mod that outranked him and got himself kicked.

If you talk shit about your boss on a public forum and it gets back to him do you get in trouble at work? yeppers...

same concept. Anyways it was nice chatting with you. Take care out there.

Firstly, unless the issues that caused the commotion to begin with have been fixed (inappropriate sidebar links, auto mod that deletes and censors people who want to address the issue or the mods) then it isn't "operating normally". And the fact that /r/xkcdcomic has been rapidly gaining subscribers and your sub has been losing them is evidence of that fact.

Secondly, I don't really give a shit about the mod who got kicked. Not every one who disagrees with you is "in on it" with someone else, which also speaks to your apparent fondness of accusing dissenters of being part of an SRS brigade. I care about the sub, and I'm angry because it got hijacked by people who really had nothing to do with it in the first place, and then began pushing their own agenda into the sub and censoring or banning anyone who addressed it. I find it extremely ironic and hypocritical, as well, that a person who was a MOD OF /R/CONSPIRACY would engage in this sort of activity and then deny it.

And thirdly, acting benevolent by making insincere sign offs to your replies doesn't make you sound nice, it kind of makes you sound like a dick.

When exactly did it get hijacked? Soccer has been the head mod there for over a year.

Enough is enough man. If a second sub wants to advertise and gain members good for them! We still have 44 thousand members there we haven't lost a noticeable population.

I made a sincere signoff because I'm done talking about this.

Bye

It got hijacked when /u/soccer started exerting his own personal (and unrelated) preferences over the content of the sub, and deleting and banning those who tried to address it.

Look dude, stop playing coy. You know perfectly well why people are upset and you know perfectly well what /u/soccer did that was out of line. Based on your own posts, if the exact same thing happened on one of the subs you like you would be the first one to cry foul. The fact that you cannot recognize the same behavior when it happens to be with a point that you agree with makes you at best a hypocrite and at worst a delusional hypocrite.

And obviously you aren't done.

If a second sub wants to advertise and gain members good for them!

Okay, great! Let us do it.

Well you aren't just advertising in xkcd, you're telling people to leave xkcd, unsubscribe and then join your spin off.

you can't see why that isn't going to be allowed?

What if we just said "/r/xkcdcomic is a subreddit very similar to this one, but with moderators that don't censor comments"? I mean, that's advertising without telling them to unsubscribe or subscribe to /r/xkcdcomic. Would you allow us to do that?

Edit: The link to my "history of the /r/xkcd kerfuffle" thread was removed, even though it didn't tell people to unsubscribe from /r/xkcd or subscribe to /r/xkcdcomic.

Right,

Obviously he isn't going to let you use his subreddit as a platform to call him a Holocaust denier and promote your own shit.

Well, you said "let them advertise," so I thought we were free to do that. Did you mean "I'd be fine with you advertising; it's soccer who doesn't want you to,"?

Common sense is in short supply these days I guess.

You're on a mission to promote a mass exodus from soccer's sub to this new one, but you want to use soccer's sub to advertise it. You really don't see the reason why he won't let that happen?

Actually, don't answer those questions. I don't care.

I'm done talking to you about xkcd. It is what it is and that is the end.

I understand why soccer wouldn't want me to. I was just confused why you said "let them advertise" if you weren't going to let us advertise.

Jesus. The ministry of truth folks...

Or I was trying to negotiate a trade, sub for sub.

I have money, how much do want for it?

It doesn't belong to me.

Look how desperate you guys are to get me to say something about money.

I never mentioned money. I'll be reporting this to the admins. Offering money for a subreddit is against the ToS.

No, I'm serious, you want something for the sub, I'll give you something.

What do you want, bitcoin? I can send you bitcoin if you transfer the subreddit back to /u/XKCD.

I don't desire to profit from reddit.

What subs would you be willing to trade, or someone else. So that I might offer it to soccer.

I don't understand why he wants a sub for a sub. Does he just collect them for no reason? Genuinely curious here!

I don't know that he does.

My hope was that he would be willing to make a trade. For example /r/stormfront is being squatted by a group who hate white supremacists. If soccer is really a big racist white supremacist then maybe he would be willing to trade xkcd for stormfront.

Of course we will probably never get that far because robotevil and NYPD32 see this trade option that I'm trying to put out there as a way to make it look like I'm trying to get played cash for the subreddit, and thus get me banned from reddit.

It just goes to show you who is actually willing to talk things out around here and who is just looking to rule over others. Those who don't homogenize with their worldview will be called names, doxxed, hounded, and if they find anything that remotely violates reddit's ToS then they get banned.

We will probably never get that far because trading subreddits is fucking retarded and most definitely should not be allowed. Could you imagine the horrible precedent that would set? Not only would we have the subreddit squatters we have now, but those top mod squatters would then be allowed to collect and trade subreddits like playing cards. No thank you.

And then god forbid people would get those subreddits who actually want to use them.

Because let's admit here, the subs being squatted upon are because of political opposition. Politics, the reason that nothing ever gets done.

I'll give you /r/bitteroldmen, or how about /r/Ihateyou?

How about I give you /r/Ihaterobotevil. It's yours if you transfer the subreddit back to /u/XKCD and /u/Wyboth.

You know what, I'll even throw in /r/FlyTape.

Lol I don't think any of those would interest soccer.

Keep in mind that I don't have control over xkcd. Soccer does.

Keep in mind that I don't have control over xkcd. Soccer does.

So why the fuck are you here talking out your ass about it then?

There is a distinct possibility that a trade tailored to soccer (not flytape) could be a success.

Why are you so unnecessarily aggressive?

You are in here discussing trading subreddits like playing cards and it kind of pisses me off. I don't think the people who are sitting on /r/stormfront give a fuck about /r/xkcd.

Well then, since it pisses you off then I guess I should just do nothing.

Sorry for looking for a solution...

Trading subreddits is not a solution. It's almost as bad as selling them. They are not commodities to be traded like players on a team, they are thriving communities and if he isn't a member of the communities he moderates he has no damn business being a moderator. Sooner or later he will get shadowbanned or go inactive and be removed via redditrequest and then the problem will solve itself, it's only a matter of time.

That sounds exceptionally lazy to me. Attitudes like this is probably why the world is so pathetically hopeless.

Yup, let's try to solve problems with backroom deals instead of using the system the way it was intended (or trying to fix the system if it's broken). Instead of trying to broker a shady backroom trade, you should be trying to get the admins to change their policies. Maybe when the fact that there are mods who are trying to trade subreddits like playing cards comes to their attention they might be persuaded to do so.

Backroom deals?

I'm doing this very much in the open. God forbid the gridlock should end.

Why is robotevil here?

How much do you want for /r/xkcd?

Its not mine.

I'm pretty sure soccer wouldn't trade it for stalkerwatch.

What are you looking for? Cash payment? A trade for /r/Judaism?

I don't negotiate with terrorist. You ruined any chance you had of offering a trade (trade is the only thing acceptable by ToS) sub for sub.

I'm trying to help people here and your just a troll trying to get me banned.

Oh wow, did you just call us terrorist because we disagree with your political views?

Have you always been a fan of Rush Limbaugh?

Lol, NYPD is pretty obsessed with going all ministry of truth on me. He has made me the great Satan and thus himself the terrorist.

When did I try to get you banned?

...another user

Looks like someone's got quite a multiple-personality disorder. :/

Is there a reason you are asking this? I haven't seen any reason to think you should be removed.

My main guess is attention/external validation.

Who is "they"?

A couple mods of conspiracy. All is well now. Disaster averted.

Thank you guys for the overwhelming support.

You mean half the sub saying you shouldn't be here?

I've been seeing a number posts like that lately, just random over-the-top racist comments that have nothing to do with the actual topic. Looks like it's another attack by the "Let's make /r/conspiracy look like a racist forum" Brigade. Pretty lame.

As for the topic at hand, why would you not stay on as mod? Because you are conflicted about whether or not to penalize users for racist comments? That's against the rules, right?

Can you be more specific about your conflict?

I don't believe there's any reason for you to step down as a mod, you haven't done anything that would warrant you to step down. I feel if you did step down we'd be losing a quality moderator who is very fair and reasonable.

Agreed.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I've always liked you as a mod.

Thank you, I will be staying on.

Look, we're under attack right now and need a moderator that understands the urgency to identify and remove these blatant attempts to discredit the sub and those contributors that actually bring forth interesting, relevant, timely disclosure. You must stay on task and not waiver. The onslaught has just begun. You are a proven mod with an eye for fairness.

Do Not Quit!

Besides, what else could you possibly do with your time?

we're under attack right now

I'm not trying to be a jerk, honest, genuine question: Who exactly do you think r/conspiracy is under attack from?

There is a handful of people that have formed a group of the like-minded that have spilled over from the /r/EnoughPaulSpam sub into the /r/conspiratard faction who revel in their attempts at thwarting interesting open discussion about alternative narratives for popular world impacting events. These few people have enjoyed their raids, down vote brigades, ridicule, chat sniping, false complaint reporting, and so on virtually unchallenged. It has caused much chaos among the loosely organized watchers of /r/conspiracy. Many are much like myself isnomuch that we frequent this sub, but rarely engage the raiders. We allow for the mayhem to move about just as long as it doesn't ruin or take away from our personal /r/conspiracy experience. That said, as of late the entire sub has been undergoing a power struggle for direction and control internally. There has been rumor and manufactured controversy regarding who exactly is causing the deletion of many important threads. Make no mistake, there is a concerted effort to stifle, thwart, mute and ridicule any and all /r/conspiracy posts along with their OP's.

Make no mistake, there is a concerted effort to stifle, thwart, mute and ridicule any and all /r/conspiracy posts along with their OP's.

Like I said, not trying to be a jerk... but WHY? Can you point out an example of a thread that someone would actually view as a threat? This sub has never actually exposed, predicted, or DONE anything.

Oh, you think I'm saying that they feel threatened, they do not. It is for sport. There is zero threat to them only to us and this sub.

Oh gotcha, fair enough.

I would guess some very dedicated trolls from the sub that must not be named.

But I'm wondering why comments and postings seem to be down in general. Seems to me in December, we lost a lot of users.

I won't step down voluntarily.

My mind is made up. If I'm removed against my will I'm pretty confident that the community will implode.

You think rather highly of yourself I see.

The blatant racism like that is never from regular posters here

The problem is, you have other subreddits like conspiratard that are OBSESSED with "racism" and "anti-semitism". There was a thread there yesterday talking about how racist it is here because the AIPAC link on the sidebar links to some other zionist subreddit lol

Who the hell stickied this to the top and then who the hell decided to unsticky it? Not going the way you want it to or what?

Long Live Flytape!!

I stickied it. Then it was obvious I have you guys support, so I unstuck it so we can get back to the business of conspiracy.

Thank you for your lasting support.

And more than that, thanks for your content you provide.

Good call! Sounds good.

Hi Flytape,

I have voiced support for you in the past, you can see in my comments.

I was concerned about all the meta-drama with u/soccer I tried to follow it but I'm not sure what to think about it. Who is u/p1impstick? What is your association with u/soccer? I understand that he is a powerful mod, it's just that the whole thing was curious to me.

For the record, I support you Flytape and am happy you are back as mod. I was just hoping for some clarification on the subject.

Thanks.

For reference: this is what I'm asking about

http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/1wi665/the_soccerflytape_conspiracy_a_small_group_of/

Soccer owns a lot of subreddits.

He added me as a mod to two of them. Neither of them are as Democratic as /r/conspiracy.

The reality is that a liberal SRS type group doesn't want soccer to own certain subs. They say he is a sub squatter. You can see what subs a person owns by going to their profile and looking at the sidebar.

These liberal SRS type people also own a ridiculous amount of subs. See: /u/bipolarbear0 they of course have no problem with these people owning or squatting subs. Its just a power struggle that never ends on reddit.

I don't see the comparison to /u/bipolarbear0. He appears to be active in nearly every subreddit he moderates, whereas /u/soccer seems to only be active when people request control of one of his squatted subs.

Is he not a sub squatter?

Thank you for your reply.

Please keep fighting the good fight for /r/conspiracy

Stay.

Nope.

Really depends on how you feel about it. As a mod, you are inevitably going to be put in positions where you are hated by many people around here. Does it bother you? Is the hatred of you by others here justified? Do you feel it is time to move on? I think these are questions I would think about before making such a decision. Ultimately it is on you. Just take you time and figure out where you want to go from here.

As for me personally, you have banned only one person in six days. Since this board is a breeding ground for anti authoritative individuals, I would say you are doing a good job. Good luck with the decision friend.

**With further reading here is what I would do. Go through /r/conspiratard tagging all the submitters/commenters there so you can have a better idea of who is trolling this sub. With that tag, you can more easily tell the context of who is posting here. Hell, I do it myself. It is very surprising how many of them are on this sub; and some of them actually contribute to the conversation here, (very, very few btw). Stay on as a mod, just use some different tools perhaps?

Wait, so you are being asked to step down by the other mods??? Why would they do that, you've been a staple of /r/conspiracy for a LONG time. I like pretty much all of our mods, I was happy to see them all get their position but I'm pretty surprised by this. Hell, r/conspiratard HATES you, that alone is deserving of a spot in my opinion. I was shocked that you actually took a mod position again, I didn't think you would do it. No, I think you should stay.

Thanks.

Stay on as a mod. You haven't done anything to require your dismissal. The new mods just want to establish their positions at your expense. The rules changed, you shouldnt have to reapply for the job.

I don't think the new mods had anything to do with this, but I could be wrong.

From what I have read in this thread, I was under the assumption that the new mods put you up to this because they were all voted in and you were just chosen for the job. Is that correct?

Something like that. Although I don't think the new mods were involved in this.

This is all because of that bullshit thread the other day. If that kind of shit can depose a mod here now, then what is there left for the rest of us in this sub? It's already controlled by the griefer trolls who bombard us daily until we cannot have an in depth conversation about anything as we're all fighting idiots. I hate to see the bastards win and just leave, but by forcing all this drama they are pushing good quality posters away.

Unless and until you abuse your moderation powers, hell no you shouldn't step down!

Thanks.

I'm new-ish to this sub.

I haven't had the chance to meet you, but I've met a mod who sides with trolls. I'm still waiting for an answer from this mod on who to contact for rules violations from the same user. Here's the exchange. As always, the troll's comment is at the very bottom of the thread. Scroll down to the very bottom. The debate takes place there.

I've received a mixed message from another mod about the trolls. That mod says "I really don't want /r/conspiracy to lower ourselves to the level of /r/conspiratard. The more we ban the users over there, the more we stoop to their level."

I'm at a loss as to which mod will deal with trolls. If you're that guy, please stay. If you'll give the the run-around as the other mods did, then I see no point in talking to 3 brick walls.

Thanks for your time.

Edit: clearer message with link

My stance on dealing with trolls is that everyone has a different opinion on who the troll is. Therefore I don't deal with trolls I deal with rules violations. 99% of the time this will eliminate the trolls. 1% of the time, the trolls follow the rules.

The problem with dealing directly with trolling while ignoring the rules is that 50% of the time you successfully remove a troll and the other 50% of the time you mistakenly remove a legit user who was having a bad day or just very emotional about some specific issue.

I would rather wait the troll out until they break the rules. And not just run around hacking arms and legs off of people who have differing opinions about something.

Its a tough balance.

please don't hesitate to report rules violations. Via mod mail or even directly to me.

Currently, the troll is claiming ad hominem on a legit user for showing how physics works.

This user has only ever commented in /r/conspiracy. They only disagree with every post they comment on. They only antagonize legit users when questioned.

I question those who hide behind "rules violations" without giving any thought to enacting a new rule.

Well the link you provided went to the generic comments section. Not a specific user.

So I looked over it all and there is a lot of borderline rules breaking on both sides of this debate. Probably not the answer you were hoping for.

Well the link you provided went to the generic comments section.

The specific user is at the bottom of the thread.

Why would I hope to have a known conspiratard troll removed from this sub?

Edit: snark aside, what answer did you think I was hoping for? The same answer that most of /r/911truth also longs for? How many socks does this user have? I've noticed people have pointed out this one user has at least 3 alt accounts.

[deleted]

Well,

Long ago I was voted on as a mod. With Englishmunichfan and weedtastic.

Then I resigned because I was pretty much the only active mod and SWS was banning someone for "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" while talking about israel and "they are very squeaky and greasy"

Then... SWS got canned and the rules about racism were updated to appropriately reflect this community. So I was invited back by the mods.

Now they are asking me to step down because I wasn't "voted in" by the community. Even though technically I was.

So they want me to ask this question of the community. I really didn't want to air all this dirty laundry like this because its a huge distraction from actual conspiracy topics.

But I don't want to leave now that the rules are fixed. Now that the rogue mod SWS is gone.

[deleted]

Thanks I shall heed your advice.

You have no problem on applying the rules equally to someone that is part of this sub - while knowing fully well that the offended party, the person that reported, is a debunker troll - and someone that is not part of this sub. Although I had to directly tell you because the report probably failed to follow or you are the only one trying to handle the entire sub.

You are the kind of mod this sub needs, as far as I can see, so if they don't want you because you weren't voted in then here you have my vote now.

Thanks.

Weird day for me so far. I woke up tied to a huge wooden stake about to be burned. Then suddenly its a surprise party in my honor. Then I was rescued by a gay unicorn who forced me to ride facing backwards.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't even slightly worried about how this weekend is going to pan out.

How did you know the unicorn was gay?

His glitter was rainbow colored.

So this all sounds like a really weird coming out party. I mean the wooden stake insinuates you'd be a "flaming" homosexual, the surprise party about you means it's like an intervention and the gay unicorn forcing you to ride them wow so symbol. Flytape it maybe me just reading too much into this but that's how I see it, but only because it sounds hilarious did I even bring it up. My apologies if you're not into my sense of comedy but I'm trying not to disparage you or gay people; it just seems if it's stressful for you maybe that's one more reason you'd been reconsidering the responsibilities of a moderator.

EDIT: duh there's a user called gay unicorn I'm dumb.

(...) there's a user called gay unicorn (...)

Yes.

Well thanks for not agreeing on the dumb part. I think. Hey do you like MyLittlePony?

Sorry, I'm not a "brony". The name is a nostalgic memento from the tribes game - the first one.

Niether am I, it was a wild guess.

Bah ha ha ha ha.

That edit bro.

Now they are asking me to step down

So they want me to ask this question of the community.

Who is "they" here? The "tard" bigots?

I don't see any reason to remove you. You've done a fine job and until someone can point to some specific abuses then I think you should stay on.

Thank you.

Someone got banned for racism, and you resigned in protest?

So I was invited back by the mods.

That's not exactly true Flytape. You were invited back by a single mod as far as I'm aware - without a discussion. The issue was never talked about between the team. you also never put your hat in the ring when r/conspiracy added the new mods.

A number of readers picked up on this so for the sakes of fairness i suggested you address the community and ask for their opinions on you being a moderator here.

I have no problems with your contributions but it is right to ask the wider community after the other mods were voted in.

Well then air your opinion.

From my point of view I was invited back.

Nobody spoke up then. No other mods said a word. Everything seemed fine. Truth is subjective to the perspective of he who speaks it.

My opinion is that the community has the right to decide who moderates the page, nothing more. You haven't done anything wrong on /r/conspiracy as far as i'm concerned but i was still surprised to discover that there was no discussion between the senior and new moderators before you were invited back.

I don't have any beef with you at all.

The way I see it, if he was voted in the first time, I see no reason why he shouldn't be allowed back in as long as the reason he first stepped down wasn't due to the community wanting it.

Flytape stepped down of his own accord. He's helpful to the team and i get on with him. All we wanted was to clarify with the user base if he should stay on as a mod, given he wasn't voted in after stepping down.

I don't have beef either.

I can't say that my trust in you specifically is absolute now, as it once was. But beef is for stew, not friends.

What about sharing a beef stew with friends, doesn't that count? I also do a mean lamb shank. As long as users here don't have issues with you being a mod there is no problem as far as im concerned, im sure the rest of the mods will feel the same.

You son of a....

I haven't had lamb in probably 3 weeks. Now you had to put it in my head.

I'm a huge foodie.

you also never put your hat in the ring when r/conspiracy added the new mods.

I did for him.

That didn't answer either of my questions but it's okay, cause now I know what I wanted to know: what's happening.

Indeed, this subreddit needs someone to flense away the obvious trolling. I have no complaints about the moderation here, but perhaps I haven't been entirely aware of the work that goes into that. After all, I don't see banned threads.

[deleted]

Well, my point was, I don't want to. And that's what a decent moderator does: filter the stuff I myself don't want to see. I guess I just wasn't aware of how much work that could be.

Why are so many posts deleted from /r/conspiracy? It seems like 90% of them are from here.

We are one of the few subs that participate.

I hate the mods in general, but I support Flytape from what I've seen of him so far!! I don't want the bastards to take over this website.

:(

You are the only moderator who is on my friend list and has been I think since before you were a moderator here. I don't know enough about the others to know for sure. I basically trust you, Flytape, and SovereignMan from what I've seen of your contributions to the site. Mr. Dong has concerned me in the past regarding his push of aliens and questionable calls on what gets stickied on top I think or promoted on the subreddit as far as side images go too. We've just disagreed in the past on what is of utmost best quality and what is there to make us look foolish or overly speculative. But take all this with a grain of salt because I could easily be fooled and overly judgmental as well. But I am very concerned with the quality of this subreddit going forward and I know there are people here who have no interest in uncovering or exposing the validity of conspiracies and would rather mock us, ridicule us, or inject absurdity in here to make us look bad.

Peace. Thanks for your openness Flytape! Someone at one time said the moderation log should be made public and I thought that was worth considering too. Peace.

Thanks for being moderators. It is a crucial, yet often thankless job. And I appreciate it when done with good intentions.

Thank you sir.

You're one of the only mods who actually seems to give a shit about enforcing the rules. If you left, I believe the sub would suffer.

Unless you truly feel that your interests would be better served elsewhere, I would say to resist any pressure you may be getting to step down.

Thank you sir.

yawn

I think you have always been fair and offer good commentary. I have RES and you are currently at +31.

Thank you.

Ban more trolls please.

I'm a huge foodie.

Thank you.

You son of a....

I haven't had lamb in probably 3 weeks. Now you had to put it in my head.

My stance on dealing with trolls is that everyone has a different opinion on who the troll is. Therefore I don't deal with trolls I deal with rules violations. 99% of the time this will eliminate the trolls. 1% of the time, the trolls follow the rules.

The problem with dealing directly with trolling while ignoring the rules is that 50% of the time you successfully remove a troll and the other 50% of the time you mistakenly remove a legit user who was having a bad day or just very emotional about some specific issue.

I would rather wait the troll out until they break the rules. And not just run around hacking arms and legs off of people who have differing opinions about something.

Its a tough balance.

please don't hesitate to report rules violations. Via mod mail or even directly to me.

There is one that I know of for sure that doesn't like me.

So are you actually surprised that the kind of person who would be interested in modding r conspiracy is under the impression that any and all criticism is the result of...wait for it...a conspiracy against them?

...another user

Looks like someone's got quite a multiple-personality disorder. :/