Magui, please don't go. I don't know why so many people seem to be under the impression you're banned. I distinctively heard Faith say:
never did I say you were going to be banned.
So don't go OK. You don't have to. I and many others would be happier if you stayed. You find all the good obscure news, and stuff. I rely on you. Plus you're fun. I'd miss that.
But now to the rules. As a
member of these boards, I also have some questions as regards the rules in this matter.
At first I thought I should private message Faith and ask my questions confidentially, but now I'm thinking "No. It's time to hash this kind of stuff out publicly, before there are any more misunderstandings."
First of all here's the rule:
Misuse of Board Pms and Emails
Board private messages (pms) and emails are for members private use in chatting with other members. Abuse of these features - especially using them to spam - is not tolerated and will result in banning from the boards.
Now here's what's wrong with it.
1. The word "spam" is often used by the administrators of this board in a manner that contradicts the official definition of the word. Often when they speak of spam they are referring to mindless little off-topic, quips. These may be irritating, but they aren't what's generally thought of as spam.
Spam is when you are emailed or messaged, with the express purpose of solicitation for some sort of personal advantage.
So here's the problem; You can't expect an english as a second language person, or for that matter anyone unaware of the official definition of spam not to be confused when he or she reads the rule.
2. There's spam and there's spam.
If I got a porno link from a stranger in my PM box I'd be majorly upset. I'd contact Faith, I'd expect that member to be banned, and if he wasn't I'd leave myself. That's one kind of spam.
If I got a link from a stranger to go to his site of business in my PM box, that's another kind of spam. I'd be pissed. I'd PM a return, and I'd be nasty. There would be definite F words involved.
If I got a link from a stranger referring me to a Buffy site they're trying to get going, well... that's actually happened. I just ignored it. Nevertheless, that is spam. I'd expect the owners of the site to be even more angry about this than I'd be, because someone would be using the site they'd sunk time and money into to steal members who had come to them legitimately.
But now suppose a friend had emailed me any of those links, even if the link wasn't to his own site, but to the site of a friend of his. Is it still spam? Technically yes, but as a member, rather than as an administrator you feel differently towards such messages. On a personal level, you don't think of such messages as a problem you have to deal with.
3. There's the possibility of a privacy issue. It may be against the rules to spam in personal messages, but how is it monitored.
If the administrator gets a complaint, you would expect him or her to deal with it.
On the other hand suppose the administrator was reading personal messages.
It might be OK from a legal standpoint provided a warning appeared in the EULA, nevertheless, in the personal opinion of this member, I wouldn't like it.
*
OK, now let's look at it from the administrators point of view.
You want to run a friendly family board. You don't want complaints.
I've hung out at enough boards to tell you nothing will get you complaints faster than spam (and when I say spam I'm speaking of the traditional definition).
An administaror might be aware that some spam is worse than others, still his or her mods have to be held to a higher standard than the regular member. otherwise people will be thinking, "well Joe the moderator seems to be able to do it, so I can do it too".
Any action the administrator decides to take, will be taken with that in mind.
The person in charge might decide a radical response is required to set an example. He or she might decide to tell the person his or her services as a moderator are no longer required.
Again I'd point out to Magui, you don't appear to be banned. If you were banned for that particular infraction, it would disturb me. I'd wonder if I wanted to stay here myself.
I'd like to point out to Mags though, there are other rules here. One that's been mentioned again and again is the rule against bashing other people in posts.
I'd have a hard time supporting anyone who thought public insults and put-downs were an acceptable response to a disagreement over the rules. Calm down.
Anyway...that's it. This whole thing upsets me. I just felt like putting in my 2 cents, so I did. One thing I've always liked about this site, is the willingness of the administrators to be open to rational discussion even when they themselves might not necessarily agree with what's being said.
I really hope Magui decides to stick around, and I hope Faith will find it in her heart to write off a few of the remarks made earlier in this thread as emotional reaction to an emotional issue.