Eduardo X wrote:Neal, why do you have a picture of Eddy X as your avatar?
Because Andy hasn't changed it in the last 12 hours or so?
wire, I'd tend to agree with a bunch of what you said there. This thread has shown the need for a more consistent message from the staff. As I've said a few times, the initial reluctance to release information related to tony's most recent banning was a (personal) hesitance with regard to how much information was appropriate to release. I felt as it it'd be better if staff, as a group, decided what to release. I also stuck my foot in my mouth with regard to just what information we had that was available when we had banned tony. I (rightly) got called out for that by fellow staff members who thought it made us look like a bunch of keystone cops.
Having a consistent PR message released from staff isn't going to do *anything* for folks who want more transparency in moderation activities around here, but it'd do a lot for some of the back-and-forth snipeyness that folks fall into, and it'd also have the effect of ensuring staff conveyed a consistent message. I'd be 100% for it in most circumstances.
Unfortunately, there is one bit of uniqueness regarding the makeup of staff. We don't work together. We don't all live in the same timezone, country, or hemisphere. We are under no obligation to "cover the same hours" or all be working in-step at the same time. If we're to operate only through one unified voice, responses from staff would likely have to be delayed by 24+ hours before the forum would hear an official peep from us.
Most of us were originally brought onto staff because we showed maturity and rational behavior. Our current system is far from perfect (as my own behavior shows, *very* far from perfect), but it does work. Some staff members are paragons of upstanding behavior. Quick, someone point out poor behavior by ImLawBoy, setaside, or Blackhawk (amongst others). Others of us have a difficult time knowing when to keep our big traps shut (cue neon arrow pointing to myself). But when we "work" in an enviornment where response time can be critical and where we're not afforded the luxury of waiting until emotions cool down before we need to jump in and make our responses known, there definitely will be times when we end up stumbling about a bit.
We're humans with human foibles (excepting Peacedog, who's extra appendages have elevated him closer to being the perfect being). We're gonna stick our foots in it every now and then. Hopefully never so bad that we can't pick up the pieces, reevaluate where we screwed up, and move forward.
Anyway, thanks for the note.
~Neal