Six Members Suspended for 30-Days, Eight Others Given Additional Warnings
 

I have suspended the following members: apirchik, avek00, JonNYC, NJDavid, NJUPINTHEAIR and oiRRio for conduct unbecming of the community of FlyerTalk. Whether a violation of the TOS or the uncivil manner in which these members have decided to either protect or attack their points of view regarding the topic of miles and points, it is clear from the outpouring of correspondence from our members that this type of conduct is not welcome on FlyerTalk. To quote an email received today from one such member, "When I see the in-fighting and bashing, very often from long time posters and people who should know better, it really diminishes the entire FT experience for me. Imagine what a turnoff it must be for new people, lurking to get information, but having to wade through all the mudslinging. To me, that's sad." I cannot stand by and allow the FT experience of our members to be tarnished. Enough is enough. And frankly I feel this time out is even too light. For the record, these six members account for over 14,000 posts on FlyerTalk - more than enough to know how to post an opinion or defend an opinion about miles and points without the drama of name calling.

Additionally, eight other members (FC_Dave, Stockmanjr., ozstamps, Gaza, alexwuk, OttoGraham, Dave_C and iluv2fly) were given warnings of their very narrow escape of penalty in the disruption of FlyerTalk. This group of members account for over 24,000 posts (an average of 3,036 posts per member), again portraying the fact that there is absolutely no excuse for not knowing better about posting civilty.

The determination of these penalities was made from the observations of three members of my staff who read every post from five different threads. While familiar with FlyerTalk, none of them had any prior dealing with members of FlyerTalk and thus were (in my opinion) able to simply read without history the posts of members and how they either were within the guidelines of the spirit and intention of the TOS of FlyerTalk. Those given the 30-Day time out were members who were flagged by all three staff members. Those given final warnings were flagged by two of the three staff members.

I've tried to be fair with this imparital approach to moderation on FlyerTalk and only hope that those members who truly want to enjoy the best place on the Internet for frequent flyers can do so without interuption.

Individually I like these members and have read many of their posts. While sometimes differing in agreement with their positions, I still can live with their POV without an emotional response.

Bottom line: Play Nice.

[This message has been edited by Randy Petersen (edited 09-24-2003).]

Thank you. This entire situation had turned into a mess that could not be allowed to continue. I'm glad to see some resolution, for the next 30 days at least.

[This message has been edited by B747-437B (edited 09-25-2003).]

Randy, thank you for the action and for explaining the process. The method seems like very impartial. I know that I would have a hard time separating my perception of the person's contribution to FT from their recent posts. Your technique has done so admirably.

Thank you for confirming the boundaries which should not be crossed. Structure is a good thing http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif Randy, a big thank you to you and your staff, the time you put into Flyertalk is staggering, it's a shame you had to invest your time in something like this but I'm sure it will contribute to a peaceful relaxed place, at least for the next 30 days.

Seems like a just solution, and I hope that in 30 days time things remain "normal". That being said, I personally think even with these penalties, some got off too lightly.

Couldn't agree m00re with you...

While I can't say, aside from Randy's OP, that I'm familiar with the underlying reasons for this action, I think we can all agree that Randy is fairer than almost anyone, so I appreciate Randy's obvious commitment to the board and hope that the overall experience improves as a result of these changes.

Though I'm honestly sad that this had to happen - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Somehow I managed to miss this controversy entirely. It's a good change of pace from my usual being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I just wanted to say thank you to Randy for explaining the process. Transparancy is a good thing!

Randy,

Thank you...this seems like an incredibly fair way to "do the needful" as it were, though time consuming for you and your staff. Here's hoping it won't be necessary again.

This is a reasonable response to unreasonable behavior in your electronic living room. Thank you for explaining how you handled this.

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"Yes, but at least mine will be found in a first class seat." -- Peattie and Taylor

Guys... lets watch anything bordering on a personal attack or commentary about one poster here... I see a couple of posts above that are sticking a toe over the line.

Randy isn't in the mood to tolerate these... and I don't want to see any more warnings get handed out. If you think your post might meet that criteria (personal attack or commentary about one poster), you might consider editing your post.

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Moderator - FlyerTalk Community & Women Travelers

Randy...you are such a great leader for FT.

Your points are correct, objective and completely logical.

Thank you for standing firm with this issue.

Blessings and Peace.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

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Patrick A. Inouye, LMT
volunteer trip reports moderator

I, and anyone else here not privy to the threads that caused this, are very unlikely to see anything in the previous posts that even resemble a personal attack. Don't stir up trouble where it doesn't exist, please http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif


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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Ben Franklin

Randy-

Thank you for taking these steps. You have, in one stroke, made it much easier to productively participate in several forums.

-jeremy