The Admin In Question

Hmm... I remember it a little differently.

Why yes, yes it was 2010. It was Spring, a season of hope. The Germans wore grey. You wore blue.

Sing it Sam

I remember every detail.

I am of course the Admin in question so let me tell you how it looked from my perspective.

At DocuDharma, from day one (well, actually about day 15 because we had quite a debate about it, one in which I did not participate much because I did not care), we collectively decided that it was fruitless and divisive to discuss Israel / Palestine issues and that all posts regarding them had to be submitted for approval by the Admins, who numbered about 15 or 20 of which very few were active.

This policy was prominently featured in our (few) rules and indeed is today since I have altered them not a jot since buhdydharma published them in 2007.

We, meaning I, had gone to the trouble of setting up an elaborate system of dispute mediation using a separate site (presaging the dK setup by several years) in which we, meaning all Admins, could discuss disciplinary actions and arrive at a concensus.

Disciplinary actions- what were they? Well, except in cases of egregious and persistent misbehavior, that meant suspension from posting for various lengths of time. That can look like banishment because there is only the one button in the software (Soapblox at the time) that turns off people's access. There is one next to it that also erases all your posts and comments. Buhdydharma used it twice, I never used it at all. You should have to stand by your words which are posted in a public forum for anyone to see.

As for our roles? Buhdy was the good cop, site Ambassador, his job was to get people excited- posting and interacting. I was the bad cop, responsible for the jejune chores of maintaining the sites (both the public and administrative ones), making sure we had regular content even if I had to write it myself, and, oh yeah, enforcing the rules. I did not resent my position, I spent 14 - 18 hours a day at it because I loved it.

I rarely had to enforce the rules because for the most part debate was civil and people respected them, though we had some quite heated debates. When I did I would usually issue several warnings to the offending poster before cutting them off.

As happened during the case in question. A regular poster, not an Admin, put up a piece about I/P that quickly degenerated into a flame fest. I saw this and advised buhdy via the Admin site that I thought the proper course of action would be to temporarily remove it from the recent list ("Community" here) until it could be evaluated and tempers cooled. I was over ruled by him. Soon enough there were 5 or 6 rebuttal and supporting posts clogging the recent list with no sign of it ever stopping. I composed a quick Meta piece that pointed out our site rules and said that while no one would be sanctioned for what had already happened, in the immediate future all posts on the subject would be screened for content.

I thought I was being sort of moderate but people did not agree. I received and responded to a fair amount of criticism with what I hope was good humor (I have not modified any of it in any way, though I could).

Dharmasyd was particularly virulent and objectively anti-Semetic (I told you, I don't care and I'm privately a little pro-Palestinian, Netanyahu is an asshole). I warned her many times and then suspended her. SUSPENDED. Per procedure I posted my actions on the Admin site.

Well, buhdy booted me entirely because Dharmasyd was his friend. I'm sorry, one of my big beefs with dK is that they're bullies that play favorites and DocuDharma is supposed to be (and is now) the opposite of that. I stand by my decision and I do so today.

Frankly it hurt more than either banishment from dK because I was a founder and it did, and continues to, reflect a large part of my Meta vision about how sites should operate.

Soon enough (6 months) buhdy and Nightprowlkitty discovered they couldn't handle the pace and announced DocuDharma would cease publication. I contacted buhdy and attempted to buy the site for what I considered a fair price, though it was beyond my means. He told me in so many words that it would be a cold day in hell before he gave me control.

I got in touch with TMC and Edger and they made an offer he couldn't refuse- nothing.

But it was attractive to On The Bus who was the actual owner (just like TMC actually owns my sites, I only run them) and in January 2011 control changed.

So you can blame everything since then on me. It's been 7 years and I've modified some of my personal goals. Transferring to WordPress was a big deal and currently our scheme is busted and we can't expect any satisfaction until things settle down in the new year. My primary site is the one I set up in exile from DocuDharma, The Stars Hollow Gazette.

It would be nice to have more audience participation but I write as I always have, for me. I'm given to understand we have Twitter prominence but I don't Twit. I have never given a rat's ass what people think and I don't today.

Tags: 
Share
up
0 users have voted.

Comments

I don't expect I'll respond much, I have better things to do (like run my sites).

up
0 users have voted.

@ek hornbeck
thanks for giving your side of the story. I tried to be obscure in my essay and only used it to make my case as to how contentious issues can be detrimental to the health of a site. What happened there really hurt as I loved that site and it was my first blog home. And as I said in my essay, and as a complement to you, much of the design and concept of this site was borrowed from Docudharma.

As I mentioned in subsequent comments in the threads I really didn't have a detailed recollection of how exactly it went down, only that it was triggered by I/P and the site was never the same afterward. I only remembered bits and pieces but the overall conclusion has never left me. I know an alternate viewpoint was on display in the comments and I would think that is what brought you here. But anyway I'm glad you wrote this and I hope it doesn't lead to a flame war.

up
0 users have voted.

@JtC Not my intent and I don't blame you. Post any time. It was indeed that thread that irked me because it was an unfair characterization of what actually happened.

Do I feel bad? I have the site, buhdy has retired, and at 120+ I'm still full of piss and vinegar.

up
0 users have voted.

@ek hornbeck
damn man, what's your secret.

up
0 users have voted.

I'm fictional.

up
0 users have voted.

@ek hornbeck
I'm a blues lyric:

I got a black cat bone
I got a mojo too
I got John the Conqueroo
I'm gonna mess with you
I'm gonna make you girls
Lead me by my hand
Then the world'll know
The hoochie-coochie man

up
0 users have voted.
janis b's picture

@JtC

[video:https://youtu.be/s1LshkzoBWg]

... a favourite of our family of three, from age 7 on. ...

up
0 users have voted.

@janis b
Biggrin

up
0 users have voted.
janis b's picture

@JtC

is always appreciated. Keeping the balance is key ...

[video:https://youtu.be/w6bJk8L5HOQ]

up
0 users have voted.
Wink's picture

@ek hornbeck
Stop back when the mood strikes. I, too, write for my own sanity, and don't much give a fuck what anyone else thinks. I read a Lot more than I write, and mostly write to hear myself talk.

up
0 users have voted.

the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

Well... I feel kind of bad that I'm not more active but I HAVE TWO SITES I have to provide content for and it takes some time.

I was checking in so I could see if you needed some ek'smas content because it's a slack time of year, those who are reading are desperate for distraction, and it's been a while and I didn't want you to think I was dead.

up
0 users have voted.

@ek hornbeck
have at it.

up
0 users have voted.

there is Scrooge and Hessians and Boxing Day. I'm working on Festivus.

I'm happy to cross post any of it.

up
0 users have voted.

@ek hornbeck
that was a classic.

up
0 users have voted.

I've been riding the moderator/admin bronco for three years now. That hoss ain't easy to ride, brother.

up
0 users have voted.

@JtC September 2007. Smooth.

up
0 users have voted.

@ek hornbeck
No bumps at all?

My point stands as to hard it is to stay in the saddle when all hell breaks loose.

up
0 users have voted.
janis b's picture

@JtC @JtC

how does one successfully engage the brakes (when all hell breaks loose), and the pads are worn.

Hoping this year brings the support that is needed all around.

up
0 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

@JtC

I've only seen things get out of hand a very few times here. I'm sure it's hard for you to not jump in and let loose on some of our comments.

It's good to hear from you again, Ek. Another voice that I've missed hearing. Don't be a stranger..

up
0 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

OLinda's picture

Darn! Now I want to watch that movie again. I don't suppose Netflix has it though.

up
0 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

@OLinda

I found it on YouTube. It says that it costs $2.99, but it played for me without paying anything.

Casablanca

up
0 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

Dharmasyd was particularly virulent and objectively anti-Semetic

all these years later.

I seem to recall docudharma had a strict policy against calling out other posters in essays, especially when making baseless allegations with no supporting evidence.

I believe it is a policy we should adopt here.

up
0 users have voted.

The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

@Not Henry Kissinger @Not Henry Kissinger

Evidently there were different perspectives there.

... Dharmasyd was particularly virulent and objectively anti-Semetic (I told you, I don't care and I'm privately a little pro-Palestinian, Netanyahu is an asshole). I warned her many times and then suspended her. SUSPENDED. ...

Lucky I wasn't there, lol - I'd have been suspended, too, for having the same perspective, only more so... oh, well, from mine, it's all very old history from another site and time.

Edit: assuming that the bracketed part was what she was expressing.

up
0 users have voted.

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

I'm not sure if this essay qualifies as a confession, a rationalization, or simply a pathetic cry for attention.

How did it feel to massacre a blog ek? Did it give you a special warm glow inside? Did you laugh like Robespierre as you brought the guillotine down one by one on all of us?

Or maybe the intoxicating power of the banhammer was just too much for a petty martinet mind like yours to resist? Was it your Preciousss?

Or perhaps you simply felt nothing for all those voices you silenced? Just the rush of a stone cold killer with zero empathy for his fellow bloggers.

And to this day, do you still feel no regret for destroying a vibrant progressive community? No remorse? No guilt?

Of course you don't, because as you are so proud of telling us:

I have never given a rat's ass what people think and I don't today.

which is just another way of saying that you had no business being the moderator of a blog like docudharma in the first place.

But even your utter lack of empathy for the people you abused and community you murdered is not the creepiest part of your essay:

I contacted buhdy and attempted to buy the site for what I considered a fair price, though it was beyond my means. He told me in so many words that it would be a cold day in hell before he gave me control.

So after you killed off the guy's blog you tried to buy it from him? Quite the disaster capitalist aren't you? Tell me, did you base your 'fair' price on traffic before you killed the blog or after the corpse was already six months rotting?

And even after the owner rejected your offer and made it quite clear he didn't want you anywhere near the blog, why did you still eventually weasel your way back into control (while paying the 'fair' price of nothing)?

Huh? Why would you do that?

Does it give you some perverse satisfaction to lord over the bones of your victims? Perhaps you feel like Jeffrey Dahmer building a temple out of skulls so he can talk to the ghosts? Do you do that? Do you go through old posts and read the comments to remember the lively, thoughtful, funny discussions that no longer happen there? Or do you instead take solace in the fact that the discussers are all finally quieted - silenced shadows that can never again challenge your certitude and authority.

Personally, if I had killed docudharma, I would have slunk quietly back into the slimy bog from whence I crawled, hanging my head in disgrace at my crime.

I certainly would NOT be posting on other sites to brag about how I'd do it again while shamelessly promoting my other blogs.

Nor would I still be living in the same blog hotel where I had killed or chased off all the guests.

That's just crazy.

up
0 users have voted.

The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

@Not Henry Kissinger Pictures!

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Mine move.

I've always been the caretaker. Quite proud of it actually.

Every one knows Dahmer didn't build temples. You use skulls for stock.

Buhdy intended to kill DocuDharma with fire, that would have been your prefered solution?

I'm a great admirer of Robspierre, a sadly misunderstood figure- "La terreur n'est autre chose que la justice prompte, sévère, inflexible; elle est donc une émanation de la vertu; elle est moins un principe particulier, qu’une conséquence du principe général de la démocratie, appliqué aux plus pressants besoins de la patrie." Ah, well- "Tout institution qui ne suppose pas le peuple bon et le magistrat corruptible est vicieuse." I forgive you.

If you read closely you'll recognize that I never banned anyone ever. Indeed in this case it would have been impossible as I was banned myself far more permanently than Dharmasyd (You should go back and check her comments, only possible because I saved them. I did, clearly anti-Semetic.). But it's true enough that I have zero empathy for my fellow bloggers, it's an Avatar people, a Player Character, it's not you. There is nothing personal about it except the time you put into building your reputation (and I'm very happy with mine, you should be afraid).

This was fun. You should try it again sometime. Please be a little better prepared, it was too easy.

up
0 users have voted.

@ek hornbeck
I have to run out for a bathroom break, don't do anything until I get back, OK?

up
0 users have voted.
orlbucfan's picture

I do not envy anyone who starts/runs/moderates any site which is gonna talk politics. I stepped over my line of decorum yesterday. JtC knows what I'm talking about here. I have a big cyber mouth, am a lefty political junkie, and sometimes it gets out of control. I then get off the thread pronto. I respect the site rules, and agree with slamming the lid down when emotions get out of control. Thanks for this thread--no snark. Rec'd!!

up
0 users have voted.

Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.

gulfgal98's picture

Many years ago, I was a founding member and mod at a NASCAR racing site. The owner decided we needed non-racing board and then when politics crept into that board, the owner created a political board. We had two main problem members. One was a female who was a drama queen 24/7 and the other was a guy who consistently tried to start political fights. Both were put into time out multiple times, but the owner allowed them both to return because the owner was friends with both.

While most of the racing discussions were reasonably civil, the rest of the site eventually descended into chaos which often bled over to the racing boards with vicious personal attacks. So it can happen to any site, including a racing site.

Eventually, it became unbearable when the personal attacks ruled the entire site. So, I left the site right after stating my reasons why and was promptly banned. That site was far smaller than C99, but if there are people intent upon causing disruption, it will happen.

JtC has done a remarkable job of ensuring we adhere to our only real rule on this site, respect for one another.

up
0 users have voted.

Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

That invited me to write for docudharma, but that quickly became my favorite site. A few people were finally waking up to the reality of the GOS and docu seemed like the cutting edge against the Establishment Dems.

Except....Israel. If you read any of my The Usual Suspects series back in those days, you'd know where I stood. Eks mistake was not realizing being anti Israel is not being anti Semetic. Many felt banning dharmacyde was tantamount to supporting the neocons. What it really said to all of us was the Establishment shills had followed us over and ek came off looking like an establishment enabler.
I was so sad to see the place collapse soon after.

up
0 users have voted.

@Battle of Blair Mountain It was, and is what it was, and is.

I never felt being anti-Israel was anti-Semetic and Dharmasyd crossed the line.

You are welcome to write for us today (granted the WordPress platform makes it less easy).

It wounds me to the core (ok, not really, my ego is much too robust for that) you consider me a neocon/Establishment shill. My writing certainly belies it.

Dharmasyd was suspended, not banned, and any collapsing was well under way before I was purged ala Trotsky (hey, at least I didn't end up with an ice pick in my forehead). A 50% decline in participation (I have an audience and I was carrying much more than that in administration) was only to be expected as I in turn expected the departure of buhdy fans.

I'm not surprised that they turned up here, heck I turned up here, and I've never deluded myself that I'm popular.

I'll appeal to volume now. I don't skulk in a cave on a mountain top contemplating the cosmic significance of my navel and tending my goats (though I would be great at that), instead I write twice a day (at least) and hold myself open for all comers.

up
0 users have voted.
Pluto's Republic's picture

@ek hornbeck

....It didn't faze me a bit when you banned me. Because I was tormenting Armando. It was an interesting time during the first Internet build-out, and we were hanging out on several different sites making all kinds of discoveries and watching micro civilizations rise and fall. I never expected to see the end of it, but here it is. We have outgrown this one, anyway and it leaks like a sieve. I predict that very shortly we (the unassimilated and the young) will be jumping onto the new encrypted stateless mesh-networked blockchain Internet where we can frontier all over again with unlimited free access for all. I'm amused that the capitalists think they now own the Internet. We must encourage them to lay more broadband — and then leave them holding the bag. The zombie state is eternally doomed to mediocrity by its very nature.

You'll always be a bit bigger than life, ek. It makes me happy to see you.

My best wishes to you and yours for the coming New Year.

up
0 users have voted.

____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato

@Pluto's Republic Well, you probably deserved it. I don't think it was me because I mostly left Armando to his own devices and only intervened to make sure he retained the Admin status he needed to prevent doxing. He's a total jerk and one of the few people I'd go out of my Roger Murdock, old man dragging Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes way to see should Netroots return to a sane location like Providence (I mean Texas in August? C'mon.).

I like you. I always liked you. Have a video.

What? Backstreet Boys? I'm way hipper than that.

You should mail me. You have the address.

up
0 users have voted.
Pluto's Republic's picture

@ek hornbeck

They are here, you know. There are people alive today who will be essentially immortal.

It would be a much better world if people lived long enough to fully experience the messes they make. Got a hot tip for you on some Internet mischief this weekend.

up
0 users have voted.

____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato