Unfairly target

[Susan Otcenas]

Mods, can we kill the thread?

As much as I might like to see the thread die, closing the thread would regrettably play into the hands of members who feel like we (admins) are squashing an open discussion of policies.

So, no matter what I do, I'd make someone unhappy or mad or sad or threaten to leave. None of which I'd like to see happen.

I'd very much like to thank everyone for their frankness. And for the most part, the discussion has stayed quite civil, which again, I thank you for. Over the years, one of things I've been most impressed about is how civil these forums are, so unlike so many other forums on the internet. I'd like to think it's because we've found so much more to celebrate as a community, rather than finding discord in our differences.

As someone pointed out in an earlier post, the thread seems to have split somewhat into 2 parts. 1) a discussion of the OP selling potentially commercial items on the forums, which is not a permitted practice, and 2) a discussion of how policies are developed and reviewed on the forums.

In regards to point one - as I've stated, our policy is to not permit commercial posts. Period. We happily and freely provide a For Sale/Wanted section on the forums for the buying/selling/trading of used personal items. We have no intent to charge for that service. I'm delighted to hear that so many people have had successful transactions finding a new home for someone else's unwanted items. Unfortunately for the OP, she has, over many months, listed items that were "new", "test-ridden", "professionally boxed", etc., sometimes in multiple units. Because of the overwhelmingly commercial appearance of these posts, those postings were moderated. The OP was not asked to leave the forums. As many have noted, her advice and input over her time in the forums have been very valuable to many in the forum community, and we are delighted to have her be a part of it. What's important for everyone to understand is that we would have moderated the offending For Sale posts, REGARDLESS of her tenure here on the forums.

As to point two (discussion of how policies are developed and reviewed on the forums), I'm very torn about what to do about this. The democratic thing for me to do would be to create a subforum where these types of discussions could take place. I'm *somewhat* open to that idea. My reservation about it, if I may be so frank, is that the reality is that administering these forums is not my full-time job. I have a business to run, a task that requires all of my concentration in the current economic climate. I don't think that any of the forum's current rules are onerous, and having the rules in place has so far allowed these forums to run pretty much autonomously for quite a few years. So, again speaking frankly, I feel like I would be creating a solution (a subforum) in search of a problem that isn't that much of a problem.

It's Monday, I have a boatload of paperwork on my desk, so I'm off to get some work done.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day, complete with sunshine and tailwinds.

Susan