The Syndicate

S~V~S wrote:Actually, guys, this was my idea. The original point of the experiment was that someone had said to me something quite the opposite of what is being said here. They had an issue in a game I was not modding with someone, etc., not really any of anyones business

But they said they would have felt more comfortable venting, less self conscious, if they did not know who they were venting to. So I thought it might be worth a try to experiment. Obviously it was a bust, and will no longer be happening.

So sorry for bringing the icky

Sorry if you feel like I was shitting on your idea, SVS. Was just trying to provide feedback for the experiment. Those of us who spoke out against the idea may very well be outnumbered by those who are in favour of it, in which case it should obviously continue as a practice. I'm glad that this site is one where new policies and practices are experimented with, and where feedback is welcome.

Yeah, for me the anonyMOD thing just sort of removes the human element of interaction with the MODs (and in doing so works against the focus on personal interaction and community building that makes this site awesome, imho). Nameless, faceless, voiceless, identity-less MODs make me think that all the MODs are one sort of Borg-ish clique, and that if I choose to contact one, it feels less likely that my privacy is going to be respected, or that I am going to be treated like an individual (if the MODs themselves aren't handled as individual humans, how could the cases they interact with be?). Personal contact is the #1 groundrule of good customer service or client relations practices. I've only had one interaction with an MOD in the past (in this case, I was contacted by the MOD to ease up on some behavior; I have yet to seek out help from a MOD), and knowing who that MOD was as a person was very much a factor in allowing me to immediately be receptive to their feedback, because I respect them as an individual and value their insight and intelligence. Moreover, this MOD interacted with me in a courteous and personal fashion, displaying that they also respected me as an individual. A sockpuppet contacting me would absolutely NOT have had the same effect. Even though intellectually I know that I respect and value each MOD who could be behind the sockpuppet account, and thus it logically really shouldn't matter who contacts me or what account they use, emotionally it just feels gross to be chastised by a cartoon picture with no identifiable human behind it, and I would have a hard time letting go of that initial ickyness, no matter how much I might respect the individual hiding behind the mask in any other context.

Does that make sense? That all turned a bit ramble....