Regarding midnight, gabby and the Timog Forum Rules

[nick]

Here's an account of the extraordinary events that happened in Timog Forum recently (and why everyone should follow the rules).

On January 6, someone registered as "bewareofme" in Timog Forum and promptly posted a profanities-laden invective directed against another member, gabby. The post was automatically displayed on the front page. We were alerted to this post by several members through the automatic reporting feature of the website and by a phone call from a member to a Super Moderator.

Immediately after getting online, I removed the offending thread (which was made of replies from two other members and two more posts from bewareofme) from the Communities Forum and off the front page.

Bewareofme posted a second thread verbally abusing the moderators for deleting her thread. She was then banned and her IP address blocked, thereby preventing her from further accessing Timog Forum.

There were many possibilties as to who made these posts (as gabby has offended quite a lot of people in Timog Forum because of his provocative comments). However, after I remembered a thread which I closed (http://www.timog.com/forum/showthread.php?t=196 1) a day earlier because of some heated arguments, another member, midnight, the owner of the thread, became the top suspect.

I compared the IP addresses of midnight and bewareofme; they matched. Either there were two people accessing Timog Forum from the same Internet connection or midnight and bewareofme were one and the same person. At any rate, even if there were really two people, the same IP address has to be blocked and midnight still bears responsibility for having someone else use her Internet connection (or her computer) to post offending messages in Timog Forum.

After consulting with the Super Moderators, I sent a message to midnight the following day informing her that she is banned from Timog Forum for posting the highly offensive messages as bewareofme. I also wrote that if she acknowledge her wrongdoing, apologize for her actions and promise to improve her behaviour, we would consider giving her a second chance.

Later the same day, I also sent a message to gabby and gave him a formal warning (he has been given numerous cautions before) not only for posting provocative replies to midnight in her thread that prompted her actions, but also for generally disruptive behaviour in the forums, like posting inappropriate and rude comments and repeatedly violating the Rules. He was informed that 3 warnings will earn him a ban.

Immediately after receiving my message, midnight replied back acknowledging her misdeeds and profusely apologized for her lapse in judgment and for offending all members of Timog Forum. Moreover, she promised to abide by the rules and be in her best behaviour if given a second chance to participate in Timog Forum. As punishment, she was given a 1-month ban from Timog Forum which started the day after her last message.

Gabby, on the other hand, refused to have anything to do with the whole affair, denying any responsibility and specifically refused even to try to improve his behaviour. Then two days after his reply, on January 11, he posted a message (http://www.timog.com/forum/showthread.php?t=203 8) in the forums implying that we staged the whole event, that we ourselves posted or hired someone else to post the thread aimed at him.

I gave him a second warning. He continued his tirade without remorse; he was banned.

After almost two years of existence, Timog Forum just banned two members in a space of just a few days. And all this is because certain members don't follow the Rules -- midnight for one foolish mistake, and gabby for repeated and intentional flaunting of the Rules.

Timog Forum is very open; anyone can register and post in the forums without restrictive moderation. The only condition is that everyone follow the Rules. (It is understood at everyone who registers in Timog Forum agrees to the rules of proper behaviour, something which gabby find hard to understand.) At the very least, we expect everyone to treat other members in a civilized manner.

A community whose members don't follow the rules is a community that is doomed to fail. We have rules here in Timog Forum; please follow them.

[maple]

Mga Ka- Timog Forum,

Let's not make it any harder for Nick and the Super Moderators to run a decent site for us.

Sa ika-uunlad ng Timog Forum, pakikisama ang kailangan:)

[abakitba]

You were probably way too kind already.

[pointblank]

A community whose members don't follow the rules is a community that is doomed to fail. We have rules here in Timog Forum; please follow them.

I must say that Nick and the other moderators handled this affair quite well. The explanation above was clear and transparent. Magaling kayong mag-damage control, maybe the Japanese government & the Bush administration can pick up a few tips from you guys about being upfront and honest.

As one of the members who often dives into complicated issues and convoluted arguments with my "strong" opinions, I know that it is cheeky and presumptuous for me to say this, but: let's all make an effort to avoid personal attacks and make posts that throw blanket accusations and disparagement.

Some threads are started with a very obvious hidden agenda - not to create meaningful discussion but to elicit provocative remarks or to give posters the chance to disparage other people/races with evil pleasure. Plis lang, let's not make Timog Forum a venue for bigotry.

Sometimes, for the sake of making a point, generalizations may have to be made. However, blanket statements making fun of people with glee are a different matter. And please be aware that just because a poster has inserted a disclaimer (such as "not everyone is... but....-degrading comments- ...) does not exempt him/her from the responsibilities of making a generalization. You cannot say "I was not generalizing because I said 'not everyone is' in my post" when the intent to generalize is so clear.

To be honest, after an absence of a couple of months, I was surprised by the level of direct hostility and bigotry in many of the recent posts. Fellow TF members, let's discuss & argue with civility - and not turn the forum into a K1 ring.:)

[Dkid]

Loud and clear.
Thank you for creating this forum.
It really made a difference.

The first time I saw this forum, I was so glad and immediately joined. People are so decent, intelligent and tact. Even the teenagers were so glad to stope their heads when reminded by their elder peers when they go beyond the rules. There was harmony and I can see Nick's close up smile welcoming newbies when they come to register and declare:...welcome to tf... you will enjoy...mababait ang mga members dito. But now, it seems some people are holding back, just satisfied reading, maybe afraid of being virtually mauled, if he/she misses some rules.

People became so engrossed with abiding the rules, that when someone miss a single step or may have joined the "lapse of judgement" club, he/she will be vulnerable to a virtual assasination. In my personal opinion, there are a lot of would be thread starters or posters who hold back and just enjoy reading for fear of being virtually assasinated. In this kind of situation, harmony dissipates into thin air. For some will apologize and honorably accept their "lapse of judgement", but for others, they will resort to mudslinging by attacking the poster in the guise of joining the thread.

Mine is just a suggestion, let us not be confrontational. If we saw somebody who is fishing or violated some tf rules, we might as well send him/her a pm or just make a report to the moderators for proper action. In as much as we wanted harmony in this forum, we might as well try not to remind somebody of his/her misses in a manner that we won't be making a fuss, for it might touched his/her ego and may go to hybernation.

Peace

[betong]

I, too, miss the old wholesome TF. Hopefully after all this, people will start to understand that TF is a virtual community where, like in any other community, for harmony to reign, people will have to remember that there are other people to consider and certain rules of civility are to be followed.
I agree with Dkid that whistle-blowing is not too much fun, but from time to time, I guess, people have to be reminded to 'behave'.

[adechan]

:tiphat: hats off po ako sa inyo sir Nick and the rest of wonderful people behind this Timog Forum

[fisher]

Now I knew what had happened.Dito kasi,kapag may umpugan ng ulo pukpukin mo nang husto pero pagkatapos nu'n kamayan na!Ganyan lang we are one family.Ako nga naglayas pero bumalik din this is our home away from home! I salute you midnight for acknowledging your misdeeds.Mabuhay ka!

[docomo]

Noted Sir Nick... I understand your genuine concern :)

[picty8]

VERY CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD....Well mga ka TF we should follow the RULES!
Peace and Happiness to everyone

[City_rabbit]

Loud and clear.
Thank you for creating this forum.
It really made a difference.

The first time I saw this forum, I was so glad and immediately joined. People are so decent, intelligent and tact. Even the teenagers were so glad to stope their heads when reminded by their elder peers when they go beyond the rules. There was harmony and I can see Nick's close up smile welcoming newbies when they come to register and declare:...welcome to tf... you will enjoy...mababait ang mga members dito. But now, it seems some people are holding back, just satisfied reading, maybe afraid of being virtually mauled, if he/she misses some rules.

Just like Dkid, I joined for the same reasons...(already posted in another thread).

Like Betong, I miss the TF - I knew when I joined....last August 2005.

Yes, Dkid, there came a time when I was just happy reading for a while....holding back as you said...

But now, with the NEW YEAR and hopefully a NEW and Better TF -
If you all don't mind, I plan to stay here. Okay?

As always, I will try my best to be as helpful, considerate to the needs of all members- pledge to post honestly, responsible and most of all, be true to myself (my feelings and thoughts).

Infact, the first time I joined- I wanted to post my true photo- (instead of the rabbit avatar)

Putting my real photo would be a sign that I am ready to make many friends here at TF.... But, because of how things turned out for a while at TF, I decided to keep the rabbit avatar...

In the meantime, I will see how TF will be - then I will decide -maybe a day will come when I will take off the rabbit costume...:cool:

[taki]

I would like to commend the moderators for a job well done. In every institution, there are rules set and shouldbe strictly followed. As members, we are here to abide by the rules and live together peacefully. We are just but humans and we are all prone to commit certain mistakes. But that doesn`t give us an excuse to commit a repititive mistake. What`s important is we acknowledge whatever mistakes we`ve done and make sure to correct it. We therefore move on despite the differences and be more helpful to everyone in a civil manner. Strive harder to make this community a better place to live in. As TF moves thoughout the year and the years to come, may we become more closer and be one as a family. To all of us, God bless...

[selina]

....hello members!!!i was not aware that such controversies had happened in the forum ,,,its sad for the other two members but i hope everything will work out well ;) saludo po ako sa mga moderators for handling the problem,,,,,mabuhay po kayong lahat!!!

[pointblank]

Nick & other moderators, please correct me if I am wrong, but here is another admonition I felt must be made after reading the controversial threads involved. It seems that some people are getting the wrong idea.

Dear people, just because a person starts a thread does not mean that he/she OWNS it exclusively. You cannot start a thread, proceed to make all sorts of disparaging attacks and unfair comments, then tell people who disagree with you to get out of "my" thread.

Remember: even if you start a thread, you DO NOT OWN IT. Timog Forum owns everything here and can regulate all threads, and we all have the duty of being responsible members making reasonable comments. If you want to own something so totally and imperiously, start your own forum.

Quoting Desiree Verdadero (a "verbally challenged" Bb. Pilipinas in the 1980s) when asked at the final interview portion of the Miss Universe contest on what she would tell the women of the world if she won Miss U, "I tell them it's a pride ... and goodwill and peace for mankind, tengkuuu!" So, peace sa ating lahat! :)

[nick]

Thanks for pointing that out, pointblank.

As a rule all posts in Timog Forum are "owned" by their individual authors, not by us. However, we take it that being a member of Timog Forum is a tacit approval by the authors to grant us the right to reproduce them here (why else would they register and post, right?). It is also a recognition that the management has the power to regulate what gets posted in this website.

Although no member owns a thread (only his or her individual posts), we do encourage other members to show some respect to the one who started the thread (or discussion) by, for instance, not making inappropriate or unrelated posts.

Dear people, just because a person starts a thread does not mean that he/she OWNS it exclusively. You cannot start a thread, proceed to make all sorts of disparaging attacks and unfair comments, then tell people who disagree with you to get out of "my" thread.True, and this needs no further elaboration.

[3rdy]

Congratulations to Boss Nick and all the Moderators for running this Timog Forum professionally. I joined this place because I really find all the contents like a 'personalized encychlopedia', real-time answers and helps. Frankly better than the help button of our O/S. After reading the Rules, my conclusion is only this 'i mind my MANNERS at all times'. I think that will be our greatest contribution to this Forum to make everybody comfortable and we will have a environment perfect for learning. Thanks and best regards.

[aiko]

hi to all the original members of TF , saludo ako sa iyo nick ! keep up the good work ,nasa likod mo kami God Bless:grouphug:

[baphi]

Just like everybody said,continue the job welldone Nick,It's nice to know that some people are very responsible in maintaining our forum it's decency ,image and it's reliability.Now we're assure that everyone is well taken cared of in this forum.I'm happy that I'm a part of it.:tiphat:

[cyclops]

Peace....:grouphug: :grouphug:
cyclops

[City_rabbit]

Yes, peace to all.
And I hope that all of us maintain the "wholesome-ness" in this site.

I know I may be "kulit" but I say again - let us be responsible for every word we write....
think before we type...
once already submitted, you can never take it back...(unless Nick san and the other administrators delete it... ;) )

I hope to see more of the regular members (I mean the members who used to be active at TF) but now are missing in action...
I really miss your posts...
you know who you are...

And to all new members - hope to get to interact with you soon...

[tower23ph]

peace to all, and to all the moderators of this forum,job well done! otsukaresamadeshita!

[striver]

this one is good nick! kasi pati ako eh napagbintangan. mukhang ako raw ata ang nag post non. now that it is clear, wala na rin siguro iyong mga doubt ng iba. thanks for posting this info. :)