My God

[Pappa]

No, it was a misuse of administrative privileges.

It says something about the staff here if they brush this off as a "joke"

The staff is now defending one of their own for pulling a boneheaded move.

Yeah, it does. We do it all the time and the members like it.

No, it was assumed that Martok would like it, without actually having any basis for this. Not everyone will take to jokes in the same way, as people should well know by now.

This was a discussion about music/musical taste, and such discussions can get very tetchy - something which people should also know. This one had an edge to it even before the invisible edit.

An invisible edit is (even in jest) a potentially very serious matter. It is in no way comparable to a plainly visible "quoted edit" of someone else's post, which is what it was a response to. If I realised that someone had surreptitiously edited one of my posts, I would probably blow a gasket. Martok is right: This is basic trust issue. IMHO, not even all the other "wacky" behaviour and norms here allow that line to be crossed.

There's now a good chance that we have lost another member for good. How many times do I have to say it? For this forum, members are hard to gain, but easy to lose.

I believe that the staff owe Martok an apology. And this discussion should be split off to the in-depth discussion area.

What did the edit consist of, I wasn't here at that time?

[Trolldor]

DP changed one youtube video for another, from what I can tell.

Basically, the staff don't owe martok shit. He's over-reacting under some presumption that his posts are some sacred holy grail. Rather than just say "Can you please not edit my posts?" He chucked a shit like he was four and had too much red cordial.

[Don't Panic]

I already admitted I was wrong to do it and apologised, what more would you like?
I still think it was funny though.

[Jack Rawlinson]

Hmm. Late to this, but I have to say I think it's not right at all for an admin to actually change another user's post. Ever. Even for a "joke".

I can't think of any other board I've been on where that would be acceptable or where it wouldn't have caused an absolute shitstorm. I would have thought the reasons for this are pretty obvious. Martok had good reason to be aggrieved. I would have been too. This is emphatically not the same thing as quoting someone's post and doing a jokey "FTFY". Changing a post in situ is misrepresentation. Poor show.

[rachelbean]

I, for one, am REALLY glad that this board is not like others. Pretending this is a serious issue is just silly to me.

[tattuchu]

I don't think it was a big deal at all, particularly after the explanation and apology. But maybe DP shoulda wrote "edited by DP" in the post, with a smiley. Then that would have made it clear it was just a playful joke

[Don't Panic]

I, for one, am REALLY glad that this board is not like others. Pretending this is a serious issue is just silly to me.

It's very serious, I should be punished.

I'm going to restrict myself to the no it isn't, yes it is forum for the next while as a penance.

I plan on posting music videos in every thread in there.

[Pappa]

Hmm. Late to this, but I have to say I think it's not right at all for an admin to actually change another user's post. Ever. Even for a "joke".

I can't think of any other board I've been on where that would be acceptable or where it wouldn't have caused an absolute shitstorm. I would have thought the reasons for this are pretty obvious. Martok had good reason to be aggrieved. I would have been too. This is emphatically not the same thing as quoting someone's post and doing a jokey "FTFY". Changing a post in situ is misrepresentation. Poor show.

I think this is why DP apologised and said he'd not considered noobs reactions to it. I think the members who've been here a long time wouldn't have a problem with it when done in specifically the context it was.

[Jack Rawlinson]

Last word on this from me: I don't think changing the content of a user's post is a joke, under any circumstances. Saying it is a joke doesn't make it so. When we post something, those our our words, our links and the way we wish to represent ourselves; yes, even if it's as something as relatively trivial as a piece of music we like. If that can be directly distorted in situ by a mod, that's wholly unacceptable because it misrepresents who we are, what we think and what our opinions are. It's fraudulent and dishonest.

I am frankly staggered that so many here seem not to get this. This is not about joking, or about how relatively unimportant you happen to think the specific edit was in this instance, it is about a fundamental principle of integrity. If a mod wants to joke about a user's reply they should quote it and then make their joke, so that no one is in any doubt who is doing the joking, and who is the butt of the joke. To do otherwise is simply an abuse of mod privilege.

I understand that the mod in question has apologised and that's good, although I note also that the apology has been delivered only after repeated complaints from the victim of the "joke", and the tone of it left something to be desired - by which I mean it leaves the impression that the mod still feels this is an over-reaction on the part of the person whose post was changed. It isn't. It's entirely understandable.

Right, I'm off my soap box now. Carry on. :-)

[tattuchu]

I understand the point Jack is making, and I agree that DP should have made it clearer he was joking about. If he added a note or a smiley or something, maybe this one: , then it would have been more obvious he was playing around. I think if someone had altered one of my posts without explanation, I'd be confused and maybe upset. But if the person responsible explained himself, as DP did immediately, then for me that would be that. If it still bothered me, and the person responsible apologized, as DP then did immediately after his explanation didn't do the trick, then that really would be that I can understand Martok being upset and offended by what happened, but his reaction seemed way over-the-top to me

[Xamonas Chegwé]

Speaking purely from a personal perspective, I can appreciate your concerns here. It is something that I, myself, would shy away from doing. Usually, when one of the staff does something like this, it is with a long established member that they know is going to get the joke. I think DP was out of order to play such a prank on a relative newcomer and without any hint in the thread that he had done so. He did admit that himself and apologise though and I trust he will think a little more carefully before doing it again.

That said, he is DP.