I didn't respond to this until now because it involves other (non-mod) parties and I didn't want to drag them into it without permission. However I've spoken to them now so here goes.
As exciting as it may sound, the Mod forum is really not some den of intrigue where we sit and slag other posters off for shits and giggles. It is 90% boring but necessary admin and 10% dealing with Moopy dramas. However, when things do flare up we obviously do express our opinions when we debate how we want to respond, as we don't necessarily always agree on all things as a group.
On one such occasion earlier this year, there was a kick-off over
this thread, instigated by Rita. This was immediately following the issue that led to Herserenehighness leaving, and had obviously caused a lot of upset to him and
@Suomi, both of whom I'm very close to.
In the course of debating how to respond to it, I used some words that were probably not constructive or entirely fair. Another mod at the time called me out and we had a discussion about it. At the time it didn't end terribly well and there were some hurt feelings, but we've since had a private discussion this week and I feel we're both in a better place.
For transparency, I'll post what I said as related directly to Rita. While I stand by my overall position on what played out in Rowan Tree's thread, I am happy to apologise for calling her a Karen. That was not a constructive contribution to the debate, and it has since been pointed out to me that using that term has sexist connotations which the other mod at the time found upsetting. I wouldn't use it again. I also accept that I may have judged Rita's reactions too harshly in light of what had happened at the time with HSH. I apologise for that too.
Here's the posts. If this affects your confidence in me as a mod I have to own that, and I do. Only posting my contributions, but you should be able to infer the context.
) was really starting to overwhelm the forum, but it never quite fell over the line of just being a black and white banning offence, and it became fairly clear that a number of people would have been unhappy if we'd taken that approach. The slowdown was a way to give ourselves - and everyone else - some breathing space. I do tend to agree that as a long term solution, it probably isn't the most graceful, or fair. But it does keep happening.
