Michigander

As many here no doubt recall, somewhere in the vicinity of half a year ago I went nuts when the moderators voted with absolutely no rules to back them that my somewhat political PG Hunter Thompson quote signature line was unacceptable, while simultaneously allowing far more outlandish avatars and signatures elsewhere based on popularity and forum activity.

It’s extremely clear to see the lack of guidelines for avatars and signature lines. Certainly politics just plain aren’t mentioned. I blamed the moderators for enforcing their opinions unjustly, stepped on some toes, came to regret it, and later apologized. But it wasn’t until recently that I realized the real problem is Internet Brands lack of action, and not even remotely the hard working moderators who are left with no choice but to enforce their opinions because there are no rules to guide them when someone has a supposedly inappropriate signature or avatar. It leaves an indefinitely large gray area for what is acceptable and what is not. It is critical for any rule or law to be as cold and precise as possible; otherwise the rule guarantees unfairness. It is patently absurd for Bike Forums to enforce rules that don’t exist or aren’t specified.

With IB now owning this site, it would be up to them to change the rules, would it not? To the best of my knowledge, IB has done little of value since they bought this site from Joe. If they have, they’ve done a good job of keeping it secret from us lowly members. I asked over 4 months ago for this to be fixed, and I was told I’d see results. As one might expect, and indeed note if you just check the rules, they have done nothing. I have effectively been ignored, as have all who took my side.

I don’t know anything about the individuals at Internet Brands, or their specific jobs, but IB exhibits all the traits I have seen in purely greed driven companies that I’ve encountered doing service for real estate agencies and other large companies. These companies appear to be inept and downright apathetic about what’s going on. This is often caused at the lower levels by meager pay. Apparently, the only way to get things done with them is to complain, complain, and complain, like some sort of raving lunatic jack ass. After said complaining, they might have a bureaucratic mess of a discussion, which probably won’t yield suitable results. These discussions are kept as secret as possible so that in the likely outcome where they do nothing, you’ll have less to remember, and hopefully you’ll forget the whole thing. Alternatively, or perhaps additionally, companies like this often have someone come out tell you how they’re working hard to help you, often convincingly, but again, that tends not to imply that anything will be done. This is precisely what IB appears to have done with my complaint. I’d prefer to be wrong about Internet Brands, I don’t like it when people do business that way, but I’ve been given no other conclusion to come to in this situation. I truly hope to hear a believable contradiction, especially one backed up by action.

In the case of my gripe here, whether or not IB is similar to all the greedy companies I’ve dealt with shouldn’t matter! There’s no money to be spent, and almost no time either. I’m only asking for a little bit of typing! It would be as hard as editing a post, and PMing all the mods with an identical briefing, so what’s the problem? 4 months hasn’t been long enough? I mean come on! This is a simple, easy, and sensible thing. Just add something to the Vulgarity rule about political, sexual, and profane signature lines and avatars, and we’re good to go. Most forum members who commented on the matter think this should be done, and Internet Brands, you should have done it months ago. I hold bike forums in high regard. I feel we are all equal here as far as deserving the same basic rights, and everyone being treated that way should be mandatory.

Michigander

Tom Stormcrowe

Mich, here's the thread, in this forum that tells you how to contact IB

https://www.bikeforums.net/forum-suggestions-user-assistance/415719-contacting-internet-brands.html

And here's JuCo's posted email
IBcommunity1@internetbrands.com

Michigander

Thanks for the info Tom.

For some reason I thought they monitored their own site.

mehhem

From my expeirence with forums the mods can pretty much do whatever they want. Its much more subjective than objective with the banning, changing avatars, signatures, etc. Hope it works out for you.

Michigander

There have been problems with the mods doing as they please here in the past. The most notable is Koffee Brown. It takes sensible rules to keep a large net community peaceful.

Michigander

I see the problem has been resolved. Thanks IB!

Peedtm

Hey, looks like you were right. The squeaky wheel does get the oil.

bdcheung

That's some nice ex post facto law there.