About that forum meltdown that just happened.

[frank_d]

OK so I just woke up.

My notifications were crazier than usual.

I immediately thought about that thread I left open.

So for transparency’s sake:

I am not supposed to handle flags and suspend or ban people. That’s for the staff to handle.

But I had to make an exception.

I locked and moved the thread and said user was warned, given a high point penalty, suspended for a month and had forum level/points reduced.

I understand people being in a tough place, but that doesn’t justify abusive behavior.

I will also escalate this to administration and so if a ban is in order they will handle it.

I am sorry you had to experience this, sometimes sh*t gets real.

 

[zeus777]

First of all good morning, and I'm sorry you had to start your day like this.
Secondly, thank you for taking action very quickly.
In my mind @imagination7413 and the others were being quite respectful with their choice of words but when I saw the B word my jaw just dropped. 

I hope you at least had the chance to sit down and have some coffee. If not, here's a digital coffee from Tokyo: ☕

[frank_d]

Thank you @zeus777

I am now having some coffee and thinking about what went down.

@imagination7413 I am so sorry you had to deal with that user. I know you were trying to help. 
 

That behavior will not be tolerated.

That being said, there were some people on the thread who usually respond to threads like that with criticism.
 

Constructive criticism is a great tool and I use it often when mentoring creatives or giving business advice to freelancers.

However, more often than not I see destructive criticism from some of our regulars.

Which is almost always perceived as a personal attack which in turns brings on meltdowns and abusive behavior.

It’s a cycle. Maybe there’s a discussion to be had or maybe it is what it is.

Here’s a handy image that outlines the differences:

 

 

[cs_evans]

@frank_d  Thanks for taking care of that.  I don't envy you your position.  If this is the thread I am thinking about, and I'm sure it is, the OP actually PM'd me last night apologizing for his comments/attitude to me, and giving a list of reasons why he was having a bad day.  Sounds like it really went off the rails after that.  

 

[visualstudios]

12 hours ago, frank_d said:

there were some people on the thread who usually respond to threads like that with criticism

Is there another way to deal with a clear troll? I'm usually on the side of the little guy, tbh, and I've went against many regulars who just criticize without trying to understand, and always assume the worst. A lot of people don't seem to get that Fiverr is totally different for established sellers and new ones, and since I was a new one not that long ago, I still remember it quite vividly. Fiverr can be extremely unfair, they break their own rules, they lie, etc. and some people around here seem to think the appropriate response is "just deal with it", instead of rightfully complaining. That attitude really pisses me off. Just because a platform has the power, that doesn't mean they can do no wrong, and that doesn't mean they can't or shouldn't be criticized.

However, if someone comes complaining about not making money and then talking about their houses and jaguars... I mean, gtfo. That on top of that they are being actively insulting and sexist, that's just asking for the ban hammer.

Btw, I don't think it's right to just remove the thread. I had multiple notifications of people replying to me on it, and now they are dead links. Everything I wrote is lost, and everything people wrote to me is also lost. That doesn't seem right. The offending posts should be removed, not the entire thread.

[visualstudios]

47 minutes ago, cs_evans said:

he OP actually PM'd me last night apologizing for his comments/attitude to me, and giving a list of reasons why he was having a bad day.  Sounds like it really went off the rails after that.  

ehhh... Going off the rails is one thing, being extremely sexist is another. I can (and do) get aggressive when pissed off, without resorting to that. I'm an equal opportunity hater. If your tendency is to go into certain kind of insults when you're pissed off, it's because you are a certain way regardless of being pissed off. 

Also, the guy was a plagiarist, and then complained about not being able to be familiar with every single logo on the planet, while ripping off walmart and at&t logos, which literally any designer should be familiar with, since they are major, worldwide famous logos. So those excuses sound quite empty to me. He's a hack that thinks he's hot sh*t. It's like a designer creating a logo that is a copy of coca-cola's logo, or apple's or nike's, and then claim they didn't know. Either they are lying, in which case they are plagiarists, or they are telling the truth, which is even worse - they are a crap designer since they have zero visual culture. 

[frank_d]

1 hour ago, cs_evans said:

@frank_d  Thanks for taking care of that.  I don't envy you your position.  If this is the thread I am thinking about, and I'm sure it is, the OP actually PM'd me last night apologizing for his comments/attitude to me, and giving a list of reasons why he was having a bad day.  Sounds like it really went off the rails after that.  

 

Yeah I got two pms myself.

I am not here to judge anyone.

It was clear to me the OP was having a tough time and I empathized enough to start a discussion.

However, having a bad situation to deal with gives them no right to hop on the forum and vent on people.

Then, they escalated by name-calling and throwing some pretty sexist remarks in the mix.

Now I’m not saying this poor man’s grandmother didn’t pass away.

But how they chose to act is not OK.

Plus a lot of things don’t actually make sense to me either. I won’t touch their profile with a ten foot pole though.

Whatever he has going on in his life at the moment, his gigs are the least of his concerns. He has bigger issues to solve.

Cherry on top: my suspension was either lifted or I messed it up.

@visualstudios  I Had to lock the thread since it was a dumpster fire, and so leaving it there wouldn’t do much if you wanted to reply to anyone.

I didn’t delete it, I moved it where the admins can review.

I don’t enjoy doing this or want to censor the discussion. I wanted to stop the abuse. Maybe I will just lock it next time around, not sure what the right thing to do is to be honest. 

[zeus777]

6 hours ago, frank_d said:

Cherry on top: my suspension was either lifted or I messed it up.

That's too bad, because the guy is still sounding rude and insulting already in another post.
I guess he is still having a bad day, or that's just simply the type of person he is.

So he PMd a few people and apologized? Well, I hope he apologized to @imagination7413 too then!!
Me personally I didn't receive anything, I guess I didn't contribute to that silly post enough, or I wasn't worth his time...who knows.
 

[fiveroptic1]

@frank_d. I don't envy you - you're doing a great job. But, why give leeway to anyone that's overtly rude. One warning then kick 'em off. Like in any public space, if they're warned, then do it again - they're toast! And we've all got personal challenges in our lives, but that's no excuse for bad behaviour - certainly not a legal defence.   

[frank_d]

Hey everyone.

There was no leeway @fiveroptic1

I just botched the suspension.

I think I fixed it now. @zeus777

This user definitely has no reason to be here based on their latest post. So I’ll help him out.

[aarontgladiator]

Uhm, do I get a bit of backstory cause I was probably sleeping. But yes, I do remember some guy posting about joining the Illuminati. I really want to be a part of the Illuminati and I called up the number on it, but apparently, they didn't think a guy on his computer was helpful to their ideals. 😞

[gina_riley2]

Missed all the drama! Probably good. 🙂

I don't know who and what happened. There was one thread that irked me quite a bit, though. Someone that pretty much insulted every seller & buyer.

I hate know it all, arrogant people.

 

 

[imagination7413]

. . .

I was out yesterday. Now I'm rather glad that I was.

I'll admit I was upset, but I did my best to give the benefit of a doubt. I mean, Deadmau5 accidentally recreated Sandstorm, so recreating something that already exists is possible. But Deadmau5 also recognized it, because he knows a lot of music and a lot about music. 

Maybe I should have mentioned that outright? Or used it as an example in my post, including the link to that Deadmou5 video?

17 hours ago, zeus777 said:

I hope he apologized to @imagination7413 too then!!

I did not receive any DM from that OP. (That I know of.)