Accountability and Transparency

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The Forum on mj.com was created in March 2009 after the London Press Conference. It was created as a platform for fans to have somewhere to talk about the upcoming concerts in London. It quickly became apparent , however that the forum was unmoderated and there were many technical issues. The software on the forum was for “self moderation” ie spam or troll posts could only be removed by members flagging them as offensive.

Over time, regular member discovered that posts could be deleted if they were flagged as offensive 10 or more times. This was very useful when very obvious spam was posted but now that that the system had been discovered, some very disturbing behavior started happening. As well as the self moderation, the software on the forum allowed multiple accounts to be created from the same IP and email accounts.
With the knowledge that posts were deleted when flagged as offensive 10 or more times, certain cliques on the forum made multiple accounts for the sole purpose of removing posts from people they had personal issues with. This in turn led to a huge amount of cyberbulling, with posts and threads disappearing for the sole reason that they were not part of the cliques.
Finally, the admin started realizing that people were abusing the flag as offensive option and tried to solve this by appointing members of the forum as MODERATORS.
Unfortunately though, the appointment of the MODS has only caused more cyberbulling and has in fact divided the forum even more. The members who were given MOD privileges were all part of one of the cliques. They decided NOT to reveal that they had become MODS and to remain hidden. They told their friends, who all became a secret hidden club, who now had the means to control exactly who and what could post on the forum. If a mod or their friends didn’t like you, poof, your posts disappeared, even though what was posted was NOT against any of the forum guidelines or rules.
Members started noticing that even more posts and threads were being deleting. By finding 2 separate ERROR notices when clicking on deleted posts, members discovered that someone was deliberately deleting posts and threads.
Month after month went on, these secret hidden mods abusing their power and not being accountable for their actions. When any one posted asking what was going on, poof deleted. No one was allowed to question what was happening, no one allowed to voice concern about who was secretly deleting posts and threads.
In May, the admin posted a thread asking for forum suggestions. Very quickly the members one by one voiced their concern about the secret hidden mods.
This is part of that thread

Friday, May 13, 2011 – 08:28
Don’tBeMessin’Around:
Re: Forum Suggestions

Ethemer, I fully agree.

I really like this site and what has kept it brilliant are the people, the variety of topics, and the quality of posts and replies – that, for me, has reflected the spirit of Michael – which lives on in EVERY SINGLE FAN.

All the gimmicks in the world couldn’t match that – otherwise I would have left long ago – there are lots of fancy smancy websites out there!

What has really undermined the success of this forum more than anything else is the moderators’ continued abuse (accidental and intentional) of their privileges which has meant many wonderful members rarely come back anymore. The statistics speak for themselves.

Only a select few are allowed to know who the moderators are or what their powers consist of – all of them have told friends – and this creates a very elitist environment where only those people “in the know” can offer support or make suggestions to the moderators. This is clearly unfair to the forum community as a whole.

Friday, May 13, 2011 – 09:50
dj4mj:
Re: Forum Suggestions

So MANY members KNOW but are afraid to speak up for FEAR of being deleted.There is something VERY WRONG for having to feel that way! Sad I became a voice for those who gave up and I was deleted for doing so! Dear God, what is happening? Where is MICHAEL in this?

dj4mj:
Re: Forum Suggestions

Ethemer, a long-standing RESPECTED member who has a heart of gold, so much Michael-like, a member with INTEGRITY and LOVE for” ALL” of Michael’s Fans, took it upon herself to NOT turn her back on those who had no voice, but to be the voice for them was silenced OVER and OVER, time and time again. Ethemer was the FIRST to take this stand for the silenced.She paid a price for doing so. DELETED into LEAVING because she could no longer watch GOOD people being silenced. It breaks my heart …STOP for the LOVE of MICHAEL.

gboete1:
Re: Forum Suggestions

CGM Digital.
I want to thank Sony for the possibility to have this site where we can all come to gather and talk about the one person that brought us all together, Mr. Michael Jackson.
As there are indeed things that could be improved (what can not be improved in this world …) I am very satisfied in general, and thinking about : “be thankful for what one has”, I would not not want to have many changements, that could lead to other unexpected problems.

However, I want to express my solidarity with some longtime loyal members, who took a stand against the “silenced”. My friends and me are among these “silenced”. It was very hard to have our threads deleted one after another, also threads that had been there for such a long time, for no specific reason. To have an account deleted, is very hurtful, because you lose all your pm’s, all your friends, your total “History” (that we write every day….).
Is there any possibility to be able to recuperate what was on a member’s profile, after the account was deleted ?

You will not be surprised that I fully agree with some members that suggest the moderating system should be adapted.
I personally have intensively felt the censorship on this site, and I had to be so careful to chose words and sentence constructions, and read them over and over again, because something could have been misinterpreded by the mods, (English not being my mother language makes it no easier) leading to deletion of the post/thread and account. That is not what Michael was and is all about. This should be a place where we can talk freely, enjoy, and not be afraid for every word we write.

I very much would like to thank some long time respectable members that have helped us to survive, among them Ethemer and dj4mj, and they did pay for it. It breaks my heart. Why do they have to go through this ?
I hope everybody that loves Mr. Jackson can be allowed on this site, that hearts can be together again. This would be, in my opinion, the best improvement of this forum……
Thank you.

Friday, May 13, 2011 – 12:09
Madea:
Re: Forum Suggestions

All of these Forum Suggestions are excellent and I would personally love to see them in place here to insure that this forum is indeed a safe, welcoming place for EVERYONE. I especially commend Ethemer, dj4mj, gboete 1, moon_street and any others who commented for sharing their thoughts and concerns about the situation regarding the moderators. IMHO, this is certainly a situation that requires further evaluation and necessary steps taken to insure that the current problems are corrected. Kudos to ALL who offered suggestions and spelled out their concerns so that we all can continue to enjoy being here to share with each other. With the L.O.V.E. Now, where is that “LIKE” button?!?

~Madea~

Don’tBeMessin’Around:
Re: Forum Suggestions

DJ – I fully agree – the situation has created an intimidating atmosphere for many.

The whole moderation system needs to be open and transparent not shrouded in secrecy. With responsibility must come accountability.

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