Last evening, I resigned my position as Site Moderator.

XNXX.com is a business, first and foremost. It's here to make money for the owner. I don't think there are many who are here who would argue against that the owner has certain rights to run his business as he sees fit.

I've been running businesses (my own, mostly) for the vast majority of my adult life, and I can honestly say that from my perspective, this is the most fucked-up run business that I've ever seen. I've never seen someone so intent on running his business into the ground as in this case. Membership is dwindling. Posts are dwindling. Volunteers are treated like shit. Months after an "upgrade" is announced the system stills lots of flaws.

Moderators are supposed to carry out the will of the owner. Owner doesn't want XYZ at his website, Moderators will remove XYZ. And as public servants, Moderators take a lot of misdirected anger. As a Moderator, I felt pride in working for this website. I think it's almost like a mild form of Stockholm Syndrome. When others take potshots at your site, the owner, the owner's policy, your fellow Mods, you rise up and defend them without question, like a robot.

I did this. Many times. Just go back and look at my posts. Many of them full of anger. But as I sit back now, in many of them, my anger was misdirected. I wasn't really angry at the poster, I was angry because as a Moderator I was getting no support from the owner. Worse, there would be policy shifts with NO EXPLANATION, and then to really top it off with a proverbial cherry on top, there would be REVERSALS of these new policy shifts, again, with NO EXPLANATION.

What. The. Fuck. Nophest?

I've lost friends here. I've (along with some of the other Moderators) become a pariah here. What was once a fun place for me has become a hell-hole. I used to enjoy the light banter that took place here. For those of you who have been around for three or so years...look around. Do you see familiar faces? Many are gone. Do you see playful banter taking place? No, you see just a few stories, and then lots of "WTF is going on with this site?" type posts. Go over to GD and look at the quantity of posts...way, way down.

So, I'm done. As of this moment I still have said Moderator powers, but that's just an administrative thing. I'm no longer Moderating. I'm no longer wearing the cop's badge. I'm ashamed of what this site has become, and what it has done to its members, and I no longer will be a part of the administration. You, the members, deserve better than this. Yes, an owner can do what needs to be done, but when there is no communication, when there is conflict, when members are jerked around like puppets, it smacks of bullshit tyranny, and I didn't sign up for that.

I am purposely not getting into a lot of the behind-the-scenes details because some of it really is confidential, and I wish to show a little class in not revealing that information. Further, it's my hope that this thread remains open, and that I remain a member. Not so much that this is a great place to be, but, I do like to write, and i don't really have another option at this time.

I will apologize to you, the members, for the crazy bullshit that has been going on. Granted, I didn't cause it, but I did support it. Call me blind and naive, but I thought I could help make this place a better one, not be a part of one that drives off great writers. I thought I'd be a part of ridding the site of spam and horny 14 year olds and their kik requests.

One final thought. With regards to the current crop of Moderators, please understand that they're in a no-win scenario. They are a committed crew, and it's a tough job when you get no help or direction from above. They are very decent people. You might want to consider that before you start building the crosses for their crucifixion. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

Be well.

 

I am truly sorry that this site is having such a hard time lately. I am glad that for the most part I have stayed out of it. The new rule changes have not really affected me.

What I am sad to see is people I consider friends caught in the crossfire. Please people understand that your moderators are volunteers and not paid workers.

As a volunteer they should be helping to promote the welfare of the site. They should be working to keep interactions on the site, well, moderated. They should be making sure that members obey the rules. What they should not be doing however is going through terabytes of old stories and deleting the ones that don't conform. That is a job that should be paid for. I would not go to the place I work and clean up their computer files for free. You don't see candy stripers in hospitals doing the filing and records maintenance. The only thing they do is point out if someone needs something and then let the paid people do their job.

The owner of the site is trying to get people to work for him for free.

Then the members give the moderators hell for being taken advantage of. That is the kind of actions that make me want to pull back and not get involved. The moderators are not your enemy, they are people just like you that have been asked to help keep the peace in the forum. Think of them as volunteer firemen. Their job is to come in and rescue you when a fire breaks out. Their job is not to take a bullet for you when the shooting starts. It is time to stop shooting the messengers and start doing something constructive.

1.) If the rule changes bother you, don't post any more stories here until they change back. The lack of new material will hurt the owner far more than childish bickering does. He earns money from the advertisers by how many hits the website gets. If there are fewer stories there are fewer hits.

2.) Stop posting. Posts are website hits, they increase the amount the owner gets paid. Remember the only way to hurt the owner is to cost him money. The less you visit the site the less money he makes.

3.) Visit less often. Use the time to write stories. When he changes the rules back you will have a whole bunch of stuff to publish. I have written 90,000 words in a new story in the last four weeks.

4.) Laugh with your friends. Just sit back and enjoy the time you do spend here. Don't worry about the rule changes. Lack of hits will make him change it back or he will quit making money. He is not going to let his wallet get empty. Trust me.

 

Classy, ahorsewithnoname, I salute you :rose:

 

Good post, horse.

I, too, have resigned as a story site moderator. I cannot in good conscience remove stories and sanction writers for violating a rule they cannot see.

Having an age limit or any other limit or rule is the site owner's prerogative. As volunteer janitors, we're expected to clean out unwanted stuff from the site and warn, give infraction points to, or even ban people who break the rules.

Without a clearly visible rule (which we had at one point, until the site owner had it removed), it's ridiculous to punish people for breaking it. The situation we have now is similar to being given a speeding ticket and fine without a speed limit being posted. That's wrong.

The site owner may or may not honor my request to remove my story site mod permissions. I hope he does, since (1) I refuse to do any more work over there until the situation changes, and (2) as a story site mod, I'm forbidden to post stories there. Nice reward, huh? We give our time, piss people off, make ourselves into the most hated folks on the website, and as a gesture of gratitude for our work, we're not allowed to participate in the place we're assigned to improve. That's also wrong.

I'm willing to continue as a forum moderator, enforcing rules people CAN see but for some reason ignore. No clue whether those permissions will be stripped from me, or whether I may even be banned for doing this dirty laundry in public. Since I have not revealed the contents of any private communications other than my own, I trust that won't happen.

If it does, it's been nice knowing you. I used to have a lot of fun here, but the fun factor is gone for me. It's a struggle for me to even come to the website, knowing how much people have learned to hate us moderators.

 

Horse, wantsomefun. Thank you for trying to do a good job!
While I do more looking than posting, I have seen the stress that this volunteering has created for you guys. You became the public target for anyone with a bitch about the site, and that really isn't fair. I really hope that you can again find the enjoyment that originally brought you to the site to begin with.
To all of the other moderators, I appreciate all of the hard work that all of you put in thanklessly. It's my understanding that all of you were previously regular members who volunteered to do this job. That's a tough gig. Going from a personal interest, to responsible moderator. I hope that you too, can keep the joy of being here and ignore the personal attacks.
Thanks again, and good luck.

 

+ INFINITY

I've felt the same as Brootforce for some time that 'hits equals money' for the site owner. That is why I have refrained from commenting about the rules change even though it didn't bother me.

Like Wantsomefun, I agree that it is totally wrong to have a rule in place that is no longer displayed.

How appropriate that Horse's and Wantsomefun's I've felt the same as Brootforce for some time that 'hits equals money' for the site owner. That is why I have refrained from commenting about the rules change even though it didn't bother me.

Like Wantsomefun, I agree that it is totally wrong to have a rule in place that is no longer displayed.

How appropriate that Horse's and Wantsomefun's announcements come on Independence Day!!!!

Gentleman I salute you!

To the other moderators thanks for the hard work you do.

 

That post got mangled and should read

+ INFINITY

I've felt the same as Brootforce for some time that 'hits equals money' for the site owner. That is why I have refrained from commenting about the rules change even though it didn't bother me.

Like Wantsomefun, I agree that it is totally wrong to have a rule in place that is no longer displayed.

How appropriate that Horse's and Wantsomefun's announcements come on Independence Day!!!!

Gentleman I salute you!

To the other moderators thanks for the hard work you do.

 

Independence Day! Never considered the implication of that. I doubt either one of us intended to send a hidden message with our timing, but thanks for thinking we're clever.

 

Intended or not I think it is very good timing.

"When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to disolve the political bands which have connected them with another..."

 

At least one of the long time mods needs to resign. The rest of you do a great job.

 

You definitely give us WAY too much credit.

 

I will whole-heartedly second the sentiment in this post.
EVERY ONE of the mods is currently working under an extreme stressload without enough support from the site to make it worth while. The loss of two of the mods will only make the workload worse for those who remain.

Can we please let them do their job on the site with as much peace as possible for them?

 

One mod doesn't deserve peace.

 

so you said before.
but you did not say who.
and you did not say why.
until you are willing to grow a set of balls and lay your accusations on the table, shut the fuck up.

 

I will not comment, However I have a list and you made it. That is not a threat.
Now do sharpen a stake and sit on it mother fucker.

 

Love the harmony I see here.

 

In the immortal words of Rodney King: Can't we all just get along. I think most of the adults here are getting just a little tired of the vitriol and would like it to stop.

 

Seems like lately you can't shake a stick at any post outside of a story without having some aggravation from one person to another. It's quite sad to see...though I understand that there is some people who actually deserve this aggravation, but since I know no particulars, I can offer no judgement.

I just hope that the fact that Moderators are starting to quit will actually start to sink in, when a Moderator quits, ESPECIALLY a volunteering one, then you should start to realize that shit is not going down the drain as it should.

 

I gripe from time to time, but I spend a lot of time here, so I obviously like the site.

What I have always disliked about the site is that the Rules are arbitrarily enforced. Posters are banned not because they disobey the Rules, but because a Mod or the Admin dislikes them. When a poster is banned there is rarely any explanation of why.

It could be worse. On some websites those who complain about banning decisions are banned.

In my humble opinion the Rules should be clearly explained, easy to understand, and fairly enforced. Those who obey the Rules should not be banned. Those who disobey should be banned, even if they are popular. When someone is banned, the reason or reasons should be explained.