Sometimes discussions can get a bit heated on the board just like in real life. I think we all agree that personal attacks reflect poorly on the person making the attack - and is not the way to present oneself to the public and other Realtors. Not only do such attacks derail intelligent discussion but if you are disparaging others - chances are you are killing any chance of getting some referral business from other Realtors and the general public!

I do not personally have time to read all the threads on this board and when threads degenerate to the point where the discussion no longer fits the category - I generally will remove the thread once advised.

So, if anyone has a problem with the direction of any discussions please advise the moderators. If you have a problem with any moderator that you feel is guilty of causing a thread to degenerate instead of moderating the posts - then please advise me with complete details.

While recognizing that moderating is not an easy task, we do expect a higher standard from moderators - they should be able to moderate degenerating posts without themselves getting involved in slagging other participants.

Participants in these forums should also feel that they should be able to participate without being attacked and belittled. We are all adults here and should know how to treat other people with respect.

Since we should all know better to begin with, if I receive complaints about repeat incidents of abusive behavior I will block the instigator(s) access to this board without prior warning.

"While recognizing that moderating is not an easy task, we do expect a higher standard from moderators - they should be able to moderate degenerating posts with themselves getting involved in slagging other participants."

You're saying that moderators "should" get involved in slagging other participants? or is that a typo?

"I think we all agree that personal attacks reflect poorly on the person making the attack - and is not the way to present oneself to the public and other Realtors."

If we disagree with someone and let them know that, is this considered a personal attack?

Should we all just agree with each other no matter what's said and live happily ever after?

Attacking a person's ideas is what is done in any exchange of ideas or debate and is perfectly acceptable. You can disagree with a person by arguing ideas.

Attacking the person though is not acceptable - you do not win a debate by calling someone names and attempting to diminish them as a person. Such tactics are used in schoolyards.

Realtors are supposed to adhere to a Code of Ethics which says disparaging a fellow Realtor is not acceptable behavior.

So, since we all conduct our business according to the Code of Ethics - that extends to this board as well.

What about deleting my and another poster's comments?

I feel the current moderator seems to be too emotionally reactive to be a fair moderator in an open forum. I feel he deleted our comments because he doesn't agree with them and he wanted to shut us out.

Do moderators regularly delete posts they feel are off-topic (which mine wasn't)? I asked the moderator but he hasn't responded so now I'm asking you.

I also know this isn't the first complaint regarding the moderator's behavior, nor do I think it'll be the last.

It's my opinion that his behavior reflects poorly on the otherwise fine reputation of this forum.

I would suggest that if the moderator does remain a member of this board, then he can block my comments and never have to read them, right? Or am I wrong about that?

This is the "offending" post, relating to the subject of Homeland Security's effectiveness:

When a thread gets off track from the original post in the thread, a moderator has every right to remove the off-topic post. When a thread get hijacked it is not fair to the original poster. In this specific case, the thread was about a local law that bans renting to illegal immigrants - and not about Homeland Security's effectiveness as you say. It seems to me that removing the post was not an unfair act as it has no bearing on the topic of the thread.

You could be right.

I see that there are a couple or a few more "off-topic" posts in the same thread - why do they remain?

Yes, there are more off-topic posts - mostly you complaining that your original off-topic post was removed. If he also removed those posts you would be screaming even louder that freedom of speech was being stifled.

Sorry to say but everyone can't be pleased.

You may feel that the moderator is not performing up to your expectations but those who have long memories know how difficult things can get around here.

In the past we had a moderator who was really overzealous in editing threads in the Agents in Brokers forum. Members begged for the "good old days" - a return to the status quo. Most members who have been around for a long time appreciate the job the moderators do.

Moderators have a life and a career aside from volunteering in these forums and with the volume of posts received the job is not easy. If a moderator does edit threads some members complain - if a moderator doesn't edit threads some members complain - and sometimes the same member complains if the moderator does and doesn't edit the same thread

Admin, I totally agree with you. I'm a new real estate agent and this board has helped me take my business to new heights. But sometimes you see these so called "professionals" and it makes you think, are all agents this way? I'm a member of other boards and not all of them are real estate boards and I have never, never seen such unprofessional behaivor and attitude.

Moderators should be patroling their posts and attempt to keep all of the discussions to a professional level.

Disagreements happen. There's no way to avoid them, but some members start attacking other members for their ideas, mispellings and thoughts. In my opinion, that's just wrong.

I remember one post a few months back where one Israeli agent was posting a question and due to his limitted English grammer, he was attacked left and right by other members. One member actually said, "if you knew how to spell, I would help you". Members who comment on these posts that way, should be banned from this forum, because they're obviously are no help to others.

I'm sorry in advance if you find any mispellings in my reply.

Sometimes it can take a day or two for abusive posts to be caught and edited and sometimes it can take several posts before an abusive member is caught and banned. We are all volunteers here - this is not a place where the moderators are paid employees whose sole task is to police the forums. Moderators are not like the support line at your ISP - hmmm.... my ISP advertises "Instant Support" - and the fine print says response within 72 hours... maybe that is not a good example

If you think a post is inappropriate it is always advisable to use the "report post" link located at the bottom of the posts. That sends a report to the moderators and also to me. I will generally let the moderators handle the report but if it becomes apparent that the issue is not being addressed I take a look at it.

I seem to remember the incident you mention above and was unable to find the post now in a search so it may have been deleted. I don't recall the exact details but generally speaking I do not look at the incident in isolation. Usually such a comment as was made is spillover from other posts on the board.

There was an Israeli agent who was spamming other forums on the board - this may have been related to this incident - and spammers leave themselves open for all sorts of abuse before they are finally banned and their posts deleted. This can be alarming to a casual observer who is not aware of the other posts.

It also helps if we report posts. Everyone leaves it up to moderators to find posts that need to be deleted, but we all have a right to flag something for their review.

Being a moderator myself in other forums, I appreciate the huge effort the moderators of this forum put into it.

In my opinion, the moderators should not get involved in the discussions for their sake as their own personal opinions may be perceived as the official forum stance.

In any case, let's support the moderators whereever we can.

Mods should be neutral regarding the opinions related to the topic, but need to be involved when there is conflict.

One thing to keep in mind is that harassing moderators because you are being warned for violating forum rules usually ends badly.

If an issue escalates to the point where it requires my attention you will find that the moderators have more patience and are more lenient than I am.

Treat the moderators nicely. They are doing the best to keep the forums a welcoming place where great information can be found!

Admin I like the support you give the mods and hope the mods continue to monitor the forum and put an end to some of the BS posters and threads that stray.

Unfortunately, the "flat" nature of the internet combined with the anonymity of posting under a handle makes some people a lot braver than they would be face to face.