User blog:SilverPlays97/On the Recent Controversy of Admins

This blog was created by me to express my felling about the events in the last two of weeks and to defend the beliefs of some users and the actions/rights of our admins

It's been one of the hardest weeks for SNN admin team in quite some time.

It seems rapid change was not the best thing to do for the SNN chat. With all the good things being done, it seems to be overshadowed by the tremendous amounts of backlash over small things; simple things that could of been solved easily. I am here to say what was good and what was the bad. Trust me when I say this week I have seen SNN at it's best and worst.

First, I am glad no one has been demoted or left (as far as I know), because of this. Can we keep it that way please?

The Emotes
Avoiding who created this would be painful and complicated. So let's start by saying SonicTheHedgehogDude, mostly known for working with social networks and media, made the executive decision to wipe the emote list clean; a list that was long and disgusting. Looking at majority, it was mixed. Most experienced and right-holding users agreed but some wish 'it could of been handled differently'. Others, mostly new and younger-age users, thought this was outrages and steeped out-of-bounds of admin ability. Admins could delete emotes anytime they liked, but none have done it on this scale.

Soon other admins started to argue over the issue; and we can all agree there is nothing more interesting than a admin fight. Problem is, It only made things worse. The majority was alright with it, but ultimately because of the events that occurred, all emotes where re-instated. Yay?

Here's what we can learn from this: Some actions need more desecration. Multiple people need to be talked to with multiple views before a decision. What seems minor to you might be major to someone else. Another lesson is don't let arguments get out of hand. What happens if that occurs is no one benefits and time is wasted. Arguments need to be constructive in order for anything to be accomplished. This is an over-arching theme of these events.

The Chat Rules
A while back, The chat rules where updated and expanded, following a complete meltdown of the chat. This was done for people to understand the rules better and to prevent more mishaps. Unfortunately, some rules users found a bit too restrictive. BlueSpeeder, a hard working editor and friend of mine, brought this up and hopefully undo it; specifically adding descriptions of every single link, censoring an entire word, and not even saying the 'evil 3'. Naturally, Dude, who mainly did the rewording, was not happy about it. The majority of people, even some other admins, where all for it. Then people got into an argument on community consensus and what admin can and can not do.

The forum is still going on, so we have yet to see what will come out of this.

The Bans
Recently, Some users think they were 'higher than the authority' and started to question admin actions and openly insult them. Several chat bans recently were questioned by regular users. I'm not saying this is wrong, but it seems to be out of place. The only people who can do anything about ban is the user in question and the admin/chat mod team. Other users have completely insulted the admins and 'called for their heads' per say. Obviously these users where banned for insulting other users.

What we should all know and hope to remember is you are not above an admin and his job. Bans are no place for other people's thoughts and objections. Only the user can appeal to it, not you (AKA don't always speak for others).

What needs to be done

 * The line in which an admin can do on his own and what he needs approval before hand needs to be more clear.
 * The Idea that admins are the 'Big User on the Wiki' needs to be gone.
 * We as a wiki need to respect our admins better as users and know when an argument has gone too far.

What you should not do

 * Make a scapegoat out of Dude.
 * Let the radical minority get all the attention.
 * Think you are above the powers of an admin (we nominated them for a reason).

Overall review
Supermorff said it best when asked about admin decisions:

''"Admins are not perfect. They're just regular people, doing their best. Sometimes, they make mistakes. But I hope that most admins want to be better at what they do, and the best way to help them not make mistakes next time is to tell them what they could do differently. So, to admins: please make every effort to understand the situations you are in from all sides. And if someone comes to you, honestly and civilly, with suggestions for ways you could act differently, please please listen to them. To all users: if an admin (or, indeed, any user) does something that you think is wrong, make a note of it. Record what the situation was, who did what, why it was not the best thing to do in the circumstance, and what could have happened differently to make it better. Be as specific and detailed as possible. Then, present this to the admin or give it to another trusted user/admin who can present it on your behalf. Do not criticise them as people, but criticise their behaviour. That way, it seems less like an insult and more like constructive feedback, and they are less likely to get defensive."''

I hope we all learned something and will make changes because of these events. That's why they happen.