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It's Trans Awareness Week! (Nov 13th -19th)
- Thread starter Kyuuji
- Start date
I would say it's shocking that mods somehow made things about themselves, but I'd be lying. Ketkat's "violation of a safe space" seems to consist of exposing problematic behavior that happened to take place in a private server. AND YET, she still made sure to keep everything BUT the actual important issue anonymous. Nothing about her post signals to who said or who is present in that server, so I'm missing what privacy she violated. But by all means, continue.
Yeah, a ban 10 minutes after KetKat's post is a really quick investigation. Maybe a suspension while things got worked out would have been, you know, more reasonable and just?
Likewise, was the mod that loathes KetKat part of the decision to ban her?
Is that staff communication supposed to come off as less cowardly than the previous ones? Because it doesn't. It's just as astonishingly self-absorbed.
The ironic part of all this is that the offending portion of ketkat's post was an absolutely innocuous footnote, and wouldn't have been given a second look by anyone had staff not shone a continuous spotlight on it.
Multiple ex-staff expressed doubt toward the almost conspiratorial framing in the official staff allegation of ketkat's behavior, and provided more rational explanations that adhered better to occam's razor. At this point, this comes off as a vendetta of principle disproportionate to the actual practical offense, instead aimed at the imagined one.
Right?
The ironic part of all this is that the offending portion of ketkat's post was an absolutely innocuous footnote, and wouldn't have been given a second look by anyone had staff not shone a continuous spotlight on it.
Multiple ex-staff expressed doubt toward the almost conspiratorial framing in the official staff allegation of ketkat's behavior, and provided more rational explanations that adhered better to occam's razor. At this point, this comes off as a vendetta of principle disproportionate to the actual practical offense, instead aimed at the imagined one.
Right?
You know forget Free Ketkat, why would she even want to come back after this bullshit
Thinking this may be one of my last posts here
Thinking this may be one of my last posts here
I also want to add to the staff message, from the perspective of a mod who's been here a while, and is somewhat detached from this issue while being part of the Discord channel in question.
As one of the mods who was a part of the initial mod team, I have seen mods come and go, often due to the pressure of doing this job. I have seen my fellow mods be doxxed. I have been privy to the stories of mods receiving threatening tweets on their private accounts, and even threatening phone calls at their jobs. And I want to stress that I'm not expecting sympathy here. We understood this was a risk when we signed up, and I also know that a lot of you understand all too well what it's like to be targeted in this way online. I'm only mentioning this to make the point that, when it comes to the privacy of our designated safe spaces, we value it as much as anybody else. Most of you are members of community Discords that have private channels that function in a similar way. And while I don't expect this to take away the anger and frustration of Ketkat being banned, I sincerely hope that it will allow some of you to consider how important this is to a lot of us.
The mod chat that was violated is not a harbor of the nefarious. It isn't a place where we retreat to say all the evil stuff that would be ban-worthy if any of you said it, or unveil our "true selves." This channel is where we go to share mundane aspects of our lives. Where we gripe about our jobs, share our frustrations about our partners (or...lack of partners), post pictures of our pets, and ask the dumbest fucking questions. It's a place where we go to question ourselves, or uplift each other - about any number of things. It is where go to share things that, while mundane, are personal, and private, and shared under a blanket of trust. We don't stop being Black, or Queer, or Trans, or Women, or NB when we become mods.
And again, many of you are members of community Discords that have private channels for similar purposes. The idea that somebody would violate that and dissect our lives is unforgivable to me. We are not the law. We are not elected officials. We are not paid with tax payer dollars. We are not paid at all. Our status as Resetera Mods does not extend to our real lives when we log off. We leave our computers, and our phones, and our tablets, to live the same lives that you do. We do not owe you our lives in order for you to trust us. We are not undeserving of privacy in order for you to trust us. If that's what it takes for you to trust us, then you weren't ever going to trust us at all.
I didn't really have a relationship with Ketkat, but I respected her. But when she crossed that line, she crossed the line. Banning Ket was not easy and it was not secretive. It was discussed, and in all of my time here, among a team more diverse than any group of people I've worked with in real life, I have never seen a decision with broader support.
We hope you continue to hold us accountable as mods. We hope more threads on trans issues will be created in the future, and we hope to continue to absorb your feedback to be better in addressing and handling trans issues. But Ketkat, unrelated to any of the above, is banned. And that is final.
As one of the mods who was a part of the initial mod team, I have seen mods come and go, often due to the pressure of doing this job. I have seen my fellow mods be doxxed. I have been privy to the stories of mods receiving threatening tweets on their private accounts, and even threatening phone calls at their jobs. And I want to stress that I'm not expecting sympathy here. We understood this was a risk when we signed up, and I also know that a lot of you understand all too well what it's like to be targeted in this way online. I'm only mentioning this to make the point that, when it comes to the privacy of our designated safe spaces, we value it as much as anybody else. Most of you are members of community Discords that have private channels that function in a similar way. And while I don't expect this to take away the anger and frustration of Ketkat being banned, I sincerely hope that it will allow some of you to consider how important this is to a lot of us.
The mod chat that was violated is not a harbor of the nefarious. It isn't a place where we retreat to say all the evil stuff that would be ban-worthy if any of you said it, or unveil our "true selves." This channel is where we go to share mundane aspects of our lives. Where we gripe about our jobs, share our frustrations about our partners (or...lack of partners), post pictures of our pets, and ask the dumbest fucking questions. It's a place where we go to question ourselves, or uplift each other - about any number of things. It is where go to share things that, while mundane, are personal, and private, and shared under a blanket of trust. We don't stop being Black, or Queer, or Trans, or Women, or NB when we become mods.
And again, many of you are members of community Discords that have private channels for similar purposes. The idea that somebody would violate that and dissect our lives is unforgivable to me. We are not the law. We are not elected officials. We are not paid with tax payer dollars. We are not paid at all. Our status as Resetera Mods does not extend to our real lives when we log off. We leave our computers, and our phones, and our tablets, to live the same lives that you do. We do not owe you our lives in order for you to trust us. We are not undeserving of privacy in order for you to trust us. If that's what it takes for you to trust us, then you weren't ever going to trust us at all.
I didn't really have a relationship with Ketkat, but I respected her. But when she crossed that line, she crossed the line. Banning Ket was not easy and it was not secretive. It was discussed, and in all of my time here, among a team more diverse than any group of people I've worked with in real life, I have never seen a decision with broader support.
We hope you continue to hold us accountable as mods. We hope more threads on trans issues will be created in the future, and we hope to continue to absorb your feedback to be better in addressing and handling trans issues. But Ketkat, unrelated to any of the above, is banned. And that is final.
This isn't about you.
Did the staff forget the entire thing about listening to trans voices and maybe for once not centering things on yourselves?
Your lives aren't being dissected. Stop being so disingenuous. It's not dissection to call out blatant bigotry that was available for a lot of people to see.
Get the fuck over yourselves. All anyone wanted was for ResetEra to crack down on transphobia, not least by removing any mods with problematic pasts. But instead the "leadership" here has shown their collective asses and doubled down on mistakes.
Once again, in the Trans Awareness Week thread. "We ERA staff people have it so hard!"
You guys are doing this on purpose, aren't you?
Just for posterity, here's the "dissection" in question:
Practically a list of names and addresses, right?
And that broad base of support didn't include former members of staff like SweetNicole or the mod that Ketkat was dating. I'm not buying that.
Practically a list of names and addresses, right?
And that broad base of support didn't include former members of staff like SweetNicole or the mod that Ketkat was dating. I'm not buying that.
Same thought here, honestly.
Pretty sure that's going to do the exact opposite. I know I'd certainly be apprehensive about making a thread knowing how this whole incident went down, and I'm sure others are in agreement.
Please never ask us to hold you accountable. As this situation has once again proven (and it's been obvious since the very short honeymoon phase of the site ended, I might add) that you literally do not allow us to do so.
And once a-goddamn-gain, how is an SO of a staff member hearing or seeing chats "hacking". Anyone explain that? Please? They aren't national secrets.
And once a-goddamn-gain, how is an SO of a staff member hearing or seeing chats "hacking". Anyone explain that? Please? They aren't national secrets.
For the record, to bellyaching ERA staff: you get to accept and abdicate your "burden" at will. If only we whiny trans folks enjoyed that luxury.
But by all means, keep up that tiny violin refrain. 🎻
But by all means, keep up that tiny violin refrain. 🎻
Maybe read and re-read this until how it looks to everyone else, becomes evident to the ERA staff at large...?
The admin team is fairly diverse, and includes LGBTQ people and PoCs, so please don't make assumptions. Admins also prioritize minority staff for those topics, and have plans to promote more minority admins in the near future.
"Hack"
Overhearing something isn't hacking. Do you even listen to yourselves?
I fail to see how hearing something second hand = hacking. Seriously?
Because nobody hacked a damn thing. Here's what SweetNicole had to say:
And here's what Robin had to say about it:
The only side here that has kept their story consistent is KetKat's side. So frankly, the most charitable reading I can give you is, you were being lied to if you think this is hacking.
During this thorough investigation that lasted a handful of minutes, have anyone thought about listening to Ket when she offered to present her side of the story? From what I can tell you don't even know how Ket came upon that knowledge. You said she hacked you all, where is the proof of that? Once again, the moderation says "this is what we're doing, end of discussion" instead of trying at all to talk with the community.
Also, please stop using loaded terms like "abuse of relationship" and "violation", "dissection", when this is not about you all.
Also, please stop using loaded terms like "abuse of relationship" and "violation", "dissection", when this is not about you all.
Hacking? This is new. Are you able to provide evidence to how KetKat managed to hack? But also, you clearly feeling overwhelmed with the immense pressure of answering these questions, it may be best for you to voluntarily take a break or resign.
You guys have produced 0 receipts that Ket ever hacked anything. After all the transparently-disingenuous behavior by ERA staff over just the last few days, why should we believe you have any at all anywhere?
Produce the receipts. Put up or shut up, instead of libeling one of the most brightly-shining beacons on this site.
"We hope you continue to hold us accountable as mods."
This is a vain wish, because there is no accountability nor hope of accountability to be had. As with Gaf, mods get off easy, moot without transparency, and do what they wish, regular users can but shrug their shoulders and accept whatever becomes the official word or leave. You're not our peers. You're hall monitors demanding folks tow the party line.
This is a vain wish, because there is no accountability nor hope of accountability to be had. As with Gaf, mods get off easy, moot without transparency, and do what they wish, regular users can but shrug their shoulders and accept whatever becomes the official word or leave. You're not our peers. You're hall monitors demanding folks tow the party line.
You genuinely can't accuse someone of hacking without evidence when your side has absolutely no credibility by CONSTANTLY changing its tune and the story and when former members of moderation disagree that hacking took place.
Can't offer proof because it would violate your privacy worse than Ketkat's post? Well, shit, maybe you shouldn't have made a federal fucking issue out of a vague and detail-less post.
Can't offer proof because it would violate your privacy worse than Ketkat's post? Well, shit, maybe you shouldn't have made a federal fucking issue out of a vague and detail-less post.
An immensely disappointing response from the staff. In a thread where the topic is how a member of our community has been banned literally for overhearing something she apparently shouldn't have, we're being told to shut up and move along.
All this stuff about how the staff supports us rings pretty hollow if I can get permed for hearing something about the staff that I shouldn't.
All this stuff about how the staff supports us rings pretty hollow if I can get permed for hearing something about the staff that I shouldn't.
This is a really disappointing response. Congratulations on making a thread about trans issues about yourself.
Saying "Kets hacked the mod chat" is disingenuous as hell too and is honestly kind of insulting. Overhearing something =/= hacking. But maybe the mods don't know this because no one bothered to actually talk to Kets during this investigation.
Please don't just say "No more questions" and sweep this shit under the rug
Saying "Kets hacked the mod chat" is disingenuous as hell too and is honestly kind of insulting. Overhearing something =/= hacking. But maybe the mods don't know this because no one bothered to actually talk to Kets during this investigation.
Please don't just say "No more questions" and sweep this shit under the rug
I just want to say this, the banning of Ketkat isn't the only issue. These feelings have been brewing for a long time and was getting a lot worse as of late. Ketkat was just the final nail in the coffin. Regardless, I haven't felt great about posting here for awhile now, and unless a miracle happens this will likely be my last post here. I wish the best to everyone here who is a true ally.
There is apparently an acephobic staff member who is getting away with being trash and all we get is being told to shut up and move on from cis mods.
The solidarity shown by the community is warming and it is a loss. I will say, however, that I can't imagine any platform or institution where you can enter or listen to trusted chats without announcing yourself and then use vague statements about those chats to paint the staff as poisoned to the public and membership. That's what it looks like to me, so the outcome doesn't surprise me unless I'm misunderstanding and she misrepresented the fact that she was privy to others' discussions in the minority chat.
This is truly disappointing not the least of wish is turning trans awareness week into something else. I wouldnt be surprised to see an exodus of trans voices from this site which is sad
This trans awareness thread is going to be locked soon because the site staff is upset about vague nameless accusations of bigoted attitudes.
This looks bad.
This looks bad.
This means less than nothing unless this "diversity" puts intersectionality into practice. For example, I used to belong to an alleged "LGBTQIA+ Support" forum, the administration of which opted to ban a whole bunch of trans members (myself included) for being "troublemakers", because we (legitimately) took issue with a number of suspicious new members, later exposed as merely posing as trans, sending unwelcome and sexually-solicitative DM's to other trans members on the site, making a number of us feel unsafe. The "diverse" administration team (which, tellingly, still contained no trans members at all), sure had our best interests at heart by destroying the forum's strong trans base, though, huh?
I repeat, without intersectionality, diversity is ineffectual.
There is absolutely no acephobic mod among staff, and the mod post is on behalf of the entire team.
If there isn't a mod who said acephobic things among staff, why was Ketkat banned for "hacking" or "violating privacy" or whatever else instead of for lying about staff? Would have saved you a big headache, really.
I think, for those that are genuinely upset at the mods. And if they lock this thread or try to sweep this under the rug, all rules are broken. Protest, and one way I would do this, is to go into all top threads, just say, free ketKat. Just riddle all those threads with 'Unban KetKat'.
This is what happens when administration starts with a decision and works backwards.
We see you.