[January]

I think the mods and Admin need all the support and appreciation we can give them. They work hard to provide a safe haven for all of us and often go without so much as a "Thank you for a job well done."

[Fuzzybear]

I too appreciate the mods and admins here and want to thank them for all the work they do to make this the safe and supportive community that it is. I certainly appreciate their posting here as well and value their insights

[divine1966]

Originally Posted by Breadfish

I think - I might be wrong - this thread was once part of another thread and was "separated" into a thread of its own. So the person who is now the OP was once just someone responding to a thread.

Oh I see. It makes a difference. It still kind of makes a person op as they are the first poster on the thread but even if not, they started a new/original topic within somebody else's thread on some other forum so it was separated and moved when it fits better. Just my take on it. But that's ok if the person doesn't want to be acknowledged as op

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It is misleading and unfair to frame this as though this user started a thread, when in fact the post was originally made in a particular context as part of a debate. I don't think that is fair treatment of the user, notwithstanding what the post was about.
I think it would be far fairer to state at the start of thread the original context in which it was posted.

Originally Posted by Echos Myron

It is misleading and unfair to frame this as though this user started a thread, when in fact the post was originally made in a particular context as part of a debate. I don't think that is fair treatment of the user, notwithstanding what the post was about.
I think it would be far fairer to state at the start of thread the original context in which it was posted.

I agree...This feels very unfair. We are not in high school any more..well, I'm not

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by Echos Myron

It is misleading and unfair to frame this as though this user started a thread, when in fact the post was originally made in a particular context as part of a debate. I don't think that is fair treatment of the user, notwithstanding what the post was about.
I think it would be far fairer to state at the start of thread the original context in which it was posted.

I don't know what thread that is and don't know who the op of that thread is. Link?

[DocJohn]

Folks, please do not derail the original topic of this post by asking questions not related to the topic. We have always removed off-topic posts to their own thread, in the appropriate forum, when necessary. This is not new, nor is it unusual when members post tangential topics to an OP's thread that have little to do with the original topic.

The topic of this thread is whether the community support team has a right to participate in discussions here, as they've always had the right to do so for the past 15 years. One member called this into question, and I'm here to reaffirm that we are not changing this long-standing policy.

DocJohn

[Yoda]

I am confused. So another thread is not relevant to this thread?

[Tsukiko]

I have gotten some wonderful support and feedback here from members who also happen to be moderators and admin. Apparently the context of the original post/comment is unknown to me, but I wanted to chime in and say that I am thankful for the people running the site to take time out to be supportive of members. I've been on several forums where the admin simply didn't care about members and, as someone else pointed out, this apathy led to the downfall of the forums.

Originally Posted by DocJohn

Folks, please do not derail the original topic of this post by asking questions not related to the topic. We have always removed off-topic posts to their own thread, in the appropriate forum, when necessary. This is not new, nor is it unusual when members post tangential topics to an OP's thread that have little to do with the original topic.

The topic of this thread is whether the community support team has a right to participate in discussions here, as they've always had the right to do so for the past 15 years. One member called this into question, and I'm here to reaffirm that we are not changing this long-standing policy.

DocJohn

With respect Dr John, I don't feel that it is fair or ethical pull a comment out of its original context (without making this clear to other users) and make an example of them, allowing others to argue on a platform in which she is not comfortable engaging. As you feel this is not the place for that debate, I would like to start a thread about this issue, and I would really appreciate a response.

[lizardlady]

Originally Posted by Echos Myron

With respect Dr John, I don't feel that it is fair or ethical pull a comment out of its original context (without making this clear to other users) and make an example of them, allowing others to argue on a platform in which she is not comfortable engaging. As you feel this is not the place for that debate, I would like to start a thread about this issue, and I would really appreciate a response.

I already weighed in to say that I believe mods and admin should be able to participate in discussions. Am not going to repost what I already said.

I'd like to address taking someone's post from the middle of a thread and moving it to a different forum and posting it as a thread starter. If I were the person it happened to I would be very unhappy. I can see that the person who appears to be the OP for this thread might be uncomfortable with what happened. Perhaps if a similar thing occurs in the future, rather than move the post, someone could start a thread here? Using this instance as an example - start a thread in the tech/feedback forum about mods/admins posting on threads. Back in the original thread post a link to the discussion here saying something like "there is discussion of this topic here..."

++++
Had a question after posting the above...

Is is possible to move just one post leaving a "moved" link in it's place in the original thread?

Originally Posted by Echos Myron

With respect Dr John, I don't feel that it is fair or ethical pull a comment out of its original context (without making this clear to other users) and make an example of them, allowing others to argue on a platform in which she is not comfortable engaging. As you feel this is not the place for that debate, I would like to start a thread about this issue, and I would really appreciate a response.

When I replied I thought I was replying to a thread titled "Admins and mods participating in thread discussions," but I just noticed that the title of this thread is "any psychotherapy topic is welcomed here." Thus I have to retract my reply due to one thread having two titles.

The most important question I have is whether consent was obtained from the member who posted the reply to psychotherapy to use it as an OP to another thread? If yes, then I don't see an issue here, but if no it's very troubling.

I'm going to fair-minded and say that there was no intent to deceive the de facto OP and members who replied to this thread (I think it's reasonable to assume that the replies were to the question of whether or not admins and mods should participate in threads), yet I do conclude that The Team should have known that this practice would cause confusion at best.

[IrisBloom]

I agree with Liz and Kindness in that I would have been upset if my post was moved in this way. But there are other ways the OP could have addressed his/her issue with admin and Doc John.

[amandalouise]

ok if going on whether it was right to move the first post in this thread to its own thread here is how I think of it...

if the first post in this thread was removed from say a thread on depression I would look at the post and see that there is nothing in the first post of .....this...thread that contains any problems or issues about depression. that says its off topic of depression and should ether be removed completely from the boards or made into its own thread if its a problem that can be discussed on psych central.

now put the original post in ...this..... thread back into context of the thread it was removed from does the post mention anything to do with attending psychotherapy, the posters views on attending therapy, seeing their therapists\psychiatrists and other issues related to psychology\psycho therapy...

I dont see anywhere in the first post of this thread where it talks about a therapist, psychiatrist, psychologist, mental health testing, views on going to therapy... stuff the psychotherapy board is for posting about.

the first post is about whether the people in authority here on psych central can post on psych central outside of their duties of being moderators and administrators.

to me that says the post needed to be removed or moved in order to keep the psychotherapy boards\posts and threads on topic of therapy, seeing mental health treatment providers and other therapy related issues.

now to take it a step further since the first post in this thread needed to be moved or deleted entirely because it wasnt about psychotherapy and our mental health treatment providers I for one am glad that instead of just deleting and notifying the poster that their thread was off topic of the board so it had to go in the trash\ never to be seen or discussed again they decided that this is an issue that will fit for community discussion and feedback.

its a great topic and can help the moderators and administrators know what we as a community need from them.

i for one am glad the authority team is going to continue to post as members as well as continue to do their jobs here. without their input and hard work this site would not be what it is today. I have been on sites where the only time you see or hear from a moderator\administrator is when they are banning someone, telling members they are posting wrong, deleting posts and giving out sanctions\ reprimands. the end result is everyone hating the site, hating the people in authority and not wanting to get promoted to that position due to others will turn against them just because they now have to be the big mean boss of making and upholding the rules and keeping the site running.

Id rather be part of a site where those in authority are human beings who can balance being part of a community not just the bad guy serving out reprimands, deletions and all that being moderators\administrators entails.

[amandalouise]

forgot to add on the issue of maybe leaving a link when a post is moved..great idea but I have seen this done before in other threads and usually what I noticed happening was that both threads ended up being where both threads being discussed in both threads so both threads got locked for being way off topic...

example
discussion on dissociation gets a post about dogs.
post about dogs gets moved and a link in the dissociation thread.
people see link in dissociation thread so they check out the link
and post their dissociation thoughts in the dog thread

and vice versa

now you have two threads both discussing dogs and dissociation problems. so whats going on here is this a dog thread or is this a dissociation thread. is this a dissociation thread or is this a dog thread. readers get confused, repliers get confused, both threads end up getting locked down for being off topic and possible fighting as members try to figure out each respective thread and how to post with conflicting issues in both threads.

I would rather see posts moved or deleted (and have been the recipient of both actions with my own posts) than to see the posts and threads end up being a mish mash of confusion.

[Turtleboy]

yup, you got it amandalouise, spot on that's exactly how it went, it was supposed to be a way of letting the members speak freely about the subject, that's all. not some way of singling somebody out or trying to make somebody look a certain way, it was off topic, normally we delete or move a post like that, that's it.

[pegasus]

Originally Posted by Ididitmyway

DocJohn...I am not ok with you offering your opinion on the subject discussed because I don't believe it is appropriate for you, as a moderator or an administrator, to engage in equal exchanges with forum users while at the same time maintaining your power and authority to moderate threads, posts and memberships. Your role as a mod has certain boundaries attached to it that I hope you will respect.

Sorry I'm late in this discussion but something here caught my eye. I am not a moderator and never have been so my opinion on this is without bias. Your quote above stood about because DocJohn is the owner of this website and for all you know he may or may not have mental health issues himself so why can't he have an opinion? In fact if you read his bio, you'll see the reasons why he set up the website in the first place. Everyone here can have an opinion and DocJohn's voice (in my experience) tends to be one of reason and experience. I have no issues with any mod/admin taking part in any thread, we are all here to support each other and as long as we all follow the same guidelines... power to all! Peace.