Anonymous 234 Share Posted May 29, 2018 I’m going anon here because I’m in need of some help! Ive been running a moderately busy site for around three months. I’m so excited with activity levels and quality of members. There’s four staff, only that many because myself and two friends did all the work setting it up, and another friend helped me write the plots. This is where the issues start. First, the moderator- let’s call her Amy- who helped me with plots does not do anything. Not claims like I asked, not event planning, and she doesn’t even post more than the bare minimum with major canon characters she’s created. A new person, let’s call her Tina, joined. Tina was active and brought a ton of friends. I was so excited! That’s how sites get popular and stay active, when groups of people come together! Somehow, while I was at work, Amy added Tina to the staff chat. For the sole purpose of talking shit about another member. I asked how this happened, nobody answered me. The next day, Tina was given admin powers. Everybody claims I was okay with this, and when I asked who made her an admin, nobody will answer me. Accessing admin logs, I know Amy did this. I decided that since everyone likes Tina, I’d roll with it. She’s super active and has some good ideas for plots. However, she’s still done nothing aside from plotting. I now have Amy, who does nothing, and Tina, who only plots and does nothing else. Recently, Tina has started trying to push members out of the site to give popular characters to her friends. I’ve firmly told her to stop, she asks me once a week. Tina and Amy have done nothing but talk plots in the main chat, ignoring all guest questions, and never ever post. They’re about to lose characters in an activity check. Tina has now started messaging my other two admins, who built the site with me, saying she’s worried I hate her. Every conversation we have, Tina snaps at me. She claims RP is a hobby, and that me writing long posts is a waste of time and holding plots back. She’s called me stupid in the chat for reading books after I said reading is what makes me a writer. I was willing to work with the situation rather than cause an issue. Now it feels as if she’s pushing me off of my own site, since my other two admins are telling me to “please talk to her” when I ask their advice on how to handle this as a team. I’m done. I won’t be pushed off a site I have put four months of work into. I created custom everything for this site, it’s definitely my baby. I’m tired of hearing “I’m not trying to be a jerk I’m just saying” from Tina every time I make a call as admin. I want to handle this calmly and rationally, as an adult, and cause the least amount of issues on the site. I do not want this to cause the site to die. I need advice and suggestions! I know I should have done things differently, but this is where I’m at now. Any advice is so appreciated. Anonymous poster hash: 1b190...de8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Death Kitten 200 Popular Post Share Posted May 29, 2018 Sounds like Amy and Tina need to go. Hard stop. Amy violated your trust adding a new admin without permission, and Tina isn't contributing anything and was added under shady circumstances. 4 2 4 Captain Amelia Waterhouse, Commanding Officer =/\= Join =/\= Roster & Openings =/\= Rules =/\= Chat =/\= "It is human nature to yearn to be what we were never intended for. It is singular, but it is so." -Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post VirusZero 176 Popular Post Share Posted May 29, 2018 Stop talking and ban both Tina and Amy. They've had their chances to behave. Don't ask them to leave, don't give them a chance to argue or collect their stuff. They are done. As an admin, if I ask who did something and no one will tell me so I have to go check (because there is always logs) I'm going to be far more upset and angry than if they'd just told me. (Why? Because it means I have to spend extra time figuring it out. And it means to me that they can't be honest and up front with me about things.) It gets even worse when they pull stunts like adding new people to staff or private communication channels. While the stuff there might not be the most interesting it is restricted to staff for a reason. So either giving someone access to it or otherwise showing them stuff from it is a pretty big breach of trust for me. (I'd demote someone immediately over that.) Though I'd be extremely pissed off if they used staff channels to insult or dump on someone. That alone, to me, is a sign they should not be on staff. (If they're going to do this kind of stuff with me watching, what will they do when I'm not there? And if I know they're doing it and I do nothing then I'm basically endorsing it.) I'll also admit that once someone starts trying to play me off others (by the talking to other admins and trying to get them against me) they're gone. I do not tolerate that stuff because if they're willing to do that to me (a staff member, possible root admin) then what are they like to other members behind my back? And I'll be blunt here... I will forgive a person for snapping a few times (bad days happen). But if it's a constant thing then I'm done giving chances for them to get their act together and it's time for them to go. I don't usually ask people to leave because by the time I'm ready to do that they really don't have a say in it and it's just going to be a ban. Shortversion... Ban both of them. No warnings either. Just gone. 7 "There are three sides to every story... Your side, their side, and then somewhere in the middle is the truth." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Popular Post Morrigan 1,825 Admin Popular Post Share Posted May 29, 2018 Honestly? If ANYONE pulled someone into my staff chat without MY permission.... people die. If any of my staff suddenly made a new person (or even an existing person) into a staff member without my express permission.... They would never staff for me again. I'm not a ban heavy admin but I can tell you these things: Neither of them deserve the position. Tina didn't earn it and Amy isn't keeping her end of the bargain. First things first, you better demote them before they can do harm to your site (and make sure you pull a backup before they realize what you're doing too). Send them each an individual PM. I would apologize to Tina about the confusion but that new staff must be approved by all existing staff members and no one was consulted about this change, additionally you didn't need another staff member. When you do you will post about it. For Amy, I'd straight up ban her. She's a disobedient little fucking shit trying to usurp you through adding her new friends into staff. I probably wouldn't even warn her but that's because anyone that does that shit to me, I would never want to play with them again. Personally, I think Tina, while not in the right either, is a little caught in the crossfire of you and Amy and some of Amy's PA bullshit. 1 7 Profile set made by myself and original Artwork by Fae Merriman, my daughter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Shades 676 Popular Post Share Posted May 29, 2018 Both Amy and Tina should have been demoted the second you found out Tina was added by Amy as a staff member without anyone else's input. Tina, because she had no business 'just becoming staff'. And Amy, because she can't be trusted. What else is she gonna do behind people's backs? With that out of the way, if they both were absolutely stellar staff members, they might have a reason to stay. They're not. They aren't even good staff members. They don't post, they complain about stuff, they're basically a burden at this point. So at this point the least I'd do (and first thing) would be to demote them. If you feel like giving them a chance (do not recommend), they should have it as regular members, and never get to be staff again. Sorry if I sound drastic, but trust is a big thing. 2 5 Shady McShaderson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anonymous 234 Author Share Posted May 30, 2018 You have all been very helpful. I’ve decided to try talking to my original staff team minus Amy once more. We’ve been friends for years and I don’t want any bad blood over this. I’m going to explain my frustrations, as the root admin who not only pays for the site but does all upkeep, and give them an opportunity for input. If they continue to refer me to Tina, I’ll tell them I’m making the call. This input is super helpful, since people here seem to have encountered people like this before! And as always, the anon feature here saved me!! Anonymous poster hash: 1b190...de8 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icewolf 258 Share Posted May 30, 2018 Demote both Amy and Tina. They don't sound like they are good staff for the site, though they do plot which is what you need. You might get some backlash from them, though. Having members who make problems is bad enough, but staff? No way and Amy should have run it by you and your other staff first before giving Tina any staff powers at all. 4 Legends of Arda Character Archives Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shieb 47 Share Posted May 31, 2018 So, off the top, I probably would have demoted Amy pretty early once she made it clear she wouldn't do anything, even if I asked. Following that, if a staff member adds someone into the staff chat on the basis of bad-mouthing another member, that tells you two things. One, that staff member has no respect for how you want to run things, because they didn't even ask. Two, they think this is what staffing is; being part of an exclusive club who get to talk crap about other people. Adding Tina in was a fundamentally wrong move because it was built on a toxic mindset. Tina should have been returned to member status, and told that it's not her fault, it was the staff member misbehaving. Amy should have been demoted without warning. Again, if your own staff members can't respect how the site is run, they shouldn't be staff. If Amy continues to do nothing and Tina continues to prioritize herself, they don't need to be there. The way Tina speaks with you isn't okay, but chances are she does because she can feel the tension off you, especially since her first impression of you right after she became staff was "Who's responsible for this? Why didn't you speak to me about it?" Idk enough about Tina to know for sure how she would respond, but I think it's worth opening a dialogue with her. Let her know you know she's worried about you, explain that you don't dislike her, and explain why things are a little weird. Don't get too finger-pointy. If she otherwise seems like a good person, then she'll understand why someone being promoted without a conversation and who isn't expected to do anything as staff would be a little weird. And look, it really comes down to this. Tina doesn't belong on staff under these circumstances, and Amy needed to go a long time ago. When she showed zero respect for what you, one of the main admins, wanted done, she also demonstrated that she knew she could get away with it because you let her. And here you are. You don't owe Amy anything after that. If she's gonna kick up a fuss, just ban her. I doubt explaining to her that she was entirely disrespectful will do anything because she used your weakness to her advantage, and those people don't apologize. One last thing. Take this experience, point out all the things that bothered you, and apply that to how you want staff to be. Do you expect them all to do their jobs? Do you expect staff to open a dialogue with each other if changes might happen? What are your absolute lines? How are staff expected to act towards members? Take all that and apply it to your current staff, and any future staff. Communicate with them about how you need to act in order to make a good staff team and make the site the best it can be. If you had enforced these ideals from the beginning, this probably wouldn't have happened. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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