[Dancingwilldoit]

Just to let you know I wont be posting on here anymore.

I know we don't always see eye to eye Blue but I really do respect your opinions and honestly hope for all our sakes we do stay up this season even though I don't think we will. Maybe we will bump into each other in the East Stand one matchday - you can buy me a drink if you want - remember I'm the 6'5" good looking guy. I will probably renew my season ticket for non league, I'm a sucker for punishment.

Dev, I just love your posts, you are articulate and post some interesting thought provoking items which I usually agree with (except when its about Brexit ). If we do end up at Torquay next season or the one after maybe we can meet up for a drink before the game, I really would like to meet you and have a beer and a chat.

Reason for going is I am peed off that one of my posts was censored by Matt. One thing that really gets up my nose is censorship. My post was neither inflammatory, slanderous or derogatory in any way but did contain factual comments about DA and AC and the way they have turned a very special family club into a cess pit of lies and deceit. It was censored because Matt had read that AC was monitoring postings about him on social media. What that had to do with anything I posted I really have no idea. If I say anything slanderous and anybody ever wants to issue proceedings against me I am more than capable of handling it myself, I don't need anybody else to filter things out on my behalf. I have had a private exchange with Matt but the post hasn't been put back how I posted, and I have not had an apology nor any guarantee that any further posts will not be censored so have decided thats all folks.
Matt just doesn't believe he did anything wrong. Its the principle that gets me. I cant tolerate censorship of any description and in this case it was totally utterly unjustified.
The purpose of boards like this is to allow freedom of expression, if I cant at least do that then there's no point in me posting. Times are bad enough at the club I love and if the supporters are silenced for telling how it is, then its really a sorry state of affairs.

Anyhow I will continue to read your posts and wish everybody all the best for the future.
Best Regards
Dancing

PS Am giving up on BB as well as things are just getting worse and worse on there but at least you can say what you want.

[bluepooch]

Dancing don't do it !.
Who else am I going to argue with but you lot on here !.
One thing that social media has done is to surpress free speech which is disgusting .
Matt, obviously I am not privy to what has been typed but please don't panic over criticism of the hierarchy on here .Hardly anyone reads this board and maybe do you think you are overreacting ?.

[St Charles Owl]

Dancing, things are tough for you guys at the moment but the Chesterfield board has been one of my favorites to read on here!  There are only 4 regulars posting, but your personalities are all so very different and your posting style and content totally reflects that.  On that basis alone I would ask you not to abandon us yet.

I don’t know the ins and outs of what Matt did or why he did it but censoship, slander etc have become a topic of conversation on football forums over the past few years, and there has been legal action taken against some sites over what has been posted on them. I’m no legal expert at all, but I know there was a discussion on here between mods and owners a few years ago on this subject and what we should maybe look out for just in case.  Obviously the owner of this site doesn’t want to find himself in a position where something he does as a hobby becomes a legal issue for him, and I can understand that.  In the end we didn’t do anything different although we did tone down some of the language to make the site maybe more attractive to new posters.  

Maybe Matt has gone over the top a little, maybe he has it spot on , I didn’t see the posts that were edited or deleted but as a fellow moderator I back him in making the decision he made as I am sure he felt it was the right course of action.  My advice to you guys though is before any of you leave for you all to get together and agree what limits or boundaries you have with regards to the tone and content in posts.  I am not aware of anything being said by Sportsbabble itself on this but Matt I am sure would confirm that if that was the case, so at the end of the day its almost entirely your decision as to what rules you put in.

From a technical aspect Dancing, please don’t hold Matt’s feet to the fire on the basis of putting posts back to their original content.  Once edited there is no way to undo that edit on here.  If a post was deleted then that might still be able to be restored but I have been through the logs and none of the posts recently deleted are now available to be restored.  He cannot do anything about this now, please accept that and not make it part of the reason if you choose to leave.

Dancing, I understand your stance on censorship and in general I agree with what you say and you are right I doubt anyone from any football club is reading our forum due to its size!!! Its sounds like you and Matt have engaged in dialogue over this issue and I would encourage you to continue that to find a reasonable solution for both of you, if either of you want to speak to me then I am free to help in any way I can. I will once again ask that you do not leave the forum, it needs you and Blue and Devon and Matt to keep the Chesterfield board interesting!!!! Find that happy medium if you can and keep the board going.

[spireitematt]

Just to let you know I wont be posting on here anymore.

I know we don't always see eye to eye Blue but I really do respect your opinions and honestly hope for all our sakes we do stay up this season even though I don't think we will. Maybe we will bump into each other in the East Stand one matchday - you can buy me a drink if you want - remember I'm the 6'5" good looking guy. I will probably renew my season ticket for non league, I'm a sucker for punishment.

Dev, I just love your posts, you are articulate and post some interesting thought provoking items which I usually agree with (except when its about Brexit   ). If we do end up at Torquay next season or the one after maybe we can meet up for a drink before the game, I really would like to meet you and have a beer and a chat.

Reason for going is I am peed off that one of my posts was censored by Matt. One thing that really gets up my nose is censorship. My post was neither inflammatory, slanderous or derogatory in any way but did contain factual comments about DA and AC and the way they have turned a very special family club into a cess pit of lies and deceit. It was censored because Matt had read that AC was monitoring postings about him on social media. What that had to do with anything I posted I really have no idea. If I say anything slanderous and anybody ever wants to issue proceedings against me I am more than capable of handling it myself, I don't need anybody else to filter things out on my behalf. I have had a private exchange with Matt but the post hasn't been put back how I posted, and I have not had an apology nor any guarantee that any further posts will not be censored so have decided thats all folks.
Matt just doesn't believe he did anything wrong. Its the principle that gets me. I cant tolerate censorship of any description and in this case it was totally utterly unjustified.
The purpose of boards like this is to allow freedom of expression, if I cant at least do that then there's no point in me posting. Times are bad enough at the club I love and if the supporters are silenced for telling how it is, then its really a sorry state of affairs.

Anyhow I will continue to read your posts and wish everybody all the best for the future.
Best Regards
Dancing

PS Am giving up on BB as well as things are just getting worse and worse on there but at least you can say what you want.

I will hold my hands up. I'm sorry Dancing for editing your post and I can guarantee that I will not be editing anymore posts on here from now on for everybody. Was I wrong? Possibly but I was trying to look out for everybody's best interests on here. If you want to re-edit the post again you can do yourself.

[Amelia Chaffinch]

Don't go, dancing. I have threatened to leave loads of times for lots of reasons, one of which was being moderated before I was a mod. It's hard trying to do your best, whichever way you look at it. We all support a team and Matt's on the same side as you.

[Devongone]

Dancing mate, I can only say this is losing a friend.

I don't think Matt intended anything bad. He saw a danger that I'm sure is actually non-existent, from a source which could threaten But is actually completely powerless.

I too believe in complete freedom of speech. If we can't handle words, what hope have we with actions? If things continue to go wrong at Chesterfield we will have only ourselves as a resource. At some point those across the country, South Devon to Inver fckniung ness who support the club will need to come together and save it.

You are a good and true man despite being a Manc South African regularly sunning in Spain! Please don't leave. We need your anger and you need a forum to vent it. I know that Brexit and Vanarama are a lot to take in together, but at least you've got us idiots.

One of the reasons I wanted Matt to become a moderator on here was that there are not many men, never mind young men, who are prepared to say YOU WERE RIGHT AND I WAS WRONG. He is. Cut him a bit of slack.

The greatest writer ever, Dylan Thomas, wrote "rage, rage against the dying of the light / do not go gentle into that good night." We should RAGE. Our club will be going down, it could even be dying. Don't deny us your rage my friend.

[Dancingwilldoit]

My opening post wasn't meant as a "look at me" and it wasn't meant as a personal attack on Matt and I suppose with hindsight I could have worded it better. It was meant to be against censorship on the board and how in this instant it honestly really got my back up big style.
I have already said my post was definitely not litigatory in any way. I know my way around legal issues and am always very careful with my wording.
The issue was that it was censored because of a rumour on another Chesterfield Fans Forum, that CFC's IT consultants, were monitoring social media for posts about a director Ashley Carson and passing them onto him. That was a rumour - not proven fact. Even if it did turn out to be fact, there was nothing derogatory in my post. It did mention AC and that seems to be why part of it was deleted. Now, to delete something on the basis of a rumour is just plain wrong.
If Matt as a moderator had an issue with it IMO he should have PM'd me first and said something before it was deleted I could have made my feelings known before any action was taken. If we couldn't agree then I am sure another mod could mediate. That is how I would expect something like this to be dealt with and not bang its gone that's it and it cant be re-instated.
I understand that boards like this have to be moderated but there are rules for posting and if a post doesn't break those rules then there is no reason whatsoever for deleting it or part of it.
Maybe in future any contentious issues could be dealt with as I suggested above it would certainly save a lot of grief and bad feeling.

Matt I appreciate you thought you were doing the right thing and I applaud your honesty in admitting you got it wrong. As I said before it just got my back up at the time and am sure that safeguards can be put in place to prevent anything similar in the future.

Finally thank you all for your posts. Maybe in some eyes it was an over reaction but it didn't feel it at the time.
You've not lost a mate Dev and Blue - you still don't know what you are talking about.

[Amelia Chaffinch]

tbh, dancing, we very rarely change things as the majority of us are self-moderating. In the past, there were issues with some members because of long-standing feuds that were much bigger than this forum but, thankfully, not so much now. I'm holding my hand up for persuading Matt to be a moderator and then leaving him to it. I do feel responsible for any upset all this has caused. I want him to remain as mod because he is involved in helping us in more contentious topics that come up on other boards and, despite what he thinks right now, he is contributing greatly. We are all here as supporters of our respective clubs and all members are well thought of. We really don't want this to be a sterile and over-moderated place. At least you know who your mods are on here... on a lot of forums they skulk around incognito. As Matt has proved, we are answerable for our actions and will apologise when we cock up. I'm so glad that you have commented just now.

[bluepooch]

This board has quality not quantity and I would rather have it that way than the 80% crap on BB .So Dancing we would lose 25% of our team of CFC lovers if you left and that's a big hole to fill .

[spireitematt]

My opening post wasn't meant as a "look at me" and it wasn't meant as a personal attack on Matt and I suppose with hindsight I could have worded it better. It was meant to be against censorship on the board and how in this instant it honestly really got my back up big style.
I have already said my post was definitely not litigatory in any way. I know my way around legal issues and am always very careful with my wording.
The issue was that it was censored because of a rumour on another Chesterfield Fans Forum, that CFC's IT consultants, were monitoring social media for posts about a director Ashley Carson and passing them onto him. That was a rumour - not proven fact. Even if it did turn out to be fact, there was nothing derogatory in my post. It did mention AC and that seems to be why part of it was deleted. Now, to delete something on the basis of a rumour is just plain wrong.
If Matt as a moderator had an issue with it IMO he should have PM'd me first and said something before it was deleted I could have made my feelings known before any action was taken. If we couldn't agree then I am sure another mod could mediate. That is how I would expect something like this to be dealt with and not bang its gone that's it and it cant be re-instated.
I understand that boards like this have to be moderated but there are rules for posting and if a post doesn't break those rules then there is no reason whatsoever for deleting it or part of it.
Maybe in future any contentious issues could be dealt with as I suggested above it would certainly save a lot of grief and bad feeling.

Matt I appreciate you thought you were doing the right thing and I applaud your honesty in admitting you got it wrong. As I said before it just got my back up at the time and am sure that safeguards can be put in place to prevent anything similar in the future.

Finally thank you all for your posts. Maybe in some eyes it was an over reaction but it didn't feel it at the time.
You've not lost a mate Dev and Blue - you still don't know what you are talking about.

First and foremost I would like to say Welcome back and its great to see you posting again.

I didn't feel like it was a personal attack at all. Looking back in hindsight and reflecting on your post on this thread and the whole situation, I was overzealous and I will hold my hands up and admit that I misjudged the situation and got it completely wrong.

What I did wasn't meant to be censorship at all and I am a firm believer in free speech and for people to speak there mind freely, even if I disagree with someone's opinions or point of view, I will always respect their opinion or point of view and instead of shutting people down I believe you should talk and listen to people and their ideas because that's how you make real change come about by talking. It also helps you understand where the other person is coming from and I also believe that you have to be open-minded in life.

In the foreseeable future I will speak to Amelia or St Charles before I carry out any action on the forum as another opinion or another set of eyes so they can advise. I hope we can put what's happened behind us and move on.

Devon, Dancing and Blue. You are all fantastic posters and you bring a lot to the forum with your different views and personalities. We also have one thing in common and that's supporting Chesterfield FC like Amelia says on this thread in post #5, I'm on the same side as you as all Spireites will be and right now whatever happens win, lose or draw, stay in L2 or end up in the National League we must all stand together and stay united.