I am leaving Squat the Planet. | Squat the Planet

I am leaving Squat the Planet.

MolotovMocktail

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Hi folks. I’m making this post to announce that I’ve decided to step down as a moderator and participant on Squat the Planet. Please know that this wasn’t an easy decision to make but I’m convinced it’s the right move for me.

There are a few reasons for this:

1) I’ve been on StP for six years and have been a mod for about five. I was still in high school when I joined and was super stoked on the idea of traveling. The site and its users helped me figure out a lot of things about being on the road and I would have been worse off without it when I was traveling. But in the past few years I’ve gotten less interested in the travel scene and have felt less and less connected to the StP community. I’ve put a lot of work into being a mod but it’s just not worth the energy for me anymore because I no longer feel any connection to the community.

2) The userbase also seems to have gotten significantly less interested in the things StP is supposed to be about. I rarely see interesting content on the forums anymore and I’ve gotten super tired of the teenage edgelords in the Discord making the community feel unwelcoming and pointless.

3) There is a seemingly pervasive belief among many users that Matt is capable of doing no wrong because he created StP and I don’t buy that at all. He has been really shitty to a couple of people I really care about. I don’t think Matt is as progressive and woke as he presents himself to be and I think people cut him a lot of slack on things he should be called out for just because he created StP.

4) Pokebert has made a series of really bad calls moderating the Discord, especially in their handling of Riot Gang moderation. They proposed letting “vetted allies” into the safe discussion space for queer and POC travelers then tried to institute a rule forbidding people from venting about oppressive dominant groups because they believed it to be just as bad as the oppression marginalized people are subjected to. This culminated in Pokebert comparing a joke about white people and mayonnaise to using N-word, which I thought demonstrated a severe lack of understanding and empathy for marginalized groups. I know that Pokebert apologized for this but I no longer trust their judgement as a staff member on StP.

On a related note: I know Matt doesn’t want to run the entire site himself but I’ve noticed that he tends to throw moderator duties on almost anyone who wants them. Mods and admins are in a position of power and are often presumed to be vetted as safe and knowledgeable and some of the folks that have come and gone as staff on StP have definitely not been. In fact, I know of at least one instance where a now former mod used their position of power to gain someone’s trust and engage in predatory behavior.

So for those reasons, I’m leaving. I hope for the community’s sake that things get better but it’s time for me to jump ship.

Take care and safe travels,

-MolotovMocktail
 

Pokebert

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I wish you the best, Molotov.

I will be unable to respond to this for at least a few days, as I’ve been under a lot of stress in my personal and work life as well as the recent events as moderator. It will trigger my OCD and anxiety too badly. I hope you all understand. See the rest of you in a few.
 
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Matt Derrick

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so instead of having a reasonable discussion about it with myself and the rest of the staff, you decide to air your opinions to the public without even trying to talk to me about it. you literally could have said, "matt i think you're fucking up" and I would have been happy to talk about it and have the input, but instead, you bottled it all up and decided to have a grand blow out in front of everyone so you can declare me an awful guy or whatever.

very mature. i honestly thought you were my friend and would communicate things like this to me, but i guess that was bullshit too.
 

Matt Derrick

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There is a seemingly pervasive belief among many users that Matt is capable of doing no wrong because he created StP and I don’t buy that at all. He has been really shitty to a couple of people I really care about. I don’t think Matt is as progressive and woke as he presents himself to be and I think people cut him a lot of slack on things he should be called out for just because he created StP.

this is also extremely back-stabby. you don't say who or how, and as i said before, you had every opportunity to say something yet you chose not to. that really makes you huge jerk and a bit of a coward as well.
 
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Jimmy Beans

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Props to you for speaking your mind. If I were to offer up some unsolicited advice, it would be; Try to communicate better the things that are bothering you while they're bothering you rather than keeping all that shit inside and you're just stewing on it all the way up until the very last straw that just sends you over the edge. It's just not very productive unless your goal is creating strife. This is a really good method for someone who's looking to stir up drama but not so effective if you actually want things to improve. Either way, take care of yourself and be well.
 

blank

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They proposed letting “vetted allies” into the safe discussion space for queer and POC travelers then tried to institute a rule forbidding people from venting about oppressive dominant groups
Am I reading this wrong, or is there a space for members to vent about... heterosexual white people... from which they are excluded?
 

roughdraft

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I don't know you or Matt but this in particular is very bothering:

Mods and admins are in a position of power and are often presumed to be vetted as safe and knowledgeable and some of the folks that have come and gone as staff on StP have definitely not been. In fact, I know of at least one instance where a now former mod used their position of power to gain someone’s trust and engage in predatory behavior.

If this is so, why have you not ever taken the opportunity to expose this person, such as making a thread in the ''untrustworthy/shady' section?

Basically you are admitting yourself as an accessory to enabling a 'predator'.
 

WyldLyfe

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I don't know you or Matt but this in particular is very bothering:



If this is so, why have you not ever taken the opportunity to expose this person, such as making a thread in the ''untrustworthy/shady' section?

Basically you are admitting yourself as an accessory to enabling a 'predator'.

And wasn't this guy a mod himself too.. Is this gonna b another thread like that other mod chick where it all back fires on em, people should have there own shit in order before they start threads like this blaming others for things they themself do ay.. But whatevez
 
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Strangeandsolo

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Hi folks. I’m making this post to announce that I’ve decided to step down as a moderator and participant on Squat the Planet. Please know that this wasn’t an easy decision to make but I’m convinced it’s the right move for me.

There are a few reasons for this:

1) I’ve been on StP for six years and have been a mod for about five. I was still in high school when I joined and was super stoked on the idea of traveling. The site and its users helped me figure out a lot of things about being on the road and I would have been worse off without it when I was traveling. But in the past few years I’ve gotten less interested in the travel scene and have felt less and less connected to the StP community. I’ve put a lot of work into being a mod but it’s just not worth the energy for me anymore because I no longer feel any connection to the community.

2) The userbase also seems to have gotten significantly less interested in the things StP is supposed to be about. I rarely see interesting content on the forums anymore and I’ve gotten super tired of the teenage edgelords in the Discord making the community feel unwelcoming and pointless.

3) There is a seemingly pervasive belief among many users that Matt is capable of doing no wrong because he created StP and I don’t buy that at all. He has been really shitty to a couple of people I really care about. I don’t think Matt is as progressive and woke as he presents himself to be and I think people cut him a lot of slack on things he should be called out for just because he created StP.

4) Pokebert has made a series of really bad calls moderating the Discord, especially in their handling of Riot Gang moderation. They proposed letting “vetted allies” into the safe discussion space for queer and POC travelers then tried to institute a rule forbidding people from venting about oppressive dominant groups because they believed it to be just as bad as the oppression marginalized people are subjected to. This culminated in Pokebert comparing a joke about white people and mayonnaise to using N-word, which I thought demonstrated a severe lack of understanding and empathy for marginalized groups. I know that Pokebert apologized for this but I no longer trust their judgement as a staff member on StP.

On a related note: I know Matt doesn’t want to run the entire site himself but I’ve noticed that he tends to throw moderator duties on almost anyone who wants them. Mods and admins are in a position of power and are often presumed to be vetted as safe and knowledgeable and some of the folks that have come and gone as staff on StP have definitely not been. In fact, I know of at least one instance where a now former mod used their position of power to gain someone’s trust and engage in predatory behavior.

So for those reasons, I’m leaving. I hope for the community’s sake that things get better but it’s time for me to jump ship.

Take care and safe travels,

-MolotovMocktail

Maybe i shouldn't speak as i dont really know much about Stp or the folks involved . however as a user i want to contribute constructively, and well it got me going.

#1 says it all you dont feel connected to the community anymore.

#2,3,4 and the related note are political and personal. (It read to me like. you kids are mean to me and i dont want to play with you for x and y reasons)

#3 Bugs me more then the rest... I dont agree with matt alot... but im playing in his place for free. so.. i shut the fuck up and go with it... its not that he can do no wrong... we are in his house... so go with it or go home or go somewhere else. ( the guy seems to genuinely try to listen to the user's so just speak up)

#4 pokebert... this bugs me second most... poor pokebert , geeze please, cut the person some slack... they basically said lets be above white people/ n word jokes... lets be better then those we discuss.... that sounds bad?

#2 the times they are a changing... sorry this is just how life goes, bars change themes, tv stations change format. it happens, no one can fix this... i want MySpace back and Facebook to die.

#related note... more like side swipe sucker punch... so some one who made bad choices was in our group... can you know everything about everyone? do we have to scream at the top of our lungs about every bad thing someone has done? ever? is that person still here? this note was just to stir the shit...

Thanks to the mods and matt again.. i like it here im staying.

....good luck MolotovMocktail
 
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D

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What you are saying reminds me of TASVideos back in 2010 where I was only asking for a name change and got permanently banned for it. One of the admins at the time took it further by harassing me and attempting to dox my real name and the ISP I was using at the time, which according to a law firm is illegal.

TASVideos decided to overthrow their website with the laziest and most corrupted moderators and staff I have ever interacted with in my life. Then after laying low a few years, I joined this site for the first time and found a much better group of people I can actually work with.

For the past several months despite not often applying a lot of energy into StP, I have sat back and noticed our hard working staff in action. I know there is certain things people don't agree with, but I often look at fair moderation in a business-type perspective. Meanwhile, I have noticed several users taking fair moderation personally. When you take fair moderation personally no matter how harsh it seems, expect almost every legal step to be taken against you, that's part of how the system works - not just for this site but almost any other site also being kept well-moderated.

Since 2014 when I first joined, I never got the nerve to be a moderator here and that is only because of the forum software I am familiar with. I would take phpBB2/3 any day since it seems much easier for me to manage, administrate, and even set up a main page off one of their scripts. Now being that I have a near-full-time position at a grueling job, I still can't find the time to be a moderator and I am okay with that.

One more thing, I know you're still taking more than a road - maybe a beaten path, but please be careful with what you are doing because most people will take you seriously. May God bless you and we'll see you along the way. Cheers...
::drinkingbuddy::

On a related note: I know Matt doesn’t want to run the entire site himself but I’ve noticed that he tends to throw moderator duties on almost anyone who wants them. Mods and admins are in a position of power and are often presumed to be vetted as safe and knowledgeable and some of the folks that have come and gone as staff on StP have definitely not been. In fact, I know of at least one instance where a now former mod used their position of power to gain someone’s trust and engage in predatory behavior.
 
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Strangeandsolo

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this site really is falling apart, huh

No. places change, people grow, break and heal to grow anew, just to break heal and go on living till they dont. just like websites... RIP globe.com my first online fourm. god i was so different in 1998
 

Jimmy Beans

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this site really is falling apart, huh

I don't know, is it? One mod who's been incredibly absent for the last year or more who only drops in occasionally decides he's less interested in travel culture than he used to be explains that he's grown to feel less interested in this site than he was before so he dips out and takes a couple jabs at Matt in the process and that's your definition of this site falling apart? Seems a bit premature to make such a statement but maybe you like drama too and what a perfect time to add fuel to this insignificant little fire hey?

Is the irony also not lost on anyone else that this is the second time an admin has left after taking shots at the admin team for not addressing something that they themselves held back and kept inside the entire time they were part of the exact same admin team they're now trying to flame? They're like "Well the admins should have done something about this thing that I knew about but I never brought it up the entire time when I was part of that team but still they should have done something about it why can't they just read minds? Why didn't you guys do something about that thing you knew nothing about?"

Get the fuck outta here with that bullshit you look fucking stupid. You were literally in the very position to do something about whatever the fuck but you didn't and now you wanna fault someone else the instant you remove yourself from that group you're talkin shit on? I don't buy it. I think it's baseless hyperbole. Instead of just walking away gracefully you throw a verbal molotov on your way out. Why don't you just throw the names out and screen shots or any sort of evidence to back up your claim rather than being all esoteric about it? If you're gonna call someone out on something don't be half steppin just come out and say what's up.

The site isn't falling apart. We're just losing some weight, shedding a little fat it ain't no thing.
 

Coywolf

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Well, sorry to see ya go man, but the reasons you are leaving are not new, people have brought them up timeand time again when they leave. I'm not going to marginalize anyones complaints from people about admins, and how the site is run, and how Matt isint a god. But ya, I've seen this so many times I cant even count them.

Usually this is some behind the scene drama that 99% of the members on StP have no idea that it is even happening, and doesnt really concern them.

Every has their own personal reasons for leaving StP, but please allow newer members to come to their own conclusions, rather than having long time members involve them in thei own long standing issues.

That being said. Staff, this is at least the third time I've seen members bring legitimate concerns about Pokebert being a mod on Discord. During the last debate about being able to ban people from specific threads and on discord discussions, I expressed trust that mods would not turn into dictators.

This issue may be worth looking into. I dont use discord, so I dont have an iron in the fire, and I dont know Pokebert, but if I had that many complaints in such a short time, i would be looking into it. Which I'm sure someone out their is currently doing.
 
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Odin

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Take care and good journey in life @MolotovMocktail

Also, thanks for the Ambien Zine... lol

Peace.
 

Phuen

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I am not personally involved in this, and have no personal take. But I have noticed the admin+mods grouping against other users, giving off an aggressive vibe, even though they're the ones holding all the power. Being unapproachable and/or dismissive will result in exactly this. Reliable trustworthy people slowly distancing and then leaving.

When a reliable member gives me feedback about my community, as they're leaving, I know it's honest and meaningful. I take it as constructive criticism, rather than "a last jab." Anyone who doesn't, will not improve.
 

Jimmy Beans

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It would have been a lot more constructive to bring up things that were bothering OP as they're occurring rather than bottling it up and hail marying a big dramatic eruption on his departure. But you've been against mods since you got here pretty much so I kind of expect you're always going to try and push this issue. I guess it all started when you started talking about how much you like young girls and then when I was like yo how young are you talking? You declined to clarify and then when I said that's kinda creepy you started passing out the poo reactions and you've kind of just been a butthole ever since. Go fuck yourself, Phuen. How's that for some aggression?
 

roughdraft

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Reliable trustworthy people slowly distancing and then leaving.

When a reliable member gives me feedback about my community, as they're leaving, I know it's honest and meaningful.

So look at the OP here, what is constructive or indicates trustworthiness in the OP? What is honest or meaningful from his post?

From what I'm reading here you're doing the same thing he did, not even setting up a thorough comment and so your point not only falls flat - it becomes very much the opposite of your intended message.
 

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