iNet's Role at Mac-Forums

There seems to be quite a few questions and a great deal of misinformation regarding iNet's role at Mac-Forums that have been floating around the last few days.

I'm going to take a moment to shed some light on the iNet / Mac-Forums relationship, their role, and how we all fit together. Hopefully this will help those with a view that isn't entirely accurate, understand how things work.

iNet owns Mac-Forums.com, they purchased the site from Emrys a few years ago. They run the server farm that Mac-Forums runs on and take care of the actual board software. In addition they earn the ad revenue from the banner ads and inline link ads that you'll see if you're not logged in.

iNet does not have anything to do with the running of this board. This board is, always has been, and always will be managed independently by the admins and moderators as we see fit. None of us are paid, we are all volunteer. Many of us have been mods since before iNet purchased the board.

Some have wondered if iNet is becoming a bigger part of the daily running of Mac-Forums and that things will change here. Let me put that rumor to rest, it is not true. iNet is no more involved than they were when they purchased the site, they don't want to be, that's not their business.

Every decision on how something on this board was handled was done by the moderating team as a group.

So to clarify the relationship:

• iNet - runs the servers, maintains the software, earns ad dollars
• MF Mods - Run the community, decide on rules and enforcement, and set the general direction of the board.

I know some of you may have more questions, and I encourage you to post them here in this thread and I or one of the other mods can answer them.

If you're not comfortable posting publicly, please send me or one of the other mods a private message, we'll be happy to answer your question.

I, for one, welcome our robot overlords.

Any clarification on what the basis for the rumors to the contrary came from? Something had to happen to cause what happened to happen, people don't just walk out on a good thing for no reason. I'm sure that more than a few members here are curious as to where this "rift" came from.

I don't think discussion of individual issues in public is appropriate. I have no idea why rumors to the contrary had started, nor the intended purpose behind them.

I'm simply posting this to air the truth. The truth is what I posted above. If you want individual details I would speak to those involved privately.

Sometimes people are simply afraid of what they assume might happen rather than what did or actually would have happened.

What would be the procedure then, if someone were to contact iNet, as the owners of the site, with a problem, say, a complaint about one of the staff members?

I can accept that they leave forum management up to your team, but I would surmise they would become more interested/involved in the case of complaints?

I'm sure this could also apply to other issues. For example, people who might complain about slow server speed or something, although I haven't run into this problem on M-Fs. But general complaints regarding the site, staff, technical aspects, whatever.

What would be the procedure then, if someone were to contact iNet, as the owners of the site, with a problem, say, a complaint about one of the staff members?

Click to expand...

If you have a general issue with a member of the staff (the admins and mods on this board), I'd suggest contacting a different staff member about it.

So e.g. if you're upset about me deleting a thread of yours, contact me first and if it isn't resolved contact another mod about it.

If you don't want to talk about another member of staff, you can of course also raise it with iNet directly. They will contact the administrators and moderaters and see that it is resolved.



For most issues, (complaints/technical questions/site features), just raise the issue with a member of the staff here, and ask them to help you resolve it.

[email protected] is also always available if you're not sure who to contact about an issue.

Bear in mind that I'm new to this as well, but I think this is fairly reasonable though

rs2sensen said:

What would be the procedure then, if someone were to contact iNet, as the owners of the site, with a problem, say, a complaint about one of the staff members?

I can accept that they leave forum management up to your team, but I would surmise they would become more interested/involved in the case of complaints?

I'm sure this could also apply to other issues. For example, people who might complain about slow server speed or something, although I haven't run into this problem on M-Fs. But general complaints regarding the site, staff, technical aspects, whatever.

Click to expand...

Let's say a hypothetical case like this occurred. If a member or other person were to contact iNet, what would happen is iNet would forward the complaint to the admins here (myself and muso) to discuss what if anything we wanted to do.

iNet takes no action, they leave that to us to decide. They are nothing more than an information relay. In this hypothetical situation they took no action. They never have.

If there is a specific instance you're requesting clarification on, please do so in a PM to me. Thanks!

Thanks for the replies guys. AptMunich, I agree with your suggestions. They fit exactly what I would choose to do (and have once in the past). Thanks for the clarification Schweb! I don't have any questions about any specific instances, I just was curious for a general answer.

I like this "openness" from the Mac-Forums staff, it makes it a much more positive experience. Thanks guys!

You're welcome, I completely believe in being open. If you're not it allows misinformation, rumor, and falsehoods to become reality as it did for some people in this situation.

Ask me a question, I'll always tell you the honest truth.