I am writing here hoping for help about my situation, and for many others, about how are being badly treated on telegram channels. There has been a huge censure, with bans and mutes with no reason, no warning, while the rules were always followed.
I dont think that dealing with people this way can help this project, as many are left out and many others are afraid to speak and get banned for no reason.
I believe in this project, I know is legit, there is a lot of work being done and I invested heavyly in the token, but when I see those instant bans, and those telegram admins censuring respectfull opinions and questions, I do not understand it.
A solid and legit project should not be afraid of what random people can say. From my point of view, all respectful opinions should be embraced. Same for positive and negative criticism comments about the project, as those can help always get new perspectives or points for improvement.
Actually, I must say I am afraid to post this here and risking the be banned from the forum too to say this, but if not, and there is someone who can help me, please let me have voice in the telegram groups or please explain me what I did to get to be treated this way in there and what can I do to fix it.
I used to spend hours every day moderating the Telegram. This was a couple years ago. It is not an easy job, and there really are trolls with nothing better to do than to create endless alts and sow paranoia and toxicity in the community, so I can sympathize with admins who may be overzealous in their moderation.
That being said, I have been trying to reason with them in the admin chat, and they are not being very receptive to feedback. I find it quite frustrating actually. They seem to be over-sensitive and not able to take even the slightest criticism without crumpling. Might be due to the stress/paranoia of dealing with real trolls. Either way it sucks. Not sure what else to do.
Regarding the censorship in general on TG channels, we have been experiencing a lot of spam which has made it pretty difficult to moderate. We are working with the admins to create a plan that can be a lighter load for them, be welcoming, promote high quality discussion and remove spam. Feel free to DM me to talk about this more.
You can fill out this form to request reinstatement in the Holo channel.
I have been a member of this community since late 2017/early 2018. I was in the Mattermost chat answering questions from new people, and then after that helped to moderate the Telegram chat and the subreddit. I have seen all kinds of crazy shit, like the time that 4chan first heard about Holo and we were completely inundated will all kinds of horrifying memes. It was awful. I have spent thousands of hours in support of this project and this community.
I have held in-person events in Montreal to educate people about Holochain, and have connected devs with designers and vice-versa. I have written articles and made youtube videos with interviews of cool people in the community.
I say all this just to give some context for why the next thing I’m going to say should sound incredibly insane.
I was just accused by “WorldofHolochain,” one of the admins of the TG, of being a mole or an alt account of “Luck,” allegedly a prolific troll in the Telegram channel. He swore at me and lashed out at me from a place of insane paranoia.
If you have any influence in the community @carolyn, I would ask that you do whatever you can to either ensure that WorldofHolochain gets his act together, or is removed as admin from the chat. This is unacceptable to me.
Just want to show some support for what you shared.
I’m brand new here, less than a week, but had a very similar interaction. I’ve decided to just be quiet on Telegram to avoid getting chewed out and disenfranchised.
It honestly just felt hurtful to be accused of intentionally trying to hurt the community after buying a HoloPort+ and 5 million HOT. This project is too inspiring to let this get in the way, but it was definitely upsetting.
The “admin” status is what upset me the most because being an admin means that others, especially newcomers, see you as a representative of the mood and tone of the community.
I was going to contact the tech support on that matter.
I was also banned from the Telegram channel.
I wrote that I did not care about the price. I was also asking if I could buy several Holoports (as I own a house in France and another in Germany). I was also asking if it makes sense to buy another pack of Holoports to place at my brothers´houses, if it helps the network in anyway.
I own some Holo, i am willing to buy HoloPorts and I am banned from the channel.
I find it really weird. Or you really need to get that BOT (if you use one) under control.
So, this message is to complain, but also to get an answer to my question.
I have also experienced bans caused by the same person, namely WorldOfHolochain. Fortunately I have had my ban lifted by another admin. The circumstance was that I had said a remark that seemed to him to be criticism of holochain (I was saying the project was not released yet, which is why it was not prevalent in the market).
He then started to say I was a troll with a hidden agenda which he could see clearly, and to publicly try to shame me by posting logs of my previous messages on TG. I told him to stop harassing me, then went in private to have some explanation. That resulted in him blocking me and banning me from the main channel.
I have also been in the holochain community since before the ICO, it seems that for him this is a proof of accounts being trolls or fakes. In smaller channels I have seem lots of people, every week, complaining with his behavior and bans. Not only does he ban on sight, without trying to establish a conversation, he also boats about it, and is clearly delusional about everybody being fake. It is really hurting the community. If you look at TG right now, everyday newcomers asking honest questions about Holo are being threatened with bans and accused of being trolls, without any patience. There is no room for debate or even discussion anymore because of his behavior.
I understand he’s a great apologist for HC on twitter, but I also think he isn’t fit to be a community manager because of dictatorial tendencies, and should be removed from the administration of TG groups. I had already contacted Paul d’Aoust about that on that forum months ago when I had been banned and wanted to add my testimony to this topic.
Thank you so much @carolyn, I filled out the form.
I understand that spam can be a problem, but for people to be afraid to talk, it can also be a problem.
I would allow any kind of debate or criticism, whether positive or negative. And even allow for off-topic conversations, as freedom of speech is important and generally enriching in many ways.
Hi Xavier, I followed up with admins about Holo main channel and you should be fine there. Holotroopers is not a channel we manage – it is completely community run and I can’t help you with that one, sorry!
