Well, as the OP for this thread I really was going to keep out of this, but after the Anglophobic post from SRS I think I need to respond.
The question asked was why this particular mod thought that Mudcat was an American site at heart.
This was a serious question; it was not 'trolling' or mischief making. I found her statement to be rather offensive and I would like to tell you why.
No one disputes that the site is American owned and administered, that is a given, and most of us are very grateful for its presence. However, if you look at the average daily posting, you will find that there is a disproportionate amount of posts from the UK. Not a slight anomaly, but a huge contribution is made by UK posters. If you further take into account the relative size of populations of the two countries, it becomes immediately apparent that the main interest in Mudcat is from the UK. Furthermore, when Max comes cap in hand for funds to maintain Mudcat, I reckon we are not slow in responding.
Now, I believe that the 'heart' of any forum is its members; it cannot possibly be anything else, for without them you have no site. Up to now I had considered Mudcat to be a truly international forum, but perhaps I am wrong.
I have been on this site for nearly ten years. When you get long established sites, they form their own community and, like all communities, they have good points and bad ones. Lifetime friendships have been formed here as well as lifetime feuds, people fall out, people make friends - that is what communities do – they are not happy clappy places all the time – this is the real world.
I resent strongly being called a troll by a mod just because she does not agree with me or does not like what I post. It is very childish and immature behaviour, particularly from a mod.
Blaming the UK for all Mudcat ills is, frankly, ridiculous. We are all adults here (though some of us do not behave like it sometimes) and we are quite capable of sorting out our own disputes without heavy handed moderation, and before people start barking off again of how downtrodden the poor moderators are, think on this. OK they are volunteers, they don't have to do it and they give up their valuable time to do it. That does not make them immune to criticism, and if they don't like it they can easily chuck in the towel, because believe me, for every mod there is, there are at least forty people willing to take their place (and do at least as good a job and in some cases a better job).
Turning this forum into a UK versus US is simply divisive and, if I may say, stupid.