Should Woomerii post comments on threads?
Lads,
When I first started reading PPRuNe about... well, years ago, the moderators only ever raised their heads to lock a thread or edit "non-pertinent" comments from posts. You knew that the moderators were also posting comment under their normal user names, that they were lurking, but that they were relatively impartial non-involved entities.
More recently I have noticed over several threads that woomerii are commenting on pay and conditions, operating techniques, and various other things. They are posting as "Woomera", sometimes several of them simultaneously - see "John's Thread" in D&G General Aviation.
Danny will tell you (we all remember who Danny is?) that PPRuNe isn't a democracy. Regardless, I don't believe it is Danny's or Rob's intention to create a partisan site or to ape the murdoch press in presenting a 'party line' , nor to be seen as endorsing a particular angle on a discussion topic.
To have members - no doubt highly esteemed PPRuNer's - posting comment signed as "Woomera" adds an element of legitimacy, credibility and PPRuNe endorsement to their post. While I have personally agreed with many areas of Woomerian comment, I am still uncomfortable with the notion that the "impartial arbiter" is, so often, quite visibly partial.
There is an old fashioned notion of separation of church and State. I wonder if there isn't a need for a similar principle here on PPRuNe. Should the Woomerii only post comment and opinion to a thread under their "native" PPRuNe handle or can a Woomerii use their 'official' handle at their whim, to add legitimacy to whatever they choose to espouse?
avagoodweegend