Anyone that knows Ivan knows that what has happened here is not a shill attempt; but judging a situation from a distance without knowing the person and all the facts is always easier. I believe this is something we've all done at some point; it's easier to go against a nickname than a real person.
I'd also like to make a reminder that this is an international forum, where people from all over the globe come post and talk about crypto in general, and bitcoin in a more specific way. Not everyone is proficency in English here, it may not be their mother tongue, they may have only learnt it at school, etc. What may seem like an ambiguous wording of something may just be a rough translation of another, more strong language for the user. I'm no English professor to make judgments on the English level of each forum user, but when taking a decition like this one, where there seems to be a shill attempt, I'd take that into consideration too.
I agree with most of what you wrote, I quoted the important part but I already mentioned that in the OP. Any user could have looked at the so-called honest review and come to their own conclusion based on the assumed English language proficiency of the member and kept that issue factored in when making a decision. What also cannot be denied is there is also a responsibility on part of the person posting to try their best to avoid controversy too. What happened on this occasion is debatable with strong views on both sides.
If enough users disagree with your feedback, you'll drop out of DefaultTrust eventually, but at least you leave the feedback you believe is deserved. There will never be 100% community consensus on Bitcointalk.
Yeah that's how the trust system work. Remember JollyGood had given feedbacks on all the accounts which participated in the 1xbit signature campaign and all those scammers would be waiting for this to happen.
Although i haven't changed my stance, but I think JollyGood should show a big heart here and make this neutral.
From what I can recall we never interacted in the past so it is nice to be acquainted with you. I like the way you posted about this issue throughout the thread. Thank you for your objective views UmerIdrees.
I mentioned the following in the OP making it clear I never interacted with
iv4n and do not know how he expresses/articulates himself but keeping that in mind he came across as desperate to get that $30. I am not the only one who noticed that so-called Honest Review with over the top exclamation marks and innuendo (considered akin to begging at least one member).
If those that know him by previous communication are sure that he is not shilling and that feedback was a typical style of posting by him then I have no problem in revising the feedback but for anybody including
iv4n to claim others will not mistake that highly dubious so-called honest review for a shill - then they are way off the mark.
As for showing a big heart and changing the feedback, I was always open to changing the feedback to neutral if consensus dictated it and not just for this issue on the shameful so-called honest review left by
iv4n but on all other issues too.
In the past I have revised feedback on several occasions either after noticing I left it in haste or by virtue of consensus. unlike what have been alluded to in the forum by certain users, asking for consensus to either edit, remove or modify feedback is sign of strength and co-operation not a sign of weakness.
There is no problem on my part to add/remove/modify any feedback I have left, therefore as soon as
iv4n states his so-called honest review could at the very least be misconstrued as promoting or semi-promoting a known scam website such as 1xbit and he had no intention of doing so - I think that would be an acceptable way to end this issue because his acknowledgment of his action by leaving that review and the subsequent ramifications would warrant a neutral tag.
Regarding some other noises being made in the thread which I did not factor in to my decision to change the trust to neutral providing
iv4n owns up to his error of judgement for the sake of chasing $30, I am tired of reading nonsensical posts in the forum about "hey I know you so I know you did not mean it" and "this was clearly not a shill attempt" - when it clearly is debatable at the very least and a clear shill at the worst, therefore is a matter of opinion and not as clear as they might imply. Some members claiming there is no ambiguity in the so-called honest review are entitled to their views but so is everyone else.
In short, the negative feedback for
iv4n will be replaced with a neutral tag after he acknowledges his so-called honest review can be seen by others as a recommendation to use the 1xbit scam website. If
iv4n declines to acknowledge his error then the tag stays at least until some more reputable members put their views forward for consideration. Those I have on my ignore list and on my distrust list will obviously be ignored and their opinions disregarded.
Once again, I have no problem at all with changing or modifying feedback but before that can happen the main protagonist (
iv4n) has to accept his error of judgement for the sake of chasing $30 or reputable members have to put forward their views about which tag (if any at all) should suffice and if a sizeable majority think one way or the other I will go with that.
Granted I do not know iv4n and I have not interacted with him so cannot understand how he might express himself but to me parts of that post show a degree of desperation to get his $30, whereas he should have known better.
In your opinion should the negative tag remain or should I replace it with a neutral?