[sunshineyday]

I havent been on the forum very long, but i do enjoy reading posts and catching up with people that i have met on the forum. Generally speaking i have found the forum to be a happy relaxed and pleasant space to fill my idle hours.

I am however beginning to be upset by the amount of people thrown out by the moderators. I understand that this is a difficult job and clearly must be done within guidelines, no-one on here wants to deal with aggression or harassment in anyform but there is a fine line between restraint and control.

Freedom of expression is vital and it annoys me when moderators apear to judge posts on what may or may not be acceptable to them personally.

I think there should be a degree of common sense.

I post this to encourage debate, if people feel i am being picky then by all means state that here. I do feel however that people who regularly post here will understand my concerns

Be Happy and i look forward to your replies

[twichibi]

The problem is when people get too involved and instead of having a civil discussion, they get offended by something and the name calling begins. People are always going to have different opinions, that's a way of life - but the threatening posts I've seen on here in my short time is quite pathetic.

[Halibut]

The thing that interests me most about this is wondering just what it is exactly that prompts bans - I dont suppose for one minute the moderators are likely to share their decisions with us though so I guess I shall have to keep guessing.
I think you make a fairly sensible point twichibi, I have seen some folk who appear to have a sense of humour bypass - but on the other hand some posters who are rude, insensitive and
plain ignorant. A bit like real life really.
I don't imagine for one moment that it is easy to be a moderator so I can't be unduly critical. I suppose ultimately a deal of personal judgement is involved and that we cannot expect each mod to react in exactly the same way given any particular scenario.

[fox20thc]

The mods can basically ban anyone

"you have no more an automatic "right" to use this forum


Rules

- Maximum font size of 3 and this is limited to 3 lines in any one post
- Must not be written entirely in capitals
- Must not be completely bolded - maximum of 3 bolded lines (excluding quote)
- No swearing (including ma$ked), no abuse, no racism or anything else in terms of use
- Don't use threads for one-to-one correspondance (use email/PM!)
- Each post add something of value to the thread, so don't just post "haha" for example.
- Respect the minimum character restriction for posts (related to above)

Topic Title Rules

- Must not be written entirely in capitals
- May not contain non alpha-numeric characters, except - ! ? : . &
- May not contain more than three of these non alpha-numeric characters
- Titles must be descriptive! Make sure it explains the content and purpose of your thread.

Signature Rules

- Must be added via your profile page and not manually to each post
- May contain a maximum of two colours
- Must not be larger than the standard size (size 2)
- Must not be written entirely in bold or capitals
- Must not contain lines of ..., ---, ___ or similar - just use the standard line provided.
- May contain a maximum of two commercial or four non-commercial links
- Must be no more than 4 vertical lines (including spaces) when view at 1024x768
- Must not contain any form of affiliate or tracking code

Any user found breaking anything covered in site's terms of use or the guidelines and rules outlined above, will either be warned or banned (depending on the severity of the issue) "

[Cyclone]

Unfortunately one of the topics that the moderators do not allow to be discussed is the moderating/moderation policy of the site.
As such I expect that this thread will soon disappear.

You can pm or email them, you might get a bit more of a response thatway, but in my experience they (not all, but some) take it a little too personally and don't like to really discuss it.

[transporter]

Originally posted by Cyclone
Unfortunately one of the topics that the moderators do not allow to be discussed is the moderating/moderation policy of the site.
As such I expect that this thread will soon disappear.

You can pm or email them, you might get a bit more of a response thatway, but in my experience they (not all, but some) take it a little too personally and don't like to really discuss it.

i think it depends which side of the bed they get out of.
in my short term i've seen alleged boring legal posts banned whilst name calling & threats just carry one regardless.
if your under 25 & want to talk about boozing,clubbing or other trivial stuff mho is you appar to be able to say what you want.

[fox20thc]

Originally posted by transporter
if your under 25 & want to talk about boozing,clubbing or other trivial stuff mho is you appar to be able to say what you want.

Ooooooooo, transporter, you're not happy are you. Im sure that when classic rocks post about the ATM was removed there was a ligitimate reason for it... lol

I agree with you btw

[JoeP]

Actually,

Most people abide by the rules and we have few problems.

Some are quite vociferously keen on just not playing ball and so they'll get banned. Most members who do pick up a 24 hour or 48 hour ban take it as 'the cost of doing business'. Some of our most erudite, respected and well liked members have had more than one ban and usually appreciate the reason they picked it up and can live with it.

With 18,000 members, albeit not all active, it's inevitable that we'll have some issues.

The rules we have work, get modified occasionally and we try to consistently apply them.

Oddly enough I've had several e-mails / PMs and a couple of Forum members 'face to face' telling me we aren't applying some of the rules enough, so I guess we must bet getting it almost right!

Joe

[JBee]

It's a wierd one this....

There are some threads on here that seem to catch the Moderator's attention with little need. A common prompt seems to be to ask to keep on topic.

But then there are other threads which go totally off on a tangent, or where people expressive wildly offensive or aggressive views, and the mods don't seem to notice.

However, they are all volunteers so I don't know whether they get chance to read all the threads. Maybe some just slip through the net?

Maybe they should be more lenient and it should be up to us to ask for assistance. For example, if you are contributing to a thread that you know is getting offensive, you should PM a mod for assistance.

Or something....

[sunshineyday]

interesting point cyclone, i will watch out for the removal of the post.

I am interested only in discussing the topic, not to offend mods or anyone else, i am just failing to see how funny links or internet photo's are a cause for a ban, or a comment about ensuring that people take links seriously.

Am thinking that whatever else the forum is for, it should be entertaining.

Keep smiling

[max]

What people tend to forget about the moderators is that we are all forum members too. We didn't arrive in the forum as fully fledged mods but were invited after we had been here a while.

As stated, we don't particularly want to discuss individual decisions with anyone else other than those involved and generally speaking those we do ban have apologised either to the admin or on the open forum.

90% of those forummers 'thrown out' tend to be responsible for using multiple ids, spamming the forum or for generally unacceptable behaviour for a family forum.

[JoeP]

Jbee,

You've hit things on the head there.

We keep asking for people to report threads / posts that they find offesnive.

When people do, we act.

If the threads / posts aren't reported, we may pick up on some, but not all.

If people feel strongly about something, then report the posts.

We're all volunteers and don't spend our lives on here. When we are on, we'll look at reported threads first, then threads that we feel may need attention, and finally have a little wander around. It's inevitable that soem posts will sneak through.

Some people find it easier to grump in threads like this than to actually approach the Mods or Report threads, and so I'll occasionally do what I can to pick up from these threads. But if folks want things to change, then work with us.

Joe

[Cyclone]

the mods don't and can't read every thread. They investigate whenever someone uses the "report this post" option, so obviously it will depend on who else is reading the thread as to what sort of posts get reported.

I've never been banned (yet), but have a few times pm'd mods about some decision (normally just as a bystander too it) and sometimes it is well received and other times it is not. I'd say it comes down to how secure the particular moderator is, as people secure in their position/power are generally open to discussion on a decision (even if they have no intention of changing it).

Moderation recently has been (IMO) slightly better than say 6 months ago, as there are less threads which disappear with no warning or explanation, that's one thing that I particularly dislike and have never found the need to do whilst moderating other sites.

[sunshineyday]

joe p

i am not wanting to cause problems for the mods at all, but i do feel that it is important to discuss this stuff with members from time to time.

maybe a policy of only getting involved if threads are reported could be a way forward, that way it is less based on mods own judgement.

Just a thought

[Cyclone]

ps - guess this one won't be removed afterall as several mods have now entered the discussion, glad to be wrong though this time

[fox20thc]

Originally posted by Cyclone
ps - guess this one won't be removed afterall as several mods have now entered the discussion, glad to be wrong though this time

ROFLMAO

[twichibi]

Originally posted by fox20thc
- No swearing (including ma$ked

Hmm... seem to see this on just about every thread. Can one of the mods just explain this a bit clearer please. i.e. is it only when some of the 'swear' word is readable or can you get banned by putting *******, because that could be read as a swear word but could actually be 'chicken'

[redrobbo]

Welcome to the forum sunshineyday

In my opinion, the Mods can't win. I've recently been exchanging PMs with a Mod on the subject of moderating. I think they do a good job overall.

The Mods don't put up with offensive and abusive posters, and edit and/or ban as appropriate. Sometimes debates become very heated, and a cooling off time is called for - and a thread will be closed for a time and then re-opened. Even something as seemingly uninteresting as Michael Jackson had lead to tempers being frayed. (Edit: OK to all Michael Jackson fans, I acknowledge that he is seemingly interesting! Phew! That was a close shave - must moderate what I say in future!).

I have had my own issues with the Mods on occasions. But, it is Geoff's forum; he sets the rules, and the Mods apply them. On the occasions that I have disagreed with a Mod, I get over it quickly and move on.

If you do have a specific issue with a Mod, use PM to discuss. Following a recent similar discussion on moderating, I have now started using Report This Post more often. Indeed, last week, I actually reported a post that I had made!

[JoeP]

Actually, cyclone, I've made the attempt on numerous occasions now to keep these threads going.

And as long as they don't get in to specifics about individual decisoions or name calling towards certain Mods, as often takes place, we'll try and keep it here.

Sunshineyday - the reason why these things aren't discussed is that any attempt usually degenerates in to a slanging match and I'm not happy for that to happen.

If members have specific concerns or ideas they can PM any of teh Mods or use Contact Us. I get several useful messages from members each week, and use the suggestions where appropriate.

The site rules are set by the site owner; we effectively sign up to those rules when we agree the terms and conditions of the site.

Joe

[transporter]

Originally posted by JBee
It's a wierd one this....

There are some threads on here that seem to catch the Moderator's attention with little need. A common prompt seems to be to ask to keep on topic.

But then there are other threads which go totally off on a tangent, or where people expressive wildly offensive or aggressive views, and the mods don't seem to notice.

However, they are all volunteers so I don't know whether they get chance to read all the threads. Maybe some just slip through the net?

Maybe they should be more lenient and it should be up to us to ask for assistance. For example, if you are contributing to a thread that you know is getting offensive, you should PM a mod for assistance.

Or something....

heres the creepy bit, i think most mods do a good job controlling most things.
however to raise issues with some of Jb's post.(not saying jbs wrong but they are points that i have also picked up on).
how can typing be agressive?
what is actually off topic? some posts need to go off topic to keep it open.
is it relevant if a mod finds the contents of a post boring?
is spelling - typing so critical to the forum?

i do agree wholeheartedly that offensive comments should be reported instantly by the person who finds it offensive, and not left for a kind soul to speak up.