What would happen if there was an unmoderated discussion site.

[Scare 10]

I never buy or read newspapers! Yes really!!! Oh and I don't believe everything anyone says...I have my own opinions!..Yep they're probably a bit quirky at times, and differ from others, but that's what makes us all individuals...Isn't it?

 

Anyway..Shush...better get back on topic!

Yes I was only joking pete

[onewheeldave 22]

You should appreciate what the mods do, it would be impossible to have a proper discussion on things as by time you replied to a decent post, the post you was replying to would probably be about 10 or whatever pages back because of all the spam and slanging matches that would be going on in between. So for them to give their time for FREE on making sure OTHERS can enjoy their free time on here should not be underestimated, you should be thanking them very much for this not attacking them.

 

I do appreciate the mods on boards that are sensibly moderated- IMO, moderation is essential to deal with aggressive/offensive posters and trolls, who would otherwsie make discussion impossible.

 

I have less appraciation of the moderation on this board though, as mods routinely delete and lock threads that I, and many other, reasonable and polite posters have substantially contributed to; rather than do what mods on other boards do, which is, warn/ban the posters who are guilty of the offence.

 

As momkin said-

 

 

Here's another example....it's so frustrating. Just ban the idiots and let the rest of us get on with the thread topic.

 

 

Why not do that- it makes sense, it's exactly what mods on other, well-moderated boards do. Warn repeat offenders, then ban them if they continue.

 

I've even discussed this with the 'help desk', which is an execise in frustration- the essence of the answer was that it's 'more work', which just doesn't make sense.

 

If this board was well-moderated, with mods dealing with the actual offenders instead of simply taking out the whole thread, an additional benefit would be that users would feel a lot more inclined to report offensive posts, thus acting as eyes for the mods, and, saving them loads of time.

 

As it stands, if I see an offensive post on a thread I'm kind of involved in, but not massivley, then I use the 'report post' button.

 

But I'm in the bizarre position of, when it comes to a thread I'm heavily involed in/contributing to, being very wary of reporting offensive posts, purely because there's a high risk that a mod, rather than dealing with the offensive poster, will, instead, punish everyone, by locking/deleting the whole thread.

 

That cannot be right- it cannot be productive to the forum: people like me who do report offensive posts, should feel able to do so on any thread, and not have to weigh it up against the risk of the whole thread, and, along with it, manys hours of well-thought-out posts, being trashed.

[mumkin 10]

I do appreciate the mods on boards that are sensibly moderated- IMO, moderation is essential to deal with aggressive/offensive posters and trolls, who would otherwsie make discussion impossible.

 

I have less appraciation of the moderation on this board though, as mods routinely delete and lock threads that I, and many other, reasonable and polite posters have substantially contributed to; rather than do what mods on other boards do, which is, warn/ban the posters who are guilty of the offence.

 

As momkin said-

 

 

 

Why not do that- it makes sense, it's exactly what mods on other, well-moderated boards do. Warn repeat offenders, then ban them if they continue.

 

I've even discussed this with the 'help desk', which is an execise in frustration- the essence of the answer was that it's 'more work', which just doesn't make sense.

 

If this board was well-moderated, with mods dealing with the actual offenders instead of simply taking out the whole thread, an additional benefit would be that users would feel a lot more inclined to report offensive posts, thus acting as eyes for the mods, and, saving them loads of time.

 

As it stands, if I see an offensive post on a thread I'm kind of involved in, but not massivley, then I use the 'report post' button.

 

But I'm in the bizarre position of, when it comes to a thread I'm heavily involed in/contributing to, being very wary of reporting offensive posts, purely because there's a high risk that a mod, rather than dealing with the offensive poster, will, instead, punish everyone, by locking/deleting the whole thread.

 

That cannot be right- it cannot be productive to the forum: people like me who do report offensive posts, should feel able to do so on any thread, and not have to weigh it up against the risk of the whole thread, and, along with it, manys hours of well-thought-out posts, being trashed.

 

 

Absolutely spot on. I hope the Mods take some notice of this (although I fear that at some point this post and thread may disappear....it's already lasted a day longer than I expected)

[onewheeldave 22]

The other, IMO, highly counter-productive thing on this board is the insistence of all discussions on things like moderation policy, being only allowed to be discussed via the 'help desk'.

 

I'm painfuly aware that my posts above, though totally non-offensive, may be seen as breaking board policy- I'm risking a ban myself by saying them.

 

Yet it's obvious to me, that if discussion on that were, not only allowed, but actuall encouraged, that it's likely some very useful feedback would be obtained that would facilitate developing a much more effective moderation policy, where you would actually get forum users on board and end up reducing the work load of the mods.

 

If users feel listened to, they'll feel much less need to critisise some of these mod decisions.

 

I'm not talking about people defending swearing/ofeensive posting/trolling- those things are %100 innapropriate, and, posters doing those things should be warned, and, if they continue, promptly banned.

 

But routine deletion/locking of threads like the religion/drug ones, when the insults start, is crazy.

 

Like I said before, I frequently report posts on other threads- by making me (and presumably, others) feel unable to do so on threads like the above, it's inevitable that they're more likely to degenerate into name-calling/offensive posts etc.

 

If I was assured that such threads would be properly moderated by punishing only the guilty posters, then the mods would be guaranteed an 'early warning system' as I, by virtue of the fact I'm heavily involved in the thread, would obviously be amongst the first to see any offensive/insulting posts.

[onewheeldave 22]

Absolutely spot on. I hope the Mods take some notice of this (although I fear that at some point this post and thread may disappear....it's already lasted a day longer than I expected)

 

Yes. Already I've spent quite a lot of time thinking about, composing and typing out my contributions to this thread, and, it's not pleasant knowing full well that, in the near future, it could all be wasted, if a moderator decides to take it down.

 

So much of my time, composing posts that are totally non-offensive, in some threads totaling many hours, has been wasted and lost, due to a couple of trolls/offensive posters going off the rails, and, the whole thread is then pulled.

[Scare 10]

The mods do deal with ' idiots ' who ruin threads, the topics your on about that are closed is probably because the mods feel the thread has ran its course and the only adding posts are bickering so for them to stop the bickering, they close the thread. They will get some things wrong sometimes but because it would be impossible to discuss topics seriously without the mods then little things like that from time to time should be accepted as part of the deal

[janie48 95]

Just over a week i read through a thread again and and read more into a posters comments then i had done previously.

I typed a reply (probably the longest post i had ever posted) pressed submit, only to find the thread had closed just before i got it through...so frustrating:(

It was my own fault though for not being sharp enough in the first place.

 

On the whole i think the mods are very fair,and i say that after having a few posts removed, mostly for being off topic.

We may not always agree with a mod decision,but we have to abide by the rules, otherwise don't bother posting.

[ronthenekred 10]

Snip.

 

I'm inclined to agree with you, but as a conspiracy theory it could be that rules are allowed to be broken within reason. If SF was squeaky clean its popularity would diminish IMO.

It also seems like this thread itself is selective because normally it would have been removed because it has pointed to one mod in particular. That is usually enough to highlight "Helpdesk"

 

In effect this thread is about bickering. Look at the threads number of 'views' and its conception date. If allowed to run it'll leave the "smoking" thread in its wake within another week

[Phanerothyme 12]

Yes. Already I've spent quite a lot of time thinking about, composing and typing out my contributions to this thread, and, it's not pleasant knowing full well that, in the near future, it could all be wasted, if a moderator decides to take it down.

 

So much of my time, composing posts that are totally non-offensive, in some threads totaling many hours, has been wasted and lost, due to a couple of trolls/offensive posters going off the rails, and, the whole thread is then pulled.

 

I think perhaps that you are expecting too much in terms of having your words preserved for evermore for the greater benefit of mankind by the forum.

 

If you want to start unmoderated discussions on topics of your choice, with the freedom to expound at length, and the knowledge your post won't suddenly disappear, may I respectfully suggest a blog? You can then type for hours, remaining assured your efforts will be published.

 

A deleted thread is no great loss - there's no great wisdom or paradigm shifting discoveries lost to humanity as a result. The topic will crop up again, that's for sure.

[Scare 10]

Yes. Already I've spent quite a lot of time thinking about, composing and typing out my contributions to this thread, and, it's not pleasant knowing full well that, in the near future, it could all be wasted, if a moderator decides to take it down.

 

So much of my time, composing posts that are totally non-offensive, in some threads totaling many hours, has been wasted and lost, due to a couple of trolls/offensive posters going off the rails, and, the whole thread is then pulled.

You are exaggerating abit here dave, most of the time the trolls posts are deleted only

[PeteMorris 10]

Yes. Already I've spent quite a lot of time thinking about, composing and typing out my contributions to this thread, and, it's not pleasant knowing full well that, in the near future, it could all be wasted, if a moderator decides to take it down.

 

So much of my time, composing posts that are totally non-offensive, in some threads totaling many hours, has been wasted and lost, due to a couple of trolls/offensive posters going off the rails, and, the whole thread is then pulled.

 

Or they could do what the teachers used to do at school. The unruly sods got made prefects!!!

 

How about if they made you a mod?

 

I would imagine, sometimes it's a pretty thankless job, especially as it's done as a volunteer. The old addage come to mind ....You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time!

 

I've been a major contributor on a thread that eventually disappeared! But hey ho, worse things happen. Yes I was a bit miffed at the time, but it aint exactly life threatening is it?

[Bypassblade 10]

If you want to post in a way that's not suitable for our rules then feel free to post, but do it somewhere else where the rules aren't the same as ours.

 

It was the language you used that was reported as being unsuitable in that instance.

 

There are many thousands of words in the English language which are suitable for use on the forum and very few which we don't allow at all. Just learn which ones we don't allow and use other ones which explain your position in a more family friendly way and the posts will remain.

 

On a general note, it's easy to work out whether one's posts are likely to be removed for being abusive. If you disagree with someone's opinions (I think your ideas are wrong) then this is debate and falls within forum rules but the moment you stray from that into insulting the person (You're an idiot because you think.....) then that is over the line of acceptability.

 

Just learn where the lines are and then debate to your heart's content

 

Got to disagree there Medusa, I used the word toss in both posts, one removed, this one left I never use swearing, if I do accidentally the filter asterisks it.

 

I've been called worse on here than an idiot & its NEVER been removed. But then again I'm a big boy, and able to look after myself, unlike some we have some real wallflowers on here.

 

Not going to argue as I say, just saying my piece, and I acknowledged if I over step the mark then it should be removed. Its the silly ones I get removed that grinds my gears, surely you can see that also.:):)