(Merged) Are the moderators getting ... & Censorship

[Darkness]

Eh? Gaming materials? I just make all those products and publishers up. You did realise that this site was a fiction resource, didn't you?

What's next - telling me that Santa Claus and his elves aren't real, either?!

 

[HellHound]

SemperJase, check out the FAQ.

If you don't like the way the boards here are moderated, there are a few thousand OTHER boards with different rules of moderation. Maybe you'll find one out there more to your taste instead of taking up arms with the ESTABLISHED rules of moderation on here. (The rules being that the moderators have absolute privilege to shut down threads they deem as being trouble...)


hang on... I'll get the exact quote

7. These boards are too heavily moderated. They should be like [insert board here].
I'd suggest you hang out at [insert board here]. Sounds like its more to your taste.

There we go.

 

[Eosin the Red]

Hello MODs all of you.


Most of you got an e-mail from me today. Thank you for doing your jobs well. Some of the threads should have been closed earlier, if anything.

Feel free to close my POLL (below). It was actually more of an attempt to get people to stop and think.

'Why are all of these threads being closed? Oh, maybe I should not post anything else on the topic'

It was not meant to offend or make your life harder.


Closing a thread started by Col Pladoh ---- eeck.

 

[angramainyu]

Re: Censoring a topic about Censorship

A couple of my thoughts about censorship and freedom and closed threads on the boards.

First of all, don't get me wrong. I'm as liberal-minded and free-speech-loving as they come. That said, this is not a public (in the political sense) arena for discussion.

I see two analogies when a thread is closed:

1) it's like the govenment is throwing someone in jail because wrote something bad about the government.

2) it's like you being over at a friend's house and him or her asking you to watch your language around his or her little kids.

Although the analogies are contrived, I think it's pretty clear that these message boards are the second case.

And while there may be an inherit irony is censoring a discussion on censorship, that irony is not in-and-of-itself a valid argument against said censorship. The fact that such discussions can get heated, however, is something to consider.

 

[NeghVar]

Hey Mods,

Thanks for doing a great job over the last couple of days!

Again thanks!

 

[the Jester]

Well, the first thread I've ever reported to a mod was the one I started last night when I realized people wouldn't let it die. So I posted a "Leave it alone, folks!" thread and promptly reported it.

I notice it's still open, just moved to the meta board. I'd anticipated that it would simply be closed as I requested but that it might help make people cool off. It ain't my job to do that; I am not a moderator. But one of the things I really value about this community is the generally nice tone of things.

One of the closed threads- well, I almost reported it. There was an amazingly bigoted comment about "sandmonkeys" and turning Mecca to glass. Come on now! Anyone who doesn't know that's going too far really does need to go off to Nutkinland, and I realized through the day as more threads kept popping up on the subject (and being closed almost instantly) that, yes, the community needed time to COOL DOWN.

CHILL, folks.

In a couple of days we can all try again. I was involved in the discussion, and I enjoyed it. I enjoy debate. I enjoy hearing the opinions of others who disagree with me.

Nobody is saying this can't happen; but we all need to keep it cool. While I wish the Comics Code thread was still open, I understand and support the actions of the moderators to close it. And I hope it gets re-opened on Monday or Tuesday, once we've all had some time to reflect and stop hyperventilating about Tracy's message and the BoVD and the sealed section and...

I would like to thank the mods again for doing a bang-up job on keeping things civil here. I don't really want to see comments as offensive as the sandmonkey post, and though I support everyone's right to have an opinion- even a bigoted one, hell even one that's bigoted against ME if you want- I also treasure the fact that the tone stays generally cool here.

That's why I like this place.

So, again: thanks, mods.

 

[Bagpuss]

*wanders back to the boards the next day*

This thread is still open? Am I dreaming...

Or perhaps we get a different type of poster down here in the Meta forum, after all you do have to 'scroll the browser window' to get down here. That's probably more effort than some posters can be bothered with.

 

[SemperJase]

If you don't like the way the boards here are moderated, there are a few thousand OTHER boards with different rules of moderation.

For the record, overall I think they do a great job. That does not mean I have to agree with everything they do.

Maybe you'll find one out there more to your taste instead of taking up arms with the ESTABLISHED rules of moderation on here.(The rules being that the moderators have absolute privilege to shut down threads they deem as being trouble...)

The thing that attracts me to this board is its overall civility. However, if you kill a thread because someone may step over the line, you may as will close the boards. But since this has been a self policing community, I do not think that is necessary.

As a moderator of a politcal discussion group I know you can have disagreement AND civil discussion.

I am not disputing anyone's rights about moderating. I am suggesting (as have others) that disagreement on the boards is not a bad thing.

You also infer that I do not like the moderators or these boards. The 'like it or lump it' argument isn't valid. The purpose of this specific board is to discuss where to draw the line. Again, you should ask to close this specific board if people are not allowed to voice a differing opinion of where to draw that line.

Now, I would appreciate feedback if I was out of line. I treated other members with respect and civility even when I disagreed with them. If you demonstrate that I did not, I will work to adjust my behavior. However, you will not find any name calling in my posts.

BTW, I purposely do not visit Nutkinland because of its lack of respect among members.

My suggestion is to deal with violators individually rather than closing entire posts. I have found that to be effective.

 

[Morrus]

I am suggesting (as have others) that disagreement on the boards is not a bad thing.

I think that this statement is a little silly. I can't believe that you are under the impression that the moderators enforce continual agreement between all members.

However, if you kill a thread because someone may step over the line, you may as will close the boards.

I disagree with that conclusion, too. That's just melodrama. It's not a binary issue.

The following is all mainly meant in a global sense, especially where I use the word "you". It's not addressed at anyone in particular (and not at Semperjase, despite the fact that it follows on after a quote of his).

One thing you should bear in mind is that the moderators don't close threads because they think they may get out of control; they close them because their experience tells them that the thread will get out of control. Usually, the thread has already started to do so. Maybe they make mistakes occasionally - but so what?

Every so often, something will direct the boards "off the rails". At those times, trigger fingers may be a little more itchy - especially if you're a moderator who has been under fire, been receiving emails of complaint etc. all day. At these times, the best thing people can do is have a little empathy for the position the moderators are in instead of dredging up this old, tired "You don't allow anyone to disagree with anyone!" thing. It's so ridiculous, so patently and demonstrably untrue that making the statement, drawing imaginary lines based on that principle, making drand sweeping indictments of the boards based on such ridiculousness or anything else is just plain silly. Sometimes poeple whould just try and understand the dynamics of what's going on instead of seeking the most melodramatic interpretation possible - and i can assure you you'd be only one in a long, long boring line of people to do so. You won't be saying anything clever or paving the way for change or forming a revolution or anything.

If the mods close down a thread, respect their wishes, and give the subject a break for the moment. Try and trust them to do their job and to do what they think is best. If you think they're wrong, respect them for the call they made and understand that they did what they did because they thought it best for the boards as a whole, not because they're after you. Perhaps bring it up civilly and privately with the moderator at some point, once things have calmed down.

My suggestion is to deal with violators individually rather than closing entire posts. I have found that to be effective.

That is the ideal solution; unfortunately, it is not one that can be implemented in a practical manner. I find it interesting that you say that you have found it effective - I can assure you that, here at least, that is not an effective, efficient or practical way to handle things. Perhaps the moderators in your situation have more time, or perhaps the group as a whole is smaller?

Secondly, once a thread gets out of control, dealing with the individuals will not work. They will have already angered others, who will respond. Often the "individuals" you are referring to are a large number of defensive people.

I'm sure that you can see that, often, a time-out or coolling off period is by far the best action, rather than havng moderators get into silly little pissing matches (both on the boards and via email) with various individuals? Even when we do that, as you can see, you'll always get people trying to "challenge" a moderator (as happened to Dinkeldog); imagine what that would be like if we were picking on specific people?

Thjis, as a whole, is a very unique community, I feel. And I believe that the mderators have a very good handle on the ebb and flow of things around here; good enough that they can be trusted to do what's best. And, as I said earlier, if they make the occasional mistake - don't challenge them on it. Don't try and square off against them. Understand that they're under pressure and doing the best they can in the situation and that they aren't carrying out a personal vendetta against you (again, this is "you" in a global sense!) - they don't have the time to carry out a vendetta against you, for goodness sake! Things can always be worked out, but if you draw a line in the sand, you'll lose - and that'll be completely your own doing, not the moderators, because they don't want that to happen.

 

[SemperJase]

<radio edit>