Moderating

January 10, 2005

I find it very disappointing the moderators need to censure posts. Thanks mtn-man I think it was.

This is a hobby. Why can't we have discussion about it. They call America the land of the free, and free speach is protected by one of the amendents to your constituion. But obviously anyone who disagrees with the cache gods will get slapped down.

I've got no bones with Kylee who appears sympathetic and has donated. The rest of you US moderators slapping down on things can go and enjoy your Hitler status. Yes, I expect to get moderated or banned for this post. Tell me if I care.

Richary

2.6k · January 10, 2005

The rest of you US moderators slapping down on things can go and enjoy your Hitler status. Yes, I expect to get moderated or banned for this post. Tell me if I care.

Jesus, you guys are acting like toddlers. Get over yourselves, would you?

2.2k · January 10, 2005

I am not a moderator, but the main GC.com boards are for geocaching related topics only. There is on Off Topic forum available to post threads about whatever family friendly topic you wish.

The OT forum is available for premium members only and can be found directly under Clayjar's Geocaching Chat on the main forum listings.

January 10, 2005

Yeah, I'm a premium member. But nobody has answered the question, why are posts being moderated. Why is there a need for that?

So we are having a whinge about something we believe in. A cricket match today raised over $20 million for the cause. A telethon yesterday raised s***loads as well. The only question I have is why does this discussion need to be censured, whether the original cache should have been approved or not.

You might not like the fact the cache got approved. You might not like the fact that a lot of Aussie cachers are spitting the dummy and only going to list things on the .au site to avoid any hassles with "your" rules. But that is what is happening. I don't necessarily agree as I don't want to have to go to multiple sites to find them. But it's happening anyway.

I still have no dramas with having all caches in 1 spot. And I wish it will continue. The mood over here is saying that won't happen. That will be a shame for the hobby.

2.7k · January 10, 2005

I find it very disappointing the moderators need to censure posts. Thanks mtn-man I think it was.

This is a hobby. Why can't we have discussion about it. They call America the land of the free, and free speach is protected by one of the amendents to your constituion. But obviously anyone who disagrees with the cache gods will get slapped down.

I've got no bones with Kylee who appears sympathetic and has donated. The rest of you US moderators slapping down on things can go and enjoy your Hitler status. Yes, I expect to get moderated or banned for this post. Tell me if I care.

Richary

I find it very disappointing that people make posts just to kick a moderator in the jimmies. Why not go out and find some caches and quit whinging?

you know, if you are really concerned about, why not leave a message at contact at geocaching.com, rather than start a flame war in here... AGAIN.

Edited January 10, 2005 by New England n00b

1k · January 10, 2005

I don't necessary agree with the moderator's actions or his comments ... and I am not comfortable with Richary's post either, but I don't think anything is to be gained by name calling or launching into the poster, whichever side they come from.

Surly there is room for civilised discussion? Maybe some goodwill on both sides?

There have been some interesting posts in this part of the forum of late and in other parts where folks need assistance or have questions. Maybe some of the negative energy floating around here could be put to good use in those other threads spreading some goodwill instead.

How about that?

Regards

Andrew

January 10, 2005

This is a hobby. Why can't we have discussion about it.

I agree. Did you find any good caches this weekend? I was to busy to get out.

January 10, 2005

This is a hobby. Why can't we have discussion about it.

I agree. Did you find any good caches this weekend? I was to busy to get out.

Me too, I had too much to do around the house but I plan on hitting some this weekend if the weather stays decent. I have a couple ready to hide as soon as I decide on an area. :rolleyes:

1k · January 10, 2005

This is a hobby. Why can't we have discussion about it.

I agree. Did you find any good caches this weekend? I was to busy to get out.

G'day Runaround

No such luck my end. Had to do some work Saturday, wedding Saturday night but did get to a caching event on Sunday. Good to put faces to names in the local area. Was my first event and will make the effort in future.

Where I am in Western Australia it is coming up to mid Summer so it is pretty dadgum hot, thus limiting one's caching activities. Bring on winter! :rolleyes:

Regards

Andrew

January 10, 2005

This is a hobby. Why can't we have discussion about it.

And that's exactly what it is and what we do.

Geocaching is a hobby

We discuss our hobby here

So ......

How's the geocaching going. It's beginning to thrive here in South Africa. I hope you're having as much fun as we are with our hobby

2.2k · January 10, 2005

Weather here has been lousy, combine that with sick children and you get a formula for a non-caching weekend :rolleyes:

January 10, 2005

Yeah, it snowed another 4 inches or so on Saturday morning. That makes 3 of the last 4 weekends. The few caches on my watchlist have been pretty quiet.

3k · January 10, 2005

We went out on Saturday and found three caches. It was snowing like crazy the whole time, what a blast! And on all three we were the first in since the last snowstorm, so there were no giveaway tracks to follow :rolleyes:

January 10, 2005

Rained all weekend. But that didn't deter us from finding two and placing two new ones!

Man, I LOVE this game!!!!!!

1.8k · January 10, 2005

Nah...never mind.

3.1k · January 10, 2005

I feel a little wrist slapping heading your way :rolleyes:

9.4k · January 10, 2005

I find it very disappointing the moderators need to censure posts. Thanks mtn-man I think it was.

This is a hobby. Why can't we have discussion about it. They call America the land of the free, and free speach is protected by one of the amendents to your constituion. But obviously anyone who disagrees with the cache gods will get slapped down.

I've got no bones with Kylee who appears sympathetic and has donated. The rest of you US moderators slapping down on things can go and enjoy your Hitler status. Yes, I expect to get moderated or banned for this post. Tell me if I care.

Richary

Hi richary,

Thanks for the questions. While I'm only a moderator in the off-topic forum, I would like to point out the guidelines for forum use sitewide:

The goal of the Groundspeak Forum is to promote the activity of Geocaching and GPS Usage. It is an open forum sponsored by Groundspeak Inc. for discussing all aspects of Geocaching, Benchmark hunting, GPS Usage and Groundspeak related GPS Gaming.

Notice that this isn't a forum for discussing world events, politics, or any number of other important topics. This is a forum for discussion about geocaching. The Tsunami is a very important topic to many people, and our hearts go out to those who are suffering, but it has nothing to do with geocaching.

If you'd like to appeal that decision, you are welcome to send an email to contact at geocaching dot com, however I think the site's position has been well documented already.

2.3k · January 10, 2005

Tell you what. Lets all just ignore this thread and the angst the OP is trying to create.

January 10, 2005

Tell you what. Lets all just ignore this thread and the angst the OP is trying to create.

Okey-dokey.

Uhh, what exactly is "angst" anyway? :rolleyes:

2.3k · January 10, 2005

Tell you what. Lets all just ignore this thread and the angst the OP is trying to create.

Okey-dokey.

Uhh, what exactly is "angst" anyway?

angst

n : an acute but unspecific feeling of anxiety; usually reserved for philosophical anxiety about the world or about personal freedom [syn: Angst]

1.6k · January 10, 2005

ANGST ......

Going out on a Saturday after getting 6 fresh inches of snow to go caching and giving up after an attempt on 2 because the DANG snow was WAY to DEEP ! :rolleyes:

3k · January 10, 2005

Tell you what. Lets all just ignore this thread and the angst the OP is trying to create.

Alrighty. I am hereby ignoring this thread. :rolleyes:

January 10, 2005

They call America the land of the free, and free speach is protected by one of the amendents to your constituion.

:rolleyes: For the record: This is not a Constitutional issue. The First Amendment applies to government actions. This is a private forum, and the Bill of Rights does not apply to private speech. (If it did apply to private speech, you could never wash your kids mouth out with soap for using dirty words -- like "Navicache").

That does not address the issue of whether forums should or should not be moderated, but let's not make a federal case out of the issue.

2.3k · January 10, 2005

Tell you what. Lets all just ignore this thread and the angst the OP is trying to create.

:rolleyes:

2.2k · January 10, 2005

it's been a strange winter here weather wise. haven't felt very well lately either. i think i'll bag some locationless caches for a while. gotta find an eternal flame. my brother got the only one in the area that i know of. :rolleyes: rock walls aren't too common here in michigan either.

January 10, 2005

Instead of mocking the OP, I wish someone would consider some of the points he is making. I had a topic closed on me in which I really wanted to bring up given the events around the Tsunami cache. I wanted to discuss charity caches as a general topic. If it had been discussed before then I would have appreciated a heads up to an old URL. Another Aussie cacher who is very much a moderate also tried to bring up a general topic on approvals. Now both of these threads tried not to deal with the Tsunami cache as a main topic although they were obviously related. Yet they were closed down.

There are a LOT of Aussie cachers who are very pissed off about the forced archival of the Tsunami cache and I myself was very disappointed. While I will still use GC.com I have requested that my premium membership be terminated. I will be using the GC.com.au site more often in future and listing on both sites. There are also Aussie caches that are not available on GC.com due to what many Aussie cachers feel are unnecessarily strict rules.

To me it seemed that Groundspeak was not being supportive of its own approvers. Now that is something I WOULD like to discuss and I think is very relevant to geocaching.

How much leeway do the approvers have? After all the guidelines are described as "guidelines" rather than "rules" or "policy". How much support does an approver get? Does Groundspeak stand behind the decisions of its approvers and if not, why not?

Donna

1.8k · January 10, 2005

rock walls aren't too common here in michigan either.

Try the prison. From the OUTside.

4.8k · January 10, 2005

Uhh, what exactly is "angst" anyway?

Edited January 10, 2005 by carleenp

2.2k · January 10, 2005

rock walls aren't too common here in michigan either.

Try the prison. From the OUTside.

:rolleyes: i think there's still a little mortar left in the walls. can't be any in the locationless.

2.2k · January 10, 2005

I dont know exactly why, but it seems you cant go 50' into the woods around here without finding an old stone wall.

A stone wall locationless find in New England is just about as hard as a Palm Tree locationless find in Florida.

January 10, 2005

Uhh, what exactly is "angst" anyway?

I like carleenp's definition of "angst" better than CO Admin's.

January 10, 2005

The stone wall locationless calls for a stacked stone wall without mortar.

Definately not easy to find here in the southwest. We happened to find one about 300 miles from here, but did not have a camera with us :rolleyes:

January 10, 2005

Is it now acceptable to purposely derail a thread? :rolleyes:

22k · January 10, 2005

What thread?

Edited January 10, 2005 by BlueDeuce

January 10, 2005

I find it very disappointing the moderators need to censure posts. Thanks mtn-man I think it was.

This is a hobby. Why can't we have discussion about it. They call America the land of the free, and free speach is protected by one of the amendents to your constituion. But obviously anyone who disagrees with the cache gods will get slapped down.

I've got no bones with Kylee who appears sympathetic and has donated. The rest of you US moderators slapping down on things can go and enjoy your Hitler status. Yes, I expect to get moderated or banned for this post. Tell me if I care.

Richary

I put the following on my discussion boards:

------------------------------

First and foremost, only the government can "censor" with respect to the 1st Amendment.

The First Amendment gives us the right to speak and write our opinion and share our views. It does not give anyone the right to command that others listen to or publish or distribute what we say, write or produce.

To clarify this, imagine you've written an opinion piece to your local newspaper. If the newspaper declines to publish your letter it is in no way abridging your First Amendment rights, nor is it engaging in censorship. It is instead exercising its right to choose what it will and won't publish at its own expense. This is also how the board operates.

Posts may be intentionally edited, moved or deleted on occasion, and people may be banned from participation. This is not infringing on "Freedom of Speech" nor is it "censorship".

Action needed in the form of editing, moving or deleting posts and/or banning accounts is the sole discretion of the administrators and moderators, and is on a case-by-case basis.

-------------------

We had a SUPER caching weekend! Took and left some really cool junk! :rolleyes:

38.2k · January 10, 2005

I wish someone would consider some of the points he is making

I think they have and this is the result.

2.2k · January 10, 2005

on topic.

moderators are everywhere this year. i see post after post mentioning them. :rolleyes:

1k · January 10, 2005

Thanks Spamiam for your constructive response. I personally found it informative and of value. It is nice when people provide reasoned, relevant and constructive answers. Shows some goodwill and hopefully leads to improved relationships and enjoyment of the game.

That said, I thought Geowombat also brought up some points in a constructive maner which warrant discussing. It would be good to see some intelligent and thoughtful comment on those as well.

Regards

Andrew

38.2k · January 10, 2005

That said, I thought Geowombat also brought up some points in a constructive maner which warrant discussing. It would be good to see some intelligent and thoughtful comment on those as well.

I think the OP set the negative tone of the thread by comparing the moderators to Adolph Hitler. A man responsible for the death of close to 50 million people and the methodical extermination of about 1/5th that number.

Edited January 10, 2005 by briansnat

7.2k · January 10, 2005

Feel free to bash me all you want. I don't really care anymore.

If you want a whipping boy, then I will be happy to be it.

I know I personally have done the best job I can do representing Groundspeak. I stand by any and all decisions I have made.

If it makes you feel better, bash away. I have will not moderate anyone else on the subject of the tsunami.

2k · January 10, 2005

Is it now acceptable to purposely derail a thread?

I think the train never left the station on this one.

9.4k · January 10, 2005

That said, I thought Geowombat also brought up some points in a constructive maner which warrant discussing. It would be good to see some intelligent and thoughtful comment on those as well.

I think the OP set the negative tone of the thread by comparing the moderators to Adolph Hitler. A man responsible for the death of close to 50 million people and the methodical extermination of about 1/5th that number.

Must be that Godwin's Law thing again :rolleyes:

9.5k · January 10, 2005

I find it very disappointing the moderators need to censure posts. Thanks mtn-man I think it was.

This is a hobby. Why can't we have discussion about it. They call America the land of the free, and free speach is protected by one of the amendents to your constituion. But obviously anyone who disagrees with the cache gods will get slapped down.

I've got no bones with Kylee who appears sympathetic and has donated. The rest of you US moderators slapping down on things can go and enjoy your Hitler status. Yes, I expect to get moderated or banned for this post. Tell me if I care.

Richary

It's ironic people who don't live in the USA complain about the lack of rights they don't have access to in the first place.

I can never understand why people have to stoop to this level to vent their frustrations. CERTAINLY there are much better and more effective words to use. You merely proved you have the need to be moderated.

The guidelines, IMHO are very clear and concise about what these forums are for; put in place by a private enterprise not endorsed or run by a US government entity, thereby not required to allow you to tresspass all over them with whatever you want to talk about. IF this was a brick and mortar business, you would only be allowed to say anything you wanted OUTSIDE the business, not inside, where you would be considered tresspassing, and disturbing the peace. Both of which are not lawful acts.

I agree with others you could have easily put it in the OT forums. A non answer to your remarks merely means it wasn't compelling enough for others to take note of your remarks.

Again, IMHO, Mtnman has done a superb job at moderating.

Whine and bash all you want, but do it outside on the sidewalk where you can exercise your (ahem) rights of freedom of speech gratuitously provided to all who visit America regardless of their political stature.

6.4k · January 10, 2005

Feel free to bash me all you want. I don't really care anymore.

If you want a whipping boy, then I will be happy to be it.

Edited January 10, 2005 by Mopar

24.7k · January 10, 2005

Yeah, I'm a premium member. But nobody has answered the question, why are posts being moderated. Why is there a need for that?...

Part of the need is self created by TPTB.

In the past year a new version of a topic came along. "Topics that can not be discussed" It would appear that some topics were closed and another one would pop up to pick up where that left off. Now that would tell me that the topic had not run it's course as almost all topics do. However this site has determined that when a topic is closed that topic and any future topics that are related should not be discussed. I'm sure there is a good reason but it's beyond me what it might be.

So it adds to the wordload of the mods who are required to nip all the errant topics in the bud before they get out of hand, before chaos breaks loose and before Mods and approvers resign in droves.

If a topic does related to geocaching in some fashion I think they are fair game, but that's just me.

Some posts do need moderation, like removing a direct email address or personal info that has no business being on the net. Nasty attacks, SPAM and a few others don't deserve to stand. However I have the feeling you are not talking about those cases.

January 10, 2005

Must be that Godwin's Law thing again

"In addition, whoever points out that Godwin's law applies to the thread is also considered to have "lost" the battle, as it is considered poor form to invoke the law explicitly."

You lost.

January 10, 2005

Even though this site is based in America, it does not have to represent the freedom of speech. It's a game and that's about as deep as it gets. I've been lurking here for a long time and IMO, if this forum was not moderated, it would be nothing short of pure chaos and off-topic flame wars. :rolleyes:

1.8k · January 10, 2005

Where's Special Ed's signature line about Hydrogen when you need it?

1.4k · January 10, 2005

I've been lurking here for a long time and IMO, if this forum was not moderated, it would be nothing short of pure chaos and off-topic flame wars.

From what I've read in the aussie forum regarding this topic, an open flame war is exactly what a number of them are soliciting for and working at. There are a few sane posters over there urging them to get over it and move on.

3.8k · January 10, 2005

I've held back commenting on this but it goes on to long.

Since when did providing aid for our fellow man become a public event? How sad is it that we can't just go down to our local relief organization and give generously? The cache in question was a good idea. It provided an outlet for folks to give. It violated a guideline of the site. It was archived. So go give your money else wear. If you really need a smiley look up my profile and log a find on one of my caches. Who gives a rats? For those of you who have contributed anonymously thank you.

Lets get back to letting geocaching being a diversion from all the crap that life flings your way and use it to renew our minds. Let the relief organizations do the work they are created to do.

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