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Moderating


richary

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Taking the high road, per request of Jeremy.

 

I believe the moderators at this site, all of whom work for nothing (to the best of my knowledge) are fine individuals, and though once in a great while they may act like humans, and I, being human myself, can forgive them any minor oversights they may have executed.

Edited by New England n00b
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Might as well close it now, then, Jeremy. I'm not sure there IS a high road in this thread.

Another topic to point to when people don't understand why a topic should be locked.

 

For future posts that point to this one, do you get it? Everything has been said. We'll see how many on-topic pithy remarks remain.

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Might as well close it now, then, Jeremy.  I'm not sure there IS a high road in this thread.

Another topic to point to when people don't understand why a topic should be locked.

 

For future posts that point to this one, do you get it? Everything has been said. We'll see how many on-topic pithy remarks remain.

I was being facetious. That's why the apology directly after.

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I (meaning "Dave," not the account name "The Leprechauns") have been directly labeled as having "Hitler status" in the opening post of this thread. By responding with nothing more than a story about playing beer pong, I believe I've exhibited a remarkable degree of restraint. I was composing that post at the time when Jeremy asked for no further off-topic posting, so I did not see his request prior to posting. I will now follow the moderator's instructions and not post anything else. A moderator should feel free to delete my prior post, or to delete its contents.

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I think the best moderators are those that are practically invisible. Those whose names you see often are interfering way too much with the normal flow of communication. I see a moderators role as to help people communicate with each other. On this board, I often see that the purpose is to prevent communication as opposed to facilitating it. Some moderators treat us as children who need to be told how and what to say to each other; this is offending. I participate in a number of forums but this one is one of the most strongly moderated ones. On some other forums I'm participating in, the mods rarely close threads or issue warnings; generally they are invisible and I cannot even recall their screen names. When a discussion gets too heated, they just post a note saying "please be nice, this is supposed to be a friendly forum", and this usually makes wonders. And those forums are indeed a lot more friendly than this one.

 

So I think there is certainly room for improvement regarding the moderation of these forums.

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Some moderators treat us as children who need to be told how and what to say to each other; this is offending.

And some posters constantly act like children, which is offending to many other users.

I participate in a number of forums but this one is one of the most strongly moderated ones. On some other forums I'm participating in, the mods rarely close threads or issue warnings; generally they are invisible and I cannot even recall their screen names. When a discussion gets too heated, they just post a note saying "please be nice, this is supposed to be a friendly forum", and this usually makes wonders. And those forums are indeed a lot more friendly than this one.

I'd love to see some examples, preferably of similar sized forums. Links?

There are over 250 people participating in this forum right this second. In my experience, this is the least moderated forum in it's size class. Many others I see are much more heavy-handed when you are dealing with thousands of people a day, not dozens. Most of the other large forums I participate in do not tolerate people too lazy to read a FAQ or pinned topic. Reposts such as those are locked, or most often, simply deleted. This forum has by FAR the best, most respectful group of people of any forum I've seen this size. That fact is a testament to how well it's modded.

So I think there is certainly room for improvement regarding the moderation of these forums.

Of course there is. The mods are human, so there is always room for improvement. The same can be said for the postings by the users.

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When a discussion gets too heated, they just post a note saying "please be nice, this is supposed to be a friendly forum", and this usually makes wonders. And those forums are indeed a lot more friendly than this one.

 

I agree. Sometimes the act of moderation causes more problems than it solves. I think the mods here have been a little too heavy handed at times and though I think they are generally well meaning, they often turn up the heat by their stepping in, rather than cooling things off.

 

There are many times that if a thread would just be left to run its course it would fall off the board and be be forgotten about in a month (except by Markwell).

 

If there is profanity, or serious flaming going on, that's one thing but if it starts to stray a bit off topic, who cares? It means people were probably losing interest in the OT. I've rarely been involved in a conversation with friends that didn't jump from topic to topic. This should be the same. Should people try to stay on topic? Sure. Its the polite thing to do, but is it worth it when a mod steps in and raises the angst level (geez, did I just say angst? :laughing: ).

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On some of the boards I frequent for PC gaming (the Myst/URU community), their forums are heavily moderated. We are quite generous compared to some.

 

You are not allowed to double post in any topic. You are required to edit your original post if you have anything else to add. If you don't do that you get moderated, and publicly I might add. They edit your post and add the moderation message right there for all to see. Even if the topic has been stale for two or three days you still have to edit your post or beg someone you know on the boards (via private message) to post on the topic so you can then post your message. Of course, if you edit your message it does not get bumped back to the top so no one sees your editing. You cannot reply to or bump any topic that is more than two weeks old. If you do it is immediately closed and you are chastised for bumping the topic and told to open a new one. Heaven help you if you don't search out an answer to your question first. The "Markwelling" is quick and usually done by moderators and community members alike. Your avatar is closely regulated. If objectionable it is removed immediately. You are not allowed to add your own title under your avatar. You must ask the moderators to change it, and they may or may not do it for you (they never changed mine, I was ignored). They can also change it to what ever they want and if you don't like it that's just tough.

 

(Spell check, spell check! Doh!)

Edited by mtn-man
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I, too, agree that these forums are more strongly moderated. However, I think that this is a good thing, not a bad thing. Many sites I have been to with forums are informal and created by the users.

 

However the forums at geocaching.com are not informal - these are the pages hosted by and maintained by Groundspeak. They have a special responsibility. Part of that is to promote proper discussion in an environment that is family friendly - that is, that anyone can particpate. This includes people of more rigid moral foundings that do not feel comfortable (as is their right) around foul language and poor forum behaviour. Other websites may not feel the need or desire to cater to as many people as possible. TPTB have chosen to make this place as accessible to as many people as possible, not just as are willing.

 

I appreciate that perspective. While I do not have a family, it is nice ot have a place on the web where I can bring my preteen nephews/nieces to talk about something other than Usher or the latest horrible news footage.

 

So there is better, more focused moderation than on boards that are not representing a company and the people behind it. I'm all for it in this case, and think they ahve done a great job, in spite of the flak they receive for being human.

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I agree. Sometimes the act of moderation causes more problems than it solves. I think the mods here have been a little too heavy handed at times and though I think they are generally well meaning, they often turn up the heat by their stepping in, rather than cooling things off.

 

There are many times that if a thread would just be left to run its course it would fall off the board and be be forgotten about in a month (except by Markwell).

 

If there is profanity, or serious flaming going on, that's one thing but if it starts to stray a bit off topic, who cares? It means people were probably losing interest in the OT. I've rarely been involved in a conversation with friends that didn't jump from topic to topic. This should be the same. Should people try to stay on topic? Sure. Its the polite thing to do, but is it worth it when a mod steps in and raises the angst level (geez, did I just say angst? :laughing: ).

Very well said!

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I, too, agree that these forums are more strongly moderated. However, I think that this is a good thing, not a bad thing. Many sites I have been to with forums are informal and created by the users.

That's why I'd like to qualify with like-sized forums. The little user-run forums often only have a dozen or 2 regular posters. On a busy day there might be 6 people online at the same time. Those places are homier and closer knit then a forum where thousands of people a day participate. Everyone who posts are friends, and usually of like minds. Kinda comparing peas to watermelons.

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I have seen a wide variety of moderating across different forums. In one large anime forum the moderation is quite similar to here. In another, the mods are annonymous and they routinely just remove entire posts and threads. They then remove complaints about that. A visitor would have no idea unless they randomly saw one right before it was deleted. I assume there are some annoyed posts behind the scenes, but the board is a pleasent place to read. That same moderation style is present on a very large forum aimed at a younger audience that I visit. There they also freeze accounts at the drop of a hat, but since it is a kid's site, I think that is necessary there. On small forums that I read, moderation is pretty laid back, I think the smaller size keeps people in line more and thus lessens the need for much moderation. In the end, I don't know if I have a strong preference. I suppose I lean toward keeping threads open as long as possible, but usually by the time a thread is closed all the points have been made. It is not like someone's shut off comment is going to change anything. I guess I don't care much because I don't particularly have anything pressing enough to publically whine about and am not the type to act in a way that will require that I be moderated (except for that recent minor infraction). I think that is a pretty happy existence! :o

Edited by carleenp
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There is one forum dedicated to PC gaming that has almost zero moderation. The threads are full of flames, trolls, personal attacks, sock puppets, obscene language, and pornography. Oh yeah, there is occasionally a thread about a game.

 

Sometimes, and I stress sometimes, the moderation can be a little heavy. Especially when mods use their moderator account to state an opinion that should be left to their player account. That said, most of the moderation here is fair and appropriate.

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I'd love to see some examples, preferably of similar sized forums. Links?

I have very good experience with the forums at www.aximsite.com.

I would also prefer to see a similar sized site to this one rather than a smaller site like the one you linked. On that board the most active area only has 3,594 topics with 58,436 posts (and it is ironically the off topic area). The General area here is the most active with 16,088 topics and 295,131 posts.

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I'd love to see some examples, preferably of similar sized forums. Links?

I have very good experience with the forums at www.aximsite.com.

Official Aximsite.com Forum Rules

 

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

[*]No flaming or trolling - Be respectful of other posters and please keep discussions tasteful. If you want to yell at someone do it in private (PM) please.

[*]No use of profanity or vulgarities

[*]Signature Rules

[*]Images may be used, but must be no larger than 230x100px. If we decide to make the forums 100% functional and viewable on the PocketPC, this is something we need to get used to doing.

[*]No Macromedia Flash signatures.

[*]Text Links must be kept with a reasonable size. The verticle size between the line and the end of your sig should not be much bigger than the image max size of 100px high.

[*]Links in signatures can link to anything you recommend that does not violate Aximsite Rules. A brief idea : No pornography, no casinos, no affiliate programs or multi-level Marketing, no pop loops, No solicitation of donations, etc... If you have questions contact AximSiteAdmin.

[*]Advertisers - Advertisers/Sponsors/Vendors can have links to their websites in their signature, but can not post a blank or otherwise useless post just to get their signature seen. If an advertiser does not want to particpate in the discussion, but wants PR, there are many ways to do this onsite. Sponsor a contest, offer a discount, advertise, etc.... There will be be no more “spamming” the boards.

[*]No spamming - This includes PM spam, It's OK to have a link back to your webpage in your signature but any off-topic spam will be deleted. That includes 'helping people' by advertising your site to them or soliciting other members. The reasons for this rule are simple. This site costs money to maintain. It relies upon advertising to survive for the most part. If users are spamming their site, my advertisers(which may be competitors) are paying for that press and may pull out. If you are a regular member and want to promote your product, I offer VARIOUS ways that are cheap and sometimes free to help you. Just drop an email and we can discuss these. This includes Affiliate links and links to sites for the purpose of serving affiliate links.

[*]No Links or Discussion about WAREZ, SEX, RACIAL, or any otherwise offensive or illegal topics.

[*]No nudes or overly sexy pictures - All posted or linked pics must be PG-13 or lower. Moderators have the right to judge what is not appropriate.

[*]No multiple usernames per person - Only one username is allowed per forum member.

[*]If you are banned - Being banned means that you can no longer post to the Aximsite.com. You are also banned for life and we check ip addresses of suspected members that try to re-register. If you are caught doing this, I will place a ban on your ip address.

[*]No double posting - Post to the correct forum! I have instructed the moderators to delete double posts.

 

Remember these rules are meant to  make the site enjoyable for the masses and not just a few select eggheads. If you feel that certain remarks or links are innapropriate please use the "report to moderator" link so that it can be evaluated.

The rules there look on par with this site's, possibly even a bit stricter. Are they enforced? I see lots of things that are forbidden there that are usually the cause of moderation here. All pics and links must be PG-13. No sockpuppets. No offensive topics. No solicitations of donations. No flaming.

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I'd love to see some examples, preferably of similar sized forums. Links?

I have very good experience with the forums at www.aximsite.com.

I would also prefer to see a similar sized site to this one rather than a smaller site like the one you linked. On that board the most active area only has 3,594 topics with 58,436 posts (and it is ironically the off topic area). The General area here is the most active with 16,088 topics and 295,131 posts.

No, I'll give him size. It has a large user-base. The only way to see how moderation is handled is to hang out there awhile.

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I'd love to see some examples, preferably of similar sized forums. Links?

I have very good experience with the forums at www.aximsite.com.

I would also prefer to see a similar sized site to this one rather than a smaller site like the one you linked. On that board the most active area only has 3,594 topics with 58,436 posts (and it is ironically the off topic area). The General area here is the most active with 16,088 topics and 295,131 posts.

The number of threads and posts depends on when the board was created. I think the gc.com forums are about 2 years older than the aximsite forums. A better measure is the number of active users. At this moment there are 445 users online at the aximsite forums. There are more than 70,000 registered users. I think we can safely say that the size is comparable.

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Um. You know, as a long time moderator-bater, guideline-flaunter and all-around irritatingly mouthy old bag, this should be just the topic for me. But I find I'm disinclined to voice my opinion in the shadow of the recent poop-storm of controversy. It would feel less like constructive criticism and more like piling on.

 

Some other day, perhaps.

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I'd love to see some examples, preferably of similar sized forums. Links?

I have very good experience with the forums at www.aximsite.com.

Since the GC forums are corporate sponsored, how would you compare the moderation here to say the Dell Community forums?

Edited by Mopar
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I have been an online moderator for another non-related forum for about 4 years. You can't please everyone. All you can do is follow the lead of the boss and hope to keep peace in a crazy online world.

 

Don't let it get personal. Most moderation isn't aimed at a personal level and shouldn't be taken that way.

 

Our fearless leader on my forum is known as the "benevolent dictator", for good reason. He has to make command decisions and go with it.

 

Whether or not I agree with the local politics, I have to say that beating the moderators to death doesn't help. Just stirs the pot and creates a distraction from what you are trying to accomplish.

 

Onward and upward....

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I'd love to see some examples, preferably of similar sized forums. Links?

I have very good experience with the forums at www.aximsite.com.

Since the GC forums are corporate sponsored, how would you compare the moderation here to say the Dell Community forums?

I don't really know. I find that the Dell Community forums are not very active. I rarely use it. When I used it I found that the moderation is mostly limited to deleting posts containing profanities or links to warez sites. Besides that, the mods don't have personalities; they give stock answers to customer support questions.

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I don't really know. I find that the Dell Community forums are not very active. I rarely use it. When I used it I found that the moderation is mostly limited to deleting posts containing profanities or links to warez sites. Besides that, the mods don't have personalities; they give stock answers to customer support questions.

Sorry, I guess the AS77 on the board you mentioned is someone else, since that AS77 posted a topic complaining about censorship and moderation at the Dell forum.

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I'd love to see some examples, preferably of similar sized forums. Links?

I have very good experience with the forums at www.aximsite.com.

Since the GC forums are corporate sponsored, how would you compare the moderation here to say the Dell Community forums?

I don't really know. I find that the Dell Community forums are not very active. I rarely use it. When I used it I found that the moderation is mostly limited to deleting posts containing profanities or links to warez sites. Besides that, the mods don't have personalities; they give stock answers to customer support questions.

I guess that is another problem for me with that site as an example. It isn't that busy and it seem more like a help/support site. Users ask technical questions, get an answer and never come back I would bet. This forum is more of a social forum with one single forum area dedicated mostly to Q&A rather than the whole forum being a Q&A forum (except for that one off topic area). I still don't think that one is an accurate comparison.

 

(I am interested and I am learning things from this discussion.)

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I don't really know. I find that the Dell Community forums are not very active. I rarely use it. When I used it I found that the moderation is mostly limited to deleting posts containing profanities or links to warez sites. Besides that, the mods don't have personalities; they give stock answers to customer support questions.

Sorry, I guess the AS77 on the board you mentioned is someone else, since that AS77 posted a topic complaining about censorship and moderation at the Dell forum.

That was a long time ago. What I wrote above is the present situation. The mods have practically disappeared from the Dell forum (or at least the sections I sometimes visit).

 

But it's true, there is some censorship on the Dell forums. They filter out words like "lawsuit" and "petition" automatically. Besides, there was an incident when they deleted an entire thread that contained about 800 posts petitioning Dell for a software upgrade (and Dell didn't grant the request). But there was no day-to-day moderation or micro-managing the threads like here. It's no comparison.

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I'd love to see some examples, preferably of similar sized forums. Links?

I have very good experience with the forums at www.aximsite.com.

Since the GC forums are corporate sponsored, how would you compare the moderation here to say the Dell Community forums?

I don't really know. I find that the Dell Community forums are not very active. I rarely use it. When I used it I found that the moderation is mostly limited to deleting posts containing profanities or links to warez sites. Besides that, the mods don't have personalities; they give stock answers to customer support questions.

I guess that is another problem for me with that site as an example. It isn't that busy and it seem more like a help/support site. Users ask technical questions, get an answer and never come back I would bet. This forum is more of a social forum with one single forum area dedicated mostly to Q&A rather than the whole forum being a Q&A forum (except for that one off topic area). I still don't think that one is an accurate comparison.

 

(I am interested and I am learning things from this discussion.)

No, no, we are talking about two different forums here. My example was the Aximsite forums, which is big and very active, and a lot more than a Q&A forum. What Mopar mentioned is Dell's own forum at www.dell.com. That's completely different. I didn't provide that as an example.

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Forgive this somewhat off-topic post.

I just went to a large forum that I haven't visited in years as a result of this thread. One of the first posts I see is from an old friend I lost touch with at least 5-6yrs ago. Email sent! How cool is THAT?!? :o

 

We now return you to your previous discussion, already in progress.

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I think the best moderators are those that are practically invisible. Those whose names you see often are interfering way too much with the normal flow of communication. I see a moderators role as to help people communicate with each other. On this board, I often see that the purpose is to prevent communication as opposed to facilitating it. Some moderators treat us as children who need to be told how and what to say to each other; this is offending.

the forum moderators would be practically invisible if people weren't constantly breaking forum guidelines.

 

people push the envelope and break the guidelines and get mad when the mods stop it. it isn't that hard to stay on topic. i'd say that it seems like topics that are off-topic that are not controversial probably have a chance of staying open longer, but give me a break. if it's off topic and a moderator closes it there is no right to complain. you agree to the TOU and that limits your rights.

 

personally, i'm glad they're around. i can't believe i'm saying this, but this place actually seems somewhat civil compared to the invisibly moderated forums of the sandbox. good grief, that place is like sitting in a kindergarten class.

 

if i wanted to look for a charity, i wouldn't start at the geocaching website or forums. the purpose of this website and these forums is geocaching. not toys for tots. not tsunamis. not political correctness. not free speech.

 

box in woods. discuss.

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There are two issues worth mentioning here:

 

1. The moderators are not elected by geocaching communities but selected by Groundspeak. Therefore, they are always loyal to Groundspeak and those company interests are more important to them than the interests of geocachers

I thought, THOUGHT, the moderators and approvers were for the most part all volunteers. IF this is so, what would they gain by kissing GC.com/Jeremy/or any other cachers (insert body part and or region). Just wondering.

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I agree.  Sometimes the act of moderation causes more problems than it solves.  I think the mods here have been a little too heavy handed at times and though I think they are generally well meaning, they often turn up the heat by their stepping in, rather than cooling things off.

 

There are many times that if a thread would just be left to run its course it would fall off the board and be be forgotten about in a month (except by Markwell).

 

If there is profanity, or serious flaming going on, that's one thing but if it starts to stray a bit off topic, who cares? It means people were probably losing interest in the OT.  I've rarely been involved in a conversation with friends that didn't jump from topic to topic. This should be the same. Should people try to stay on topic? Sure. Its the polite thing to do, but is it worth it when a mod steps in and raises the angst level (geez, did I just say angst?  <_< ).

Very well said!

Good summary.

 

I'll add having been on the receiving end of moderation that there are ways to do it and ways not to do it. Respect being the key word. You can be polite as you boot someone off the site, or put their posts into the moderation queue. A mod that loses respect, is not effective. It's a hard job. One that is needed, but we would be better with little or no moderation than bad moderation.

 

The boards I moderate are small, they don't take much work.

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I am talking about the aximsite forums. It still looks like a Q&A support site. I would like to see an example of a social site like ours.

Psych 101 teaches you that all forums, all locations of public interaction become some people social outlet.

 

Obviously GC.com is more of a social interaction than others. But once you read around a bit you can see it in action almost everywhere.

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There are two ways of looking at Moderators. You can look a t them as policemen of the forums, or you can look at them as peacekeepers. Actually they have to by design, not choice fall into both categories.

 

Their first and foremost job is to help people. That is the peacekeeper side. Then they have to come down on people that don’t want to play by the rules. That’s the policemen side. It’s really up to the community as to how you want them to act.

 

I’ve been a member for several years and have dealt with most of the Moderators on a personal basis. I’ve been praised, warned, and moderated over that time period. No matter which category I was in at that particular time I always found that they treated me with the upmost respect at all times. I might not have agreed with the decision, but I always respected it.

 

These Moderators are members of the geocaching community and they have deep roots. They got their position from a long track history of helping others. They deserve our deepest respect.

 

Maybe GC should make me, RK, Brian, and CR Moderators for a week. That would make most people thankful for the ones we already have. Not that the above mentioned people wouldn’t do a good job, but like me, they have little tolerance of idiots.

 

El Diablo

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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. <_<

and on top of that it rained so hard that I would have been up to my 'jimmies' in mud if I'd gone out caching -

 

stayed in - stayed dry -- stayed warm - and stayed very bored!

 

yippie !!!

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If you have nothing to say in this topic, shut up.

A lot has been discussed on this and a lot of good points have been brought up. I'm a forum junkie--I read several every day (including this one). I agree that if the topics are supposed to be about geocaching and they aren't, they get closed... those are the rules of the site, you either obey them or you don't. The only times I've had issues are when someone goes over the proverbial "line". Doesn't happen often, but when it does, it seems that the line is completely gone over, not just a little bit. This was one of those instances, and I couldn't believe it. Don't know what kind of frustration led to that outburst, but it just seemed unnecessary and totally uncalled for from the "leader" of this site. I realize there may have been external factors that suggested this was the best course of action, but I know that as the president of my state's club, if that phrase got uttered on our forums, I'd be looking at a lot of members lost.

 

My $.03, thanks for listening. <_<

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In Jeremys defense, much angst had been spread over several items by this time. Some severely so. Jeremy requested that the forum regulars stop derailing this particular thread. He said it nicely, and it didn't hold, so he said it not so nicely, and it finally got through.

 

No problems for me, personally. Sometimes a spanking is needed, even on people who, in general, support you. I'd much rather have a blunt, direct individual than someone beating around the bush and not really saying what they mean. There's a time for diplomacy... and then there isn't. Like I said, no harm, no foul as far as I am concerned.

Edited by New England n00b
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Understood. I think I was more surprised by it than anything. Didn't particularly agree with it but understanding that there are a lot of attacks on Jeremy and the moderators, approvers, etc., I can imagine he'd be defensive (since the topic was about moderating). If I got that much grief from people I was trying to provide a service to, I don't know that I wouldn't eventually lash out back at them. Thankfully I'm not in that situation.

 

But hey it's over, let's move on. :huh:

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An example of a busy forum which works well and has a great atmosphere:

Recipezaar

They have had their fair share of trolls but have jumped on them extremely well.

 

When you first start participating on the fora, this page pops up...

 

Recipezaar Forum Rules

 

You are seeing this page because Recipezaar Staff would like to remind you of the rules for posting on the site and the penalties associated with breaking these rules. If you do not agree with ALL of these rules or the associated penalties, please enjoy the rest of the site and refrain from posting in the forums.

 

  1. This is not your house, it is ours. Posting here is a privilege, not a right. The privilege to post can be suspended or revoked at any time and completely at our discretion.

  2. Be polite and respectful to all members, including Recipezaar Staff, at all times. No insults, name calling or belittling of other members. If someone posts something that makes you angry, the best thing to do is step away from the computer for a bit. We often misinterpret other people's intentions and make mistakes in the heat of anger. Without the body language available to in-person communications, sarcasm or jokes can be taken the wrong way -- we encourage you to label attempts at humor with ;-)s so folks will know.

  3. No obscenities or pornography or adult humor. Recipezaar is kid-friendly (it's a cooking site, after all), so ALL material must be clearly suitable for children. There are plenty of places on the internet that welcome adult jokes, this isn't one of them.

  4. No spamming or advertising. Linking to commercial content related to the current thread is acceptable, but everything else is probably spam. You can pay for advertising on Recipezaar like everyone else; there is a link at the bottom of every page to advertise on Recipezaar.

  5. Political and religious ideology debates tend to cause inflamed discussions, anger, hurt feelings which put you at risk of violating these rules, and are therefore discouraged. Our forums are NOT designed for debating abstract philosophy, "winning" online arguments, or ridiculing others for their beliefs, backgrounds or speculated motivations. This is a cooking site, after all, not a political or religious site.

  6. Keep topics on-topic. Start new topics for new discussions. If you don't like what is being discussed, the best thing is not to say anything at all. "Hijacking" threads to talk about something different is neither polite nor respectful.

  7. Please report violations. We do not monitor every post, so we ask our community to let us know of problems: click the link at the bottom of any topic to "Notify us of inappropriate posts".

  8. No discussing penalties or punished members in the forums. Recipezaar goes to great lengths to keep private our penalties in order to avoid member embarrassment -- an excessive sanction. If you agree or disagree with our actions in a certain situation, we require that you also deal with the matter privately (use our Contact Us link at the bottom of the page). Please remember that you do not possess all of the circumstances and evidence with regard to any situation, and we might not be able to share all of the evidence with you for privacy reasons, but we are always fair and will listen to appeals. We make difficult decisions and rein in rule violators in order to protect the public mission of our forums. We encourage those with different ideas about how our forums should be structured and managed to start their own. Ultimately, we may have to simply refer you to rule #1. (Everyone is welcome to discuss our rules in our Suggestions & Comments forum, as long as you are speaking generally about the rules and not specific members or situations.)

  9. Do not create fake accounts to skirt these rules. The use of multiple accounts or the use/theft of other people's identities when posting is strictly forbidden and has special penalties.

 

There are more rules in our Terms of Service about copyrights, libel, etc.

Penalties

 

If you break any of the above rules, penalties will be applied on your account. The minimum is a temporary "timeout" from using our forums; the maximum is a permanent and total removal of your account.

 

Timeouts. During your timeout, you will not have access to the forums, but you will have access to other parts of the site, including your recipes, your cookbook, etc. The duration of the timeout will depend on the situation. The exact length of time is determined solely by Recipezaar Staff, but the minimum is 24 hours. After your timeout has been instituted, you will receive email explaining the reason for your timeout and its duration.

 

Permanent Suspension. Serious offenses may result in a total ban from using the site. This includes removing recipes from your account, removing your cookbook, etc.

 

Warnings. In an effort to stop a rule violation before it occurs, Recipezaar Staff may send informal advisories to encourage rule compliance at any time. Someone breaking the rules may or may not have received a preceding warning before a timeout or a permanent suspension. Based on experience, a systematic "warnings" process or "three strikes you are out" policy is not effective, takes too much time, and does not prevent disasters. Rather, we use a simple "timeout" mechanism which gives members a break from the site, time for everyone to cool down, and a method for members to regain their posting privileges after a period.

Acknowledgements

 

After you have read the above and want to participate in the forums, please check the appropriate boxes below to gain access.

 

I agree and understand that posting here is a privilege not a right, and that privilege can be revoked at any time for any length of time.

I agree that I will be polite and respectful to all members and staff at all times.

I agree and understand that Recipezaar Staff may make a judgment of my behavior at any time and impose penalties on my account.

I agree and understand that, while I may not agree with Recipezaar Staff's judgment(s), I will respect their judgment(s)/decision(s).

I understand that my behavior reflects on Recipezaar, the site, and that my negative behavior impacts Recipezaar negatively.

I understand and agree to ALL the Rules stated above.

 

The other wise thing they did was to create a separate forum for all threads that had crossed the line and moved them all into one spot. People can still continue to post but the thread is more likely to die a natural death. Appropriately it is called "The Frying Pan" [well, it is a recipe site!]

Recipezaar Fora

 

Donna

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