Heavy handed moderation

[SoulRaven]

OP spoke volumes, an example imho was a very good thread. Article by Jessica - Mod Closed thread on homeless RV/Van dwelling

 

[Weight]

The moderators are doing a difficult job. They are doing it well. No politics. No infighting. There are too many stupid arguments on most forums. I like the reasonable restrictions on this one. I get very pissed at the "experts" that post dangerous or incorrect information. But I try to stay calm. It is Bob's home and I leave it up to him to supervise us fools. Keep up the good work, moderators.

 

[SoulRaven]

OP spoke volumes, an example imho was a very good thread. Article by Jessica - Mod Closed thread on homeless RV/Van dwelling

That thread quickly became political in nature, I seen it coming in my crystal ball just as with many of the others that were closed.  The topic strayed from the theme of the website.

 

[Headache]

My posts have been edited and deleted by moderators.  My bad and my tough luck.  It's Bob's forum, he owns it, it's his private property and bottom line he gets to do what he wants with it no matter how much we disagree with it.

On the moderators; don't expect them to all act or even breathe the same, they aren't programmable robots.  It's a thankless job and they get slung all sorts of accusations and crap for no good reason other than the complainant was having red flag week over what a moderator did.

Some really important people have left this board because they got moderated and felt it was unfair.  In almost every case it's because they felt themselves so important at that time that they thought they had the right to become insulting to another member who for whatever reason didn't know about or couldn't find information previously given or just didn't get it and became frustrated.  It doesn't matter who a member is or their contributions, if they go off the deep end on someone it won't be tolerated.

I get it I really do.  I'm no more afraid to discuss politics, religion and other taboo topics than I am tire treads and crapping in a bucket.  Nor am I afraid to take on some internet living in mom's basement mouth breather(oh if I only had the opportunity!).  But this isn't my playground and I'm not going to throw sand because I don't like what a playground attendant aka moderator did. I have never been able to wrap my head around griping about something you get for free.

Yes, there are two posters here driving me nuts!  From insulting posts to frequent derailments and know-it-all behavior.  They seem to know how to fly just under the radar so while they aren't well liked, they haven't done anything bad enough to get the boot.  Give em enough rope...

It's frustrating but no matter what kind of "warning" you think you are giving with your opinion until said persons go off the deep end as others have we all get to be frustrated, even the moderators.  There's no special snowflakes on this one.  Platforms come and go but this topic isn't going anywhere soon.

You don't know me and since this is the interwebs and you can't see my face or hear my voice I'm letting you know I'm just a common sense kind of gal and I get it.  I'm even being nice(ask a mod!) but as a former moderator and admin(not here) I'm lending you my expertise.  Please allow me to introduce myself...

 

[John61CT]

I'm amazed open discussion about moderation is even allowed here, many forums that's immediately shut down.

I may not always agree with decisions, but I do thank God for the work they do, any unmoderated forum gets very quickly to be a nightmare waste of time.

 

[Riverman]

Can't we all just get along...

 

[SoulRaven]

That thread quickly became political in nature, I seen it coming in my crystal ball just as with many of the others that were closed.  The topic strayed from the theme of the website.

Fair enough. In real life, nearly all social conversations stray except for in most academic settings & even those stray occasionally. Moderators are to keep a thread from derailing, it's what mods do.
I felt thread had good benefit and that most looked past the political & didn't "bicker" and those are the one's who had the good discussion.

 

[Headache]

The problem is that a lot of members don't have unlimited data plans or even regular access to internet. So when conversations wander or go off topic it screws those people who are looking for legitimate information. Some people don't have time for drawn out descriptions or using their bandwidth trying to find something(especially when the title doesn't have anything to do with the topic), they need quick and dirty topical discussion.

That's why sometimes moderation IS heavy and it wouldn't have to be if people followed the rules. You know, those ones we all agreed to when we registered on the forums...

 

[Technomad]

I'm not trying to be combative, and I never said that one had to love it or leave it. Saying that, I agree with you last sentence...

Roger. Sounds like I read too much into the combination. My bad. I see what you are saying now.



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[ratfink56]

Can't we all just get along...

Can't we all just get a bong....

 

[Technomad]

Most of the OPs of these critical threads have been active on the forum for a limited time, some for only a few days.

I don't understand why anyone would stay in a group that they find so much fault with. Why not move on to one of the forums that better matches ones desires?

To summarize: new people are pointing out problems they see, and you’re suggesting they move on.

That’s exactly what I’m saying they are doing.

After the way I was treated my first day I nearly left. Did leave for a couple weeks. Might still leave. Probably will, given the number of people defending the hostility and authoritarianism here.

Certainly I’m not going to invest much time here if I know that I cannot expect to be treated fairly.

It’s curious that you and others seem resigned to not having better enforcement of Bobs rules.



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[Technomad]

Yes, there are two posters here driving me nuts!  From insulting posts to frequent derailments and know-it-all behavior.  They seem to know how to fly just under the radar so while they aren't well liked, they haven't done anything bad enough to get the boot.  Give em enough rope...

I’ve moderated as well as created and grown communities too.

The part I quoted is the part that concerns me the most.

If the rules aren’t laid out and enforced and enforcement actions aren’t done by the book with a reference to exactly what violated the rules, you often end up with a situation where the moderators and their friends can violate the rules, and do, because they know they can get away with it, and it pretty quickly becomes an insular place that people leave and new people don’t stick around at.

If people are being an asshole to you and getting away with it that’s a violation of the rules.

The rules I’ve seen are a bit hippy dippy but that’s one of the requirements- be nice.



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[John61CT]

If you have a specific substantive complaint, write directly to Bob, or look for the "objecting to moderation" procedure.

You probably won't like the response, the expressed intention is to be what you call "heavy handed", there is no right to freedom of speech, more like we are guests in Bob's home.

Those of us that remain are at least content if not happy with how it works.

Those that aren't may go elsewhere, maybe still log in to learn read-only but stop contributing.

In many if not most cases, that situation is just fine with the community.

 

[Technomad]

I'm amazed open discussion about moderation is even allowed here, many forums that's immediately shut down.

Frankly, I would consider any forum where the moderators will not tolerate a reasonable discussion about moderation actions and policies to highly likely be run by crooks.

If they are honest they have nothing my to hide and their actions are defensible.

And BTW— everyone should use unique credentials for every forum- both a separate email address and password, from the ones you use for banking and stuff. A lot of people get hacked this way— either the forum software is terrible (and most are) and gets hacked, or the forum operators are corrupt.

Not allowing discussion of problems, including moderation, is a red flag indicating possible corruption. In fact it is corruption of a more general sense— if the moderators aren’t answerable to the community, you don’t really have a community.



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[John61CT]

Mods are in the end responsible to the owner.

Most popular forums are not operated for altruistic reasons, but are commercial enterprises, so notions of "corruption" hardly apply there.

This one's far more idealistic than most, in the end it's Bob's call.

 

[Technomad]

If you have a specific substantive complaint, write directly to Bob, or look for the "objecting to moderation" procedure.

You probably won't like the response, the expressed intention is to be what you call "heavy handed", there is no right to freedom of speech, more like we are guests in Bob's home.

I have reported the rules violation using the report function and asked for a response, but that was just one incident... we will see if I get a response.

Regarding the “expressed intention to be heavy handed”, that’s not what the rules say, to my recollection (though I wouldn’t be surprised to hear it is said somewhere on this forum) and is contradictory to the rules laid out by bob, to my memory.

Gonna have to look them up now.


Here’s the rules I found:

Respect is a Requirement for Membership Here

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh.../forums/showthread.php?tid=15853&share_type=t

The Rules of the Forum: February, 2014

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...m/forums/showthread.php?tid=6554&share_type=t

 

[GeorgiePorgie]

Best, most polite forum I have ever been on. I haven't noticed any really insulting behavior. Maybe I have just not noticed.

 

[Florida boondocker]

my 2 cents worth .... i have learned a lot here, seen the kindness of good people helping others
gotta give BOB much respect for this site and personally thank the mods for trying to maintain Bob's wishes and giving
part of their valuable time, something they don't have to do but they still do it  

I've learned that for me this is more a read & learn forum .... and a great one at that
but for me it's not a posting forum, mainly too many with limited bandwidth complaining about links, pic, quotes, ect

sure i understand limited bandwidth, i understand it " cheap RV living "  and i'll respect that .... by limiting my post, no links, few if any pic

like i said for me it's more a read only forum, but  do have to say THANKS

 

[Wabbit]

And then there is the "let it go" option. The world is not perfect, and all the ideals in the world won't change that. Favoritism exists, let it go. The world is not fair either, the sooner that's accepted the better(in my opinion). Personal opinions aren't facts so don't view them as such. And then in the end, there are gadflys. People that just like to pick at, criticize, bitch and moan just to bitch and moan. Don't be a gadfly(not aimed at OP).

 

[Njaco]

Headache's post #25 says it all. I have been a moderator on a WWII forum for 10 years and the bottom line is: It's Bob's sandbox. If you don't like it, move on. Yes, move on. This is internet freedom and it doesn't have to be democratic. Apparently 6,000+ people enjoy it here.

To be honest, I have seen forums paint a target on a newbie who complained about the rules so soon after joining. Just saying.........