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Offline Brian HoskinsTopic starter

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Forum Moderation Techniques
« on: February 03, 2004, 10:05:08 AM »
Amiga.org staff,

I feel that the moderation techniques of this forum site should be reviewed.  To take the recent locking of the PeggyII vs AmigaOne thread as a current example, first of all I can completely understand the reasons WHY moderators would have chosen to do something about the mud slinging that developed in that thread, however I do not agree with their solution to it.

Unfortunately, in this world wherever you go, you'll always find at least one group of idiots who want to ruin things for the rest.  It's nothing to do with the Amiga Community being bad news, you get these kinds of people wherever you go!  Now the thing is, most of us are genuine Amiga fanatics who take absolutely no interest at all in mud slinging or bickering or generally causing trouble - all we want to do is talk about the Amiga.

Locking that thread punishes the normal well behaved forum user such as myself.  I wanted to add my views to that subject, but I had no interest in fuelling the arguments or adding my own mud slinging - all I wanted to do was talk about the next generation machines.

If I were the moderator, I think my attitude would be to single out the trouble makers, and lock THEM from posting on the subject, while allowing the rest of us to get on and have a proper discussion.  I do not agree with punishing everyone for the acts of a few.

Just my thoughts on the subject, anyway.  I feel the forum would be a much better place to hang out if threads weren't being locked all of the time.

Brian
 

Offline bloodline

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Re: Forum Moderation Techniques
« Reply #1 on: February 03, 2004, 11:42:01 AM »
What is wrong about starting a new thread free of all the useless "my willys bigger than you willy" crap?


Offline Amiperson2K3

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Re: Forum Moderation Techniques
« Reply #2 on: February 03, 2004, 11:43:07 AM »
Brian said it perfectly and does this site really need power hungry moderators?

 

Offline Kees

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Re: Forum Moderation Techniques
« Reply #3 on: February 03, 2004, 12:23:15 PM »
@ Amiperson2K3

Are you suggestiong that we have those ?
Kees Witteveen
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Offline Kees

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Re: Forum Moderation Techniques
« Reply #4 on: February 03, 2004, 12:26:54 PM »
@ BrianJHoskins

Thanks for your input, its beeing appreciated.
Kees Witteveen
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Offline Cyberus

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Re: Forum Moderation Techniques
« Reply #5 on: February 03, 2004, 01:40:40 PM »
Rather than blame the moderators, how about blaming the people who caused the thread to be locked? If you criticised them when they did it, and told them that they were spoiling the discussion by saying things that will get the thread locked, perhaps this would approach a level of 'user moderation'.

Now my question for the moderators is this - Can a reason please be given at the end of a thread when it is locked? Or is this not done so people don't have a go at the moderator who locked it?

Cheers
I like Amigas
 

Offline mikeymike

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Re: Forum Moderation Techniques
« Reply #6 on: February 03, 2004, 01:55:42 PM »
I just read that thread.  After the first couple/few pages, there was so little useful/accurate content that it is very unlikely that the original poster would have found it of any use.  I didn't lock it, but I would have done.

Means of moderation are limited by the software that runs the forums.  If we could make it more flexible while not losing out in other respects, we would do so.
 

Offline Amiperson2K3

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Re: Forum Moderation Techniques
« Reply #7 on: February 03, 2004, 01:56:28 PM »
Quote
Are you suggestiong that we have those ?


Yes that is exactly what i am suggesting. locking threads with no reasons, making threats and talking down to people. i just can not be that paranoid.

I am not putting the blame on Moderators like the person above said but it takes two to tango.
 

Offline bloodline

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Re: Forum Moderation Techniques
« Reply #8 on: February 03, 2004, 02:04:26 PM »
Quote

Amiperson2K3 wrote:
Quote
Are you suggestiong that we have those ?


Yes that is exactly what i am suggesting. locking threads with no reasons, making threats and talking down to people. i just can not be that paranoid.

I am not putting the blame on Moderators like the person above said but it takes two to tango.


I think you might be confunsing this site with another one that is similar... The moderation on this site is actually very good.

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Re: Forum Moderation Techniques
« Reply #9 on: February 03, 2004, 02:55:37 PM »
@BrianJHoskins

Please understand that our software leaves very little leeway in the way moderation occurs.  Once registered, we do not have the ability to "keep people from posting".  The only abilities we have in that manner are to ban the specific people from the site altogether OR to edit the actual post with "removed by moderator : reason" (which draws a LOT of criticism every time it occurs).

Banning people is not something taken lightly.  

I have already stated that we will be undergoing an accounts audit to include banning duplicate IP addresses which indicate people abusing the system.  As soon as I made that statement, all the people abusing the system started crawling out of the woodwork complaining and making excuses.

Just understand that trying to moderate this site in any fashion is a no win situation.  People bitch if we let people slide.  People bitch if we moderate things.  People bitch if we close threads.  People bitch if we let the threads go wild.

The problem isn't the moderation.  It's certain people who abuse the system and the other site members.  If you have a better way of dealing with these people, that we can actually do within the confines of our software, we're all ears.

@Amiperson2k3

When *you* run an Amiga site which has to deal with the same problems we do, then you are welcome to bitch and moan.  Until then, you're more than welcome to leave since you're obviously so unhappy.  You have seemingly done nothing since you've gotten here except express your discontent.  Why are you here if you're so obviously unhappy with the choices that we make?
 

Offline Argo

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Re: Forum Moderation Techniques
« Reply #10 on: February 03, 2004, 03:12:58 PM »
@ all:
Quote
OR to edit the actual post with "removed by moderator : reason" (which draws a LOT of criticism every time it occurs).


Sometimes, they just go back in and re-edit their post adding back what they origionally said and then some. There is no way to lock specfic individual  postings. I don't know of any CMS that does.
If you would like such a feature, please go to http://www.xoops.org and make a feature request.
 

Offline Argo

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Re: Forum Moderation Techniques
« Reply #11 on: February 03, 2004, 03:19:38 PM »
Quote
If I were the moderator, I think my attitude would be to single out the trouble makers, and lock THEM from posting on the subject, while allowing the rest of us to get on and have a proper discussion. I do not agree with punishing everyone for the acts of a few.


We had a position open up, you should have applied.

Really, that thread had gone off-topic. The original post asked a question that was answered as best as it could have been. Everything after that was just off-topic one is better than the other one upmanship.
 

Offline Amiperson2K3

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Re: Forum Moderation Techniques
« Reply #12 on: February 03, 2004, 03:20:40 PM »
Wayne,

Why are you telling lies?. this is the first time i have ever said anything negative about this site, i am allowed to have my own opinions which at one time was allowed without attacks (especially worse coming from the site admin) but all has gone pear shaped these days.

I would really like to know why are you so hostile?, there is no need for it at all.
 

Offline lempkee

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Re: Forum Moderation Techniques
« Reply #13 on: February 03, 2004, 03:23:28 PM »
well i didnt know it was locked even! , but i gave up on replying once the others started to TWIST everything said , making it look like pegasos 2 was 3 times cheaper than a1 and beeing far superior etc, i posted prices here in norway (RETAIL) showing its not even half the price and so on, too much FUD in that thread and it would have needed 20 or 30 amigaone users to put out the fire 10 pegasos people posted (or non pegasos people who just "WANT TO MAKE TROUBLE".

i am sort of glad it was stopped/locked but i am not very happy about the ways everything goes atm, amigaone users normally dont even attend such threads in general as they know what will happen, its a shame as it might make people choose the wrong solution due to FUD and bias.


my opinion anyway, and i dont think moderators here are too powerhungry but i do feel that they are biased from time to time, but i understand the problem for them also but i would love to see them stepping out and showing some interest and knowledge about the AMIGA OS instead of aros and mos all the time , we all know that they know it, they are moderators and they should be uptodate on everything, hence when they see trollbait they should eithe 1. EDIT IT , 2. remove it! or 3. (the worst one really) reply to it.

sorry for the harsh words but i am pretty confident that theese are things that needs to be looked into!.

cheers
Whats up with all the hate!
 

Offline Argo

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Re: Forum Moderation Techniques
« Reply #14 on: February 03, 2004, 03:28:29 PM »
Your post is just one post to you. To Wayne and the rest of the staff, it is one of many of the same. After awhile it gets kind of grating, irritating. Not that your doing something wrong, but it's like answering the same question every five minutes. It's a matter of perspective.