And page 17, 19, 20, 22, 24-36 inclusive and page 45

😀

We want to encourage people to report things, not the opposite.

and a quote from an e-mail I got after reporting someone repeatedly making false accusations of lying and making things up to me and others which must surely constitute negative use of the forum. As nothing was done I reported until I got a reply which included:

“your reporting of these types of posts really isn’t helpful when we have a very active Forum to moderate. Thanks.”

When you were the go-to computer geek on here you seemed happier, Cougar. You helped us out and joined in on the controversial threads without being accused of favouritism or breaking the rules you are here to uphold. Has becoming a mod added anything to the experience or is it just a bed of nails? Would you like to borrow my “reformed troll” tag and see if it’s easier to live with?

I assume its the same few folk keeping them going. It’s not like any of them are going to change their position either.

Whats worse is there is barely even a hint of a debate and some are clearly just there to wind each other up
Every now and again i try to debate the topic but little happens

People ‘report’ things they read on the internet? Golly, well I never. I mean i’ve Seen the report button but just assumed that was for things like when someone’s identity had been revealed who’s in the witness protection program…

What kind of stuff gets reported?

What kind of stuff gets reported?

The only things I’ve ever reported were one that was something about my Mum (who’s been passed away for 18yrs) & one where someone who said I had drugs up me arse ‘apparently’.
But that’s the sort of stuff that should be.

Edukator you dont have to recieve a ban you know, you can just walk away…

Junkyard – lazarus
Whats worse is there is barely even a hint of a debate and some are clearly just there to wind each other up
Every now and again i try to debate the topic but little happens

Lol at Junkyard’s post acting like he isn’t one of them that will be banned. 😆

Cougar in a previous life. 😛

@Cougar – you could just close the problem thread and state “this thread has been closed due to AAA and BBB not following the forum rules”.
If you can’t work out who the naughtiest person is then don’t worry ‘cos it’s 3 strikes and you get a 6 month ban.

Lol at Junkyard’s post acting like he isn’t one of them that will be banned.

Some do read things in to posts that are not there. I am well aware I will be on the list though I dont think i am the worst on there*, though i do respond.
Personally I am surprised they have left the thread for that long I assume it was just because it kept it all in one place

*Unlike you I am not that polite when having my digs therefore I tend to get noticed more than you. However I do tend to notice when i have piqued someones interest but that is always my fault too so forgive me 😉

Clearly I am not the best/politest on here but folk often mistake my sarcasm/playful digs for me actually GAS or being angry

Cougar – Moderator
<mod>
The long running threads, primarily the Trump, Referendum and religion threads but also others, are generating a *lot* of reported posts. Time and again it’s the same names cropping up either doing the reporting or being reported.

Oooh, you tease.
At least tell us who it is.
🙂

Yeah, I’m a huge bellend – I’ve ammassed quite a ban tally. I’ll try to be more polite.

Whats that sound I hear? thin ice cracking under my feet.?

Cougar – you have always been my favourite mod. Would you like an apple?

Seriously I do understand this is not a democracy and what STW says go but the idea of banning folk not in breach of the rules seems a tad harsh to me. My view would be short bans for the worst offenders and a very low threshold for bannings. On the whole moderation here is good but I think sometimes not strict enough.

squirrelking – I’ve sent yo a pm

People take forum chatter seriously???

yawnnnnnnn have I missed something?

For whatever it’s worth, sticking this chat over here in a thread called “so here’s the deal” is probably not that helpful. I mean, I read everything but not everyone is such a div

The long running threads, primarily the Trump, Referendum and religion threads but also others, are generating a *lot* of reported posts. Time and again it’s the same names cropping up either doing the reporting or being reported.

If they’re causing you that much grief, just close them.

what STW says go but the idea of banning folk not in breach of the rules seems a tad harsh to me.

That wasn’t an official STW response. It was me being tetchy after a couple of beers.

The point was that threads like the EU thread are impossible to moderate fairly without reading 1200 pages of preamble (and I’ve only read about 1100 pages of it). Someone reports a post, I go look at it and it’s one in the middle of a squabble between multiple people. Say we moderate that one post in isolation and issue a warning, nine times out of ten we get a response back “how come I’m being told off when they started it?”

Really the thrust of my post was “please play nicely.”

When you were the go-to computer geek on here you seemed happier, Cougar. You helped us out and joined in on the controversial threads without being accused of favouritism or breaking the rules you are here to uphold. Has becoming a mod added anything to the experience or is it just a bed of nails?

You have a good memory, I was only a ‘regular’ user for about six months.

Probably the latter. I agreed to do it as I wanted to give something back to the forum community, and because I thought I could bring something useful to the table in terms of transparency and communication. Maybe you’re right and I just need to step down for a bit. A small minority of people are making this Not Fun at times.

Personally I’d like the 6 or so people who make the EU thread a waste of server space to get banned, even if only from that thread (although having seen how they behave on other threads it may be better for everyone if they got lifetime bans).

It would be nice if the rest of us could have a sensible discussion for once without being patronised, condescended to, accused of lying, ranted at, etc.

I did wonder if a like/dislike/bellend/hero option on posts would help indicate to them that they were being bellends, but to be honest they seem so arrogant, devoid of empathy and lacking in self awareness I doubt it would change things.

Unless…… How about the number of bellend votes leads to auto bans?

Can we have a hunger games style event for those involved instead?

Cougar – I really would prefer it if you didn’t step down. Perhaps step back a bit but not quite entirely.

Its a shame its making the forum a pain for you. Ban those that are. Its pretty obvious to all who the problem characters are and like Junkyard I’d guess I am on the list although I have not been reporting posts often.

some folk seem to use “report post” as a weapon I only do it when on the receiving end of nasty personal attacks

You are all a bunch of Fanny’s why don’t you get a real life.

Trufax

Also, reported.

I think any thread that hits page 5 should automatically close. It seems most of them just become a bellend’athon. Mods could then focus on keeping nice ones for photos etc open. The fact that someone has to play tell tale teacher to a load of whining middle age cock bag’s that strive to offend whilst simultaneously being desperately offended is depressing.

I saw a copy of The Maily Dail on Friday in a hospital waiting area but I didn’t even DARE pick it up. Just in case.

Strange old forum is this.

How about we all get to ban someone for one day a year, say on your birthday?

How do you know when my birthday is ? 😉

Cougar, how much moderating are you doing compared with the other moderators? Are you doing a lot more than your ‘fair share’?

If so, whether it’s because you are good at it, because you enjoy it/like spending time on the forum, or because the other moderators are either happy to take a back seat while you are so active or don’t feel able to take up more of the workload (i.e. they don’t want to tread on your toes or appear to push you out), then maybe you do need to step back and encourage the others to be more active (in the same way a manager has to learn to stop doing too much and delegate more). Maybe pass the responsibility for some specific threads, like the Referendum, to other moderators.

TJ’s suggestion of a lower threshold for (shorter) bans also sounds like a good idea, i.e. akin to zero tolerance policies which aim to tackle anti-social activity at an early stage/low level, with increasing penalties for non-compliance (first ban of one week, second ban within 3 or 6 months of two weeks, third ban of four weeks etc.). You need forum users to self-censor, and it may only be the imminent prospect of a ban which makes users think a bit more carefully about their posts.

Cougar, please don’t go.

I think keeping the long threads open is a good thing as it concentrates the ire but I can imagine the moderation isn’t fun and I only dip in and out of them.

Thats my point slowster. there is also a bit of an issue with it being “reactive moderation” ie waiting for reports ‘cos some folk report a lot motre than others. For example I got real pelters on the Farron thread but didn’t bother reporting it even when it descended to personal abuse because 1) I actually have a fairly thick skin, 2) I have tried to be less of a pain to the mods since my return and 3) ‘cos I felt any fair minded person seeing it would see the truth and see the bad behaviour from some for what it is.

However active moderation on a forum as big as this would be almost impossible. Perhaps those threads that create the work it might be worth a mod having a look thru every day and just hand out bans to those they thought out of order without waiting for reports?

Personally if I was Cougar I’d stop pandering to the subject of the thread.

As soon as multiple reports fly in, just close it. People will soon come to realise the equal and opposite reaction to thier argumentative nature and will self moderate to keep a thread open.

Cougar, please don’t go.

I’ve no real intention of doing so. It’s just frustrating sometimes. Moderating both effectively and fairly is a tricksy balancing act.

However active moderation on a forum as big as this would be almost impossible. Perhaps those threads that create the work it might be worth a mod having a look thru every day and just hand out bans to those they thought out of order without waiting for reports?

We already do that, we just can’t read everything. Reported posts are maybe half of what actually gets addressed.

Other forums have a sub forum for people banned from the main forum awaiting pardon/trying to change their ways. They can view the main forum but not post. But these forums have fancy buttons and features and don’t have adverts or pop ups and they allow adult language in the main forum and and and and….

The bastards broke Cougar 🙁

Pondering this some more more robust moderation might help on these mega argument threads. The EU one for example has become ever more extreme as one side posts more and more ridiculous stuff and the other side resort to ridicule as the postings simply fly in the face of the facts so both sides end up more entrenched and combative.

A firm slap of moderation – “you stop posting tripe” and ” you stop ripping the micheal” a while back might have stopped in descending ito such a farce.

@Jamie no they didn’t. He’s just busy crying in his beer as just like most of us at some point, he’s realised trying to manage other people to a happy outcome is a self defeating process, within which no one gives a shit about you or your efforts and will forget you as soon as your gone.

Focus on the things that make you happy. If your getting stressed by the role here, move on.

I think TJ should be a moderator.

There, I said it. 😀

Put down the ban hammer, pick up the banter hammer. Smash some skulls.