The owners may not do the modding but I'm certain the mods are just as aware of which users are 'friends of the mag' as the rest of us, probably more so.
This is absolute nonsense, for the reason Drac explained on the previous page. The moderation team are volunteers who are trusted to act autonomously, they couldn't give a shit who may or may not be "friends of the mag" and would have no visibility of that even if they did.
there is no doubt in my mind binners and dazh are given a lot more leeway here to be argumentative and insulting than the rest of us.
How could you possibly know which users get warnings or bans without being a moderator?
I just reckon that the rest of us should be allowed to give as good as we are getting without having our posts deleted.
The site T&Cs are well documented. Stay within those rules and your posts won't be deleted. Break them and they may well be (though it would be relatively unusual).
Anyway, since I've started prefacing every criticism of dazh and binners with 'I know you're mates of the owners but...' I've not been getting warnings and deletions.
Why would you?
If you're a 112 year old bloke and still able to rub your thighs to pictures of Kylie I say good on you.
I said "some of whom," not "Kylie," those threads weren't just of her. Kylie's older than I am, I think.
Anyway, since I've started prefacing every criticism of dazh and binners with 'I know you're mates of the owners but...' I've not been getting warnings and deletions.
Makes you think….
You're the one I got banned for arguing with.
This site taking longer than any other I’ve ever used to refresh or basically function as a forum, then popping up with stuff on every page you visit which makes it borderline unusable doesn’t help.
Odd; I’m not noticing any of those sort of issues, it seems for the most part to be running smoother now than it has for some time. And considering I’m using a six year old iPad Pro, that’s actually surprising me!
head over to eMTB forum there’s thousands
On a forum for eMTB’s? Honestly, are they really the sort of people you’d like to engage with on the wide range of topics that we’ve discussed on here over many years?
You're the one I got banned for arguing with.
It is vanishingly unlikely that you'd get banned for "arguing" in isolation. Multiple warnings; persisting in arguing after being asked to desist; slinging personal abuse about; yes absolutely to all of those. You can play the favouritism / hard done to card all you like, but I don't believe you. In spats of the sort you're alluding to we'd either let it run its course, close the thread, or ban both parties regardless of any perceived guilt. Life's too short for a volunteer moderator to read back 15 pages in order to unpick "well, he started it."
I was a moderator for a decade remember. A ban is a last resort when we were left with no other option, we didn't do it for the LOLs. Pretty much 100% of the time when someone subsequently hit the forum going "I was banned for xxx and it's so unfair" they were being economic with the truth.
Any assumed bias you have is just that, assumed. It's not in the moderators' best interests to take sides, partly because it would spark accusations just like this and partly because they have no reason to care sufficiently. What do you suppose the moderation team have to gain from banning you and not - to use your example - Binners?
As I said, "the mag" allowed us full autonomy and trusted our judgement - they deferred to us even. Mark overrode us occasionally but in ten years I can probably count the time that happened on the fingers of one hand with change and it was likely because there were legal issues we weren't aware of.
I just skimmed back through my emails. It's probably not a comprehensive account due to time, but you got a week off for telling someone to go **** themselves. Which you acknowledged and quite graciously apologised to us for via email. That was in 2019.
"Taxi25" got a lifetime ban for offering you out for a fight a couple of months later.
If there's been further incidents since I stood down, I obviously don't have any visibility of that I'm afraid.
Editing window expired. Swap out "you" with "we." I said I was bad at tracking usernames, I crossed two posters. I was replying mostly to Pondo, I don't have any email trail of BruceWee at all so that incident must be after my time.
Editing window expired. Swap out "you" with "we." I said I was bad at tracking usernames, I crossed two posters. I was replying mostly to Pondo, I don't have any email trail of BruceWee at all so that incident must be after my time.
Yes, despite me apparently doing nothing but going around here arguing with folk I've had no bans (that I remember) and very few warnings. When I did get warnings it was for telling someone to **** off after they posted something genuinely offensive.
Since I was pointed in the direction of the report button I don't think I've told anyone to **** off as the mods have generally dealt with anything better than I could since all I was doing was probably just giving the ****s what they want.
That's why getting warnings and posts deleted with dazh and binners sticks in my mind. It's the only time I've gotten posts deleted for arguing without being aggressive. That and the fact it wasn't a case of all our posts getting deleted, it was just mine.
Now, like I've said several times already, this could all just be a big coincidence. But coincidence or not it is what I've experienced. This is a big forum and I'm sure modding coincidences must happen from time to time.
Anyway, I'm quite happy to never speak of it again if everyone else is.
It's also entirely possible binners is just highly skilled at walking the tightrope of being just annoying enough to not get warned.
Or perhaps he just uses a scatter gun approach that can't really be modded too easily. Like I said, I like to address people directly whereas binners likes to enter a thread, scan the room, and then announce to the World things like this (his post that started all this fun):
When it comes to anything involving current affairs or anything remotely political, it’s the small matter of the same 5 or 6 sprit-crushingly tedious dullards who regard anyone who isn’t Jeremy Corbyn to be a fascist and who all gang up to shout down anyone who dares to disagree with their unbelievably blinkered and narrow-minded worldview
It’s not even worth posting on any of those threads any more, due to the utterly Joyless, humourless, sanctimonious, self-righteous, holier-than-though, virtue-signalling ****s all competing in their Taliban-esque way, for some inexplicable reason, to signal how idealogically pure they are .
It’s not even worth taking the piss out of them any more as it flies about ten miles over their head and they’re just permanently angry and unpleasant
*awaits flaming from said 5 or 6 mind numbingly boring ‘warriors for justice’*
I like to think of this place as a pub. If someone walked into any pub and announced, "There are 5 or 6 people in this room who are utterly Joyless, humourless, sanctimonious, self-righteous, holier-than-though, virtue-signalling ****s all competing in their Taliban-esque way, for some inexplicable reason, to signal how idealogically pure they are" then I'm not sure why anyone would expect there to be no response from anyone in the room.
Perhaps the generalised non-direct insults are the way to go on here. It's not really me though so I'm just going to carry on addressing people directly when I'm not happy with what they are saying.
binners is a funny character. Unfortunately somewhere along the way he kind of forgot he was playing a character and the character became his personality, kind of like a less charming version of Jeremy Clarkson.
I liked the local lad done good after a humble beginning down the northern graphic design pits. It's a shame.
It's easy to get into an ad hominem slanging match if you feel attacked but it tends to just give the comment oxygen and removes your own dignity in the process.
If someone walked into any pub and announced…
Most people wouldn’t though, would they… they’d just stop bothering to go to that pub…
It’s not even worth posting on any of those threads any more, due to the utterly Joyless, humourless, sanctimonious, self-righteous, holier-than-though, virtue-signalling ****s all competing in their Taliban-esque way, for some inexplicable reason, to signal how idealogically pure they are .
Well something I have learnt from this thread...... I did wonder why someone with clearly such a keen and deep interest in UK politics should suddenly and abruptly stop posting on the UK government thread.
I thought it might have something to do with Starmer being such a disappointment as prime minister that binners was no longer interested in discussing politics "on any of those threads" but no, it turns out that binners has apparently been bullied off those threads by lefties. I had no idea that binners was such a sensitive shrinking violet, bless.
And this is a little beauty :
and they’re just permanently angry and unpleasant
Spoken with a complete lack of self-awareness! 🤣
You know what's ridiculous is that something is challenged and it literally is throw-the-teddies-out because it doesn't fit posters' expectations or understandings.
Even more hilarious the idea that "the six" (it's a STW western) are controlling the STW political debate when there are dozens of other threads full of the same noise (Farage, Trump, Tories on and on) and it be okay to spout hours and hours of the same stuff.
I've been told to bore-off, give it a rest, shut up etc and not once have I cleared off crying and felt the need to set up a thread complaining about those people that they're killing the forum.
Instead of taking your Starmer frustrations out on people who challenge your rigidly held ideas (sometimes without zero evidence other than what the Guardian has said.) maybe go to the source of your disappointment - the government itself. The fact that you may have given up on the Starmer thread proves you maybe cannot find the words to defend him and that's fine too. Kudos to certain posters who are still doing that - I enjoy their company.
And let's not talk about ideological purity. It's bloody embarrassing that you've not noticed.
Get on your bike and it all melts away - care a bit less about what others say.
and they’re just permanently angry and unpleasant
I mean. Seriously.
Back on topic - things change, maybe MTB is not as popular these days in the form it was. Most of my mates have given in to the 50's fade.
To stretch the pub metaphor to breaking point, what this place needs is a group of tipsy and over emotional partners to scream "Leave him, 'e ain't worf it!" at the appropriate moment and maybe it would calm down.
Or there could just be a settling of scores in the carpark that is another thread after closing time.
I like to think of this place as a pub. If someone walked into any pub and announced, "There are 5 or 6 people in this room who are utterly Joyless, humourless, sanctimonious, self-righteous, holier-than-though, virtue-signalling ****s all competing in their Taliban-esque way, for some inexplicable reason, to signal how idealogically pure they are" then I'm not sure why anyone would expect there to be no response from anyone in the room.
I think I'd probably cock an eye sideways out of my cosy snug, wonder what sort of bad day they'd had, then go back to my pint and chatting to my mates or anyone else vaguely convivial. I guess if they came and sat down at the table with me, I might respond, but probably only by ignoring them.
The main difference between this place and a pub is that it's far easier online to be drawn into some sort of pointless spat, not least because you're not risking being smacked in the gob.
TLDR: why bother responding at all? Spotting grumpy nutters and avoiding them is a useful life skill 🙂
Been here since 2011 but was present before the great hack
I'm obviously older and do think this is a less pleasant place. My experience around Christmas backed that up. Had a tough but ultimately less bad experience and really just needed to speak but one of the usual know it all voices came rumbling in to say I'd done wrong then to say that their post had been misquoted.
I left for 4months and won't be renewing my membership, when it runs out that'll be it.
This forum has been supportive of many, some of the cancer threads have been truly inspiring and heartbreaking.
Very funny, like laugh out loud funny.
Helpful, I've solved problems I didn't even know I had, seals around double glazing.
But it's more of a trudge than delight and really who has time to reread the same argument on seemingly a dozen different threads.
I just skimmed back through my emails. It's probably not a comprehensive account due to time, but you got a week off for telling someone to go **** themselves. Which you acknowledged and quite graciously apologised to us for via email. That was in 2019.
Oh, I remember, don't worry about that - he was being gratuitously offensive and I got the ban, no warning, just straight out the door for a week. No complaints from my side, but it did spring to mind after reading this thread - I just don't engage any more.
I've hardly been on since the last update. I just found it really clunky and difficult to use so I stopped visiting.
I did wonder why someone with clearly such a keen and deep interest in UK politics should suddenly and abruptly stop posting on the UK government thread.
and
The political threads used to be both more interesting and useful imo because at one time there was a genuine diversity of political opinions, and as scotroutes points out there was much more "banter"
..surely you must recognise yourself as one of the "six" identified by posters on this thread as one of the reasons why they don't contribute to some threads; being that your singular activity on this site is the 3-4 current political threads? And yet at the same time you seem to be unable to identify the common denominator, and accuse others of a lack of awareness.
kettle black pot something something.
This is the only place on the Internet that I regularly visit and has been a great source of information for me for many years and I'm sure that will carry on.
My interest in social media in general has passed, thankfully, it's boring.
As has been said previously, I often begin to type but then think, am I really adding anything of value, and delete and move on. And no way would I ever comment on a political thread but I do enjoy reading them.
I'm sat here in my camper posting this, where I've been reading the actual magazine while drinking my coffee, still lots to love about Singletrack 😎
I was just wondering if instead of complaining about the demise of the forum we could look at the postitives and build on those to try and make it a better place to be.
The things that stand out for me are the willingness of people on the forum to help others, this is a massive positive. This place helped me when I had a toxic work situation and problems with depression and stress, It didn't post about it but a bit of bike therapy and some fun on the forum distracted me for a bit and help me get through my problems.
The articles/ posts I have enjoyed are people travel tales examples that stand out are Amanda's trip to Spain and TJ's recovery ride.
May be the mysterious Singletrack overlords could look at broadening the sites offerings to be a little less "hard core bike park" and "summits of mountains"
They have done this from time to time with bike packing and inclusive cycling articles.
Can we try to move on and be positive.
This place just needs more silliness and piss-taking in general, it's a forum, it's supposed to be a bit undignified and anarchic. There is nostalgia for 10+ year-old 'classic' threads but not a lot of sign of the right conditions for next one showing up or enough energy to sustain one if it does.
Meh, you can’t manufacture such things, dare I say it this place is falling prey to the same issues as the rest of the internet.
The online safety act has already caused other smaller sites to get out of the game, compliance measures will have a chilling effect on this place.
And for all of STWs storied history, it’s never been the most controversial corner of the internet. I only ended up here as I’m not Canadian enough for pinkbike and very sadly the (MTB focussed) chocolate foot forum (don’t google it) died in the late 00’s. STW was always the tame place for IT managers to discuss XTR and their mortgage rate for us real Edge Lords 😉
I probably post less now and that is mainly due to how slow the forum was and how clunky and problematic it is still. Eight seconds to post a reply just now and quoting or posting a picture seems to be a lot harder than it was.
The Starmer thread is easy enough to avoid but the underlying pita to use the forum less so.
6percent but useable forum you takes your choices pinkbike and mtbrvhave both been around as long as this forum it appears and at least has a diverse range of users
head over to eMTB forum there’s thousands
On a forum for eMTB’s? Honestly, are they really the sort of people you’d like to engage with on the wide range of topics that we’ve discussed on here over many years?
How's the weather up on that high horse? There are a more than a few people who are members of both forums, would you like a list so you know who to dismiss on here?
I just found it really clunky and difficult to use
I try to see it as part of the slightly ramshackle hipster charm....
Forums do come and go. Magicseaweed was my fave back in the day (I was johnjohn, hence john times two on here), once mega active and I still surf with folks I met via the forum, but it was dying for a long time - no idea why - before the owner put it out of its misery.
Posted by: BruceWee
↑
I like to think of this place as a pub. If someone walked into any pub and announced, "There are 5 or 6 people in this room who are utterly Joyless, humourless, sanctimonious, self-righteous, holier-than-though, virtue-signalling ****s all competing in their Taliban-esque way, for some inexplicable reason, to signal how idealogically pure they are" then I'm not sure why anyone would expect there to be no response from anyone in the room.
My response would be to buy them a pint 🙂
Forums need big characters to bounce off each other whether nicely or less nicely. I'm not one, obv, and am well behaved partly as I have real life friends who lurk on here sometimes and I'd rather they didn't think I was more of a **** than is actually the case. But I do like to see a bit of drama as long as it's not too real life. I avoid the real life problems threads and am quite happy to post something vaguely pro-govt and stay for a short discussion/get called a "centrist", neo-liberal or worst of all "moderate" for my pains. Going around being moderate (I'm not fwiw)... But that's okay isn't it?
I guess my point is that it takes a bit of grit (I'm thinking surfmat/matteeboy on msw), characters I don't have to like but who add to the entertainment/merriment?
Anyway that's all just chat, the bikes threads are pretty handy.
This is the only place on the Internet that I regularly visit and has been a great source of information for me for many years and I'm sure that will carry on.
My interest in social media in general has passed, thankfully, it's boring.
As has been said previously, I often begin to type but then think, am I really adding anything of value, and delete and move on. And no way would I ever comment on a political thread but I do enjoy reading them.
I'm sat here in my camper posting this, where I've been reading the actual magazine while drinking my coffee, still lots to love about Singletrack 😎
You've just described me too (minus the camper).
I'm typing this and already thinking about deleting it rather than clicking 'add reply' as I don't know if my reply's adding much value, but I won't - I'll post it anyway.
I'm not a prolific poster anywhere online but STW is the ONLY place I still feel comfortable posting on. There's no user on here I'd not be comfortable meeting in person for a coffee or beer, or even a bike ride. There's nowhere else online I can say that about.
Take it elsewhere Ernie you’ve just demonstrated why some people don’t interact on the forum.
The platform is hopeless, I've got older and have a busier life, and certain loud mouthed bullies get a free pass. None of this is a complaint, just an explanation of why I CBA with it most of the time.
Awww, I missed it.Take it elsewhere Ernie you’ve just demonstrated why some people don’t interact on the forum.
The platform is hopeless, I've got older and have a busier life, and certain loud mouthed bullies get a free pass. None of this is a complaint, just an explanation of why I CBA with it most of the time.
But well done for sticking to the new forum guidelines:
Ensure you make oblique references to individual characters for best effect.
😉
I just lurk most of the time, the STW slogan thing "came for the bikes, stayed for the bollocks" sums me up nicely. 😀
This thread is fairly depressing and strangely fascinating in equal measure. Dunno about you lot but I ran out of popcorn on page 2.
(Do I have anything helpful to add? No I do not.)
Take it elsewhere Ernie you’ve just demonstrated why some people don’t interact on the forum.
And you think that describing people with different personal opinions to yours as "utterly Joyless, humourless, sanctimonious, self-righteous, holier-than-though, virtue-signalling ****s all competing in their Taliban-esque way" encourages people to interact on the forum?
Well if that is the attitude of a moderator I guess it helps to explain why the once political diversity on STW, which reflected wider society, no longer exists.
And that particular rant was directed at Lefties, can you imagine the hyperbole in a rant directed at any Tories on STW....... should they exist?
I don't post as often as I did solely because the forum is technically and cosmetically the worst web page/forum I have ever used and I can't be bothered with it.
And you think that describing people with different personal opinions to yours as "utterly Joyless, humourless, sanctimonious, self-righteous, holier-than-though, virtue-signalling ****s all competing in their Taliban-esque way" encourages people to interact on the forum?
It seems to have 🤔
This thread is fairly depressing and strangely fascinating in equal measure. Dunno about you lot but I ran out of popcorn on page 2.
In my head it's become "the long standing spite and grudges thread". No different to the real world where events over the last 20 years influence who is most likely to ride alongside whom on my MTB club rides. The difference here is that it's not 7 or 8 separate private conversations going on, everyone is listening in on everyone else's conversation and throws in a grudge based spiteful remark when the occasion presents. We've got to know each other a bit too well and some family feuds rage on.
"utterly Joyless, humourless, sanctimonious, self-righteous, holier-than-though, virtue-signalling ****s all competing in their Taliban-esque way"
This is why there's no political diversity on here, not because someone has pointed out they exist.
Nowt much to add except I've never understood why do folk get so upset over words on a screen?, I've never reported anything mentioned/said/implied on any forum as its far easier to have a wee giggle/laugh/shake of the head as to the mentality of some folk hiding behind a keyboard.
I'm quite happy being called all the ****s under the sun and my response would be "crack on, your obviously winning at life" or summit similar, having lived in a fishing town most of my life and worked in a local pub from the age of 20 probably helped me develop a very thick skin as to pretty much daily verbal abuse and fights etc.
I'm not sure if I'm comfortable sharing a space where so many seem convinced there is a secret cabal of 'utterly Joyless, humourless, sanctimonious, self-righteous, holier-than-though, virtue-signalling *s all competing in their Taliban-esque way' controlling the direction of discourse on here.
Are these 'utterly Joyless, humourless, sanctimonious, self-righteous, holier-than-though, virtue-signalling *s all competing in their Taliban-esque way' people in the room with you now?
Edit: I have no idea why there is red in my post.
This forum seems unhappy with copy/paste.
And that particular rant was directed at Lefties,
The politics or having alternate views is not the issue, it's the way some people debate that is the issue. I wouldn't say it in quite the way it was said above, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that the MO and constant hectoring in the end made me walk away from the politics threads, so I'm disappointed that unable to get the argument they want there it now spills over into any viable thread.
Nowt much to add except I've never understood why do folk get so upset over words on a screen?, I've never reported anything mentioned/said/implied on any forum as its far easier to have a wee giggle/laugh/shake of the head as to the mentality of some folk hiding behind a keyboard.
A comment often made. And yet some people do take those words seriously. In the end sufficient to make them walk away.
Some say that the politics threads are poorer place because of the lack of engagement, yet when it's explained why the response is to put the problem on the recipient. Get over it, it's not real life. It's just words on a screen. Have a giggle and shake your head. Stop playing the victim.... not a hint of moderating the way they behave.
That's my opinion, and why I'm out.
Edit: I have no idea why there is red in my post.
Bracketing text with three asterisks either side.
Get over it, it's not real life. It's just words on a screen.
Yeah, this is a bugbear of mine. Of course it's real life. It might just be "words on a screen" but it's actual real live people at the other end of those words, not a chatbot (for now anyway😁).
To recycle the 'pub' analogy, we wouldn't say "get over it, it's not real life, it's just a bloke in the pub," that would be nonsensical.
Nowt much to add except I've never understood why do folk get so upset over words on a screen?, I've never reported anything mentioned/said/implied on any forum as its far easier to have a wee giggle/laugh/shake of the head as to the mentality of some folk hiding behind a keyboard.
It's the classic thing where some people regard the internet as being an extension of 'real life' and behave accordingly while others have the idea that somehow because it's on a screen and they are to some degree anonymous, they can say whatever they like with impunity because, hey, it's 'just the internet'. Obviously it's more nuanced than that and there are other things at play too, like the seeming inability of irony to survive contact with digital communication.
Personally I try not to say anything on here that I wouldn't say in real life, but also to be mindful that some people think of it as some sort of game. Also that in most arguments, there are competing solutions, each of which have some element of validity, even if on balance I am always right 🙂
Words on screens led to folk trying to attack a hotel filled with people.
