Threads being closed

I Mod for a group of about 9k. There are maybe 4 of us but I seem to do most of it (by choice).

The same awkward Users and subjects pop up regularly usually with the same outcomes. If I see the usual suspects opining on the usual incendiary subjects, I often close the threads before and to prevent them properly kicking off.

I’m not anon and usually explain why. Usually something like ‘everyone seems to have had their say and these threads mostly get out of hand’ or some such.

I don’t want thanks as I do it by choice. At some point I’ll choose not to but for now, I’m happy to devote a bit of time to ensure sanity prevails.

There is quite a number on here who spit toxicity when faced with someone who proposes a different idea or thoughts on a subject to that they support.

Oh, and this 100%… I have recent direct experience of this. Woe betide those that don’t go with the flow…

I used to have moderator privileges on here before “the big hack”  – I think that I mainly just corrected people’s spelling mistakes.

Oh, and this 100%… I have recent direct experience of this. Woe betide those that don’t go with the flow…

I think a specific example of that ‘toxicity’ should be provided here. I don’t recall ‘toxicity’ so much as people simply disagreeing with you.

I think a specific example of that ‘toxicity’ should be provided here. I don’t recall ‘toxicity’ so much as people simply disagreeing with you.

I say just leave it in the other thread, thanks.

Come on folks, we’ve made it page 2 without mods closing it down, let’s not go asking for examples why they should!

I say just leave it in the other thread, thanks.

OK. Point taken.

There were incidents. Many predated me. But I was once stalked across social media by one of the more prolific STW Problem Children of the day.

that happened to me and i’m not and have never been a mod. I just dared to have a different opinion to one of the big hitters of the day back in the early 2000s. Got personal email bizarre threats, it was very upsetting at the time. So I’m sure that if a mod sees how a thread is going they close it down early to avoid that sort of thing.

Not saying the thread in this case was of that type but some threads must get lumped into the same category when the mods can’t be arsed to sit for hours seeing how things pan out.

I missed that thread but just went and read it.

At the point it was closed it was fairly innocuous but given the subject matter I suspect the tone would have changed within 2 pages, max.

I suppose the only slight niggle I have is that a short word from the relevant mod saying something like, “ok, been here a thousand times and there is already a thread covering the pros and cons of Brexit,” probably removes any potential ambiguity regarding the closure.

It might not have been totally about Brexit but well, it was really wasn’t it.

The thread that was closed last night showed some promise for debate, there were a couple of statements that I disagreed with that were probably difficult for the poster to back up or provide evidence of but on the whole in the short time it was up it was mostly polite. I suppose that there was the risk of evening alcohol affecting debate later?

I suppose that there was the risk of evening alcohol affecting debate later?

On the sabbath? And a school night too?

I don’t drink anymore so I can be “holier than thou” every day of the week!

I don’t drink anymore so I can be “holier than thou” every day of the week!

Who would have guessed so many forumites were teetotal!

(Wink emoji)

1. Why are there so many duplicate threads that require one to be closed? It sucks when you choose the wrong one to reply to and everyone goes for the other one. Makes me people feel like I’m they’re being shunned.

2. Can we close the brown vs. red sauce thread? Let’s face it, nobody’s going to change their mind, it’s just going to upset people who would otherwise be friends.

3. This thread serves no purpose and should be closed. Keeping it open just gives false hope that the OP’s questions will be answered long after it’s obvious they won’t. It’s just a distraction from all the other important things happening in the forum.

It’s their Bat & Ball.

If they want to close a thread, up to them 🙂

Perhaps some sort of user rating would be useful. Kudos points that fluctuate. Vote up or down.

It’s just a distraction from all the other important things happening in the forum.

Reported for trolling – wink emoji

Maybe stw are trialling live modding – would at least explain the speed of posting

Keeping it open just gives false hope that the OP’s questions will be answered long after it’s obvious they won’t

I think it effectively has been answered, we’re just chatting now

What I meant was – it sounded like there had been some incident where stalking/threats/abuse had been directed at a STW mod – either by the means of the email address or (more concerning) across other platforms or even in person.

Such things would seem crazy to most of us – this is a cycling forum, after all. But if there are 1000 users and only 0.1% of that user base was a dangerous nutter, that’s still a dangerous nutter.

It happened to me, and there was clearly previous also otherwise I wouldn’t have been advised not to go public.

Such things would seem crazy to most of us – this is a cycling forum, after all. But if there are 1000 users and only 0.1% of that user base was a dangerous nutter, that’s still a dangerous nutter.

Those dangerous nutters walk among us, and they always seem absolutely rational and sane right up until the point they are not.

I used to co-run a medium size gaming community with a friend and we were generally pretty relaxed about everything. We had forums and an array of game servers and the accounts were linked across services. One member who always seemed fine expressed an opinion about direction of the community and when we didn’t agree just went from zero to nuclear. To the point we were left with no choice but to ban them from the platform and refund the sizable donation which they proclaimed had bought them the right to steer the community direction.

They did not take it well. The end result was this person made an anonymous call to the employer my friend and I worked for at the time to make claims we were funding the community with money and equipment appropriated from them. This individual tried to destroy the careers of two people because he did not get his way on the internet. I was fortunate, he didn’t have my full name, but my employer was obliged to carry out a full investigation into my friend (even through they knew it was all crap). An insane amount of time and resource was burned as well as highlighting the fact that being a known and named admin of a forum comes with risks.

this is a cycling forum

Is it?  Most of the threads seem to have very little or even nothing to do with cycling or bikes. Most are about politics one way or another

Most are about politics one way or another

I can only see 3 active political threads in the last 24 hours.

I reckon “most” is hyperbole worthy of a political thread!

Most are about politics one way or another

“Politics” is just a name for the reckoning when different priorities meet. Some people like to pretend it’s not pervasive, but it’s always there. 

Most of the threads seem to have very little or even nothing to do with cycling or bikes.

You know that’s because there are 2 sub forums, one for bikes and one for chat?  Unsurprisingly, the bike one is almost 100% bike talk and the chat one isn’t <shrug emoji>

[chrismac]

chrismac

Full Member

Is it?  Most of the threads seem to have very little or even nothing to do with cycling or bikes. Most are about politics one way or another

If you’re scanning the “Overview” section you may see more non-bike threads, depends what’s active.

But click the “Bike” section…..

Is it?  Most of the threads seem to have very little or even nothing to do with cycling or bikes. Most are about politics one way or another

If you’re scanning the “Overview” section you may see more non-bike threads, depends what’s active.

But click the “Bike” section…..

To be fair, given the fact that riding bikes seems to keep getting dragged into the culture wars, is it really that surprising that people who ride bikes might be a bit politically aware (and bring that awareness to other subjects)?

As the saying goes, ‘Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you.’

Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you

Case in point – https://road.cc/content/news/tories-need-stop-bashing-bike-lanes-adviser-says-311649

If you’re scanning the “Overview” section you may see more non-bike threads, depends what’s active.

But click the “Bike” section…..

I am well aware of that thanks. Taking an instant snapshot of the overview shows that you have to go down 13 threads be for you get to one that’s about bikes or riding. Given this is a cycling website and forum that’s supposedly for mountain bikers that’s a lot of none biking chats about not riding.

Given this is a cycling website and forum that’s supposedly for mountain bikers that’s a lot of none biking chats about not riding.

It’s December. It’s cold. Many trails are flooded or blocked by fallen trees, or consist mainly of hub-deep mud.

I am well aware of that thanks. Taking an instant snapshot of the overview shows that you have to go down 13 threads be for you get to one that’s about bikes or riding. Given this is a cycling website and forum that’s supposedly for mountain bikers that’s a lot of none biking chats about not riding.

If the bike industry would do its job and introduce a new standard every week then I’m sure you’d find the Bike section would be a lot busier.  I guess there is just more new stuff happening in the world in general than new stuff happening in the bike industry.

Which is understandable since the subject of bikes is quite small while the subject of literally everything else in the universe is quite large.

Taking an instant snapshot of the overview shows that you have to go down 13 threads be for you get to one that’s about bikes or riding. Given this is a cycling website and forum that’s supposedly for mountain bikers that’s a lot of none biking chats about not riding.

The forum is user-driven, members create threads on subjects they want to talk about. If you want to only discuss bikes then go to the Bike sub-forum rather than the Overview. If you want to talk about something else then create your own thread. I don’t see why you find this to be a difficult concept. Other websites are available also.

Threads are sorted by last post timestamp, a quick eyeball scan lists about 35 threads before I get to a freshness beyond “minutes.” The first cycling thread on the Overview view is 4 minutes old, the next 6, the next 26. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Back when I had access to stats, the ratio of posts bike:chat was about 50:50. The chat forum generally has fewer but longer threads, but the absolute post count over the years tends towards parity.