I'm not voting. I find the whole thing rather distasteful. If you're going to ban someone just ban them. If I ever need a lynch mob now I know where to find it.
I could understand if AI and his gang contributed to the site or forum and were decent blokes but theyre not doing themselves any favours by constantly talking about strange crap all the time plus theyre 14 which is even more strange.
I do agree if youre gonna ban them then ban them but as for the lynch mob theyre not doing themselves any favours at all.
The person's age is not the problem. I love reading books and articles from the 1900's and yet I wasn't alive around then. (life without modern technology intrigues me)
It's the attitude that really bothers me and I think damages the appeal of the forums.
Perhaps future moderation should be of the "silent but deadly" variety just between the moderators and the person being dealt with. Andrew has a point about the lynch mob. We ought to keep things friendly around here otherwise it turns into CSS's attitude to newbies.
There's currently a discussion about moderation and suchlike on CSS with regard to WOS forums. A lot of people think that it's not a good thing. And as Andrew has pointed out, we're turning into some sort of speccy lynch mob.
However, we've only just managed to get a decent(?) set of forum software and so the options that weren't available previously... all of a sudden, are.
Give it a few months for the "ooh, shiny" to wear off and I expect that the ban requests and polls and stuff will settle down. Can you imagine what would happen if certain individuals were given these abilities on usenet?
You'll always get a few people saying "moderation == censorship", but for a forum such as WOS I have no problems putting my faith into the moderators simply because we know they're good blokes. If the WOS forums were of Earth-shattering importance then I can understand the complaints, but this place is all about fun.
It would be very easy for me to moderate the forums to suit myself. As I've said before, if I had the choice, I would remove foul language from the forums, especially where it is swearing just for the sake of it. That's not because I object, but I have a 9yr old that visits these forums, and it's not the sort of language I would tollerate people using in the same room as him.
There are also many threads that I would quite happily delete as their content is sometimes offensive or just completely pointless.
So, to what level do I moderate? I like to think that I am relaxed enough for people to generally do & say much more than would be tollerated on other boards. On the other hand, there has to be limits. The poll wasn't just put up to be a bit of fun (that was partly the reason). The other part was to make a serious point about how far certain posters can go, and to what level moderation should be. Had I banned him outright, there would have been outrage from the moderation == cencorship people. On the other hand, baiting moderators, sending abusive pm's, generally winding people up, etc., should lead to a ban. As the poll has shown, opinions have gone from 'leave him alone' to 'ban him forever' there hasn't been much middle ground. Personally, I was hoping for more votes in the '1 day' category, but maybe we are mostly grumpy old men.
So, giving people a voice is a bad idea & moderating as I see fit is a bad idea.
Welcome to the world of moderating. I can't use the ignore button as that would be a bit of a daft thing for a moderator to do. I also can't ignore other users that are getting harrased.
I think the way these forums are moderated is absolutely spot on, it allows regular and heated discussions/arguments between people. More often than not forums and chats will cut you down before a conclusion is reached. Usually if something gets out of hand on here it is allowed to ride until an amicable conclusion or compromise is reached. From my experience also everyone in here who is ever involved in heated debate or arguing is a genuine lover of the Spectrum hence they are allowed a chance. Which in my opinion is spot on, as with the chance to ride on most debate on here heated or not ends with no hard feelings between most people. Now if somebody waded in here hurling a four letter fandango for no apparent reason then yes consider banning them for the simple fact that they came here for no other reason than to cause trouble.
Regarding swearing I do swear, but normally it's appropriate in my style of writing (I wouldn't just swear randomly as this is stupid), or how I feel I must get a certain opinion/point across. However like my late grandmother once told me (after washing my mouth out with carbolic soap when I was very young), "In life If you're going to swear, swear because you mean it. Not because you're too lazy to say something properly". In a crazy kind of old person way I think she was absolutely right (could have done without the potential cancer causing soap in my mouth though).
Anyway AY may be annoying and random but I voted to let him stay, after all he spouts a lot of bollocks. But he hasn't actually been really mean to anybody or swore so much in one post that it would make kaligula blush. So I say warn him keep it Speccy in every forum apart from Chit-Chat. A permanent ban is maybe a little extreme. Unless he continues to theorise how the universe works according to him on a site that has nothing to do with the wacky scientific theories of a 15 year old boy.
I would remove foul language from the forums, especially where it is swearing just for the sake of it. That's not because I object, but I have a 9yr old that visits these forums, and it's not the sort of language I would tollerate people using in the same room as him.
That would be spot on *if* the forums were meant for 9year olds. As it is the forum is meant for a generally older crowd and some sort of foul language is to be expected. You always moderate for the good of the majority, not the minority (or so I think). ;)
So, to what level do I moderate? I like to think that I am relaxed enough for people to generally do & say much more than would be tollerated on other boards.
I think you've done a great job so far. I think I speak for everyone (ok, maybe not!) when I say that moderators on WoSF are far more flexible and tolerant than others and have used their powers thoughtfully. For a community makeup of the kind that exists on WoSF, I believe the moderators have got it (mostly) right and are directly responsible for the continued existence of such a community.
Sadly it's now a common practice to post under a number of "nyms".
It's also a banning offence on several web forums, if done for the purposes of sock-puppetry -- e.g. on EmailDiscussions someone recently signed up and asked for a web-hosting recommendation, then signed-up again and gave one (within a suspiciously-short time frame, so even the non-mods, who can't see the IP addresses, could see that there was something decidedly suspect about this pair of posts).
WoS is a fun place (or has been so far), but judiciously-applied moderation might be the only way to keep it that way...
I never make misteaksmistrakesmisyaleserrurs — oh, sod it.
and I know that this is Speccy and is on chit-chit = a bit odd, but...
You know melthebell keeps asking for someone to write that 'twonks' game,
I've written one. Hopefully once I get it e-mailed to mel, the bell will stop asking for it once and for all (though it's really more a cgc game than a decent piece of software - in fact it is my prepared c.g.c. game #30)
So I am into the Speccy, I'm not just some loony.
Thank you for not banning me. Great moderation, let's hope it always stays that way!
More the merrier here at the forum, i think its great when a younger person gets into the Speccy who never knew about it as it obviously wasnt around when they were a kid.
But all this 'neurodivergent', that syndrome thing or whatever is a bunch of boring rubbish. I'm sure many of us have some conditions but we're not gonna waffle about it at a Speccy site.
Enjoy the Speccy, discover lots of classic games for it and you'll find many people here are friendly as anything, i've met lots at a few retro meets in the past and theyre a great bunch
Comments
there is a "ignore user" button and it's there for purpose, although i don't use it ;)
if you can
Who said that?
um...next?
I could understand if AI and his gang contributed to the site or forum and were decent blokes but theyre not doing themselves any favours by constantly talking about strange crap all the time plus theyre 14 which is even more strange.
I do agree if youre gonna ban them then ban them but as for the lynch mob theyre not doing themselves any favours at all.
It's the attitude that really bothers me and I think damages the appeal of the forums.
Perhaps future moderation should be of the "silent but deadly" variety just between the moderators and the person being dealt with. Andrew has a point about the lynch mob. We ought to keep things friendly around here otherwise it turns into CSS's attitude to newbies.
However, we've only just managed to get a decent(?) set of forum software and so the options that weren't available previously... all of a sudden, are.
Give it a few months for the "ooh, shiny" to wear off and I expect that the ban requests and polls and stuff will settle down. Can you imagine what would happen if certain individuals were given these abilities on usenet?
*shudder*
D.
Sure we've all embeleshed our child hood adventures, but its a bit backhanded to post as multiple people (unless its for fun and giggles)
Quite childish, if you ask me.
There are also many threads that I would quite happily delete as their content is sometimes offensive or just completely pointless.
So, to what level do I moderate? I like to think that I am relaxed enough for people to generally do & say much more than would be tollerated on other boards. On the other hand, there has to be limits. The poll wasn't just put up to be a bit of fun (that was partly the reason). The other part was to make a serious point about how far certain posters can go, and to what level moderation should be. Had I banned him outright, there would have been outrage from the moderation == cencorship people. On the other hand, baiting moderators, sending abusive pm's, generally winding people up, etc., should lead to a ban. As the poll has shown, opinions have gone from 'leave him alone' to 'ban him forever' there hasn't been much middle ground. Personally, I was hoping for more votes in the '1 day' category, but maybe we are mostly grumpy old men.
So, giving people a voice is a bad idea & moderating as I see fit is a bad idea.
Welcome to the world of moderating. I can't use the ignore button as that would be a bit of a daft thing for a moderator to do. I also can't ignore other users that are getting harrased.
Regarding swearing I do swear, but normally it's appropriate in my style of writing (I wouldn't just swear randomly as this is stupid), or how I feel I must get a certain opinion/point across. However like my late grandmother once told me (after washing my mouth out with carbolic soap when I was very young), "In life If you're going to swear, swear because you mean it. Not because you're too lazy to say something properly". In a crazy kind of old person way I think she was absolutely right (could have done without the potential cancer causing soap in my mouth though).
Anyway AY may be annoying and random but I voted to let him stay, after all he spouts a lot of bollocks. But he hasn't actually been really mean to anybody or swore so much in one post that it would make kaligula blush. So I say warn him keep it Speccy in every forum apart from Chit-Chat. A permanent ban is maybe a little extreme. Unless he continues to theorise how the universe works according to him on a site that has nothing to do with the wacky scientific theories of a 15 year old boy.
oh shit
That would be spot on *if* the forums were meant for 9year olds. As it is the forum is meant for a generally older crowd and some sort of foul language is to be expected. You always moderate for the good of the majority, not the minority (or so I think). ;)
I think you've done a great job so far. I think I speak for everyone (ok, maybe not!) when I say that moderators on WoSF are far more flexible and tolerant than others and have used their powers thoughtfully. For a community makeup of the kind that exists on WoSF, I believe the moderators have got it (mostly) right and are directly responsible for the continued existence of such a community.
Bytes:Chuntey - Spectrum tech blog.
It's also a banning offence on several web forums, if done for the purposes of sock-puppetry -- e.g. on EmailDiscussions someone recently signed up and asked for a web-hosting recommendation, then signed-up again and gave one (within a suspiciously-short time frame, so even the non-mods, who can't see the IP addresses, could see that there was something decidedly suspect about this pair of posts).
WoS is a fun place (or has been so far), but judiciously-applied moderation might be the only way to keep it that way...
misteaksmistrakesmisyaleserrurs— oh, sod it.You know melthebell keeps asking for someone to write that 'twonks' game,
I've written one. Hopefully once I get it e-mailed to mel, the bell will stop asking for it once and for all (though it's really more a cgc game than a decent piece of software - in fact it is my prepared c.g.c. game #30)
So I am into the Speccy, I'm not just some loony.
Thank you for not banning me. Great moderation, let's hope it always stays that way!
But all this 'neurodivergent', that syndrome thing or whatever is a bunch of boring rubbish. I'm sure many of us have some conditions but we're not gonna waffle about it at a Speccy site.
Enjoy the Speccy, discover lots of classic games for it and you'll find many people here are friendly as anything, i've met lots at a few retro meets in the past and theyre a great bunch