ENT Forum Mediation Thread--Please Participate!!!

[Vestboy]

Re: ENT Forum Mediation Thread--Please Participate

See, the thing that gets me is there's lots of rather nasty posts that start out pretty nasty, and get nasty replies, and very little gets done about them. And, I see this from the "bashers" and "gushers". And some heavy-handed moderating, and a consistant level of it is necessary.

moderating is also setting the tone

Precisely. PRECISELY. And the tone they are setting right now it sniping and borderline blasting each other is Just Fine.

I mean, it's one thing to say "Wouldn't it be great if everyone were nice to each other?" but if people are shown there's no consequences for NOT being nice, many won't bother. Make there be consequences.

And it's not being jackbooted nazis. It's being moderators. The kind of people who call you nazis are the same who call cops that when they get a ticket for going 85 in a 50. But if you go 85 in a 50, you're speeding, and you should get a ticket. And if you do nasty, jerkish things here, you'll get a warning. Do it and make it stick.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Re: ENT Forum Mediation Thread--Please Participate

Posted by Lindley:
^So, you'd like us to completely disregard the opinions of half the people in here, and warn for any comment that puts ENT in a bad light?

I sure would. But since that's neither what I said or meant and it's not what we're discussing here, the snide and defensive comeback was not real useful.

 

[Volpone]

Re: ENT Forum Mediation Thread--Please Participate

Posted by Lord Garth:
Volpone, one initial problem with moving threads from ENT to GTD when someone says "ENT is no DS9!" in a thread that's predominantly about ENT, it would make it easy for bashers or even gushers ("ENT is the best since TOS!") to get any thread they want moved to GTD. ...

Well, personally, I agree with you, but I thought I'd put the idea on the table and see where it went.

Here's another thought: We could change the name of the forum from "Enterprise" to "The Monkey House." That way, when the inevitable shrieking and poop-throwing begins it would just be business as usual.

 

[Guest]

Re: ENT Forum Mediation Thread--Please Participate

Posted by Volpone:



Here's another thought: We could change the name of the forum from "Enterprise" to "The Monkey House." That way, when the inevitable shrieking and poop-throwing begins it would just be business as usual.

Volpone, that is, without a doubt, the best idea I've seen around here in a long time!!!

 

[Galactus]

Re: ENT Forum Mediation Thread--Please Participate

I this will make me sound stupid, but I don't even know where the notify mod button is. I have never notice it. Anyway guys lets face it the forum is what it and it is not gonna change. It has gotten to the point it is like an abortion/anti-abortion discussion, no compromise.

There are two different philosophies here and no amount of discussion is going to change that.

 

[Lady Conqueror]

Re: ENT Forum Mediation Thread--Please Participate

At the bottom of every post there is a line that says "Post Extra's" followed by 4 symbols. The 'notify mod' symbol is the third one along (a piece of paper with a circle & diagonal line through it). If you hover your pointer over it it should come up saying 'notify mod'.

 

[Elemental]

Re: ENT Forum Mediation Thread--Please Participate

Posted by Volpone:
Here's another thought: We could change the name of the forum from "Enterprise" to "The Monkey House." That way, when the inevitable shrieking and poop-throwing begins it would just be business as usual.

Not the most productive idea, but it does make for some funny mental images!

 

[Guest]

Re: ENT Forum Mediation Thread--Please Participate

The problem is sensitivity. People get their precious feelings hurt too easily instead of taking things with a grain of salt.

There are those who love to push buttons and those who love to react.

My challenge to everyone is to not react. If you must respond, simply state that you agree to disagree and leave it at that (include a few calm, rational, non-attacking reasons if you must).

It's the argumentative types that get things nasty. Debating is fine but when it gets down to the point where you have nothing but personal attacks to respond with, it's time to quit arguing.

 

[NX-01 Plumber]

Re: ENT Forum Mediation Thread--Please Participate

Posted by Perfesser Coffee:
The problem is sensitivity. People get their precious feelings hurt too easily instead of taking things with a grain of salt.

There are those who love to push buttons and those who love to react.

My challenge to everyone is to not react. If you must respond, simply state that you agree to disagree and leave it at that (include a few calm, rational, non-attacking reasons if you must).

It's the argumentative types that get things nasty. Debating is fine but when it gets down to the point where you have nothing but personal attacks to respond with, it's time to quit arguing.

Yeah, well, this is the third time you've said this and I'll wager that people have been disregarding it (as I have) because, although theoretically valid, your point utterly fails to take into account the bitter history of this forum.

You cannot disregard the fact that some people have been around the ENT board since its creation and have had to deal with each other for more than two years. And read the same bullshit (from their perspective) over and over again.

Sure you can disregard an opinion that you find offensive once, twice, ten times, but at some point you will react and at this point the frustration that you experienced will undoubtedly push you beyond the line.

Also, do not forget that personal relationships (whether they be of respect or utter disdain) have been formed and that they will dictate one poster's reaction to another who is well known to them.

Unfortunately, I believe that at this juncture, we have gone way beyond the point where posters can exercize self-restraint and not respond and the mods need to step in, bash heads, lower the head count in the short run and make this a better forum in the long run.

 

[Guest]

Re: ENT Forum Mediation Thread--Please Participate

Posted by NX-01 Plumber:

Yeah, well, this is the third time you've said this and I'll wager that people have been disregarding it (as I have) because, although theoretically valid, your point utterly fails to take into account the bitter history of this forum.

You cannot disregard the fact that some people have been around the ENT board since its creation and have had to deal with each other for more than two years. And read the same bullshit (from their perspective) over and over again.

Sure you can disregard an opinion that you find offensive once, twice, ten times, but at some point you will react and at this point the frustration that you experienced will undoubtedly push you beyond the line.

Also, do not forget that personal relationships (whether they be of respect or utter disdain) have been formed and that they will dictate one poster's reaction to another who is well known to them.

Unfortunately, I believe that at this juncture, we have gone way beyond the point where posters can exercize self-restraint and not respond and the mods need to step in, bash heads, lower the head count in the short run and make this a better forum in the long run.

Sorry for being repetitive, but sometimes you have to keep hammering home a message before it will stick.

I understand what you're saying: the forum is full of people who act childishly and need to be treated childishly. I agree that it's probably reached that point and there's no turning back.

It would seem that some action is needed. The problem with having heavy-handed moderation is that many will find their perfectly innocent remarks taken the wrong way and their threads locked, deleted, etc. I've been on some BBS' like that and eventually it turns into a tyranny where one viewpoint is wholly promoted and dissention is not tolerated.

Rapid moving of the threads off the forum has been suggested and makes quite a bit of sense. It is at least one method that should be employed.

In the end, however, I think that it will require maturity on the part of the forum participants to not respond NO MATTER WHAT to obvious trolling. NOTHING hurts these types more than to be ignored by the big dogs on a forum. They will increase their attempts for a while but then the behaviour will subside.

 

[Raz]

Re: ENT Forum Mediation Thread--Please Participate

^ Since TPTB aren't likely to add an ignore feature in our lifetimes, and the trolls invariably get resposnes, your point is pretty much moot.

I mean, why should I have to make a concious effort to overlook a thread filled with trolls and underhanded jabs? I'm sorry, but this is my forum. I came here to discuss Star Trek; not to spend my day turning a blind eye to morons. They're fucking up my forum and it's apparently my fault???

(Note: the "my forum" thing obvious isn't a literal thing.)

IMO an ignore feature (with caveats that I won't go into here unless asked) would go a long, long way to solving problems. That way if people think someone's a troll, they can just ignore them instead of getting the mods involved and pushing for disciplinary action.

 

[Top41]

Re: ENT Forum Mediation Thread--Please Participate

Alright, guys, I think pretty much everything has been said here. Before I make a few closing comments, I would like to thank everyone for participating in this. We might not all agree, but you've given us a lot to talk about and discuss.

First of all, on cracking down: we've done that before. The whole purpose of the mediation thread was to avoid that--to discuss this like adults and see if we could work out some kind of mutual understanding. I'm not quite sure why that didn't really work, other than the fact that it seems like folks are pretty set in their ways and don't want to budge. Saying that you'll "participate in flame wars" is pretty unbending and frankly childish.

Mods aren't "afraid" of MA threads--the suggestion is pretty laughable. If you look at the current and former mods of the forum, you'll see we've all had MA threads aplenty. One of the reasons we try to avoid warning is because we'd rather deal with things like adults--saying "knock that off" should work with an adult; slapping someone on the wrist seems unnecessary when you should be able to reason with them.

Also, for those of you who think we don't warn because we're lazy, let me tell you--I've spent more time reading through every response in this thread then I have hitting the little "warn this poster" button and writing out "Warning for flaming. Comments to MA."

But, if it's more warnings you want, it's more warnings you shall have.

Keep in mind this is a big forum. There are lots and lots of posters, and we don't know if Poster X is posting some variation of "Get a life" across five different threads, because different mods might be covering different threads. That's when it's a good idea to PM us in addition to hitting the notify mod button.

I guess opinions from the mods vary on that button, but I personally love it. I can see the post in question in an e-mail, and then I've got a handy link to go to the thread in question and see the context. It is a useful tool for the mods.

Basically everything Bonz said is spot on (reread her post a page back!), but I wanted to highlight this:

Posted by T'Bonz:
If folks in here would cooperate with the mods instead of thinking that they can solve the problem by doing what the posters won't, things would be much better.

Unfortunately, it's easier to say "well, the mods can't run this place" instead of saying "well, maybe I can temper my words and not say precisely what I think."

You guys are expecting the mods to solve all of the problems in the forum, and I hate to say it, that's not going to happen. It's just not possible. We can warn to the high hills, but it's only people chilling out and treating each other with respect that will make this place a nicer forum. And that really lies with you guys.

I'm going to go ahead and close this thread now. Thanks again to everyone who participated--we do appreciate your imput. The mods are going to have a talk about all of this now, and you might see a pinned thread or two at the top in the next few weeks. Thanks again for helping us suss out what will make this forum a better place.

CLOSED.