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Ask the Mods Thread

Discussion in 'Member Casual Chat' started by Nightmare515, Jan 14, 2016.

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  1. tecoyah

    tecoyah Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Absolutely agree....thing is, some people do not play well with others and should be ignored. Believe me, this would make things so much easier and more pleasant for everyone including our Mods. I AM a Mod elsewhere and often play the temperance card until forced to remove an individual which I do not in any way enjoy...if these Banned individuals had simply acted adult and listened to my plea for calm they would be enjoying the site instead of grumbling of unfairness alone in their head.

    We actually RELY on people being a RAT to maintain the stability any active forum wants, and generally those being RATTED upon are well known to staff and eventually removed or calmed....it is very helpful and makes the Moderation more accurate and complete.
     
    tecoyah, Jan 29, 2016
    #101
  2. Nightmare515

    Nightmare515 Ragin' Cajun Staff Member Past Donor

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    The bottom line is simple though. We have our Mission Statement, we have our rules and guidelines, and we have to vision of the Site Owner. It is basically up to the members here to determine how they want this forum to function and operate. As you and others have said, we simply do not have the man power to patrol this forum all day long. We rely probably 90% on reports to do our moderation duties which means its the MEMBERS who have to understand the rules and choose to enforce them via reporting things to us.

    The power is basically in the hands of the members, all we mods do is enforce the rules. So if tomorrow everybody decided they no longer cared about Rule 2 violations and stopped reporting them to us then we mods wouldn't see it. Not because we mods would personally disregard Rule 2 because the members do, but because we rely so heavily on reports that if nobody told us about it then we wouldn't see it ourselves.

    That's why I say it's basically up to you the members on how you want PF to operate. We can't MAKE you report rule violations, and if you break the rules and nobody decides to let us know about it then we won't see you doing it.

    More members appreciate the somewhat strict rules we have here than not. That is what draws so many people here to PF, it's a forum that allows respectable debate and doesn't tolerate disrespect or insults or anything like that. The reason the forum is able to maintain this climate is mostly due to our members, NOT us mods. You guys are who ensures this place operates in compliance with the Mission Statement and vision of the Site Owner. Its not us it's you guys. We don't run around here looking for rule violations, our members respect the Mission Statement and the forum and THEY look for rule violations themselves and report them to US.

    Our members dictate the climate here at PF and ensure it remains in compliance with the overall Mission Statement. That shows us that its our members who respect and appreciate what we are trying to do here and are helping by reporting rule violations that they see.

    To me that is very admirable and highly appreciative. Our members care about our forum and don't want it to turn south like so many other internet forums do. That is very respectable in my book and I'm sure most people around here including the Site Owner really appreciate that.

    It would be literally impossible for PF to run without the continued support from our members here. There is no way we mods could handle this without your help. The members here are awesome and we thank you.
     
    Nightmare515, Jan 29, 2016
    #102
  3. Windigo

    Windigo Banned

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    Here is the problem. The trolls want you to call them out. The forums worst trolls are not playing the same game you and I are playing. They are not here to win a debate. They regard winning as you getting a rule 2 violation and banned.

    At one point in time this forum had a group of trolls who coordinated on an offsite forum. This offsite forum even had staff members. When a member of that forum spilled the beans on the group in the old
    Forum Help, Feedback, Etc after private channels had not worked the staff acted quickly and decisively. Forum Help, Feedback, Etc. was closed forever because the staff said it was too much of a hassle.
     
    Windigo, Jan 29, 2016
    #103
  4. tecoyah

    tecoyah Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Thus the second part of my statement....call out and then ignore. It seems a pretty simple thing to do, and if they are called out with skillful respect they usually know they have been beaten and hide in a corner until next time. It is a very fine line however between calling out an flaming...Hell, I still have 20 points against me until mid February for flamebaiting.
     
    tecoyah, Jan 29, 2016
    #104
  5. AboveAlpha

    AboveAlpha Well-Known Member

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    Well...the THANKS goes to the Mod's because it is a thankless job because your damned if you do and damned if you don't.

    It would be a lot easier of some people would just have a bit of CIVILITY around here!!

    The way I see it....if I make a mistake and post something that is factually incorrect and another member informs me about this I APPRECIATE IT!!

    This does not cover OPINIONS or BELIEFS because they are subjective.

    But very often a member will post what is like saying.....6 + 7 = 14.

    Then I or another member will say..."No....6 + 7 = 13 and the PROOF is 13 - 7 = 6."

    Now people who are civil and decent enough will reply....OK...yep! I made mistake...sorry.

    But what we get here....a lot and I mean...a LOT....are those who will change the conversation and manipulate words and concepts and even attempt member character assassination to get anyone readings mind off the fact they made a mistake and the SAME THING GOES ON DURING GOP AND DEMOCRATIC DEBATES!! LOL!!!

    Because what is the FIRST RULE IN POLITICS???

    Rule #1. If you cannot dispute another candidates facts.....DISPUTE THEIR CHARACTER!!!

    And before you know it there will be people who start thinking....."Yeah....that no good GOD HATING, SCIENCE LOVING LYING SOB WHO ALWAYS TALKS ABOUT EVOLUTION AND PROBABILITY probably made up that whole thing about 6 + 7 = 13!!! 6 + 7 MUST EQUAL 14!!!

    Because GOD SAID SO.....or at least that guy who knows that Jesus Christ is the only true Lord and Savior!!

    Because GOD said so!!!

    AboveAlpha
     
    AboveAlpha, Jan 29, 2016
    #105
  6. robini123

    robini123 Well-Known Member

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    To me it would be silly to censor a serious study just because one does not like the results. Now your Trump example is obviously a fictitious for the sake of argument example, and I think Trump supporters are intelligent but see the world from a different perspective. But what if there were a legitimate study on a highly controversial issue like; is homosexuality a mental illness where the results of the study is yes? Should the thread that uses the study as the premise be deleted as flamebait or allowed to remain open for debate? What if it is a comparative study of the intelligence of two different races?
     
    robini123, Jan 29, 2016
    #106
  7. MrNick

    MrNick Banned

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    Here is personal rule 1 - you don't have to prove anything to anyone...

    Never let a troll EVER dictate common knowledge...... If they want proof a square is a square then let them go figure that out....
     
    MrNick, Jan 30, 2016
    #107
  8. Nightmare515

    Nightmare515 Ragin' Cajun Staff Member Past Donor

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    Those such studies would be acceptable. It mainly just depends on how the OP is worded. As Mods enforcing the "flamebait" rule is the most difficult because we have to basically try to figure out what the OP is up to. Is this a legitimate thread to discuss a controversial topic or was this posted with the sole intent to get under peoples skin?

    That is one of the main reasons why we changed Rule 11 over a year ago. We said a member must include at least 3 sentences of elaborate discussion for a topic. The reason we did that is because we figured it would help weed out the pure flamebait threads. If a member feels strongly about a topic or a study and wishes to discuss it then they can come up with at least a small paragraph explaining their point of view on the subject to get the debate started in a respectable way.

    For example lets take your example of a study between the intelligence of two races. If a member started a thread titled "Recent study shows that African Americans are less intelligent that White Americans" and followed up with "See, I knew it all along something is wrong with those people even science agrees" and left it at that then we're going to close that. That member didn't post that for discussion they posted that as flamebait.

    Now if the member wrote something like "This is interesting, this study took the average grade school test scores of African American students vs White students and saw that the black students tended to score 10 points lower in almost all categories. What do you think the cause of this might be? A higher percentage of black students per capita come from poorer households and single parent households do you think this might play a role? Or is there something literally biologically different between black people and white people in terms of academic intelligence? What are your thoughts?"

    ^^^We'd accept that, the topic is controversial as hell but that member wasn't just putting it out there to start a flame war, they posted the topic and actually took the time to write a somewhat thought out OP posing some real questions to get the debate started.

    Flamebait has more to do with what we think your intentions are, not the topic itself. There are very few topics that are off limits around here, but as a member its up to you to figure out how to post that topic in a respectful way without having us Mods think you are sitting behind your computer screen with an evil snicker while you publish it.
     
    Nightmare515, Jan 30, 2016
    #108
  9. robini123

    robini123 Well-Known Member

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    It is interesting that you bring up rule 11. Why is the three sentence rule not enforced as it is written?

    Another question is why can I only see the first page of my quotes? If I click page 2 it goes to my profile
     
    robini123, Jan 30, 2016
    #109
  10. yguy

    yguy Well-Known Member

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    So you respect the opinion, held by some, that laws prohibiting sexual congress between adults and children should be repealed. Have I got that right?
     
    yguy, Jan 31, 2016
    #110
  11. tecoyah

    tecoyah Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Respecting the freedom to hold an opinion does not equate to having respect for or agreeing with said opinion.
     
    tecoyah, Jan 31, 2016
    #111
  12. MrNick

    MrNick Banned

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    Yea, I've been a mod elsewhere for like 9 years and I think in those 9 years I have only handed out like 5 infractions, I've banned spammers of course but I usually just let posters work things out, I only handout infractions if posters start acting like children and make serious personal attacks.... But I have never banned anyone (outside of those idiots that spam) but they're not "real" users or contributors anyway...
     
    MrNick, Jan 31, 2016
    #112
  13. MrNick

    MrNick Banned

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    You're right about that - there are posters here that just want to "debate" I call it argue...

    Me, well I just want to give my opinion on issues, not argue.... If someone wants to debate me on an issue then they can challenge me to a debate and we can debate in the debate forum....

    Also, I think some posters just say the most outrageous things just for attention or to provoke other posters or to just start a fight....
     
    MrNick, Jan 31, 2016
    #113
  14. Nightmare515

    Nightmare515 Ragin' Cajun Staff Member Past Donor

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    OK let me rephrase, there is no reason to disrespect someones opinion OPENLY on this forum. You can disagree with them sure, but attacking them for their opinion is not tolerated regardless of how radical one might find it.
     
    Nightmare515, Feb 1, 2016
    #114
  15. yguy

    yguy Well-Known Member

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    Who said anything about that?
     
    yguy, Feb 1, 2016
    #115
  16. AboveAlpha

    AboveAlpha Well-Known Member

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    YOU...just hit the HEAD OF THE NAIL with the HAMMER!!!

    There are a few members here...one in particular who I will not name......who contributes almost ZERO to this Forum as this member simply looks around at other topics and other members posts LOOKING TO ARGUE!!!

    We have way too many members who do this here!!!

    It's one thing is they disagree and present an alternative idea of their own....BUT THEY NEVER DO!!!

    They post here for one reason and one reason only.....for the purpose of ARGUMENT of any other member who might have a different opinion or belief!!!

    Now I don't mind debating with a member who has a different belief system as long as we can AGREE TO DISAGREE!!

    But some members will do or say just about anything including posting in most disingenuous ways for the sole purpose of attempting to make another member who either thinks or knows things they don't to be WRONG in the eye's of others.

    Now this doesn't really bother me because I know what I am saying and I don't post things unless I have a good amount of knowledge about what I am discussing.

    But what does happen that sucks is new members will be attacked verbally by such members and they QUIT THE FORUM!!

    I have seen this happen many times as some people just want to post, debate and have fun and what they don't want to do is spend all their time posting rebuttals just because another member does not like the way they think or believe!!!

    AboveAlpha
     
    AboveAlpha, Feb 1, 2016
    #116
  17. MrNick

    MrNick Banned

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    Yea, some people just want to argue, I understand (I suppose) where they're coming from but I've been posing on different boards for 20+ years and one thing I have learned is one can never prove an opinion right without evidence of some sort..... I think or value everyone that posts here opinion but that's because I value Free Speech, I may not agree with their ideas, but they have the right to state their opinion.....

    When arguments get too heated I just walk away, I have no interest in arguing with a brick wall...

    Don't get me wrong, I indeed get frustrated with the status quo of politics, but I'm not looking to argue, I view myself as someone that perhaps brings a different perspective or angle to an otherwise partisan argument... Of course it never works lol....

    But yea, there is certainly a problem with people who just wish to argue - they think if they spew enough nonsense and chew enough people out they win the debate - no they're just pissing people off lol...
     
    MrNick, Feb 1, 2016
    #117
  18. Nightmare515

    Nightmare515 Ragin' Cajun Staff Member Past Donor

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    Thread seems to have gone quiet. I'm sure you folks have more questions about what goes on behind the scenes....Whats on your mind?
     
    Nightmare515, Feb 11, 2016
    #118
  19. Cubed

    Cubed Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Boxers, or Briefs? ;)
     
    Cubed, Feb 12, 2016
    #119
  20. Deckel

    Deckel Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Wait I though Cubed was a moderator. Considering the reports of a shake up in the Hillary campaign and cubed not being a mod, is it safe to assume that PF is, in fact, hosted on the Clinton servers? :hmm:
     
    Deckel, Feb 12, 2016
    #120
  21. Cubed

    Cubed Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Nah, It's cause I'm Canadian. I kept giving out Canadian Beer and the US Beer Monopoly pressured the admins to get rid of me, lest their market share erode ;)
     
    Cubed, Feb 12, 2016
    #121
  22. Nightmare515

    Nightmare515 Ragin' Cajun Staff Member Past Donor

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    Yeah I thought a perm ban came along with us firing your ass, how exactly are you still here? Are you grandfathered in due to your mod service or something? ;)
     
    Nightmare515, Feb 12, 2016
    #122
  23. Cubed

    Cubed Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Blackmail actually. I have naughty pictures of the Admins in compromising positions ;)
     
    Cubed, Feb 12, 2016
    #123
  24. ARDY

    ARDY Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I thought so... Smile
     
    ARDY, Feb 12, 2016
    #124
  25. AboveAlpha

    AboveAlpha Well-Known Member

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    Perhaps it's just me and a few others and believe me I am all for Free Speech.....but what really irks me is when I see a New Member who come's on the Forum and posts something that is simple enough but then get's purposely attacked by a very select number of members.

    It's one thing for such a group to come after me as I can handle it.

    It's another thing that they PURPOSELY TARGET NEW MEMBERS for the sole purpose of sculpting this forums membership to their own ideology.

    When this happen's I often will intercede on behalf of the new member.

    But many times...the damage is already done and they do not return.

    AboveAlpha

    - - - Updated - - -

    Who doesn't?

    AboveAlpha
     
    AboveAlpha, Feb 12, 2016
    #125
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