Why wait for an infraction/ban?

Red Sleeping Beauty

Paulw wrote: »

I think for some situations, a quick PM by the mod might have more effect than a ban.

I agree again. I lost the rag a bit in an Aer Lingus thread and I used some strong language. Victor PMd me to keep it down, I unsubscribed to the thread and have took a week or so break myself. I respect him for that because it makes sense and any other mod would just gone with the arrogant power happy "See you in week" or some other little quip.

Hopefully some of the mods who like to exercise their extra buttons read this thread and take the feedback

AckwelFoley

I do think that a pm is often more effective. I once received a pm from vexorg and i soiled my togs before i even opened it.

muffler

snyper wrote: »

and i soiled my togs before i even opened it.

Thats even dirty by your standards

javaboy

faceman wrote: »

It would give the impression that effort is made to defuse situations where possible. (which is what happens in most most forums as it is anyway)

So first port of call when a regular breaks the rules is PM.
And first port of call when a newbie breaks the rules is infraction/ban?

Seems like double standards to me. If anything mods should perhaps show more leeway to people who are newer rather than the other way around.

It's not that hard to stay inside the rules anyway.

Red Sleeping Beauty

First port of call should be a PM I think. Unless there's already be a warning dished out in a thread.

faceman

javaboy wrote: »

So first port of call when a regular breaks the rules is PM.
And first port of call when a newbie breaks the rules is infraction/ban?

I didnt say that. Im sure a PM be can be sent to all/most users were possible. Explain to me how banning a regular contributor to a forum is more productive than resolving the issue with them and (hopefully) avoiding a ban thus continuing healthy discussion within the forum?

wrote:

Seems like double standards to me. If anything mods should perhaps show more leeway to people who are newer rather than the other way around.

Life isnt black and white all the time. however good point on newbies.

wrote:

It's not that hard to stay inside the rules anyway.

Agreed, but heat of the moment or honest mistakes can and will arise.

Red Sleeping Beauty

A lot of bans I've seen have occured in the "heat of the moment" . There's a discussion, someone's being a knob , someone else is trying to be civil, then they loose the rag, tell em to feck off, bam, banned for the week, month, whatever

6th

alan dunne 27 wrote: »

First port of call should be a PM I think. Unless there's already be a warning dished out in a thread.

In busy fora like AH, Soccer etc that would be a nightmare and take a lot of time for the volume of muppets. Mods give their time and many give up hours looking after Boards on daily basic. In cases where people havent taken the time to read the charters then why should the mods take the time to PM their lazy asses?

javaboy

faceman wrote: »

I didnt say that. Im sure a PM be can be sent to all/most users were possible. Explain to me how banning a regular contributor to a forum is more productive than resolving the issue with them and (hopefully) avoiding a ban thus continuing healthy discussion within the forum?

In the short term it's not more productive. However as it is many people think there's a clique. How many times have you seen someone post "Oh maybe if I had 3,000 posts or an earlier join date, I'd be taken seriously" or something along those lines?

The way I see it, that regular user you're talking about has done something to deserve a ban so they should get a ban. The same as Johnny 1 post should get a ban when he does something bannable. Maybe I read something into your earlier post that wasn't there but it seemed to me you were proposing one approach for regulars and another for newbies.

Either PM everyone or PM nobody. Anything else will just drive non-regulars away.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Am I alone in thinking that there's not a hell of a lot of regular posters that stay here too much ? Or at least that post in the less popular forums ? Some of them specialist sub-forums are usually just frequented by newbies.

I think the mods and admins try to hard too to clean this place up .
There's 100,000 members ? But how many of them have been here more than a year or two, and how many post reguarly ?

Steve

alan dunne 27 wrote: »

Am I alone in thinking that there's not a hell of a lot of regular posters that stay here too much ?

Yes.

Paulw

6th wrote: »

In busy fora like AH, Soccer etc that would be a nightmare and take a lot of time for the volume of muppets. Mods give their time and many give up hours looking after Boards on daily basic. In cases where people havent taken the time to read the charters then why should the mods take the time to PM their lazy asses?

Yeah, some fora like AH and soccer would be a nightmare. But, some of the other areas are less busy and more frequented by regulars.

Sometimes there can be misunderstandings, mis-interpretation of what's posted, etc, and a PM to the poster might have a better effect than a ban. This would apply equally to a newbie or a regular.

As for why the mod should PM ... well, they're going to ban and then PM (notify) anyway, where maybe just a PM would have a more desired effect.

Of course, there are always occasions where a ban is immediately warranted, but there are probably many more instances that could be borderline that a PM would work better.

Also, with any online posting, things can be taken the wrong way, and in such an instance, a PM might give the poster a chance to qualify or edit the post so as not to cause an issue.

Different mods have different styles. Some are more direct and ban quickly, while others do PM. Some like to wield their power, while others use their powers only when it's really necessary. Maybe all mods should be encouraged to use other options before selecting the ban option.

randylonghorn

Nerin wrote: »

Yup,thats what i meant,thanks randy gonna have to hire you as my translator

What terms are you offering?

alan dunne 27 wrote: »

Am I alone in thinking that there's not a hell of a lot of regular posters that stay here too much ?

There are a lot of regular users, and some who are around for 10 years ...

But yes, there are also lots of people who get hooked by a particular discussion or forum, post for a while, and then drift away ... they may drift back at some stage, they may not.

If they do drift back, chances are they have forgotten their log-in, and end up setting up a new account ...

And there are a hell of a lot of new users in the last year or so who haven't had much chance yet to become long-term users!

brendansmith

Paulw wrote: »

I think for some situations, a quick PM by the mod might have more effect than a ban.

The vast majority of people posting are adult enough to know when they're in the wrong, and a simple PM can resolve an issue, allowing the offender to edit/remove something that may have been posted in haste.

Some sections of boards would have a few regular posters, some more, and some sections would have lots. I guess those sections with smaller "communities" would probably benefit more from a gentle touch, rather than a harsh ban.

At the end of the day, there should be respect for the posters (by the mods) and respect for the mods (by the posters). It does work both ways.

I agree, your one Thaedydal hand out infractions for everything and anything and Sully is just way to strict, rediculously so.

Sully

brendansmith wrote: »

I agree, your one Thaedydal hand out infractions for everything and anything and Sully is just way to strict, rediculously so.

Care to provide examples? I don't think I ever banned or infracted you for anything so I wouldn't say I was ridiculously strict or you probably would have done something by now if that was the case

The Waterford Forum is a bit of a tough one to mod. There are 4 of us and all bans/infractions/warnings are brought to all our attention. The main problem we have is with the discussion of travellers where a lot of heavy abuse is thrown around the place. Topics derail completely off topic, people get personal with each other and make inappropriate remarks towards people which could easily result in legal action. We would be fairly strict on that to avoid a repeat of previous events. Other then that thinks are usually okay.

Moving back on topic.. Some good points raised as to why people don't complain if they are unhappy. People seem to just winge, throw insults and hurtful comments (derailing threads) but never actually making a genuine argument and point. They seem to look for trouble. Those who don't do this usually contact us via PM and its all sorted to their satisfaction. Others sit back and do nothing until a mod crosses their path in a way they don't like.

There is no free speech - Boards.ie is responsible for your posts. Make a slanderous or libelous comment towards any individual, group or business and its Boards that will get sued. Hence why mods curb this type of posting. A lot of other points fall back to: Boards.ie is a discussion forum. Its an online community where people can gather around and discuss various issues in a friendly civil way. Leaving Boards a free for all where people can say and do what they want would make the site very messy with threads full of random crap and never really getting a decent discussion going. Hence why there are charters and mods usually stick by this. Some forums have unique charters adapted to that forum (Airsoft and Soccer being two examples).

I tend to find leaving a warning in thread does the trick. Don't have time to PM several users and explain things to them that is outlined in the charter / newbie forum anyway. A lot of people who repeat offend don't care. Those who do care take note, apologise and get on with it. Those who debate it civilly and nicely usually go away happy. That's my experience anyway!

Red Sleeping Beauty

There's travellers talk/abuse in Waterford forum ?

Nevyn

Cos you can all sse the number pms which are sent and the number of gentle warnings.
Bans/ infracts are visuall, chats and warnings are not, just cos you don't' see them don't' mean they are not happening and also you don't know the history with the poster.

Sully

alan dunne 27 wrote: »

There's travellers talk/abuse in Waterford forum ?

Yup. Big problem in Waterford with about 3 (maybe more? Cant remember) halting sites and often illegal sites where travellers move illegally and leave the place a mess when they leave. Big row going on between travelling family's where halting sites have had bombs thrown into, houses petrol bombed, bombs found in various locations around the city, shots fired at travellers etc etc. A lot of Garda man power has been sent down to Waterford where at one stage Gardai had armed checkpoints as you entered the city.

Hot topic in the forum and results in a lot of inappropriate comments thrown around that makes the topic a mess and creates potential legal issues.

Sully

Thaedydal wrote: »

Cos you can all sse the number pms which are sent and the number of gentle warnings.
Bans/ infracts are visuall, chats and warnings are not, just cos you don't' see them don't' mean they are not happening and also you don't know the history with the poster.

Exactly. I have contacted people in the past who started to act up and usually are okay who have completely ignored my PM. Others I contacted ignored my warning and continued posting the same stuff that got them a PM in the first place.

brendansmith

Sully wrote: »

Care to provide examples? I don't think I ever banned or infracted you for anything so I wouldn't say I was ridiculously strict or you probably would have done something by now if that was the case

What i mean is that you can be quite rude and provoke people into arguments. Then you edit their posts and act condecending.

I stay away from the Wtaerford forum because ive seen this happen too often and refuse to let you make me angry with ignorant statements followed by smilies at the end of them.

Im just saying you could relax a bit and not always try to get the last word all the time.
Just because you are a mod does not mean you are automatically right. Muffler, Karl Hungus and Watna do some excellent modding with getting in everyones face all the time.

Just my opinion, please proceed to tell me im wrong.

faceman

brendansmith wrote: »

I agree, your one Thaedydal hand out infractions for everything and anything and Sully is just way to strict, rediculously so.

Sully is a decent skin. Any decisions he made that ended up in feedback he was always able to justify it without wishy washy answers.

Re Thaedydal, i would be worried if she wasnt handing out infractions/bans as much given she has PI under her belt. Its one forum that needs a zero tolerance approach.

faceman

javaboy wrote: »

In the short term it's not more productive. However as it is many people think there's a clique. How many times have you seen someone post "Oh maybe if I had 3,000 posts or an earlier join date, I'd be taken seriously" or something along those lines?

The way I see it, that regular user you're talking about has done something to deserve a ban so they should get a ban. The same as Johnny 1 post should get a ban when he does something bannable. Maybe I read something into your earlier post that wasn't there but it seemed to me you were proposing one approach for regulars and another for newbies.

Either PM everyone or PM nobody. Anything else will just drive non-regulars away.

Yeah sorry i probably caused the confusion, we are both on the same page! I believe that mods need to have an air of discretion in how they deal with situations without the easy option of lashing out a ban. prevention rather than cure.

Sully

brendansmith wrote: »

What i mean is that you can be quite rude and provoke people into arguments. Then you edit their posts and act condecending.

I stay away from the Wtaerford forum because ive seen this happen too often and refuse to let you make me angry with ignorant statements followed by smilies at the end of them.

Im just saying you could relax a bit and not always try to get the last word all the time.
Just because you are a mod does not mean you are automatically right. Muffler, Karl Hungus and Watna do some excellent modding with getting in everyones face all the time.

Just my opinion, please proceed to tell me im wrong.

Well id love if you provide examples. People are always welcome to approach me via pm if they want with any concerns, issues or questions. Those who do usually go back posting with their problems addressed.
I do my best to act on feedback but without it i cant fix a problem i dont know off.