Would someone mind explaining

mike65

Locked Messed Monster wrote: »

Mike65 cant start IRA threads any more.

There is a God.

No idea what this is about....move along nothing to see here. (poster looks like another re-reg/dual account).

looksee

Amhran Nua wrote: »

This isn't a bar and your voice has no volume here. You also have the benefit of an ignore button which real life omits.


I'm saying that it's quite likely those arguing against him were engaging at a similar level. I'm also saying that your position in this is highly suspect since you have argued vociferously against the poster on this very topic, and thus have every incentive to want to see him banned for your own personal satisfaction. And finally I'm saying that a moderator of politics shouldn't hold strong political convictions.

I'll be the first to admit that a mod like for example Scofflaw has for the most part struck a good neutral balance between their moderating and their political ideology, but that doesn't mean that everyone can achieve the same standard. Far from it.


Throw enough mud and some of it sticks eh?


Hardly, but it's no secret that yourself and Elliot are fruit from the same tree.


What same old drum, your opinion on the matter was so ludicrously incorrect and clearly biased I felt it would be instructive for others to be aware of how this might influence your posts in this discussion.


Especially if it goes against your personal ideology eh?

You do realise that (once again) you have just proved everyone else's point?

P. Breathnach

Somebody starts a thread and makes a contentious point.

Others respond and express disagreement. OP rejects every opinion that differs from his, and does so vigorously -- to the point that just under 50% of the posts in the thread come from OP.

Seems like soapboxing.

That's this thread.

Amhran Nua

P. Breathnach wrote: »

Somebody starts a thread and makes a contentious point.

Others respond and express disagreement. OP rejects every opinion that differs from his, and does so vigorously -- to the point that just under 50% of the posts in the thread come from OP.

Seems like soapboxing.

That's this thread.

And this demonstrates why the label of "soapboxing" is a handy little tool for people to suppress dissent when they find themselves incapable of coming up with logical arguments to the contrary. Should we set a maximum number of posts per thread limit now to appease the micromoderation crew? Because that's their whole objection - "you post too much". That's it. Not "you're wrong", or "you're wrong because", or any constructive objection.

looksee

A pint please barman, *looks for a table as far away as possible*.

Permabear

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Amhran Nua

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

You may have missed the shall we say vigorous discussion I had with Scofflaw about his Green support and what that meant vis-a-vis his ability to abuse the people of Ireland. I've no idea what Lockstep supports since he doesn't make an issue of it and I've never seen any potentially biased decisions from him.

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

I already made the point that weight of numbers on boards does not imply correctness, when I mentioned that any political group could probably get a couple dozen people to report posts that didn't suit them, untraceably and unstoppably. A previous attempt to ban the poster was in fact overturned.

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

Yet you seem to have plenty to say on the topic.

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

The point of course being, and this is clear to everyone, that you have taken notably anti-Irish stances previously, that disgusting bit of revisionism was just the first example that sprang to mind. The thread that was locked was about the Irish language. You have consistently taken strong stances against that as well. Intractable, soapboxing positions one might say.

Wolfe Tone

So is the poster not allowed to contribute or create Irish language threads now?

Permabear

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twinQuins

Amhran Nua wrote: »

A mod is just a person who has been given a tiny sliver of power on a single website on the internet. This is no way makes them immune from personal bias or grants them any sort of elevated moral platform. As such, they can and should be pulled up when that bias interferes with their moderating decisions. I'd expect no less if I was a mod, not that I would assume such a position.

I noticed you've brought this up a few times now. Are you suggesting that the Politics mods are biased in their decisions and, if so, do you have any proof of this?

Considering we've historically had posters of opposite sides cry bias against them I find the claim rather difficult to swallow.

Dr Galen

Would someone mind explaining why this thread needs to exist?

There is a thread in the DRP, in which the Mods & CMods are thrashing this out with the poster in question, not the OP of this thread. Would it not be appropriate for that thread to be concluded one way or the other before this discussion is had?

Eliot Rosewater

The problem with the thread was that the thread starter was not interested in discussion. He was interested in using the Politics forum to broadcast his views. There are a number of pertinent facts to support this, including a declaration to that effect from the poster concerned, but this is Feedback and not DRP and I feel that any discussion on modding should be about generalities instead of particular cases.

Boards.ie is a discussion forum. Soap-boxing is using the forum to publicise and forward your own point of view continuously and without respect for others. Typical symptoms of soap-boxing are: refusing to consider and deal properly with opposing arguments, a total lack of respect for alternative points of view and goal-post shifting. In short, an unwillingness to engage properly with others.

Soap-boxing damages the forum for those who are genuinely interested in debate and discussion. Trench warfare only benefits the belligerents, who aren't interested in discussion. Those on the outside who have an interest, but are not in the business of shouting and being thoroughly obstinate, are alienated. And that's the point when the forum starts failing in its core duty - providing a platform for interested and genuine individuals to discuss Politics honestly - and when the mods have to intervene.

Amhran Nua wrote: »

So lets say that I started that thread. Would it have been immediately locked? If I went off and did a bit of independent research and opened a very similar thread, would it be locked? I don't think so.

Whats the number one rule again, attack the post not the poster, surely.

What you're suggesting here is the moderators shouldn't draw on past experience when dealing with posters. When an actionable reported post comes in, I check a user's history to see if this is the first time they've caused a problem. If they are repeat offenders I will issue a ban, as infractions clearly aren't working. By your standard above this is the wrong thing to do, as it's factoring in the poster's history in the decision making process. By your standard, moderators would have to do the same thing every single time, as to do otherwise would be to draw on personal factors.

Lockstep

On the issue of moderator bias, it's probably inevitable that all the moderators have their own personal beliefs and political viewpoints; that's probably why we're interested in politics enough to moderate it in the first place.

However, IMHO we have a good mix of moderators to ensure that no one viewpoint gets too much bias. Having so many different political orientations is a good way to strike a balance.

For the record, Permabear is correct; I'm a member of the Labour Party. I hope it doesn't affect my moderating too much

Permabear

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Dr Galen

Over the years in the Politics forum I've seen the same Mod told that he was a left winger, a right winger, a Marxist apologist, a free marketeer and a fascist.

I wouldn't be too worried Lockstep

I'd be worried if the Mods of the politics forum didn't lean one way or another tbh, it shows that even if I disagree with their political views, at least they have one! An interest in the subject is pretty important for any Mod I think.