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My News AH thread closure?
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Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,159 Mod ✭✭✭✭
Join Date:Posts: 59087
It's an interesting one. Boards.ie is very mod orientated compared to other sites. Not just in the moderation itself, but the focus on mods is very strong here. Personally speaking I think on balance the moderation is what made the site and is what brought more and more users here. You just don't get the kind of noise here that you get on other general interest sites. There's far more signal and this is a good thing.ibarelycare wrote: »My comment about the overpowering moderation is something that has been bothering me for a while. I don't know if it's something that's become more prevalent in the past year or so, or whether my eyes have been opened after using other discussion sites where moderators take more of an unseen role
I say general interest sites as specialised sites for like minded people pretty much run themselves. I'm a mod on one that has thousands of users and all we do is hoover up spam and shills. I've never had to ban one of the "locals". Mods in that kinda place are unseen for that reason. Interestingly a few years back an off topic sub forum was suggested and started and that started to require much more attention to the point where we were being seen and in the end the users voted to close it. That off topic forum was kinda like Boards in microcosm.
Still it can be a hard line to navigate at times. Trying to balance things for the good of the users. Do we approach from bottom up or top down? It can be an easy trap to fall into to just approach from the top down and some have. That said and just speaking for myself here I do think that over the years with a few lurches and changes along the way the balance has been pretty good.
Oh that can happen, but more often than not it doesn't in my experience.That wasn't an unfounded insult against anyone. It's my observation on how things often pan out on this site.
I have seen that as a bit of a change alright. More longer term users who I thought were long goneI stick to private forums for the most part these days anyway.
now choose to stay within private forums with the odd foray into the public and that's cool too. That choice is there.
*EDIT*
After Hours has changed a lot in the 8 years I've been here. It's changed a lot in the last 2. Take the sexism stuff mentioned earlier. That's gone. There was more heavy handed, more personalised modding at times in the place back in the day too.It hasn't changed in the last ten years anywayRejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.
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I have seen that as a bit of a change alright. More longer term users who I thought were long gone now choose to stay within private forums with the odd foray into the public and that's cool too. That choice is there.
There are many reasons why Wibbs in fairness many of the long term posters have requested and joined private forums, many of them are tired of AH trying to shake off the "dregs of boards" mentality and want to have a space where they can enjoy a common interest and let their hair down for a bit and I myself have enjoyed being a member of private forums in the past. I've even seen situations where some of the users of private forums have themselves gotten sick of private forums for one reason or another and set up their own private forum again, separate from the private forum from whence they came.
That's not exactly what I'd call a community spirit, that sort of fragmented thinking and fence building going on only breeding bitterness and resentment and the "our little private forum is better than your little private forum" mentality going on.
The My News thread was out in the open in AH, in a place where everyone could see it and anybody could join in. There was no sniping nor bitching, bullying nor backhanded snideness going on. I remember I only reported one single post in the thread, it was one post about somebody's prediliction for butt plugs, totally against the spirit of the thread, and just thrown in there randomly (the post, not the butt plugs!).
The post was deleted less than an hour later and there was no Mod Note, not another word said about it. That's the way moderation should be done, unseen and in the background, as you yourself would be doing on the other sites you moderate, and Mods should be able to get involved in discussions just as much as the regular posters. There are in my opinion only a handful of Mods I've seen do this, and for the life of me I cannot understand why once a person is charged with the responsibility of becoming a Mod that they wouldn't be able to post in the same fashion and contribute to the community as they did before.
For all I've heard posters in AH give out about TLL, it is still one of the best moderated forums on boards because the Mods have never set themselves apart from ordinary posters. They see their role as there to HELP posters, not hinder them, and even in saying that they are quick to nip asshat behaviour in the bud. Whether that comes from years of experience or just plain good instincts I don't know, but save for one or two Mods in AH, it's something that's badly lacking from the forum due to extremes of lack of interest on the one hand, and micro-modding on the other.
The My News thread was an example of one, just one god damn feel good thread in AH where there was nobody trying to be a comedian (though there are some classic comedy exchanges in there!), no thanks whores, and most notably the absence of "look at me being all more intellectual than you and shìt" posters just chomping at the bit to show off their spelling bees knees.
Sure there was some back and forth chit chat, but if you look back on the thread you'll see that new posters were more than welcomed, and people actually gave a shìt about each other, completely contradictory to the opinion put forward by Zaph, whose judgement might just be colored by how threads generally run in AH where nobody gives a shìt about anyone else but their own opinion.*EDIT* After Hours has changed a lot in the 8 years I've been here. It's changed a lot in the last 2. Take the sexism stuff mentioned earlier. That's gone. There was more heavy handed, more personalised modding at times in the place back in the day too.
I'm lucky the one time I didn't have a coffee in my hand reading this, my phone would be drenched! Wibbs I know you won't take my word for it but in the last month alone (it'd be unfair to include the love match thread), there have been scores of sexist threads started, and sheer volumes of sexist posts that have kept the Mods of AH on their toes. Only the other day Dr. B. closed one, and this morning we have an Erin go braless facebook status type OP which was the start of a woman bemoaning the fact her bra had come undone in public!
To I think it was Touching Virus who said women were afraid to post in AH because of sexist undertones, etc, there are numerous prolific female posters in AH and many more besides, who have no problem posting in AH, the same as many other minorities that have no issues posting in AH, such as openly gay posters who years ago would never have been seen outside the LGBT forums.0 -
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Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,159 Mod ✭✭✭✭ Join Date:Posts: 59087
True enough C.There are many reasons why Wibbs in fairness many of the long term posters have requested and joined private forums,
Aside I always hated that somewhat snooty attitude among some regarding After Hours. That it wasn't quite the right sort of forum for Boards.ie kinda thing. IMHO it was and still is one of the best forums on this website.many of them are tired of AH trying to shake off the "dregs of boards" mentality
That goes on? Bloody hell. The ones I've been a part of didn't have that. Then again I've only been invited into a couple so wouldn't have much experience of them. I'm not cool or popular enough *whimpers*That's not exactly what I'd call a community spirit, that sort of fragmented thinking and fence building going on only breeding bitterness and resentment and the "our little private forum is better than your little private forum" mentality going on.
:D
It does depend on the situation though C. Often enough you have to be seen to be doing something so you stop guff on the spot. Often enough the quiet "crack em over the head and drag em out the back unnoticed" doesn't work to keep things on track. Hell, often enough even if you post a dirty great warning you'll have someone chime in with the same stuff a couple of posts later.The post was deleted less than an hour later and there was no Mod Note, not another word said about it. That's the way moderation should be done, unseen and in the background,
This I agree with in a big way. Mods should be a part of the community, chosen from that community and should be able to post in that community as before. Otherwise there's defo the risk of a "them and us" stylee thing kicking off. On the other hand I reckon a couple of things can stop that. 1, getting the "title" may make some think "oh oh, better up my game" and may make them fearful of chiming in as before. It shouldn't. 2, they might figure that if they do, they wont be seen as a "Mod"(them and us again) and 3, and a biggie in very high traffic forums like AH, they might simply not have the time to post as they once did. Personality and approach may come into it too. If you see yourself as an ordinary member of the community with extra buttons then the modding style is gonna be different to if you see yourself as a title.Mods should be able to get involved in discussions just as much as the regular posters. There are in my opinion only a handful of Mods I've seen do this, and for the life of me I cannot understand why once a person is charged with the responsibility of becoming a Mod that they wouldn't be able to post in the same fashion and contribute to the community as they did before.
*blushes. Sends fee by paypal* I dunno CZ we've had our doubts, mistakes as well as good instincts like the folks in AH.For all I've heard posters in AH give out about TLL, it is still one of the best moderated forums on boards because the Mods have never set themselves apart from ordinary posters. They see their role as there to HELP posters, not hinder them, and even in saying that they are quick to nip asshat behaviour in the bud.
I dunno C I don't really see that and I post in AH a fair bit. Huge tracts of sheeiiite, I'm sure you've had the misfortune of wearing out your scroll button on one of my tracts.Whether that comes from years of experience or just plain good instincts I don't know, but save for one or two Mods in AH, it's something that's badly lacking from the forum due to extremes of lack of interest on the one hand, and micro-modding on the other.
Oh yea, but they get actioned, whereas before far more would have been left alone.I'm lucky the one time I didn't have a coffee in my hand reading this, my phone would be drenched! Wibbs I know you won't take my word for it but in the last month alone (it'd be unfair to include the love match thread), there have been scores of sexist threads started, and sheer volumes of sexist posts that have kept the Mods of AH on their toes. Only the other day Dr. B. closed one, and this morning we have an Erin go braless facebook status type OP which was the start of a woman bemoaning the fact her bra had come undone in public!
Which is a good thing though that came about through community change and the mods.To I think it was Touching Virus who said women were afraid to post in AH because of sexist undertones, etc, there are numerous prolific female posters in AH and many more besides, who have no problem posting in AH, the same as many other minorities that have no issues posting in AH, such as openly gay posters who years ago would never have been seen outside the LGBT forums.
Oh certainly P, I was trying to say(badly) the modding seemed to be more heavy handed (at times) in the sense of personalities involved. There was less consistency with mods and moderation. Sometimes more jokey, but sometimes a bit "eh wtf?".Maybe Pighead has this arseways in his head but he always thought modding was way less heavy handed back in the day. Trolls are giving way less leeway these days and are generally banned before you can say re-reg.
At the risk of getting a retrospective banning:eek:, how long would the following thread last today? Would the OP have gotten away with a gentle slap on the wrist?
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=2581280Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.
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Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,159 Mod ✭✭✭✭ Join Date:Posts: 59087
Christ my paypal account is really gonna take a hit after that. Hell I want that notorised^^
Quality, level headed post.
+1Hopefully the one thing we can all take from this feedback thread is that lessons were learned, and that can only be of benefit to what always was, still is, and hopefully for the future will be one of the best forums on boards.Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.
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Where to is gone now He was a top man.
I liked the news thread and it kept me in AH. Now I take a look in and see how cyclical the threads are, and it's tiresome and generally mundane.
This thread did no harm and it should've been allowed to die off, which it would have in due course.
Lost a good thread and great poster all in one.0 -
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