(Site is a graveyard - How can boards save itself?) Any update?

Flaneur OBrien

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122513009#Comment_122513009

Because I have close friends that are trans and I have seen how hurtful it is to them to see big sites like boards allow threads and posts questioning their existence. And yeah, I can't think of another minority that that would be ok to do (except maybe travellers, there seems to be carte blanche to call for the elimination of all travellers)

Backstreet Moyes

If anyone wants a look at what is wrong with moderation on here, have a look at the army chaplain thread.

The place badly needs new mods who can try be someway neutral at least.

eightieschewbaccy

I also think it's somewhat bad faith that this thread has been misrepresented in the chaplain thread, no less.

Honestly in the case of the chaplain thread, given the fact that it will absolutely be going to court, why is speculation being allowed in general? I'm getting a distinct vibe that threads are being kept open by virtue of high engagement and they largely get limited moderation. This is in part resources I imagine but inconsistent moderation feels like a part of it too.

Fathom

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122428296#Comment_122428296

Anecdotally, it seems that our site historically has more than just a “message board format.” Granted, the vast majority of OPs and posts were what you observed, many found in AH and CA, and in more specialized forums like Weather, Cycling, etc. Those posts and their views were associated with what pays for the site in the past up to today (e.g., advertisers, etc).

Not sure that the “message board format” can be tossed out as a “relic of the 00’s.” Rather, could it be something that has been absorbed into today’s globally massive, and highly competitive media platforms, now with messaging one of the many functions found in X (former Twitter), Facebook, etc?

If so, can a predominately Irish membership site continue to survive against the huge global platforms that offer messaging, plus many other services? Further, could our site begin to mimic the global platform diversified services, yet retain the uniqueness of an Irish POV?

What are we attempting to do at this moment? We are discussing a thread topic in more depth than what typically occurs in simple messaging. More lengthy discussions have been an additional function of our site beyond messaging, which was implied in the first sentence of this post.

Once again observing boards anecdotally, and without empirical evidence to back up these suggestions, it appears to me that the additional discussion part of our site has been in decline on many forums that were created in the past by membership needs, and back then there were perhaps more than enough OPs, posts, and views to pay for their existence. Why this additional more lengthy discussion content has declined across many once active forums should be investigated by our site Administrators and home office teams.

Discussion forums are not a “relic of the 00’s,” rather they do exist today serving such things as communities of practice. You don’t see them like the massive global social media platforms, because they serve the needs of professionals that network together, exchanging, disseminating, and discussing ideas in great depth. Often these communities of practice will form teams of diversely qualified professionals to plan, research, collaborate, and solve grant funded projects.

If our site was to investigate the potential of additionally providing a community of practice, free at first to attract Irish professionals while developing this new service, but later to offer access for a subscription fee, this may function to grow our site in a new way? And after succeeding with one community of practice, we could grow others that are different in some ways from each other?

@Boards.ie: Mike

OscarMIlde

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122513019#Comment_122513019

If anyone calls for elimination of travellers than they should be banned as that is hate speech. If people decry some cultural practices which exists amongst the traveller community, such as say feuding, while being clear that all travellers do not carry out this than that should be allowed. There is a significant amount of travellers who also decry such behaviour and can find themselves marginalised amongst their own community if they speak out. Being PC and ignoring issues or not allowing frank discussion won't make those issues go away and does a disservice and is genuinely unfair to all people, whether settled or traveller who are affected by these issues.

Regards gender belief systems. You want a site which is inclusive to your views and those of your trans friends, but you have no concern that may mean excluding views of women. So in essence you want a site which will not challenge you or cause you any concern which is a ridiculous expectation of a discussion site.

Flaneur OBrien

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122513217#Comment_122513217

But not a ridiculous expectation of a community site.

We'll leave it there, we'll agree to disagree.

Quantum Erasure

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122512980#Comment_122512980

Who's destroying what community though....?

https://youtu.be/Ev373c7wSRg

Quantum Erasure

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122512781#Comment_122512781

What do you want from a thread like the Galway stabbing one that you can't get from rte, if people can't discuss the incident?

Or maybe I'm taking you up wrong and you'd agree with me that most of the thread spoiling was from people wanting it not to be discussed..

Flaneur OBrien

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122514290#Comment_122514290

I would hope most decent Boardsies would like a discussion that doesn't involve certain posters salivating at the thoughts that the attacker might be from a minority they can pillory.

At least, that's what I was get from those type threads, and I generally stay away from for my own mental health.

The last one I was involved in was the poor American girls that were attacked in Germany, which ended up being an American male that attacked them, even though there was certain posters who, from the get go, were desperately trying to pin it on immigrants, with no cause whatsoever.

Quantum Erasure

There were reports from the start that he was shouting something about the middle east (or Mali), that he was Irish born and bred (or came over from the UK), speculation that it was a terrorist attack (or suicide by cop)...

What do you allow (or what do you not?)...

I only arrived at that thread when it was 10 pages in, so I'm sure there was some posts deleted, but what's there now is what you should expect on a discussion site, imho

Jackiebt

Boards is dying because like almost all forms of media today it's been infected by the woke mind virus, simple.

Shoog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122514668#Comment_122514668

It seems to be a problem to you that most people are far more open and liberal than you would like.

Tough.

Flaneur OBrien

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122514668#Comment_122514668

I mean if by, "woke mind virus", you mean it was bought by someone with no clear goal as to what it should be, or how to get it there, yeah, you're right. The same "woke mind virus" that killed Twitter.

LambshankRedemption

Not sure if its still the case, but, it used to be you could only access certain forums if you were a subscriber.

I would strongly suggest a few key forums start to do that, Current Affairs being one. And you lose that perk if you get thread banned from somewhere else? If an individuals motivation for re-regging is to push an agenda or just disrupt a thread, having to pay 5 euros for every re-registration might be a disincentive.

nullzero

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122514726#Comment_122514726

"Open and liberal" has manifested on this thread to a group of people suggesting others that disagree with them be banned from using the site at all.

If you believe that censorship and hard line editorialising is the same being open and liberal then an impasse has been met that really can't be overcome.

There has been several suggestions made about escalation processes for warnings and bans as well as mods editing warned posts to inform all users what is being sanctioned (Big bag of chips warned me on a thread earlier but also took the context into account and applied warnings to other users involved in the shenanigans on that particular thread) which negates the wild West feel of CA that's developed over the last few years.

Even with those elements of actionable feedback, there's still rumblings of wanting blanket bans for certain opinions, if that's the end game you have, a discussion board really isn't for you.

Flaneur OBrien

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122515303#Comment_122515303

Like it's been mentioned before, it's the difference between having a discussion site Vs having a community site.

Theyre not the same thing. Boards was once a community site, now it's a discussion site.

Theres many discussion sites out there, for everyone for everything. There's not that many sites with a real sense of community, belonging and does actual good in the real world.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122509627#Comment_122509627

Couldn't disagree more. Other forums I'm on don't have a fraction of the issues boards has. It's not the format. That's a cop out.

While this thread has been going on there's been a number of disputes opened about the same complaints that people are complaining about here.

nullzero

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122515327#Comment_122515327

You're setting the parameters of what that community should be. You're proposing editorialising to suit yourself.

In a real community differing opinions are tolerated.

Hateful rhetoric is already not tolerated here, why do we now need to restrict expression just because it irks you?

Some good suggestions have been made already, they can be enacted and the site will benefit, I don't see any benefit from the type of editorialising you're suggesting.

Shoog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122515303#Comment_122515303

I want to see people banned for doing the things which the rules prohibit. I don't want to see people banned for having different opinions. As is typical on these threads you are mischaracturizing the issues to suit your own agenda.

Flaneur OBrien

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122515407#Comment_122515407

As I have already pointed out, I want a return to this. Could you point out why that is a negative desire?

https://web.archive.org/web/20141001203637/http%3A//m.boards.ie/vbulletin/faq.php?faq=bie_faq

How To Be A Better Poster

Post in a forum where the subject is relevant.

You should put posts where they belong. A library where people put books in any section they want will soon become unusable. Resist the temptation to say "I'm not going to post in the right forum because more people read THIS forum;” all that will happen is that your topic will immediately go off topic, you will be slated and the moderator will move the post to the right place and probably infract you. You may get fewer responses on the correct forum, but they will be far higher "worth". You want Quality, not quantity.

Contribute in a constructive way.

Nobody is interested in your laser sharp ability to cut someone down. Nobody is interested in the funny thing you cat did, unless it’s a thread on funny things cats do (basically, we mean cut down on the LOLCats). The odd humourous comment thrown into a thread is fine but consistently contributing nothing but noise/negativity is not helpful. One word answers aren’t useful. Please use the "rate thread" feature to vote on a thread instead of jumping in and posting 'this subject is silly and pointless'. If you like what a poster had to say, use the thanks system.

Comment on the post not the poster.

Responding to someone's point with personal attacks, regardless of how "witty" you think they are, is not big or clever. It just comes across, at best, as being an ass and at worst a bully with a small doodah (we mean “mind” of course).

It’s much better to stay on the topic of their post, not on the person who posted it. People will respect you for that, take your opinion more seriously and you put the ball back in their court to answer your points.

Abuse is tantamount to saying "you have beaten me with your argument; I can only resort to name calling".

If someone abuses you, don’t respond in kind. Report the post and a moderator will swing by to review it. Abusing them back simply drops you to their level and will probably get you both infracted and/or banned.

Respect/manners go a long way.

Around these parts, people recognise good contribution. This isn’t YouTube or 4chan (*). Being respectful, mannerly and even occasionally acknowledging that someone has made you consider something in a different light, is going to win friends and influence people a lot more than being yet another rude "anonymous" internet keyboard warrior. No one wants to be around that guy.

* These sites are rife with extremely abusive language and content and that’s not the sort of culture we have or want on boards.ie

You are not anonymous.

This is the greatest myth of the internet. Unless you are fairly technically skilled and go to some lengths, you are by no means anonymous on the internet. If you do something illegal and the police approach us with the correct documentation (usually a court order) we will hand them everything we know about you (as we are required to do under Irish Law). This is not a platform for anonymous defamation. YOU are responsible for what YOU say.

No freedom of speech.

This is a private website. There is no "right" to freedom of speech here. We, the Admins and moderators DO want to promote discussion but FREE un-moderated discussion online turns into a screaming match between children. We believe that rules of etiquette should be applied (see below). Shouting about how we have infringed your "freedom of speech" on a privately owned website is silly. You can use blogger.com to say what YOU like, what you aren’t entitled to is access to the community we have built here without abiding by the community's rules, as decided and enforced by us.

Enjoy yourself and enjoy the site.

Don’t take everything too seriously, so someone on the internet disagrees with you. Ok, *shrug*. You don’t have to argue with them until everyone agrees that you are superior to them you know :)

These are guidelines for Boards.ie. People might refer to them as "rules" but it is impossible to create a set of "rules" to govern human interaction. These are broad brushstrokes of what we here at Boards want for the part of the internet we call home.

If these aren’t to your liking there are other websites perhaps better suited to your needs and tastes but we believe these form a reasonable, rational, mature basis for adults to chat natter discuss laugh debate joke banter and interact.

The boards.ie rules of etiquette are as follows:

Be Civil (Don't be a dick!)

Don't post porn

Don't spam your message

Don't advertise your company

Don't abuse people personally

Don't backseat moderate

Don't give / request medical or professional advice

Not reading the rules is against the rules

Discretion of the Moderator

Don't post stuff that is not safe for work [NSFW]

We speak English, so should you

Forbidden topics of discussion:

Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20141001203746/http://m.boards.ie/vbulletin/faq.php?faq=bie_faq_guidelines#faq_bie_faq_guidelines_forbidden

I threw in the link there in anticipation of people saying, "Yeah? What topics were/are forbidden to discuss?"

nullzero

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122515616#Comment_122515616

People already get banned for breaking the rules. It happens all the time.

What's being suggested here by a number of people is that any views that are to the right of of theirs in any way are to them unacceptable and therefor should be unacceptable to boards and bans should be handed out based on those opinions.

We've had people state that boards is turning about to turn in Stormfront, even though there is no evidence of this that can be provided.

My perception of what's going on here is that a cadre of users are attempting to influence the direction of the site through less than honest means and are not shy about telling lies to achieve that end.

We've had a few decent suggestions for improvements but the other waffle persists.

Shoog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122515668#Comment_122515668

People can have whatever the opinion they like in this thread just so long as it meets forum standards. Same goes for the site.

It is true to state that there is a constant stream of fresh boards members who are systematically attempting to drag the tone of boards further to the right. Most of them get banned because they simply cannot be civil and stick to the boards rules. Good riddance to the lot of them.

Quantum Erasure

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122515655#Comment_122515655

That "No trepanning" rule always struck me as a bit odd...

Shoog

Frankly this type of thread is just plain tedious.

nullzero

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122515675#Comment_122515675

Which negates the requirement to do anything more to deal with it.

Shoog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122515720#Comment_122515720

These types of threads are mainly about venting grievance, beyond that they are minimally useful.

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122515720#Comment_122515720

No it doesnt. The point is they should have been banned, and more quickly for the hate speech not when they are eventually banned for being a dick to another poster or off topic or other general rules.

They should have been banned / sanctioned for peddling arguments to support the hate speech with link dumping, soap boxing, bad faith arguments, scurrilous rumour mongering etc

And during that phase making boards more toxic with the hate speech.

Flaneur OBrien

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122515690#Comment_122515690

I believe it was one of the weirder parts of the beginning of what the internet became, but I do remember otherwise intelligent people researching it...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122515720#Comment_122515720

Fancy answering my point? Could you point out why going back to what makes a good poster is a negative desire? Or at the very least can you admit that you were wrong in this assertion?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122515407#Comment_122515407

Hateful rhetoric is tolerated. Just because you don't see it as hateful rhetoric is your issue, not mine.

I'm sure you'll ask for links, but no. I'm not playing that game. I'm not going into threads about travellers, migrants or trans individuals to find hateful rhetoric. It's all there for you.

Back to my point, what is the issue with going back to when we had rules and decorum on the site?

Quantum Erasure

Two other things that stood out to me from the rules/ guidelines

Don’t take everything too seriously, so someone on the internet disagrees with you. Ok, *shrug*. You don’t have to argue with them until everyone agrees that you are superior to them you know :)

Report posts which clearly break the rules not just posts you don’t agree with or from people you don’t like. That’s just being a dick.

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122515728#Comment_122515728

They're not remotely useful. The usual posters will either allege conspiracy against them, complain about some warning or other, or just do both simultaneously. Any meaningful feedback is useless for reasons already discussed.