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

No I just continued writing . I often do ,( that is why there is an edit button and usually one can see if it done after a reply because of the time factor .) What you quoted there is exactly the same as it was , just another paragraph which was even more general.

You really jumped on it straight away , didn't you , when I wasn't even talking about you or your posts,on that or the other thread , just in general and how " bashing " is the reason it was shut .

Meant to be 'discussing' , not 'bashing ' on the site . That was the point .

I wasn't getting at you personally , unlike your reply to me .

I will however remove the quotation marks or edit that post if I can if it upsets you because that was not my intention , and maybe you might edit out some of the personal stuff in your post about me ?

Goodnight .

Precisely. This thread has been a classic example of how a very small number of posters can dominate the site. It gives a bad impression of the site and is not typical of elsewhere on Boards. To give too much credence to them would drive many more members away.

Couple of random comments

Several years ago I was involved in a debate that "ranged" across multiple threads, when there should have been just a single thread on the topic. People on one side of the debate weaponised the rules by reporting posts that they said should be discussed on one of the other threads but were off-topic on this one. Of course, they gave a free pass to supposedly off-topic posts on their own side. It's just a tactic to exploit rules that are always going to be patchily enforced, to get other views shutdown. Fewer rules the better imo, if mods want an easier life.

While the "Don't be a dick principle" is vague and subject to ideological capture, like what I think happened to the thread I started here a couple of days ago, I know of one poster who was driven off another site, by some really vile, personal abuse, that I know would never be tolerated here. So, it does have some value.

I also don't get the obsession with shutting threads down because they are going round in circles. Some debates will never be resolved. Some people think they are arguing in good faith, but they aren't and never will. If a thread annoys you, then why not just ignore it?

One notable aspect of this thread and the previous one, is how Boards fits in well with the general behaviour of 'institutions'. There's a strong tendency not to accept criticism, to deflect and justify decisions. Circle the wagons and defend the institution at all costs. Even when it's obvious for all to see, even those within, that certain practices and people within are doing damage to said institutions.

A small subscription for the year which will deter reregs if they have to pay to troll.

Update the charter to give more clarity on being uncivil or acting the dick.

CA threads seem to take up most of dispute resolution and take a long time to resolve, get in mods from other areas to speed up the process.

Stop closing threads where a few posters are derailing it, deal with them and not punish everyone else.

Hold Mods to the standards that are expected of normal posters.

Try recruit more Mods for CA to make things better for everyone.

Instead of threadbans, do a 3 day ban, then 5 and your gone or something to that affect.

I lost my temper one night to someone trolling, it was out of character and I was wrong and deservedly punished, it was a thread I enjoyed posting in and that was gone by one mistake, if someone does something that warrants three bans then they deserve to go.

This is not a reflection on you personally but that type of attitude is usually expressed when some people don't get what they want. There's sound and justified criticism and then there's criticism because things aren't just how somebody else would like them to be. I also would take issue with expressions like "obvious for all to see". I'm sorry but you cannot speak for all on any topic based on only the non-representative few posting in a thread.

Nothing has ever been perfect and nothing will ever be perfect. Likewise, no one outlet is going to meet the expectations or aspirations of everybody.

The thing is, your blanket proposal to get rid of moderators and admins that you and a handful of other posters want to get rid of doesn't mean everyone agrees with you. If anything it just comes across as a silly demand. I think a fair few posters would benefit more from changing their own posting style tbh.

And as I've mentioned on the thread already, the key "customer feedback" not aired here is that from posters who've left the site.

That needs to be borne in mind as a "known unknown".

Well we are in fact more than just customers: what's the saying "If you're not paying for the product, then you're the product"

We invest out time and thoughts here and the site simply wouldn't exist without this investment of our time & effort. There is a value to be put on this.

Looked at another way, I run a small business and if I treated my customers in the manner some moderators treat users here, I wouldn't be long in the game.

That's real feedback.

Turning this place into an Irish version of Something Awful by implementing a cost probably isn't the solution; and if anything will further accelerate the downward spiral.

Mmmmmm. Absolutely nothing would clear this place faster than asking people to pay just to post their nonsense on a message board.

unworkable. Doesn’t solve the “echo chamber” complaints and trolls who get banned for breaking the rules will pull the “but I’m a paying customer” schtick.

We had it with the Sex and Sexuality forum before. You only had access if you were a mod or subscriber. If you got banned, tough. If it's listed as an extra benefit of subscription and not the only reason for subscription, it's fine as an extra benefit can be removed at any time.

Re the "echo chamber complaints"? I honestly couldn't care less. It will stop trolls on the "night shift" from re-regging and taking up the mods time.

I suspect in that case the rereg trolls might hijack a thread in one of the other forums instead.