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12,456 Posts
In these early opening weeks of this forum, how we interact and treat each other is going to define the nature of this forum for a long time to come.
This will likely require that moderation be heavier in this formative period, to help establish the welcoming and neighborly tone that we want for this forum. Our intent is to maintain a level of enjoyment to the discussions in these boards, and a level of civility. All very subjective things, we know. But I think that some judicious moderation is actually freeing to the majority of our members who want to interact here in an enjoyable, non-confrontational way. Most people are not here to pick a fight, and I am not interested in seeing our board becoming a place of division and warring factions.
Our attempts in the past few days to have this be self-policed have only caused some to dig in deeper on their positions of what should be said and what shouldn't. (I am tempted to open up a 'no-holds-barred' forum that is completely unmoderated. I suspect, though, that those already exist elsewhere - and, I have little interest in going there.)
This has been a serious topic of discussion among the moderators. We each have received a number of concerned PMs about it, and we've been deliberating for several days on how best to handle this.
Here is the approach we are going to follow:
1. We're going to allow discussion on touchy subjects, so long as the exchange is respectful and considerate. We will not allow posts that, whether intended by the poster or not, seem destined to agitate, incite, or inflame.
2. We're going to apply heavier and quicker moderation in instances where a post or comment seems likely to agitate, incite, or inflame. I am going to request that our mods join me in more readily modifying or deleting posts that don't contribute to enjoyable discussions in our forums.
3. If you have an issue with one of your posts being modified/deleted, you can PM me. Please refrain from posting about it in the boards and from recruiting others to your cause. Most of you know me and the mods by now; we'll try not to be heavy-handed or inconsistent. If you're being repeatedly affected by our moderation, PM me and we can discuss why your posts seem incompatible with the guidelines for this forum.
4. We'll reassess the above approach after a short period, and solicit your feedback to see how it's working for everybody.
5. We are also working on installing an 'ignore' feature, which members can use to ignore (i.e. never see) the posts from other members that they specify. That's not a great solution, but it may help some members cope while we're sorting through this.
6. We are certain that this will not be universally popular. We are committed, though, to giving this our best shot. We care about this forum and the group of people in it. We do hope that each and every one of you sticks with us as we roll through these birthing pains!
Thanks for your participation in these boards. As my mother once told me, "Son, a little moderation is a good thing."
- Harvey
This will likely require that moderation be heavier in this formative period, to help establish the welcoming and neighborly tone that we want for this forum. Our intent is to maintain a level of enjoyment to the discussions in these boards, and a level of civility. All very subjective things, we know. But I think that some judicious moderation is actually freeing to the majority of our members who want to interact here in an enjoyable, non-confrontational way. Most people are not here to pick a fight, and I am not interested in seeing our board becoming a place of division and warring factions.
Our attempts in the past few days to have this be self-policed have only caused some to dig in deeper on their positions of what should be said and what shouldn't. (I am tempted to open up a 'no-holds-barred' forum that is completely unmoderated. I suspect, though, that those already exist elsewhere - and, I have little interest in going there.)
This has been a serious topic of discussion among the moderators. We each have received a number of concerned PMs about it, and we've been deliberating for several days on how best to handle this.
Here is the approach we are going to follow:
1. We're going to allow discussion on touchy subjects, so long as the exchange is respectful and considerate. We will not allow posts that, whether intended by the poster or not, seem destined to agitate, incite, or inflame.
2. We're going to apply heavier and quicker moderation in instances where a post or comment seems likely to agitate, incite, or inflame. I am going to request that our mods join me in more readily modifying or deleting posts that don't contribute to enjoyable discussions in our forums.
3. If you have an issue with one of your posts being modified/deleted, you can PM me. Please refrain from posting about it in the boards and from recruiting others to your cause. Most of you know me and the mods by now; we'll try not to be heavy-handed or inconsistent. If you're being repeatedly affected by our moderation, PM me and we can discuss why your posts seem incompatible with the guidelines for this forum.
4. We'll reassess the above approach after a short period, and solicit your feedback to see how it's working for everybody.
5. We are also working on installing an 'ignore' feature, which members can use to ignore (i.e. never see) the posts from other members that they specify. That's not a great solution, but it may help some members cope while we're sorting through this.
6. We are certain that this will not be universally popular. We are committed, though, to giving this our best shot. We care about this forum and the group of people in it. We do hope that each and every one of you sticks with us as we roll through these birthing pains!
Thanks for your participation in these boards. As my mother once told me, "Son, a little moderation is a good thing."
- Harvey
![:-\](/s3/kboards.com/data/smilies/undecided.gif "Undecided :-\")
