Regarding locked threads.

IronmanPanda

jtsmou wrote 6 months ago:
@glendadykstra ""This system of moderation never works the way they think it will, and in the end what you end up with is a very sterilized forum where diversity of thought is crushed, and the activity level bottoms out. People are people, I know most people believe that they can be mature and impartial, but we are really fighting our own nature when it comes down to it. The problems wont just occur on the boards with the members vs mods, it will also happen behind the scenes among the mods themselves unless all the mods adhere to the same philosophical belief, which does happen, but again the product becomes very sterilized. It doesn't take much for people to start believing that they have been set above others and acting accordingly. Even in the face of criticism think in terms of the stanford prison experiment, and add to that a touch of cult dynamics, and you can see where this is going to go with the way they are setting this up. The forums will become a very sterile place. You can never totally overcome this tendency of behavior in this kind of setting, but from my own experiences, less is more. Mods should always be anon, and if they are also users of the forum they should log in as mods from a separate account and adhere to mod anonymity. The guidelines for control of the forums should also be very tight leaving no room for politicizing of the control process or for personal belief systems to be superimposed on ones moderation duties. The guidelines should be kept to a minimum and be very specific so there is no room for ones personal interpretation of them. It's always better to use outside mods, but in cases like this with limited resources it's understandable they can really only choose from their user base. Believe me, it's better to let people work things out on their own as much as possible, even when they start arguing and insulting each other. The majority of the time if the situation is left alone, it will work itself out. When you start interjecting a third party into the situation that has a different level of privilege, you are just asking for trouble. You instantly create a "criminal class" among your users, and people start becoming less inclined to participate. Those that do will enter into a group think mentality with their own agenda and you will have a bigger fight on your hands than if you had just left it alone and stuck to deleting personal threats, spam, and vulgar language.

bry_all01

@bry: No.
I do however think it is rather odd to have a site in which the expectations of the people involved are to not behave like actual people at all.

The world is full of different opinions. The world is full of angry, sarcastic, sensitive, easy going and difficult people. I am curious what others think will happen if it does get childish.

I only asked because it appeared there was maybe some possible questioning and did not want to see you in trouble for it. :bigsmile:

Coltsman4ever

It seems that society has zero tolerence anymore for offending ANYBODY.
Even though you may have a thread where 99% of posters have no problems with any of the content, that 1% can NOT be offended. If they are, it MUST be removed. That's what we've come to. It's not just here on this forum, it's everywhere you turn these days.

IMO, it's sad!

Tiffanydepiano

Ah, with regards to the site being a profit based endeavor that makes more sense. I really hadn't considered that.
That is most likely the reason. He doesn't want the timid frightened away by some of us who are more "outspoken".

Thanks
Some of my very favorite MFP people responded to this post by the way but I love childish, sarcastic, opinionated posts.

FairyMiss

Mike is not running this site out of the kindness of his heart, it's his bread and butter. Since he's looking to increase revenue and not referee a bloodbath 24/7 I can see why he has the restrictions he does. :laugh:

Once the groups start, there is a better chance of more diverse topics. :drinker:

problem is unless the groups are locked and invite only there will be no diffrences.

darkrider42

I think they afraid there will be tears. :sad:

People can discuss things, but when it starts getting heated and the name-calling begins, the mods intervene. I think a better question is why people feel the need to resort to schoolyard tactics.

I know you are,but what am I

I'm telling!

FearandLoathing and Contrarian sitting in a tree a-r-g-u-i-n-g

LMAO! :laugh::laugh:

Now *that* was clever, girl!

Tiffanydepiano

@Fairymiss; This was my though exactly. There is not much to discuss when everyone is like minded. We could all sit here and repeat each other and pat us on the back for being in total agreement I guess. That would be entertaining for oh...15 or 20 seconds.

bry_all01

@Fairymiss; This was my though exactly. There is not much to discuss when everyone is like minded. We could all sit here and repeat each other and pat us on the back for being in total agreement I guess. That would be entertaining for oh...15 or 20 seconds.

right? So, we are going to HAVE to invite others to debate with us. It will be up to the group if they want to do so, and the person if they choose to accept, without getting all butt hurt once in the group.

SkateboardFi

I've often wondered the same.


But people here get very sensitive. A TON of different types on here. I do wish we could have discussions as adults, and have fun as adults.

But sometimes it's taken to a juvenile level?

YEP. then there'd be mud slinging, name calling, etc. i hope when the groups are created we can have some sort of clash of the titans without people being damned to hell...

macpatti

@Fairymiss; This was my though exactly. There is not much to discuss when everyone is like minded. We could all sit here and repeat each other and pat us on the back for being in total agreement I guess. That would be entertaining for oh...15 or 20 seconds.

right? So, we are going to HAVE to invite others to debate with us. It will be up to the group if they want to do so, and the person if they choose to accept, without getting all butt hurt once in the group.

Exactly. For example, I'd like to be able to discuss religion but I'd want atheists, non-Christians, and Christians all to be able to discuss certain issues without name calling and getting ugly. With groups, you can choose who you want to have debates/dicussions with.

Yanicka1

Easy the only reason is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I am not dissing Mike wanting to make money, but not at the expense of the users

Thomasm198

macpatti

In reference to what?

Iamfit4life

I've often wondered the same.


But people here get very sensitive. A TON of different types on here. I do wish we could have discussions as adults, and have fun as adults.

But sometimes it's taken to a juvenile level?

YEP. then there'd be mud slinging, name calling, etc. i hope when the groups are created we can have some sort of clash of the titans without people being damned to hell...

This is why I love you lol

glockster972

@Fairymiss; This was my though exactly. There is not much to discuss when everyone is like minded. We could all sit here and repeat each other and pat us on the back for being in total agreement I guess. That would be entertaining for oh...15 or 20 seconds.

right? So, we are going to HAVE to invite others to debate with us. It will be up to the group if they want to do so, and the person if they choose to accept, without getting all butt hurt once in the group.

If I get invited to your group, I'll argue with you just for the sake of arguing.

Iamfit4life

@Fairymiss; This was my though exactly. There is not much to discuss when everyone is like minded. We could all sit here and repeat each other and pat us on the back for being in total agreement I guess. That would be entertaining for oh...15 or 20 seconds.

right? So, we are going to HAVE to invite others to debate with us. It will be up to the group if they want to do so, and the person if they choose to accept, without getting all butt hurt once in the group.

Exactly. For example, I'd like to be able to discuss religion but I'd want atheists, non-Christians, and Christians all to be able to discuss certain issues without name calling and getting ugly. With groups, you can choose who you want to have debates/dicussions with.

I've NEVER understood why these things can't be discussed without issue.

Agree to disagree, it shouldn't be that hard. I think you learn so much more about people and the world through healthy debate.

Avalonis

jtsmou wrote 6 months ago:
@glendadykstra ""This system of moderation never works the way they think it will, and in the end what you end up with is a very sterilized forum where diversity of thought is crushed, and the activity level bottoms out. People are people, I know most people believe that they can be mature and impartial, but we are really fighting our own nature when it comes down to it. The problems wont just occur on the boards with the members vs mods, it will also happen behind the scenes among the mods themselves unless all the mods adhere to the same philosophical belief, which does happen, but again the product becomes very sterilized. It doesn't take much for people to start believing that they have been set above others and acting accordingly. Even in the face of criticism think in terms of the stanford prison experiment, and add to that a touch of cult dynamics, and you can see where this is going to go with the way they are setting this up. The forums will become a very sterile place. You can never totally overcome this tendency of behavior in this kind of setting, but from my own experiences, less is more. Mods should always be anon, and if they are also users of the forum they should log in as mods from a separate account and adhere to mod anonymity. The guidelines for control of the forums should also be very tight leaving no room for politicizing of the control process or for personal belief systems to be superimposed on ones moderation duties. The guidelines should be kept to a minimum and be very specific so there is no room for ones personal interpretation of them. It's always better to use outside mods, but in cases like this with limited resources it's understandable they can really only choose from their user base. Believe me, it's better to let people work things out on their own as much as possible, even when they start arguing and insulting each other. The majority of the time if the situation is left alone, it will work itself out. When you start interjecting a third party into the situation that has a different level of privilege, you are just asking for trouble. You instantly create a "criminal class" among your users, and people start becoming less inclined to participate. Those that do will enter into a group think mentality with their own agenda and you will have a bigger fight on your hands than if you had just left it alone and stuck to deleting personal threats, spam, and vulgar language.

So long, but totally agree.

JoyousRen

Easy the only reason is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I am not dissing Mike wanting to make money, but not at the expense of the users

You mean the users that don't give him a dime? Hmmmmm?

macpatti

@Fairymiss; This was my though exactly. There is not much to discuss when everyone is like minded. We could all sit here and repeat each other and pat us on the back for being in total agreement I guess. That would be entertaining for oh...15 or 20 seconds.

right? So, we are going to HAVE to invite others to debate with us. It will be up to the group if they want to do so, and the person if they choose to accept, without getting all butt hurt once in the group.

Exactly. For example, I'd like to be able to discuss religion but I'd want atheists, non-Christians, and Christians all to be able to discuss certain issues without name calling and getting ugly. With groups, you can choose who you want to have debates/dicussions with.

I've NEVER understood why these things can't be discussed without issue.

Agree to disagree, it shouldn't be that hard. I think you learn so much more about people and the world through healthy debate.

Agreed.

Carl01

I like pie.