Has anyone else noticed that the moderators have been quicker to issue warnings and lock threads lately. I have seen this in a few threads that I have been involved in within the last few days. I wonder why.

Within the last week there was a thread concerning modifications and the quality of the content of threads. It was authored by a prominent member and was rather controversial and widely viewed. As many responses disagreed as agreed. I wonder if this thread touched a nerve.

Generally I think the moderators do an excellent job, but I think they are overreacting in the last few days. I have seen warnings in threads where I couldn't figure out why there was a warning needed. I think there needs to be some latitude given to the posters in order to enable the discussion(s) to "grow".

What does everyone think?

 

Moving to site Info..


ralper, can you provide specific threads. I would be interested in them..

 

I'm aware of the thread. It should remain closed. The moderator was very lenient allowing it to run as off-topic as it got.

 

Hondagal

Thank you for your reply. Three threads that quickly come to mind are (all are in S2000 talk):

"Worst car company on the planet!!" on page 2 Siper2 issues a warning stating that he has been notified by some participants and that if the thread continues along in a certain fashion he will have to eliminate the thread. For the life of me I couldn't understand which postings he was talking about. I even asked him to be more specific.

"Glove box storage in panel under dash on passenger side" apparently many people have been very offended by Rick Hezel's statements earlier in the week criticizing modifications. Now that Rick is posting a mod these people are responding in kind. On page 1 iLikeBeer issues a warning that the criticizing is enough and that if it doesn't stop he would lock or eliminate the thread (I don't remember if he said lock or eliminate). Firstly, if Rick can criticize, he should be allowed to receive criticism, fair is fair. This tastes like an attempt to prevent Rick from being offended. Secondly, I thought this was way to early in the thread for a warning to be issued. Left alone, it would have taken care of itself.

"Lately we've become concerned" for a few days this highly controversial and widely read thread wound its way around the issues and into issues such as free speech, respect, rights, important and not so important topics, humor and ownership. I didn't agree with the author in what he had to say, but as long as the debate went on, it was interesting and stimulating. On the last page (page 7) the discussion became concerned with political issues such as the possibility of war in Iraq and its ramifications. This is to be expected in a thread like this and, the discussion was rather civil and interesting. At that point Strike wrote that the thread has taken a wrong direction and he immediately locked it. I thought that that was wrong. If in fact the discussion had taken a wrong turn a warning would have been enough. I think the thread was fine and if it was allowed to go that far, it should have been allowed to continue.

In the time that I have been a participant on this board I have not seen moderators react like this. I can't help but think that "Lately we've become concerned" touched a nerve and has caused an overreaction.

I purposely posted this to S2000Talk because that is where I spend much of my time and I wanted the largest audience to see this. If I'm wrong they would tell me and so too would they tell me if I'm right.

My purpose is not to make waves but rather to keep things on an even keel. If the discussions become too restrictive something will surely be lost.

Please let me know your opinion. Thanks.

 

Cthree

I was typing my response when you posted yours. Which thread are you refering to?

Thanks

 

The "we are concerned" thread in specific. It ran to 6+ pages which given the nature of it was pretty generous. It finished discussing Iraq, nothing to do with the orginal topic. That's why it was closed.

The other I'm not aware of but I do know the moderators are very conservative and it is not uncommon to squash a number of related subjects if the whole issue gets out of hand. If a thread gets closed and the moderators ask people to drop it and a new thread is opened or other threads are contaminated by heated overflow then they to will be shut down.

The number of threads closed is directly proportional to those which are propogating a topic or thread of discussion the moderators want to chill. If there is a heated argument that a moderator wants to cool off and it exists within 10 threads then those 10 might be locked (unlikely) but it is logically the same as closing just 1. It is the issues that the moderators moderate, not individual threads. Expect a topic to be given a cold shower regardless of how many threads are involved, whether that means closing 1 thread or 10.

Once things cool off and everyone goes to their corners then you'll see the moderation of the topic stop. As long at the issue the moderator is trying to control remains alive then the moderation will continue. My suggestion therefore is to drop the issue and revisit it later when it's not so passionate. This will prevent other innocent threads from being hurt.

That is in fact what the moderator is trying to do in the first place, damage control and containment. That is what moderation is on an Internet forum such as this.

You asked for an explaination of why things happened, that's the best I can offer.

 

Well, I can't think of a darned thing to say, so read above

 

cthree

For the most part I do agree with you. I too find that the moderators are generally conservative and allow a topic to develop. Generally, I find the moderators to be excellent.

Once in a while I think that they act too fast. Arguments have a way of working themselves out. Also, popular opinion within a thread tends to moderate the thread.

Anyway, thanks for the info and for the quick reply from both you and Hondagal.

 

 

I'm big on "personal attacks." I can't stand to see folks calling each other idiots, morons or the like. I give a fair warning and if it continues, the thread gets dumped.

I have to say that recently my warnings are respected and the thread returns to a civilized state. I truly believe it's all about positive policing. I never make demands or crude remarks on the thread that I'd like to see "cool" down. In fact, many times, I'll start off by "It's getting warm in here."

Folks know to watch themselves and that's what makes this board a great community.