Australian Politics Forum - Forum Policies

deepthought

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Re: Forum Policies
Reply #45 - Mar 18^th, 2008 at 6:08pm

freediver wrote on Mar 18^th, 2008 at 6:01pm:

Some people seem to take their role as a Moderator to mean they have the "right" to stymie free speech!

Um, that's what moderators are supposed to do. It is their responsibility. Even if a deletion is justified by whatever standards you apply, it still stymies freedom of speech. A moderated forum is one which by definition does not have absolute freedom of speech.

It depends on whether the standards are applied appropriately and with regard to fairness and equitability. In this case (of which we speak) the moderation was applied to overrule the duly appointed moderator for a user run board - and you say the user run boards should be autonomous - and it was applied without any reference to any rule at all. In other words it was applied arbitrarily because one member decided her opinion was superior to anyone else's and the administrator acted inequitably to silence other members.

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logicalconclusion

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Re: Forum Policies
Reply #46 - Mar 18^th, 2008 at 6:32pm

In my experience with Forums, Moderators do NOT have an opinion at all. They Moderate! Moderating is keeping the peace when things get out of hand. Not controlling the Forum.

I'm not interested in the so-called Relationship Forum anyway. Amusing though. Roll Eyes

I'm here for political debate. As I thought this Forum was all about.

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oceanz Gold Member Offline Auzgurl.. Posts: 3531 Gender:	Re: Forum Policies Reply #47 - Mar 18^th, 2008 at 6:35pm This forum has a diverse range of topics Logical...thats what makes it so diverse?
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deepthought

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Re: Forum Policies
Reply #48 - Mar 18^th, 2008 at 6:39pm

logicalconclusion wrote on Mar 18^th, 2008 at 6:32pm:

In my experience with Forums, Moderators do NOT have an opinion at all. They Moderate! Moderating is keeping the peace when things get out of hand. Not controlling the Forum.

I'm not interested in the so-called Relationship Forum anyway. Amusing though. Roll Eyes

I'm here for political debate. As I thought this Forum was all about.

Not really - in fact the global moderator, freediver, joins in with and encourages the flaming - as in this exchange in Politics

Dooley wrote on Mar 18^th, 2008 at 6:16pm:

you must have arms like an ape to be able to pull a bow as long as that one dt's. mind you the image of you clutching at straws with ape like arms and hands also has a peculiarly piquant resonance.....

freediver wrote on Mar 18^th, 2008 at 6:23pm:

I suspect he was joking, though it is always hard to tell with Deepfort.

Dooley wrote on Mar 18^th, 2008 at 6:28pm:

not to worry fd, i get the impression the boot is on the other foot with dt. it's always nice to see determinists like dt's backpeddling into the vacuum left by their hero (in this case jh). the image of a pissed loudmouth in a bar yelling and screaming obscenities as they run out the bar comes to mind when i consider the rantings of dt's

He can't even use the contributors' proper nicks.

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freediver

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Re: Forum Policies
Reply #49 - Mar 18^th, 2008 at 6:52pm

logicalconclusion wrote on Mar 18^th, 2008 at 6:32pm:

In my experience with Forums, Moderators do NOT have an opinion at all. They Moderate! Moderating is keeping the peace when things get out of hand. Not controlling the Forum.

I'm not interested in the so-called Relationship Forum anyway. Amusing though. Roll Eyes

I'm here for political debate. As I thought this Forum was all about.

Just out of interest, what forums are you referring to? Almost all of the forums I use are moderated by people who also participate in the discussion. It does often lead to problems arising from conflict of interest. There are a few where the moderators try to hide the fact that they participate. There is one where the owners don't seem to care what goes on so they probably don't participate at all.

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logicalconclusion

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Re: Forum Policies
Reply #50 - Mar 18^th, 2008 at 7:39pm

Just out of interest, what forums are you referring to? Almost all of the forums I use are moderated by people who also participate in the discussion. It does often lead to problems arising from conflict of interest. There are a few where the moderators try to hide the fact that they participate. There is one where the owners don't seem to care what goes on so they probably don't participate at all.

Grin

I'm referring to Forums, plural. Not specifically Australian Political Forums. Roll Eyes

I do read a few and get a good laugh most times.

Check these out and read and giggle.

http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?13@992.1nlYa5fkZNs@.ee74cb9

http://www.libertyforum.org/wwwthreads.php?Cat=

Obviously not Australian politics but people say what they think .... freedom of speech .... and Moderation is very limited .. unless someone starts a vendetta.

My opinion is that having prolific posters moderating is a bad idea! Moderators should moderate. Not pass judgement or have control.

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deepthought

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Re: Forum Policies
Reply #51 - Mar 18^th, 2008 at 8:01pm

logicalconclusion wrote on Mar 18^th, 2008 at 7:39pm:

Just out of interest, what forums are you referring to? Almost all of the forums I use are moderated by people who also participate in the discussion. It does often lead to problems arising from conflict of interest. There are a few where the moderators try to hide the fact that they participate. There is one where the owners don't seem to care what goes on so they probably don't participate at all.

Grin

I'm referring to Forums, plural. Not specifically Australian Political Forums. Roll Eyes

I do read a few and get a good laugh most times.

Check these out and read and giggle.

http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?13@992.1nlYa5fkZNs@.ee74cb9

http://www.libertyforum.org/wwwthreads.php?Cat=

Obviously not Australian politics but people say what they think .... freedom of speech .... and Moderation is very limited .. unless someone starts a vendetta.

My opinion is that having prolific posters moderating is a bad idea! Moderators should moderate. Not pass judgement or have control.

Agree. Once a moderator starts controlling the forum it really becomes his/her blog as all diverse opinion is discouraged or moderated.

If they have a fourm it may as well be one - otherwise stop people posting altogether and just post your own stuff.

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Sprintcyclist Gold Member Offline OzPolitic Posts: 39525 Gender:	Re: Forum Policies Reply #52 - Mar 18^th, 2008 at 10:13pm logical conclusion - a prolific moderator will prob end up with a dead room. Esp one that overruns or argues with posters. moderators are like taxes - a necessary evil, so as little as possible, and as equitable as possible.
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mantra

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Re: Forum Policies
Reply #53 - Mar 19^th, 2008 at 11:38am

Quote:

a prolific moderator will prob end up with a dead room. Esp one that overruns or argues with posters

That is true Sprintcyclist in many instances, but what do you do about a poster who might spoil the pleasure of another through a particular attitude or bad language.

You are a polite and considerate poster - so how do you feel when there's little moderation on a forum and people are allowed to post offensive comments or pictures and make personal attacks?

Should a moderator interfere and demand higher standards - or allow this "free speech" by one or two people at the expense of losing regular posters or guests?

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deepthought

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Re: Forum Policies
Reply #54 - Mar 19^th, 2008 at 12:09pm

mantra wrote on Mar 19^th, 2008 at 11:38am:

Quote:

a prolific moderator will prob end up with a dead room. Esp one that overruns or argues with posters

That is true Sprintcyclist in many instances, but what do you do about a poster who might spoil the pleasure of another through a particular attitude or bad language.

You are a polite and considerate poster - so how do you feel when there's little moderation on a forum and people are allowed to post offensive comments or pictures and make personal attacks?

Should a moderator interfere and demand higher standards - or allow this "free speech" by one or two people at the expense of losing regular posters or guests?

You would moderate Dooley then?

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mantra Gold Member Offline ozpolitic.com Posts: 10750 Gender:	Re: Forum Policies Reply #55 - Mar 19^th, 2008 at 12:12pm Quote: You would moderate Dooley then? Deepthought - I had no idea that "woolley" was abuse. If he had been more explicit - of course I would have had a whinge if it had sounded rude. In fact I still haven't a clue what you or Oceans mean.
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oceanz Gold Member Offline Auzgurl.. Posts: 3531 Gender:	Re: Forum Policies Reply #56 - Mar 19^th, 2008 at 1:49pm The Australian vulgar term "get a woolley bull up ya.." Refers to bestiality being committed on a human.. I heard this term once being used by 2 men. It can be perceived as offensive.
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freediver Gold Member Offline www.ozpolitic.com Posts: 47481 At my desk.	Re: Forum Policies Reply #57 - Mar 19^th, 2008 at 2:00pm I'd never heard the term before either. We've had a few complaints about sexually explicit language, with the tea bagging comments being another example. I'm not sure where to draw the line on these. If you want something done about it, start a new thread about it on this board so I can get other people's views on it.
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oceanz

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Re: Forum Policies
Reply #58 - Mar 19^th, 2008 at 3:26pm

Teabagging?

Never heard of it..and that would be the case for a lot of pple.

Over moderation is not good FD..The woolly bull comment didnt offend me unduly...but can be construed as such by some. Most, as in the case of mantra dont even know what it means.

I was just clarifying for mantra..

I am mainly offended by nasty examples of rascism/child pornography etc and that would be the same for most.

We can get too nit picky about words..and for heavens sake ..the word thing? Where would it ever end?.Most pple dont give a toss..a minority will complain .

If a poster pms you and asks to have an offensive comment removed then it should be..but a blanket policy on all suspect words is unecccessary.

Moderators are a tolerated neccessary evil, as Sprint said..not the arbitrator of values for the masses.

If a person feels strongly enough about a comment then they will feel motivated enough to contact the mod and discuss it with her/him.

Live and let live.

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freediver

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Re: Forum Policies
Reply #59 - Mar 19^th, 2008 at 3:38pm

If someone PM's me and asks me to remove soemthing that is generally accepted I'm not going to bother removing it. It's a hassle and would lead to even more complaints about arbitrary moderation. Some people get (justifiably) upset about having their posts edited or deleted, especially if the rules are unclear. I want a 'blanket policy' so that I'm not always in that position - even if the policy is that they are acceptable.

I am also a big fan of social feedback - that is, community standards that aren't enforced as a rule. This is a good way to deal with issues like sexual references that are fine occasionally but can be a problem if a member goes overboard and uses them constantly. Of course, you need a sense of community for that to work.

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