Blocking Post From Users.

[Mick F]

I've little experience of other forums but I thought that moderators were supposed to keep on top of that kind of thing.

Yes, they do, and they did.
The person in question was "retired" for a while due to my complaints, but eventually, he came back and carried on ......
I complained again, some threads were locked, some were deleted, he was retired again ............ but was allowed to come back.
I was advised not to rise to the bait, so I didn't.

That is the best way.

[thirdcrank]

So much of this goes straight over my head. and I've no idea who's being discussed.

The attributes of the ideal moderator include having the judgment of Solomon. Part of that must include deciding whether a post is generally acceptable in the context in which is written. That implies there may be occasions when somebody who complains is overreacting. Speaking as a frequent poster, I'd say that frank comment comes with the territory.

[661-Pete]

I think, if I were a moderator, I would focus on:

• Hate speech (racism, homophobia, religious intolerance, etc. etc.)
• Personal abuse of other contributors
• Libel
• Posts which may interfere with a judicial process.
• Spam

Maybe some can think of others which belong in the list? Luckily these things don't tend to happen here (except the last one, I suspect)!

When it comes to interminable off-topic rambling, or constant re-iteration of a point which has been refuted by other posters, one needs to tread a more delicate line. 'Hard' moderation can so often lead to ill-feeling.

The main purpose is to achieve a forum which is a pleasant place for people to put up their thoughts without fear of aggressive hostility. I think this forum satisfies that, mostly...

[thirdcrank]

I'd go for combining the auto-bowdleriser with a bit of AI. Then, any version of "tell me where I said that" would be replaced with "Leave it with me while I reflect on what I posted."

[Vorpal]

Most moderation is dealing with spam, new users, etc. Less often, we need to tell people to adhere to forum guidelines, or edit posts which do not adhere. Much less often, we need to remove threads, ban users, or intervene in disputes.

For the most part, I prefer to leave things in place as much as possible so as to educate users who may not understand why something is problematic. That is especially true of the more subtle forms of sexism and racism.

With regard to thread derailment, when two or more threads emerge from a topic, if someone requests it, or two or more discussions seem to warrant their own threads, we may split them. That seldom happens with tea room topics, especially politics. We're more likely to combine those. It's more containment than anything else

[[XAP]Bob]

Yes, if you add anyone to your foes list you can no longer see their posts (unless quoted by someone else).

That's the problem in a nutshell.

Basically, if you are upset by someone's posts - perhaps they're picking on you? - you can still see what they're saying if they are quoted.

Not used the system on here, but I have on another forum. (360Maxi on the Fiatforum.com) You just need to ignore them and not use software to do it for you because it won't work 100% for you. There's bound to be some - or even many - posts coming through if they are a prolific poster.

Unless it works 100%, it's pointless.

Depends what you want it to do.


To keep the majority of the users posts off the radar it works well. Yes, there were some posts which I saw as the result of replies... but that's OK..

[pete75]

There are not many nasty people on these fora, I have had arguments with a few but they are soon forgotten, is it different on non-cycling fora?
I really believe cyclists are a bit kinder than average, anyone disagree?

I do love railways, looked at some railway fora. The are new members, established members, senior members. Do they have uniforms and medals?

Oh yes and if you get to the top you dress up like WIll Hay in Oh Mr Porter...

[Psamathe]

There are not many nasty people on these fora, I have had arguments with a few but they are soon forgotten, is it different on non-cycling fora?

I think the thing to remember is that it is alright to disagree with somebody. I disagree with most people here on different issues but I also agree with most people on the majority of issues. So with any one person I might disagree on a few things but agree on many and to me that is fine. We can have a sensible exchange of ideas, both (all) present our reasons, consider other facts and ideas, maybe adjust one's own thoughts. Worst case is that you learn a few new things you previously were not aware of. But the important thing is that just because you disagree with somebody on one or two issues does not make you enemies.

That said, sometimes discussing things with people who keep going all-over the place, present no evidence, etc. all becomes a glorious waste of time so best thing is to block them. You'll see them quoted but it does filter out a lot of stuff that would do no more than waste your time.

Ian

[661-Pete]

I think the thing to remember is that it is alright to disagree with somebody.

That's it - in a nutshell. I agree that it is perfectly OK to have disagreements (if you can work your way around the negatives in this sentence!).

When it descends into vitriolic personal abuse, that's another matter. This is, I like to believe, a thing unknown or almost unknown on this forum (it may have happened in the past, but I'm unaware of any cases). Hope I'm right.

Forgive me for going a bit 'personal' here. I was on the receiving end of just that, i.e. abuse, on two other cycling forums, but that was many years ago and has long since been put to rest. As far as I know, there is little 'crossover' of membership between those forums and this forum. Enough said. No chips still on shoulders, I like to think.

What has not been 'put to rest' as far as I personally am concerned (and this is a topic I don't like talking about, not too often), is that I've been under medication for clinical depression for several years now. About two weeks ago I decided to abruptly stop my current medication. I'll be seeing the doctor next month - if he tells me to resume, I'll resume - but I hope there will be room for negotiation - or perhaps a changed approach.

So what triggered it? Well - another dose of vitriol, that's what. In a forum - well more of a blog with comments that is - nothing to do with cycling, but one I've been contributing to for about a year now. Evidently some individual decided he didn't like my style of posting (well - I'm sure there are many on here who don't like my posting style, either, but they don't resort to throwing brickbats at me) Whatever, this person saw fit to lay into me to the third degree. Nothing was moderated. I complained to the site admin, he sympathised but still did nothing. At this point I was feeling very 'down' - so down in fact that I decide, why bother to take the AD's if I still end up like this? So I stopped.

Best is to walk away, everyone will say. Of course, that's exactly what I've done. Bit like the YACF/Cyclechat experience, all over again. But it doesn't do much for my morale.

Sorry to ramble on a bit. I'll get over things. But to sum up - being able to 'block' posts from another user isn't really the answer. Once you've seen the unpleasant stuff, the damage is done.

[pwa]

I think the thing to remember is that it is alright to disagree with somebody.

That's it - in a nutshell. I agree that it is perfectly OK to have disagreements (if you can work your way around the negatives in this sentence!).

When it descends into vitriolic personal abuse, that's another matter. This is, I like to believe, a thing unknown or almost unknown on this forum (it may have happened in the past, but I'm unaware of any cases). Hope I'm right.

Forgive me for going a bit 'personal' here. I was on the receiving end of just that, i.e. abuse, on two other cycling forums, but that was many years ago and has long since been put to rest. As far as I know, there is little 'crossover' of membership between those forums and this forum. Enough said. No chips still on shoulders, I like to think.

What has not been 'put to rest' as far as I personally am concerned (and this is a topic I don't like talking about, not too often), is that I've been under medication for clinical depression for several years now. About two weeks ago I decided to abruptly stop my current medication. I'll be seeing the doctor next month - if he tells me to resume, I'll resume - but I hope there will be room for negotiation - or perhaps a changed approach.

So what triggered it? Well - another dose of vitriol, that's what. In a forum - well more of a blog with comments that is - nothing to do with cycling, but one I've been contributing to for about a year now. Evidently some individual decided he didn't like my style of posting (well - I'm sure there are many on here who don't like my posting style, either, but they don't resort to throwing brickbats at me) Whatever, this person saw fit to lay into me to the third degree. Nothing was moderated. I complained to the site admin, he sympathised but still did nothing. At this point I was feeling very 'down' - so down in fact that I decide, why bother to take the AD's if I still end up like this? So I stopped.

Best is to walk away, everyone will say. Of course, that's exactly what I've done. Bit like the YACF/Cyclechat experience, all over again. But it doesn't do much for my morale.

Sorry to ramble on a bit. I'll get over things. But to sum up - being able to 'block' posts from another user isn't really the answer. Once you've seen the unpleasant stuff, the damage is done.

I would hope that on this Forum most people would not want to take argument to the point where it is making someone feel bad. We should all be alert to another person saying that the tone of argument is beginning to feel hostile. All the best with your condition. Stay well.

[Vorpal]

Partly because of my positive experience with this forum, when I have questions about something that is likely to have a forum, I go looking for one. I belong to a fish keeping forum, and a rabbit keeping forum (Littlest has a couple of aquariums, and Mini V keeps rabbits), as well as this forum, and I have often found answers to DIY and car repair questions on forums.

[661-Pete]

Of course. For all that people rail against the internet, go on about the 'damage' it causes to society, there's a lot of positive stuff out there.

All the best with your condition. Stay well.

Thanks. I was really after other people's experiences in a similar vein (abusive trolling, I mean), and how they coped with it. But if no-one is in the mood to share, I'll understand.

[pwa]

Of course. For all that people rail against the internet, go on about the 'damage' it causes to society, there's a lot of positive stuff out there.

All the best with your condition. Stay well.

Thanks. I was really after other people's experiences in a similar vein (abusive trolling, I mean), and how they coped with it. But if no-one is in the mood to share, I'll understand.

I find that sometimes the "trolls" themselves go through moods. Some of the time reasonable, friendly and okay to talk to. Then aggressive and point scoring. That, to me, signals their own psychological weakness.

[Vorpal]

Of course. For all that people rail against the internet, go on about the 'damage' it causes to society, there's a lot of positive stuff out there.

All the best with your condition. Stay well.

Thanks. I was really after other people's experiences in a similar vein (abusive trolling, I mean), and how they coped with it. But if no-one is in the mood to share, I'll understand.

I was on various mum's groups, including mumsnet, where the people on there can be really horrible to each other and there is relatively little moderation.

A couple of years ago, I hadn't been on mumsnet for awhile, but I had a question, so I posted it, and no one responded. I joined a couple of other threads, and was quite viciously attacked on one of them; called names, told that I was going to raise horrible children, and that sort of thing. I don't need that kind of crap in my life, so asked them to delete my username, and I haven't been back since.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
I have had a few issues here but mods normally clear it up well.
No intention to blocking anyone on here, even if I disagree, if you feel slighted best bet is to ignore posting back, they will get bored / banned soon enough, its a bit like sticking you fingers in your ears, but respect that some will use the block function.
If I've been a bit fractious intentionally I always include a smiley I hope That way I think its not taken too seriously?

All in all its like other forums that are interest / pro specific, they work well.