closing threads grrr

[bigslice]

thats the last few days threads get locked, why? someone got banned for a week fine, but then we cant talk about it, mental. so for a week we've to not mention his name. cant have a laugh about him incase the thread gets closed
then the orka thread closed why? so now we cant talk about that.
personally i think alex being at orka took things to heart to quickly. if he was just another orka club player he may have stayed longer. i ve posted that if rick had said 'ping' the thread without alex would have went the same way. only typing as ive found it frustrating and annoying the way threads are shut down. and please whats with all 'are you pleased with yourself 'stuff
. its a forum anything (within reason ) is up for debate, laugh, noise folk up etc.

the fight club idea is a gud yin but thats me broken the first rule dam

 

[SocketRocket]

Who got banned? I must of missed that, a certain Asparagus person has been quiet lately, was it him?

 

[G1BB0]

Yes within reason

its a commercially based forum in that it is representative of GM Magazine and its partners. when posts decend into petty squabbles or crusades by individuals and go way off topic then they either get edited, locked or removed.

hence the rules on language, sexism etc etc. If a thread or post is reported or deemed no longer of benefit to the forum then it will be moderated accordingly.

if it was just a private forum then yes anything would go but it isnt!

 

[SocketRocket]

Yes within reason

its a commercially based forum in that it is representative of GM Magazine and its partners. when posts decend into petty squabbles or crusades by individuals and go way off topic then they either get edited, locked or removed.

hence the rules on language, sexism etc etc. If a thread or post is reported or deemed no longer of benefit to the forum then it will be moderated accordingly.

if it was just a private forum then yes anything would go but it isnt!

If someone reports a post as offending them is that enough to close it or discipline the poster, or is it a matter of the Mods using their initiative on the matter? Just interested how it works.

 

[PhilTheFragger]

When a post gets reported, all the mods get an email

it is looked at, often discussed with other mods, and action taken if necessary, not all reports are upheld, quite a few are allowed to stand.

its down to mod discretion and experience.

 

[Bomber69]

thats the last few days threads get locked, why? someone got banned for a week fine, but then we cant talk about it, mental. so for a week we've to not mention his name. cant have a laugh about him incase the thread gets closed
then the orka thread closed why? so now we cant talk about that.
personally i think alex being at orka took things to heart to quickly. if he was just another orka club player he may have stayed longer. i ve posted that if rick had said 'ping' the thread without alex would have went the same way. only typing as ive found it frustrating and annoying the way threads are shut down. and please whats with all 'are you pleased with yourself 'stuff
. its a forum anything (within reason ) is up for debate, laugh, noise folk up etc.


the fight club idea is a gud yin but thats me broken the first rule dam

I agree with you Big Fella, it all got out of hand rather quick and it seems that there was a breach of the rules and that the members who were only pointing out the breach are now getting blamed for it all going (.) (.)'s up

Anyway onwards and upwards.

 

[G1BB0]

if it is against the rules its dealt with if not then no action taken. theres numerous reasons a thread may be locked but its never done without consultation or on a whim!

We are only trying to maintain the forum inline with GM's rules and requirements nothing more nothing less (despite the impression others may have!!!)

 

[PhilTheFragger]

I agree with you Big Fella, it all got out of hand rather quick and it seems that there was a breach of the rules and that the members who were only pointing out the breach are now getting blamed for it all going (.) (.)'s up

Anyway onwards and upwards.

Yes you are, because you didnt report the breach like the rules say, you took it upon yourselves to deal with the situation and with all due respect, that isnt your job,

Further discussion on this subject, really isnt helpful

 

[Scottjd1]

I agree with you Big Fella, it all got out of hand rather quick and it seems that there was a breach of the rules and that the members who were only pointing out the breach are now getting blamed for it all going (.) (.)'s up

Anyway onwards and upwards.

ZZZZzzzzzzzzz

 

[Bomber69]

Yes you are, because you didnt report the breach like the rules say, you took it upon yourselves to deal with the situation and with all due respect, that isnt your job,

Further discussion on this subject, really isnt helpful

Sorry Boss.

I will now revert to sending PM's from now on, anyway the matter is now concluded as far as I am concerned.

 

[SocketRocket]

Thanks for the clarifications.

 

[Smiffy]

A thread may be locked but its never done without consultation or on a whim!

What a load of crap!
I had a thread removed. Nothing racist or sexual, just a gentle "pop" at our Scottish friends. A wind up, nothing more. It hadn't deteriorated into a slanging match, and nothing posted on it even remotely suggested that it would.
A mod (and I use the singular here) said he had received a complaint about it. One complaint (so he said). And it was removed. No "ifs" no "buts" just removed and a warning issued. He was the only mod online at the time. But he took it upon himself to remove it. Where was the consultation there then???? Another mod actually PM'd me to say that he wouldn't have removed it.
And if you complain???? You get a response like Fraggers......further discussion is pointless. So stop. Or else. It's worse than being at school.
I've received two infractions over the last couple of months. One, quite rightly I guess, for having a go at a moderator via PM. I called him something maybe I shouldn't have. But I would have called it him to his face.
The other??? God knows. Just somebodies ego.

 

[chrisd]

What a load of crap!
I had a thread removed. Nothing racist or sexual, just a gentle "pop" at our Scottish friends. A wind up, nothing more. It hadn't deteriorated into a slanging match, and nothing posted on it even remotely suggested that it would.
A mod (and I use the singular here) said he had received a complaint about it. One complaint (so he said). And it was removed. No "ifs" no "buts" just removed and a warning issued. He was the only mod online at the time. But he took it upon himself to remove it. Where was the consultation there then???? Another mod actually PM'd me to say that he wouldn't have removed it.
And if you complain???? You get a response like Fraggers......further discussion is pointless. So stop. Or else. It's worse than being at school.
I've received two infractions over the last couple of months. One, quite rightly I guess, for having a go at a moderator via PM. I called him something maybe I shouldn't have. But I would have called it him to his face.
The other??? God knows. Just somebodies ego.

I have to say that the forum is going to be weaker if the moderating is heavy handed. The "Ice Man Colin" thread didn't seem to get out of hand to me, yes there were strong opinions but no more strong than you might have at work or in the clubhouse. I personally wouldn't like to be on a forum that condoned swearing, threats etc but the mods seem to pull threads rather than lock them at times. A warning that certain posts are ott would help and you could delete those posts. I understand, and agree with the GM wish for the forum to be conducted properly but I also like to be treated like an adult.

 

[Oddsocks]

What a load of crap!
I had a thread removed. Nothing racist or sexual, just a gentle "pop" at our Scottish friends. A wind up, nothing more. It hadn't deteriorated into a slanging match, and nothing posted on it even remotely suggested that it would.
.

It is funny how our northern counterparts Seem to be the most offended at the most slightest of "pops", yet the southerners are often referred to as fairies:rofl:

 

[Smiffy]

It is funny how our northern counterparts Seem to be the most offended at the most slightest of "pops", yet the southerners are often referred to as fairies:rofl:

I'm not saying that it was a "Northern Counterpart" that complained Oddsocks. I have always found the Scottish lads up for a laugh and personally couldn't give two hoots what they say about me personally. Water off a ducks back as far as I am concerned. What I was annoyed about was the fact that one complaint was apparently received, and one moderator took it upon himself to make the decision to close the thread without warning. And then you get G1BBO saying that a thread is never locked without consultation or on a whim! Total rubbish.
An "active" thread receives one complaint and it's closed????? Who was the complainant??? Must have been somebody very, very important.

And this thread is heading for lockdown too. Guaranteed. Yet nobody has said anything racist or made sexual innuendos. We are just "chatting" but unfortunately we are chatting about the "wrong" things......in some peoples eyes at least.

 

[Oddsocks]

The problem is people chat about things, It's a forum, so people will talk even about stuff like this, it's like online councelling

Like you I'm thick skinned, sticks and stones and all that, but with some people getting so easily offended, it really does worry me how they live their day to day life, boy in a bubble springs to mind.

 

[Phil2511]

I have to say that the forum is going to be weaker if the moderating is heavy handed. The "Ice Man Colin" thread didn't seem to get out of hand to me, yes there were strong opinions but no more strong than you might have at work or in the clubhouse. I personally wouldn't like to be on a forum that condoned swearing, threats etc but the mods seem to pull threads rather than lock them at times. A warning that certain posts are ott would help and you could delete those posts. I understand, and agree with the GM wish for the forum to be conducted properly but I also like to be treated like an adult.

The Ice Man thread had at least 7 warnings on it. The 1 sentence replies which were made to goad, back and forth is not pro-active for ANY forum, let alone a commercial forum.

The thread is locked and still in The Lounge and already I have received a PM commenting on how bad it was, and that was after I had removed 35 posts from it of what can only be described as posting for the same of it. That's 3 and a 1/2 pages for people to see and think what kind of forum is this.

None of the moderator team enjoy having to close or remove threads or posts, already we have had 2 quit and others considering it.

If you want to be treated as adults then perhaps its time to start acting like adults. I've 3 kids of 10 and under and they and their multitude of friends don't behave in the way some here have done over the past few days.

MikeH wrote a post just before Xmas

Back in April 2009 I had to post a long message about the state of play as the forum had rather lost its way with too many petty squabbles being played out online, lots of bad language being used and in general forum rules, as they were at the time, being ignored.

Although I haven’t been as regular a visitor (and contributor) as I'd like to be of late I do still stop by to catch up on the chat. I also get emails from forumers flagging up stuff (good and bad)

From what I have seen (and been sent) it's time I posted again.

Almost all of the original post (reprinted below) is still relevant so please read it especially if you’re a newbie but in short the forum exists to provide a platform for golfers to chat about the game and also off topic stuff in the OOB section. However the following is not acceptable…

1 Posts that contain any sexist, racist, homophobic or sectarian content
2 Posts or PMs that are abusive to another forum member
3 Posts that contain swearing. This includes the use of asterisked out swear words or other thinly disguised swear words i.e. ‘fooked’. It might sound draconian but at least it leaves no room for confusion or what is and isn’t OK. I think everyone on here is smart enough to be able to find non-offensive ways of expressing themselves without having to resort to swearing and offending other forumers.
4 Posts that are offensive or in poor taste.
5 Posts that are spam - i.e. posts or messages that are purely posted in a bid to trying to promote or sell services or products.
6 Deliberately posting off topic messages in the wrong forum.
7 Using the for sale forum as an ebay style shop. The for sale forum is for the sale of your own kit you no longer want. (Please see stickied post in the for sale section for definitive rules regarding that section

The rules are the rules - no exceptions no matter who you are. If you transgress you can expect sanctions.

Humour, banter and lively debate are great and what makes the forum enjoyable to use – abuse isn’t. I accept this isn’t a black and white issue but as a rule of thumb don’t post stuff that you wouldn’t be happy to say to someone’s face.

Remember what you say to someone you know will (or should) be different in tone to what you’d say to a complete stranger. If some of the stuff on here – especially of late - was said to a stranger in a pub those who’d uttered it would likely get chinned.

The moderators are appointed by me and act on behalf of GM to try to ensure the forum runs to the guidelines as set down by GM.

A lot of stuff the mods have to deal with is a case of judgement – we ask them to act on the side of caution so even if you think its OK then that doesn’t mean they and GM will.

The mods don’t get it right everytime but the like everyone on here bar spambots they are human so prone to mistakes. If they make one it’s in good faith.

Over the last couple of years a few mods have retired as they don’t have the time get involved anymore so I'm looking to recruit some fresh blood to help out the stalwarts. Please email me if you are interested. It’s a thankless task, you don’t get paid but I might send you a dozen balls now and then. Please form an orderly queue.

As of now if a forum users PMs another forum user any personal abuse there will be no quiet words in your ear, pep talks or even stern warnings I will immediately ban you, your email and IP address – if I see fit that ban will be permanent.

The bottom line is if ‘the forum’ cant exercise a better degree of self-policing and/or accept moderator decisions with better grace then I will shut down the out of bounds section and make this a forum that solely focuses on golf with little room for banter.

I will also stop posting equipment-fitting opportunities on the forum and run them via another channel.

It’ll be dull as you like but it’ll be easy to manage and won’t risk compromising the reputation of Golf Monthly and its parent companies (IPC Media/Time Inc).

If you don’t like the above (or below) its probably time to find another golf forum to get involved in. I’d be confident you’d miss us more than we’ll miss you.


Mike Harris
(GM editor)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

 

[PhilTheFragger]

I'm sorry Smiffy , but your above post is simply mod bashing
If you don't like a mod decision or our interpretation of the rules then you should email MikeH

The constant sniping about mod decisions is bringing the forum down, it will turn off prospective new members and it also damages the image of GM . Also there are members of the mod team who are considering their futures as a result.

Every action the mods take is a reaction to posts written by members. we are not proactive , if everybody played nice, then there wouldn't be a need for any mods.

However it is getting to the point where every mod decision is publicly criticised , this simply must stop
Otherwise we are going to have to clamp down further

On Other forums the mods are quite heavy handed, criticise a mod and you are banned
If you want this forum to go down that route then keep doing what you are doing

In golf if you break a rule you are a cheat. On the forum if you break a rule you get an infraction which some are wearing as a badge of honour . Go figure

 

[Smiffy]

On the forum if you break a rule you get an infraction which some are wearing as a badge of honour . Go figure

My comment about the "badge of honour" wasn't aimed at the member holding the infraction. It was aimed at the mod giving it out. Some mods egos are bigger than their responsibilities. If you think that is "mod bashing" you are wrong. It's "certain mod bashing". We will continue to differ on our interpretation of moderating Fragger, so least said soonest mended.

 

[PhilTheFragger]

So I repeat , got a problem with a mod or mod decision, refer it to MikeH
Otherwise stop bleating