Evening all
I'd be fairly confident that everyone who is signed up to be a member of this forum would agree with the ethos/idea that this forum should be about...
Golf chat, free speech, heated debates and off topic discussions, arranging games of golf, selling on your unwanted kit to other forumers and finding answer to a query you have.
So, having been off the forum since yesterday lunchtime and logged on to catch up on stuff but instead see all the angry/accusatory threads that have been flying around left me feeling a bit saddened.
I think one of the major issues is that there haven't been clear guidelines issued by GM on what is and isn't acceptable in terms of posts and that's 100% MY fault. It is (finally) addressed below.
Once the GM forum grew so much that it got beyond self-policing and I felt the GM staff and I really needed help to keep an eye on what was going on, as we simply can't be on the forum as much as we'd like.
So I asked for volunteers to put their hands up to act as moderators in a bid to keep everything running as smoothly as possible. I received a number of emails from those who wanted to help out and appointed 6 moderators. Medwayjon, TonyN, GB72, Atticus_Finch, Madandra and Twiregolf and Brendy. I made my choice based on who I thought would do the job well, how long they'd been forum members and how much they'd contributed to date to the forum (a combined total of over 10,000 posts) and the fact that in my opinion all of them typified the 'vibe' of the forum.
Again it was remiss of me not to post what responsibilities/authority moderators have and again this had lead to some understandable confusion
Much of it is common sense and also in the sub text of each forum already but so it's all here in black and white here goes...
* What is not acceptable...
1 Posts that contain any sexist, racist or homophobic content
2 Posts or PMs that are abusive to another forum member
3 Posts that contain swearing. I feel this also includes the use of asterisked out swear words. 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 any other former.
4 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.
5 Deliberately posting off topic messages in the wrong forum.
6 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.
* Moderator responsibilities/authorities
1 To ensure the above guidelines are adhered to by forum members and that the ‘reputation of the forum’ (see below) is not damaged
2 To move posts to the correct sub forum if they have been posted
3 If necessary remove a post/thread if in the moderators opinion it is unsuitable for any of the forums listed on the GM site
4 To alert GM staff to any issues that they feel they do not have the authority to deal with.
* Sticky posts - Only I or the other GM staff (not moderators) have the ability to make a post sticky and I use my judgement as to what I think is worth stickying because they are either a) important b) I don’t want the getting knocked on to page 2 and so out of sight before I feel enough forumers have had the opportunity to see it.
I will make a post sticky because it might be a bit of research we need your help with, feedback on what new things on the mag or online you'd like to see, a poll, an important bit of news to share or to celebrate and highlight one of the very best things about the forum - the get togethers/games of golf/matches that are happening. And for that reason I felt the England Scotland match, Ascot forum meet deserved stickying as they both involved circa 20 members. I always try to make the subject line of the post as uncryptic as possible so as not to waste anyone’s time and these posts are not stickyed forever so if you're not interested in the content or if you feel it doesn’t apply to you then quite simply, don’t read it!
* “The reputation of the forumâ€
I have always said that this forum belongs to the forumers. Sure, IPC Media the owners of GM host it but it would be nothing without the forumers who are members and post here. That said it does not reflect well on the forum (and by assoctaion the Golf Monthly brand and IPC Media) if either potential new forumers who are considering joining in, or GM advertisers have a look in at what’s going on and see fellow forumers name-calling and being abusive to one another. If that happens either me or the moderators will act to move/remove posts and as a very last resort if a forumer does not adhere to the rules, implement a temporary or even permanent ban.
Apologies for the long-winded ramble but I feel a number of things needed outlining and clarifying. I will leave this a sticky post for two days but have put a copy in the “How To Use†the Forum sub forum.
If I have haven’t answered any of your questions or addressed any of your concerns in the above then I’m happy to answer them either on the forum, through a PM or feel free to email me direct at michael_harris@ipcmedia.com.
It’s my hope that we can see this an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and move on from here
I'd be fairly confident that everyone who is signed up to be a member of this forum would agree with the ethos/idea that this forum should be about...
Golf chat, free speech, heated debates and off topic discussions, arranging games of golf, selling on your unwanted kit to other forumers and finding answer to a query you have.
So, having been off the forum since yesterday lunchtime and logged on to catch up on stuff but instead see all the angry/accusatory threads that have been flying around left me feeling a bit saddened.
I think one of the major issues is that there haven't been clear guidelines issued by GM on what is and isn't acceptable in terms of posts and that's 100% MY fault. It is (finally) addressed below.
Once the GM forum grew so much that it got beyond self-policing and I felt the GM staff and I really needed help to keep an eye on what was going on, as we simply can't be on the forum as much as we'd like.
So I asked for volunteers to put their hands up to act as moderators in a bid to keep everything running as smoothly as possible. I received a number of emails from those who wanted to help out and appointed 6 moderators. Medwayjon, TonyN, GB72, Atticus_Finch, Madandra and Twiregolf and Brendy. I made my choice based on who I thought would do the job well, how long they'd been forum members and how much they'd contributed to date to the forum (a combined total of over 10,000 posts) and the fact that in my opinion all of them typified the 'vibe' of the forum.
Again it was remiss of me not to post what responsibilities/authority moderators have and again this had lead to some understandable confusion
Much of it is common sense and also in the sub text of each forum already but so it's all here in black and white here goes...
* What is not acceptable...
1 Posts that contain any sexist, racist or homophobic content
2 Posts or PMs that are abusive to another forum member
3 Posts that contain swearing. I feel this also includes the use of asterisked out swear words. 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 any other former.
4 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.
5 Deliberately posting off topic messages in the wrong forum.
6 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.
* Moderator responsibilities/authorities
1 To ensure the above guidelines are adhered to by forum members and that the ‘reputation of the forum’ (see below) is not damaged
2 To move posts to the correct sub forum if they have been posted
3 If necessary remove a post/thread if in the moderators opinion it is unsuitable for any of the forums listed on the GM site
4 To alert GM staff to any issues that they feel they do not have the authority to deal with.
* Sticky posts - Only I or the other GM staff (not moderators) have the ability to make a post sticky and I use my judgement as to what I think is worth stickying because they are either a) important b) I don’t want the getting knocked on to page 2 and so out of sight before I feel enough forumers have had the opportunity to see it.
I will make a post sticky because it might be a bit of research we need your help with, feedback on what new things on the mag or online you'd like to see, a poll, an important bit of news to share or to celebrate and highlight one of the very best things about the forum - the get togethers/games of golf/matches that are happening. And for that reason I felt the England Scotland match, Ascot forum meet deserved stickying as they both involved circa 20 members. I always try to make the subject line of the post as uncryptic as possible so as not to waste anyone’s time and these posts are not stickyed forever so if you're not interested in the content or if you feel it doesn’t apply to you then quite simply, don’t read it!
* “The reputation of the forumâ€
I have always said that this forum belongs to the forumers. Sure, IPC Media the owners of GM host it but it would be nothing without the forumers who are members and post here. That said it does not reflect well on the forum (and by assoctaion the Golf Monthly brand and IPC Media) if either potential new forumers who are considering joining in, or GM advertisers have a look in at what’s going on and see fellow forumers name-calling and being abusive to one another. If that happens either me or the moderators will act to move/remove posts and as a very last resort if a forumer does not adhere to the rules, implement a temporary or even permanent ban.
Apologies for the long-winded ramble but I feel a number of things needed outlining and clarifying. I will leave this a sticky post for two days but have put a copy in the “How To Use†the Forum sub forum.
If I have haven’t answered any of your questions or addressed any of your concerns in the above then I’m happy to answer them either on the forum, through a PM or feel free to email me direct at michael_harris@ipcmedia.com.
It’s my hope that we can see this an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and move on from here
