Dr. Shades wrote:In practice, this means:
- Avoiding suspensions and bans like the plague. This means striving with people, giving them chances, and borderline begging them to reform their behavior so that they can remain on the board.
- Avoiding censorship as much as humanly possible. To that end, this means always giving people the benefit of the doubt and otherwise trying to see each comment from every angle in order to find a way for it to A) avoid being edited, or B) remain in its current forum without being moved elsewhere.
- Allowing everyone to have his or her say. This means absolutely no moderation based solely on the specifics of any poster's mere opinion, no matter how irksome that opinion may be to any number of others.
- Avoiding an "agenda" at all costs. You'll notice that pretty much every other LDS-oriented message board caters to some niche corner of the market. We have MD&D for Mopologists and Mopologetics, we have RfM for ex-Mormons (especially hostile ones), we have ex-Mo Social for, uh, social events among ex-Mormons; we have LDS.net for Chapel Mormons, and the list goes on. By avoiding adopting an agenda--or even a theme--anyone and everyone is fully welcome to post here and nobody can feel left out. This board is for discussion of Mormonism, literally nothing more.
- Utterly avoiding the quest for "balance." Now, that probably throws you for a loop. It may also make you (RayAgostini) say, "Aha! I knew it!" But that's not what I mean at all. You see, the minute that moderators start going out of their way to court posters with a minority point of view, whether pro- or con-, in that very selfsame minute two things happen: A) Some posters become more valuable than others, which is something I absolutely refuse to have happen; and B) some points of view become more valuable than others, which is also something I refuse to have happen. Sure, a variety of viewpoints make any board more interesting, but moderators actively going out and courting it is the death-knell to the free expression of its members. Just look at what happened to ZLMB: They quested for perfect balance, and it destroyed the board.
- Treating all posters with 100% equality, regardless of post count, opinion, or length of sojourn on the board. This ensures that moderation is applied fairly and prevents "cliques" from forming.
- Allowing the posters to set the tone and direction of the board, not the moderators. I think this fosters a much greater sense of ownership among everyone, which can only be a good thing, in my opinion. In addition, it not only goes a long way toward ensuring that every other bulleted item in this list is adhered to faithfully, but it opens the door toward even greater freedom of speech for everyone.
- Allowing cross-posting. As far as I'm aware, this is the only message board in the entire LDS cyberverse that allows this. In this way, we can lay claim to every interesting or noteworthy discussion taking place anywhere in said cyberverse--thus truly becoming "Mormon Discussions" in every possible way. If others are having fun, I see no reason why we can't join in the fun, too.
- Having transparent moderation. First, this means not hiding behind false moderator login names. Second, it means never leaving posters without a recourse should they take issue with some moderatorial action or other. Third, it means that moderators don't become some sort of "privileged class" that's impervious to criticism. This board recognizes that if moderators are wrong about something, improvement can only be made if communication channels are open.
- Absolutely never closing threads. This ensures that people can take their time and craft the best responses they can, knowing that their posts will always show up precisely where and when they're meant to. It also ensures that the board stays interesting, since all conversations will live to the end of their "natural lifespans" without moderatorial fiat.
That looks like a nice “charter” of ideals. First of all, it is generally accepted wisdom that an unmoderated, or less moderated board,
will be somewhat chaotic, and at times very chaotic. Regardless of the Terrestrial rules, posters are called names, labeled, and slandered. In other words personal attacks are
frequent (I don’t absolve myself, especially when I’m forced to defend myself in a forum where there is in fact little or no moderation). If you go through almost any thread now going in the Terrestrial you’ll find them contrary to (possibly with the exception of the last item):
RULES FOR THE TERRESTRIAL FORUM AND THE OFF-TOPIC FORUM:- Keep all communications "Rated PG" to "Rated PG-13" or better.
- No blatant or otherwise obvious personal attacks allowed.
- Do not use the "F" or "S" words or any of their many variants. Altering the spelling or substituting a symbol for a character does not give you a free pass to disregard this rule.
- No specific temple content allowed.
So, I question the wisdom of this:
Dr. Shades wrote: [list][*]Avoiding suspensions and bans like the plague. This means striving with people, giving them chances, and borderline begging them to reform their behavior so that they can remain on the board.
[*]Avoiding censorship as much as humanly possible. To that end, this means always giving people the benefit of the doubt and otherwise trying to see each comment from every angle in order to find a way for it to A) avoid being edited, or B) remain in its current forum without being moved elsewhere.
[*]Allowing everyone to have his or her say. This means absolutely no moderation based solely on the specifics of any poster's mere opinion, no matter how irksome that opinion may be to any number of others.
Do you agree that, in practice, there has been a failure to implement Terrestrial rules stemming from a lack of moderation? Then is it worth even
having such rules? Moderators should never have to “borderline beg” any poster to get into line. While this laissez-faire approach may give some the warm fuzzies, it creates an atmosphere where, in fact, cliques do develop, which sometimes turns into mob-rule. That’s where cliques gang up against one or more posters who hold different ideas/ideals/beliefs. So the very thing you’re trying to avoid is actually happening, and that is:
Dr. Shades wrote: [*]Avoiding an "agenda" at all costs. You'll notice that pretty much every other LDS-oriented message board caters to some niche corner of the market. We have MD&D for Mopologists and Mopologetics, we have RfM for ex-Mormons (especially hostile ones), we have ex-Mo Social for, uh, social events among ex-Mormons; we have LDS.net for Chapel Mormons, and the list goes on. By avoiding adopting an agenda--or even a theme--anyone and everyone is fully welcome to post here and nobody can feel left out. This board is for discussion of Mormonism, literally nothing more
[*]Treating all posters with 100% equality, regardless of post count, opinion, or length of sojourn on the board. This ensures that moderation is applied fairly and prevents "cliques" from forming.
.
Sure, “we have Mormons”, but how many did we
originally have? Have you been asleep, Shades, while some of the best Mormon posters have deserted this board in droves? Have you listened to what they said, and what some are still saying now? When I quoted what Nevo said before he left the board, I was basically told that Nevo could go shove it if he didn’t like it here.
Hopefully, the police treat everyone “equally”, including where it comes to
enforcing the law. Again, bear in mind what I said about the consensus of opinion that unmoderated or less moderated boards tend to be chaotic and sometimes out of control. That’s what happens in a society, too, where the police fail to enforce the law. I don’t know why you think that if people need law enforcement in real life (I presume you do), “to keep the peace”, they’re not going to need it on a message board. That seems an exceptionally skewed viewpoint. Remember “Joseph”? Well let “Joseph” be one example why rules need to be enforced, and they shouldn’t just apply to him. He was a black sheep with a different opinion, and while it is true he became a “threat” to MDB, I’m using him as an example of what can potentially happen when mods have to “borderline beg” posters to get into line.
Incidentally, can you please answer me this question:
Was “Mattie” banned from this board?. If so, on what grounds?
“We have Mormons”? There’s another one we no longer have?
Why? (See my points above.)
Some helpful hints:
Moderators are an important aspect of keeping online discussion communities clean, relevant and enjoyable. The role of an online moderator involves policing and enforcing forum rules and policies. Depending on the message board, moderators are given certain powers to modify or delete posts and to suspend or ban non-complying members. It's an intricate juggling act involving many facets from lending a helping hand to members in need to maintaining order within the community.
Pedantic or obsessive moderation can be worse than no moderation whatsoever.
When should you take action and how?
If you find an inappropriate comment, contact the member direct (don't embarrass them in front of their peers), explain or point them to the relevant rule and allow the member to remove the comment themselves. They will appreciate being treated as a valued user.
Moderating Online Forums - How to Moderate Discussion Sites.
Moderation is necessary so all users can participate in discussions without fear of intimidation by other users or being subjected to offensive content. Also, people may intentionally or unintentionally post content that is unlawful, putting themselves as well as the BBC at risk of legal action. Moderation helps avoid expensive legal action that could cost hundreds of thousands of pounds of licence-fee payers' money.
Why must we have moderation on BBC boards?.
And finally:
RULES FOR THE TERRESTRIAL FORUM AND THE OFF-TOPIC FORUM:
Keep all communications "Rated PG" to "Rated PG-13" or better.
No blatant or otherwise obvious personal attacks allowed.Do not use the "F" or "S" words or any of their many variants. Altering the spelling or substituting a symbol for a character does not give you a free pass to disregard this rule.
No specific temple content allowed.
As an addendum to the above, if you want to "go the extra mile" and become one of the truly great posters around here, then follow the additional instructions on
this page.
Go to the “this page” link. I would certainly not go to the extreme that board does, but this again shows that while you do have high ideals and hopes for “perfect posters”, you fail to realise that this isn’t going to work without moderation, or “law enforcement”.
That’s to answer your question as you why I’m dissatisfied with this board. I realise that change will probably be impossible at this stage, so I’m not unrealistically expecting miracles, but I hope this answers your question.
PS: I'm quite happy to post on boards where rules are strictly enforced (with the exception of MDDB), and in fact I like posting on boards where I know moderators will protect people from slander or character assassination.