High Number Of CEHST Participants Leaving The Forum

[Dakine10 5,452]

I'm trying to remember his real name.

Duncan? Dustin?

Duncan sounds right.

[GandD 5,966]

The bitterness that has soured respectful debate on any level as been a real problem. Moderation has had to clamp down based on the wishes of the site owner. That's part of it. For the most part, at least what I've seen and been a part of, people issue their own death sentences around here. Fight the establishment despite whether or not the establishment cares. Maybe that's the kind of people that migrate towards forums such as ce&hst's. It's easy and expected to blame the authority but if you read the old threads, it tells you a lot more about the way things could be if people could get over themselves and deal with other people instead of pointing fingers and trying to silence them. Instead it's now thread after thread of trying to lure "the bad guy" into a gotcha moment. It's depressing really. I don't learn perspectives here anymore. I only learn what somebody read and decided to "show" another poster evidence that they're right about some bs.

[Sousuke 1,214]

The bitterness that has soured respectful debate on any level as been a real problem. Moderation has had to clamp down based on the wishes of the site owner. That's part of it. For the most part, at least what I've seen and been a part of, people issue their own death sentences around here. Fight the establishment despite whether or not the establishment cares. Maybe that's the kind of people that migrate towards forums such as ce&hst's. It's easy and expected to blame the authority but if you read the old threads, it tells you a lot more about the way things could be if people could get over themselves and deal with other people instead of pointing fingers and trying to silence them. Instead it's now thread after thread of trying to lure "the bad guy" into a gotcha moment. It's depressing really. I don't learn perspectives here anymore. I only learn what somebody read and decided to "show" another poster evidence that they're right about some bs.

For what its worth, I've never had issues with moderation regarding general TOS issues. Over the years, I've been mainly perplexed by the increased censorship that the site owner has imparted on the site. I'm not talking about deleting racists comments etc, its more the odd ball rules that appeared over time such as the ban on the abbreviation of "Chinese Communist" or censorship of women etc. There are a few others somewhere in the back of my mind but they aren't coming to me at the moment. Oh the need to absolutely stifle anything remotely off topic is another.

[Norton e 1]

Fun times for you guys in past then why keep supporting a heavy censored site?

[Sousuke 1,214]

Fun times for you guys in past then why keep supporting a heavy censored site?

The answer is we aren't if people are leaving.

[TBoneTX 45,288]

Several threads here over the last couple of days have featured very well-reasoned participation. There's never been any doubt that folks here are highly intelligent and are able to express their opinions persuasively, and I enjoy this forum the most when both those qualities shine through. Accusations and baiting, whether overt or covert, detract from the mental stimulation of reading competing arguments about issues of all sorts.

[Teddy B 17,252]

Define longtime? You joined 2012? Is that considered longtime?

No, it's not.

In the last two or 3 months we've lost at least 3 members that have been here since 2006 or earlier, Mr. Big Dog, Venkman(also went by many other names), and it appears Spooky has left the building as well. There have been other not so longtime members like NB, Not A Tailor and others who have left recently as well. It appears to be an ongoing trend for the last year or so.

[Teddy B 17,252]

The bitterness that has soured respectful debate on any level as been a real problem. Moderation has had to clamp down based on the wishes of the site owner. That's part of it. For the most part, at least what I've seen and been a part of, people issue their own death sentences around here. Fight the establishment despite whether or not the establishment cares. Maybe that's the kind of people that migrate towards forums such as ce&hst's. It's easy and expected to blame the authority but if you read the old threads, it tells you a lot more about the way things could be if people could get over themselves and deal with other people instead of pointing fingers and trying to silence them. Instead it's now thread after thread of trying to lure "the bad guy" into a gotcha moment. It's depressing really. I don't learn perspectives here anymore. I only learn what somebody read and decided to "show" another poster evidence that they're right about some bs.

In my opinion moderation has clamped down too much. That in turn has soured people who have for the most part been good posters in the past and given you the results you mention in your post.

This is a political forum, there is going to be baiting, name calling and insults, it comes with the territory. There is no way around that if you want to have this forum. Most all of the regular posters here realize that and do a good job dealing with it in one way or another. If you try to eliminate every last bit of the back n forth that people partake in here, you will end up with no members, just like what is happening now.

G, you were appointed a "special moderator" for this forum a while back at the request of the members here. The whole point of having our own forum mod, who was a regular in this forum, was to have someone that was familiar with the goings on here and the banter that takes place between the members. It was meant to allow the folks here to express themselves a bit more freely than they are allowed to in the other forums. In my opinion this expirement has failed. If anything the moderation in this forum has gotten worse. Moderation is clamping down on things they never used to and in turn people are getting fed up, acting out and eventually leaving.

Why can't this forum be password protected and allow only those members who agree to a forum TOS that states there may be offensive content in the forum? That would allow people to express themselves a bit more freely and it would give the moderators much more time to patrol the other forums. I'm not talking about a free for all, but a more lax interpretation of the rules would be nice. I have asked this in the past but it has fallen on deaf ears.

[Teddy B 17,252]

I fully admit I love to report mainly tos

If you do that in this forum, then you are part of the problem.

[GandD 5,966]

In my opinion moderation has clamped down too much. That in turn has soured people who have for the most part been good posters in the past and given you the results you mention in your post.

This is a political forum, there is going to be baiting, name calling and insults, it comes with the territory. There is no way around that if you want to have this forum. Most all of the regular posters here realize that and do a good job dealing with it in one way or another. If you try to eliminate every last bit of the back n forth that people partake in here, you will end up with no members, just like what is happening now.

G, you were appointed a "special moderator" for this forum a while back at the request of the members here. The whole point of having our own forum mod, who was a regular in this forum, was to have someone that was familiar with the goings on here and the banter that takes place between the members. It was meant to allow the folks here to express themselves a bit more freely than they are allowed to in the other forums. In my opinion this expirement has failed. If anything the moderation in this forum has gotten worse. Moderation is clamping down on things they never used to and in turn people are getting fed up, acting out and eventually leaving.

Why can't this forum be password protected and allow only those members who agree to a forum TOS that states there may be offensive content in the forum? That would allow people to express themselves a bit more freely and it would give the moderators much more time to patrol the other forums. I'm not talking about a free for all, but a more lax interpretation of the rules would be nice. I have asked this in the past but it has fallen on deaf ears.

What you think the forum should be differs from what that site owner thinks. And the password thing will never happen IMO.

And I can tell you from experience, allowing people to debate always ends up with people trying to pull you in to moderate the opposition. It's a regular thing. Moderation shows up when called. So you guys can turn that finger the other way.

[Teddy B 17,252]

What you think the forum should be differs from what that site owner thinks. And the password thing will never happen IMO.

And I can tell you from experience, allowing people to debate always ends up with people trying to pull you in to moderate the opposition. It's a regular thing. Moderation shows up when called. So you guys can turn that finger the other way.

What I think the forum should be is what most other succesful political forums are. Heavy moderation in a political forum never works.

Then don't allow them to pull you in unless it is something serious. The whole point of having you here as a mod was to prevent the silly reporting.

[-relo- 105]

What I think the forum should be is what most other succesful political forums are. Heavy moderation in a political forum never works.

Then don't allow them to pull you in unless it is something serious. The whole point of having you here as a mod was to prevent the silly reporting.

imo this forum isn't heavily moderated. its likely the most heavily reported. this forum is afforded leniency towards enforcement of the tos, by design. the problem is many take that leniency too far. when a moderator does warn or request that someone tone it down a bit, they're accused of bias. when someone repeatedly steps over the line (and we know when we're dancing on it) moderation has to take action. if they don't the behavior almost never corrects itself.

[Teddy B 17,252]

imo this forum isn't heavily moderated. its likely the most heavily reported. this forum is afforded leniency towards enforcement of the tos, by design. the problem is many take that leniency too far. when a moderator does warn or request that someone tone it down a bit, they're accused of bias. when someone repeatedly steps over the line (and we know when we're dancing on it) moderation has to take action. if they don't the behavior almost never corrects itself.

There are people who simply sit behind the scenes and read the posts here so they can report the TOS violations. If a forum is heavily reported, than it stands to reason that it is also heavily moderated. Sure you will always have peeps that push the limits and those people deserve to be banned for their actions. The rules of this board do not support the workings of a political forum, it needs to be separated.

When you have posters being banned for accusing another poster of being a sock puppet(when that poster clearly was), or posters being banned for dancing around a ridiculous word filter that prevents you from referring to the former Vice President by his first name, or being banned for posting pictures of women that show cleavage(all the while VJ runs adds to hook up with foreign women pictured scantily clothed), or my fave a poster being banned for "inciting violence" by posting a politically biased article and not being allowed to return until he admitted such, is not just heavy moderation, it is a dictatorship.

[decocker 7,198]

If you do that in this forum, then you are part of the problem.

as a person who has maybe hit the report button two or three times in the entirety of my cehst presence, i have to agree.

the posters that i've noticed sticking around (for the most part) are pretty darn good at standing their ground while letting others stand theirs. some posters absolutely don't know how to balance themselves without knocking someone else down. it's difficult to respond to these types of posters without getting down on their level. political forums pretty much have to allow a low blow every now and then. and participants have to hold back on pressing the report button and try to find a clever way to respond without getting the thread locked or themselves booted. it's just the nature of the beast.

that being said, i think that being overly moderated is the biggest issue. if we can't tolerate little jabs and jokes at each others' expense in a forum such as this, then all the life is gone and posting is zero fun. my opinion.

[GandD 5,966]

What I think the forum should be is what most other succesful political forums are. Heavy moderation in a political forum never works.

Then don't allow them to pull you in unless it is something serious. The whole point of having you here as a mod was to prevent the silly reporting.

This didn't work.