There has recently been some criticism of the moderation service on this forum, particularly the Chit Chat forum.
The Chit Chat forum is for "For non-caravan issues: jokes, trivia, gossip." It is intended to be a place for light-hearted posts - the sort of chat you'd expect when a group of strangers meet up on a caravan park. Nothing too heavy, nothing too serious.
From time to time members have launched heavyweight threads on politics, child-rearing, immigrants, you know the rest. Mostly they are posted genuinely by bona-fide members. Sometimes they are posted as wind-ups by those who like to stir. Then it all goes wrong. Whether it be trolls posting abusive or insulting replies, or genuine members losing their temper and over-reacting, these threads almost inevitably seem to degenerate and become a verbal brawl.
It can be incredibly difficult to moderate these threads. They usually slide downhill so gradually, with a terse comment posted by one member attracting a sharp reply from another, each post in itself not quite 'abusive', but enough to warrant another response a little more barbed. Before long the insults are flying thick and fast. Then along comes the moderator who has to try and identify at what point things got out of hand. He/she then has to edit or delete subsequent abusive posts,and all of this on a seriously non-user-friendly Control Panel. It really can take up to an hour to sort out one wayward thread. Hardly surprising that on a couple of occasions an obviously contentious thread has been deleted in a pre-emptive strike.
There wouldn't be a problem if members could only stay cool and not take things so personally or literally, or nit-pick, or exagerate, or take words out of context, and generally say things that cause offence. Remember that quote from the film Bambi: "If you can't say nothing nice, say nothing at all."
No doubt all of this post will soon be well disected, distorted and regurgitated.
With Mod3 on long term leave, it only leaves Mod2 and I to mind the ship. We are not employees of Haymarket, although my position has changed since March as I now formally do freelance work on several Haymarket websites, which does include keeping an eye on their forums.
It can be a thankless job. We have been accused of bias, favouritism, censorship, abuse of power, victimisation, arrogance, and many other things we wouldn't allow anyone to say to another forum member!
As for the recent criticisms - well, someone has to draw a line and make a stand, and that is what a moderator is there for. We do so under the watchful eye of the publisher and the editor and we are not power-crazed autocrats as one unhappy ex-member claimed.
Everyone has different standards, tastes, preferences, morals - need I go on. We'll never please everyone, and whatever we do will annoy or offend someone. We just have to act as we see fit, within the general ethos of the forum on an online family caravanning website.
Contentious or inflamatory threads will be closely monitored and in some cases deleted if necessary.
I believe we have a fair middle-of-the-road approach to what is appropriate on this forum, and until the publishers decide otherwise, that's the way we'll be playing it.
There are lots of forums out there. It's up to each indiidual to find one that meets his/her needs and interests. It's not really fair to join a forum and then attempt to change it and it's other members to your way of thinking.
The Chit Chat forum is for "For non-caravan issues: jokes, trivia, gossip." It is intended to be a place for light-hearted posts - the sort of chat you'd expect when a group of strangers meet up on a caravan park. Nothing too heavy, nothing too serious.
From time to time members have launched heavyweight threads on politics, child-rearing, immigrants, you know the rest. Mostly they are posted genuinely by bona-fide members. Sometimes they are posted as wind-ups by those who like to stir. Then it all goes wrong. Whether it be trolls posting abusive or insulting replies, or genuine members losing their temper and over-reacting, these threads almost inevitably seem to degenerate and become a verbal brawl.
It can be incredibly difficult to moderate these threads. They usually slide downhill so gradually, with a terse comment posted by one member attracting a sharp reply from another, each post in itself not quite 'abusive', but enough to warrant another response a little more barbed. Before long the insults are flying thick and fast. Then along comes the moderator who has to try and identify at what point things got out of hand. He/she then has to edit or delete subsequent abusive posts,and all of this on a seriously non-user-friendly Control Panel. It really can take up to an hour to sort out one wayward thread. Hardly surprising that on a couple of occasions an obviously contentious thread has been deleted in a pre-emptive strike.
There wouldn't be a problem if members could only stay cool and not take things so personally or literally, or nit-pick, or exagerate, or take words out of context, and generally say things that cause offence. Remember that quote from the film Bambi: "If you can't say nothing nice, say nothing at all."
No doubt all of this post will soon be well disected, distorted and regurgitated.
With Mod3 on long term leave, it only leaves Mod2 and I to mind the ship. We are not employees of Haymarket, although my position has changed since March as I now formally do freelance work on several Haymarket websites, which does include keeping an eye on their forums.
It can be a thankless job. We have been accused of bias, favouritism, censorship, abuse of power, victimisation, arrogance, and many other things we wouldn't allow anyone to say to another forum member!
As for the recent criticisms - well, someone has to draw a line and make a stand, and that is what a moderator is there for. We do so under the watchful eye of the publisher and the editor and we are not power-crazed autocrats as one unhappy ex-member claimed.
Everyone has different standards, tastes, preferences, morals - need I go on. We'll never please everyone, and whatever we do will annoy or offend someone. We just have to act as we see fit, within the general ethos of the forum on an online family caravanning website.
Contentious or inflamatory threads will be closely monitored and in some cases deleted if necessary.
I believe we have a fair middle-of-the-road approach to what is appropriate on this forum, and until the publishers decide otherwise, that's the way we'll be playing it.
There are lots of forums out there. It's up to each indiidual to find one that meets his/her needs and interests. It's not really fair to join a forum and then attempt to change it and it's other members to your way of thinking.
Facebook
Twitter