Opinions on moderating?

BenderRodriguez

P.s. This article from the rock climbing blog To Hatch a Crow, pretty much nails moderation on The Guardian, much of which also applies to forums such as this.

The commercial agenda which drives outdoor publishing acts as a dead hand on creativity. Publications these days live in terror that the sponsors will pull the plug on advertising revenue should they put out a controversial or politically incorrect article. However, there is also a socio/cultural undercurrent to all this. Climb, like most outdoor publications shares a ‘Guardianist’ approach to issues like feminism, ecology, racism etc. That’s fine as far as it goes but there comes a point when political correctness assumes an authoritarian tone when dealing with views which fall outside of the considered norm. Witness the Guardian’s Draconian approach to moderation on their ironically titled ‘Comment is Free’ range of articles. The irony being that the Tory Telegraph is much more liberal in its moderation of right to reply articles and than the left of centre Guardian. As someone who has always supported freedom of speech and a right to reply, I find politically correct censorship as bad as authoritarian censorship. In fact it’s probably worse in that those with liberal/progressive views should know better!

http://tohatchacrow.blogspot.fr/2013/11 ... -milk.html

supersonic

Regarding forum users, I've noticed a large drop on the MTB side. A few years back there were many more posts and questions - and a lot more trolls. They have mostly gone, but the figures don't seem to be recovering (though I am told they are starting to). There has been little moderating to do to be honest, and even the commuters are behaving.

ballysmate

Veronese68 wrote:

Ballysmate wrote:

Did V68 not more than ably fill your shoes?

I object to any implications of competence, that's something I have never professed to have. I just have a far more relaxed way of looking at things, this does upset some people.

Competence? I said you were able to fill his shoes, I didn't bestow any notion of or wish to imply the need for competence to do so.
Sorry for any confusion caused.

itboffin

supersonic wrote:

Regarding forum users, I've noticed a large drop on the MTB side. A few years back there were many more posts and questions - and a lot more trolls. They have mostly gone, but the figures don't seem to be recovering (though I am told they are starting to). There has been little moderating to do to be honest, and even the commuters are behaving.

you know i wonder is that a trend in cycling in general now are there more road and commuting type cyclists than mtb ?

capt_slog

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Pinno wrote:

I guess that because I don't frequent parts of the forum, I don't get the impression of the bling brigade. I spend very little on bike bits which may please Ugo.
Probably sounds silly coming from me but an open minded female moderator would be a good thing.

It's probably because you don't frequent those parts of the forum. I wouldn't call it bling, I would say that the focus is more on the bicycle than it is on the cycling, as pointed out earlier by other user... so the road buying section is way busier than the section where we talk about routes, rides and such... it's even busier than the workshop section! :shock:

I have worked out that the total amount of gear that passes hands in the classfied section per year should buy you a very decent detatched house outside London. If BR charged a small percentage on every transaction, like auction sites do, I bet they could pay one full time person to look after it. That is not because the volume of deals is huge, but rather because the average price of the bikes and components on sale is very high.
You see second hand bikes going for 2-3K, second hand wheels going for half a grand and so on.

That reminds me of hi-fi in the 70s and it might still be the same, (don't know or care), but the aficionados spent all their time listening to the equipment rather than the music. I had a friend who had no idea how a certain piece of melody actually went, because he only ever heard the bass line at home

ugo.santalucia

itboffin wrote:

supersonic wrote:

Regarding forum users, I've noticed a large drop on the MTB side. A few years back there were many more posts and questions - and a lot more trolls. They have mostly gone, but the figures don't seem to be recovering (though I am told they are starting to). There has been little moderating to do to be honest, and even the commuters are behaving.

you know i wonder is that a trend in cycling in general now are there more road and commuting type cyclists than mtb ?

I do believe so too. MTB has become too extreme and less attractive... they hardly look like bicycles these days

supersonic

There was an article on this recently (I forget where) discussing the image of MTB, and it seems that quite a lot of the public associate it with Red Bull events and that type of extreme riding, and a bunch of people who tear the countryside up on their very expensive near motorcross style machines. I do think the image has shifted from a more xc/trail persona, though downhill has been around for a long time - but that had a 'bad boy' image too. No doubt that MTB magazine sales have dropped, though that could be due to more online media.

ddraver

Isnt that what Enduro is supposed to sort out 'sonic?

andcp

ugo.santalucia wrote:

itboffin wrote:

supersonic wrote:

Regarding forum users, I've noticed a large drop on the MTB side. A few years back there were many more posts and questions - and a lot more trolls. They have mostly gone, but the figures don't seem to be recovering (though I am told they are starting to). There has been little moderating to do to be honest, and even the commuters are behaving.

you know i wonder is that a trend in cycling in general now are there more road and commuting type cyclists than mtb ?

I do believe so too. MTB has become too extreme and less attractive... they hardly look like bicycles these days

On the other hand, maybe the MTB crew are on another forum - Singletrack seems to be lively. Also, it seems to me that where I live (Derbyhire) MTB is no any less popular now that it has been in the past, and Cross seems to be booming.

ballysmate

Slowmart wrote:

Pinno wrote:

I have posted on the women's section of the forum and got totally blanked?! This I cannot understand. Someone wanted some advice about a first 'decent' bike for £500 and in another thread, I made some light hearted non-sexist jokes about unpadded bib tights.... then the inexplicable tumbleweed moment.
.

Perhaps thats the equivalent of using the female toilets and starting a conversation at the sametime while leaving the door ajar?

I'm happy to talk cycling with anyone and listen to their opinion, be it Donald trump, Corbyn, Boris or Doris .... Even Glaswegians who use kitchen foil for bar tape or accountants who get 'uplifts' up a hill rather than cycle. :shock:


So what can we use as a fanny magnet?

Can I nominate Sean?
Where's the pic of his selfie gone?

seanoconn

You didn't download my selfie!? PM me the pose you'd like and I'll see what I can do

pinno

seanoconn wrote:

You didn't download my selfie!? PM me the pose you'd like and I'll see what I can do

...and you did not detect ANY hint of sarcasm?

Your postcode is wrong. Your wallet is too thin and your car is not flash enough.

ugo.santalucia

At least in my days we had a bit of freedom to kick out shit-faces without having to fill too many forms :-)

pinno

ugo.santalucia wrote:

At least in my days we had a bit of freedom to kick out shit-faces without having to fill too many forms :-)

:

Create a job:

Nerd wanted: Who likes filling out forms, county wide. Helmet provided.