FAO: Josh

pinno

Yep.

I guess the bottom line is advertising and promotion of events and products. A healthy forum is conducive to that and the two should be mutually inclusive. That's the lever.

ugo.santalucia

Pinno wrote:

I don't quite understand that. Why should on mod per forum dissuade people from roaming into other parts of the forum?
Anyway, friendly mods who get stuck in and keep things rolling (Nick Louse in CC, VN in BB for example). Moderation is surely not simply about discipline and handing out warnings.

Based on the evidence of a forum that is (was) singlehandedly moderated (by Rick), I would not go that route. On the surface all is well, but if you look at the number of posts Vs number of contributors, you will find that the race forum has by far the highest ratio. What it means is that it is a small club, if you are not part of the club you need to say something pretty outrageous to get a reply... borderline trolling... so in essence it's not very open to newcomers... in the way the Workshop area or the beginners are are...
If you add the widespread use of jargon and references to each others previous comments and actions... it really is a boys club.

A few months ago I posted a new topic about Malori and it got zero replies... here

viewtopic.php?f=40002&t=13071007&p=19975004&hilit=malori#p19975004

had the same topic been posted by one of the regulars it would have been different. You can hopefully see what I mean

smoggysteve

I think we just need a few regular level headed people who can look at any posts that get reported. Better to have a decision shared amongst many than leaving one to decide what is acceptable behaviour. I may be more lenient than another or more harsh but if you let the mods decide together you could come up with a fairer way of deciding what to do. It shouldn't be forum specific just make sure they don't get out of hand

pinno

Pro Race is particularly clique and is not a good example. However, I cannot pin that on RC. Although if the remit of a mod was clear where the role is pro-active, maybe Pro Race wouldn't be so exclusive.
Pro race isn't adding anything negative to the forum and it rarely kicks off in there but on the other hand, it doesn't add anything positive in terms of traffic. So it's neutral in it's impact and that isn't so good.
I have had threads that I have posted that have fallen flat in CS and BB and you can't say i'm not a regular. Doesn't mean a thing. Not that I whole heartedly disagree with you.

ugo.santalucia

SmoggySteve wrote:

I think we just need a few regular level headed people who can look at any posts that get reported. Better to have a decision shared amongst many than leaving one to decide what is acceptable behaviour. I may be more lenient than another or more harsh but if you let the mods decide together you could come up with a fairer way of deciding what to do. It shouldn't be forum specific just make sure they don't get out of hand

Have a look at LFGSS... it's not moderated, but basically there is a group of old timers who make sure any silly behaviour is discouraged, stupid remarks ignored etc.. The treatment you receive can be quite muscular, if not bullish at times, but there is very little in the way of trolling... light years away from what happens here

smoggysteve

LFGSS is maybe not niche but certainly not as visable to all comers as BR. This forum is bolted onto one of the biggest Cycling websites when you google Cycling or see ads on other sites. It therefore is likely to track in a more diverse reader base. Its probably one of the more aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate forums I have found which keeps people coming. Its kind of a victim of its own success in a way. The more people on it the more likelyhood of conflicting views and heated discussions it almost turns into the readers comments columns you get in newspaper stories. The venom that gets spat in them is horrendous and sometimes funny ( anyone who watches modern life is goodish - found poems!) you have a lot of people come here for help. A lot of people come here to help. Some to cause an argument or troll. You will always get it you just need the right approach to dealing with it

itboffin

Veronese68 wrote:

itboffin wrote:

BR even ran an article (and bought drinks) and apart from the odd visit all of the original SCR people dont post, love us or hate us we had some funny threads.

It would be a shame if the community spirit that was gets totally lost to the trolls.

PS. lose the god awful outbrain style ad banners, there are millions of less offensive services

Josh bought a few of us a drink a year or so ago, where were you?
I agree with most others that there is a happy medium somewhere between Josh being overworked and heavy handed moderation. At the moment we, but mainly Josh, have to deal with the hand we have been dealt. I report a few things that I think overstep the mark, but try not to bury him in trivia as there is too much for one person to deal with. If you think something isn't right, please use the report button.
I should stop responding to trolls as well, unfortunately I find it hard to resist.
Enough of being sensible, I should do some work then abuse Piña on the forum.

whenever I go out with you lot i end up with something broken, usually me :roll:

BikeRadarAdmin

FWIW I have taken note of the conversation thus far.

As mentioned before, my door is always open. Feel free to PM me or I can forward my email on should any of you wish to discuss further.

Cheers.

vinnymarsden

I was banned by a VERY zealous mod in the sales section for what was described as "blatant abuse of the RULES" I apparently had 2 threads open at once!! To be fair he did give me a few warnings, which were rather childish, but as a mod he had the power...so I was banned for a time!!
I do agree though, the general conversation quality has gone down, if you make what you feel is a level well balanced comment, there is always someone trolling who will just basically tell you that you are wrong!
Most of the topics actually have no definitive wrong and right to them, so one opinion is as valid as the next, however, I would cite the Wiggins Legend thread in Pro Race as a prime example of how bizarre some people can be, no matter how much the topic is clear, it drifts into utter rubbish, that has no relevance really to the initial topic, and the Wiggins legend is mimicked by almost every thread that has some length to it.
I can ramble on, I am well aware of that, however it is, and never would be my intention to rubbish someone else's opinion, or to force my beliefs on people.
I hope Josh gets some help, and that a semblance of "policing" is introduced, otherwise the entire thing will just go.

mamba80

VinnyMarsden wrote:

I was banned by a VERY zealous mod in the sales section for what was described as "blatant abuse of the RULES" I apparently had 2 threads open at once!! To be fair he did give me a few warnings, which were rather childish, but as a mod he had the power...so I was banned for a time!!
I do agree though, the general conversation quality has gone down, if you make what you feel is a level well balanced comment, there is always someone trolling who will just basically tell you that you are wrong!
Most of the topics actually have no definitive wrong and right to them, so one opinion is as valid as the next, however, I would cite the Wiggins Legend thread in Pro Race as a prime example of how bizarre some people can be, no matter how much the topic is clear, it drifts into utter rubbish, that has no relevance really to the initial topic, and the Wiggins legend is mimicked by almost every thread that has some length to it.
I can ramble on, I am well aware of that, however it is, and never would be my intention to rubbish someone else's opinion, or to force my beliefs on people.
I hope Josh gets some help, and that a semblance of "policing" is introduced, otherwise the entire thing will just go.

you ve hit the nail on the head, its a matter of opinion, for u its utter rubbish, for someone else........ ?
More reasonable forum members can do their own moderation.....dont answer people like Mike Brew or b.1998 or anyone else you think is trolling.

at the mo, the moderation is about right, threatening or abusive threads get locked, posts get deleted, just as forum members have differing opinions, so do Mod's, for me, its a question of "be careful what you wish for"