Do we want board moderators?

[briv]

Do we want board moderators?

Ive noticed a recent...uncivil tendency among posters. Ive always been very against unnecessary moderation of the board, but when I see so many threads veer off topic and descend into petty bickering sessions I wonder if a little moderation is called for. Or maybe not. Maybe the board should remain an un-moderated democracy where any member can post whatever he or she fancies. I dont know.

This is your forum, so you tell me. Does the board need moderators? People that will essentially police the forum and keep the threads relevant and keep the peace? Or are things fine as they are?

Please vote and state your opinion.

 

[castevens]

I don't think we need moderators to "moderate" the boards. Just the one person (you, in this case) to get rid of the spam trash we get every once in a while. If you feel you need (or want) to delegate those tasks to another person, PLEASE feel free. You do too much for us already.

 

[DudeUrSistersHot]

I'm not a fan of moderators. Threads certainly do veer off topic sometimes, too often, and I am admittedly one of the reasons for that. But I don't believe on kicking people out or censoring them unless they do things that are extremely disruptive. I and certain others may be jackasses sometimes, but we're all still here to see what's going on with development in Boston and comment on it. I think that having Briv as the admin to check in occassionally and remove spammers and people like that is a good idea, but we don't need more moderation than that.

Ultimately, those within the community do more to bring the threads back on topic than a moderator could. A moderator pushing back on everyone when they step out of line in a thread would, instead of making the forum more lively, make it less so. People like Ron Newman already bring us back on topic, we don't need people with special powers to censor to be in charge of that.

 

[justin]

The best thing would be if each one of us would start by moderating himself and keeping the discussion focused on the development rather than the politics or sartorial tastes of this or that board member. If you have to get personal, use private messaging.

justin

 

[Ron Newman]

but we're all still here to see what's going on with development in Boston and comment on it.

So how about repeating that to yourself three times before making insulting comments towards other participants?

 

[Mike]

I voted yes, but it's not that we really need mods - I don't think the board is big enough for that yet - we need a way to deal with people who insist on trolling the board. My idea is to warn them for the first offense, second time give them a temporary ban, and if they do it again, ban them permanently.

 

[statler]

I'm more of a fan of off topic censoring. As soon as a post veers off topic, yank it. Ideally, it could be moved to it own sub forum called "Stupid Things People Say", but from what I understand that is technically difficult.

You will open yourself up to "You're censoring my political beliefs" type criticism, but so what? It's your board and there are plenty of other places on the net for people to spout off about how the libtards and the neocons are ruining the country.

There will sometimes be a fine line between what is a valid criticism of public policy(and how it affects the built environment) and general political rants, but most times it is pretty clear by the tone of the post which is which.

And if you delete a post with a valid point that was made in a churlish way, good. Maybe that will teach the poster to make their points in a more civil tone. I think that will greatly improve the general spirit of the board and hopefully attract new members.

Lastly, I think any ad hominem attacks should be deleted immediately. They add nothing to the forum and make the whole board look childish.

 

[kz1000ps]

MikeW hit on a good point: "I don't think the board is big enough for that yet." We're not, but obviously there's been some things going on lately where a moderator most certainly would have stepped in and dished out some punishments. For how it is now, I guess Justin said it best in that we need to control ourselves better.

And Statler's last statement about this board looking childish cannot be said enough. Skyscraper Page and WiredNY are at points where they are being quoted and even looked to for facts by a few media outlets. Even though those incidents aren't terribly often, it happens more and more as the days go by.

We all want this place to be a source - the source - for architecture in Boston, but if the current occasional firestorms keep popping up, we're going to end up being regarded as nothing more than a bunch of armchair critic wankers, and certainly won't attract in the new members that we'd like to have arond here.

 

[shiz02130]

I agree that people should do a better job of monitoring themselves. I don't remember conversations veering off-topic in 2000, when I first started reading the old skyscraperguy forum, and in general there was a greater sense of a respectful community. I remember being very conscious of the fact that there were several very knowledgeable people on the board, and others that could contribute first-hand info on projects through connections, and others that could bring pictures due to their geographic proximity, etc. - in other words, each person brought something to the table, and however small their contribution was, it was appreciated. It took me a while to feel like I had picked up enough general knowledge to make my first post, since I wanted it to be something that would add meaningfully to the conversation (it was about the "greenway") - not just a one or two word, subjective response to this or that building.

This forum should not be a vehicle for egos or emotions - we should stick to what we know, or what we are curious about, or whatever we can do to further the conversation.

 

[bosdevelopment]

Most people don't appreciate my opinions on the forum but big deal. SSG had this sort of stuff going on and thensome. Either way, it's not like the info (we're) looking for isn't posted at some point by someone anyway. If you don't care for the sidebar conversations then fuhgataboutit!

 

[Waldorf]

I agree with statler, Mike, and kz1000p. This board seems to have its moments of childish obnoxia - and it's only coming from a few members. I know I throw in a little sarcasm every once in a while - I'll tone it down. In addition, I will do a better job at keeping the threads on topic.

Perhaps we can come up with a few house rules? They can be informally enforced (ie self-policing) at first, then when we get larger we can actually implement them. I don't think we need moderators just yet.

One more thing: If someone posts something out of line, let's try our best to ignore it and move on. The worst thing we can do is respond. That will only add fuel to the fire.

God save the Queen.

 

[bigboybuilder]

Well said zenzen I agree with the entire post (well except for the queen thing ). I came here to find information and have seen these topics hijacked on occasion. Foot in mouth is true here as it is anywhere.

 

[goody]

I voted yes. I agree with the comments made so far but think that someone should be able to slap a bitch around if and when they go out of line. The threat, I think might help. I rather enjoy the fighting at times, its more real then most forums, when indeed its at least semi on topic.

 

[bosdevelopment]

I voted yes. I agree with the comments made so far but think that someone should be able to slap a bitch around if and when they go out of line. The threat, I think might help. I rather enjoy the fighting at times, its more real then most forums, when indeed its at least semi on topic.

I'll slap you bitch

 

[DudeUrSistersHot]

I voted yes. I agree with the comments made so far but think that someone should be able to slap a bitch around if and when they go out of line. The threat, I think might help. I rather enjoy the fighting at times, its more real then most forums, when indeed its at least semi on topic.

I'll slap you bitch

OMG WE NEED A MODERATOR TO REMOVE THIS BLATANT PROFANITY!!!!11

 

[tmac9wr]

I voted yes. I agree with the comments made so far but think that someone should be able to slap a bitch around if and when they go out of line. The threat, I think might help. I rather enjoy the fighting at times, its more real then most forums, when indeed its at least semi on topic.

I'll slap you bitch

Is Wayne Brady gonna have to choke a bitch? haha

 

[Padre Mike]

I don't think a moderator is necessary yet. I agree with those who think the forum can moderate itself. I too am irritated when a good point is made in the midst of a silly remark, or when someone veers off topic, but that's par for the course in human interaction.

 

[citytect]

As an infrequent reader of the forum, I voted "yes". The forum would benefit from some topical moderation. The issue for me is that there is a lot of invaluable information on this website, but for those who only stop by from time to time, the information is difficult to find. Too much off-topic and tangential discussion makes browsing thread topics very time consuming and hurts the site's usefulness to a broader audience.