Van's Moderation Policy

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JimboJones

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Deletions

Hi.

Thanks for that post.

I'd much prefer that people feel free to post whatever they want, without fear that their comments will be deleted - one person's comment is another person's insult, if you know what I mean.

Asking that people be more civil is one thing. Requiring it, however, seems heavy-handed.

The level of comments doesn't seem so much offensive as childish, irrelevant, or misguided.

I have been guilty of this, myself - I made a pretty stupid joke a couple months' back, and was so embarrassed that I expelled myself from the board.

I wish I could just read the updates on developments on this board, without the "bickering" as you put it, but I'm willing to take the bad with the good.

If the "quality" of argument was better, maybe we'd all be happy?
 
It's not that I don't want people to post what they feel, it is that I don't want someone to post something inflammatory and then have 10 posts after it screaming and calling names. If you want to bitch and moan and call each other names just do it in the Politics forum, not here.
 
I don't think that you should ever be deleting posts unless they are blatantly ridiculous and offensive (for example, "fuck you you cocksucker" with no other text related to the topic in the post). You recently deleted a post of mine where I said nothing offensive and merely stated my opinion on the topic of the post, and you were completely out of line in deleting it. I would request that you restore it because i had a number of thought-out comments in it that I should not have to think of again.

if someone posts something offensive, ignore it for a while. if they become an ongoing problem, contact them and discuss it. you should not be deleting the posts of others out of hand, this is unhelpful censorship and briv should not tolerate it. and in the occassional (reasonably this should be kept to less than 1/month) deletion, posts should not just disappear, they should say <moderator deletion> or something of the like.
 
^ Ya I completely agree with Dude on this one. You definitely shouldn't just delete posts without saying a word about it or indicating it. I know what Dude means because you have deleted a few posts of mine, most of which did not contain the offensive stuff we said, but were thought out statements on the topic, and when I went back to check on it, I was stunned cause I could have sworn I put something their, and I realized I did. (Longest run on sentence lol) And I was pissed because I didn't want to recollect my thoughts which I had forgot. So my point is you definitely need to inform the person before just deleting stuff like that and also indicate it. I hate going to a thread and I'll see some posts their one day, then the next day their is a huge gap between some old posts and some new ones which I felt I had missed a whole statement because you blatantly erased some unpleasing posts. So the warning would definitely be great for deleting. Pretty much just go with what Dude said, he put it a lot better than I did.
Van besides this I think you are doing a great job, and their really have not been too many offense posts and arguments in New Development for a while. Luckily it all remains in the Politics and General lol Keep up the good work!
 
TheBostonBoy: I do admit that I probably acted a bit too harsh with you and I am sorry. The reason I posted this is because I have been uneven with my moderation and I want to change that. The reason I deleted those posts is that it created a page long argument that was annoying at least and petty at worst. I don't think this reflects well on this forum and I don't like to see it happen.

Dude:You don't get it do you? It is what you say that pisses people off and makes them not want to read this forum.
DudeUrSistersHot said:
I don't think that you should ever be deleting posts unless they are blatantly ridiculous and offensive
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Most of your posts fit this.
You recently deleted a post of mine where I said nothing offensive and merely stated my opinion on the topic of the post
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The fact that you see no problem with what you said IS the problem.
I would request that you restore it because i had a number of thought-out comments in it that I should not have to think of again.
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You shouldn't have thought them in the first place.
posts should not just disappear, they should say <moderator deletion> or something of the like.
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I agree and I will try this in the future.
-Van
 
Re: [ATTN] Please Keep It Civil

vanshnookenraggen said:
So here's the deal so you all know, if I see a post that is blatantly offensive, ignorant, or insulting, I am going to delete it out right. If there are a series of posts about an offensive comment I will either delete them (if I feel they add no merit to the thread topic) or I will move them off this board and let their participants get it out of their system.

-Van
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Sounds good to me.
 
I'd like to see this applied everywhere -- Existing Development, Architecture, etc.
 
The problem here is when you bring in deletion of posts that are "ignorant" or "insulting". I agree on the concept of "blatantly offensive' posts.

My post was about my opinion that poor people are statistically more likely to commit crimes than rich people. Note that I did NOT swear in it, did NOT attack anyone in it, I merely presented my opinion, which you should note was ON-TOPIC in the thread. You didn't like my opinion, so you deleted my post. This is not acceptable behavior for a moderator.
 
While I appreciate the work you have done as 'moderator', and agree that posts should not be personally offensive or insulting, I think deleting posts (which may or may not be based on ignorance), is more in line with actions of a 'dictator'.

At the very least you should put your 'post deletion rules' to a vote.

I tend not to agree with the dude's opinions, but I certainly disagree with your censorship.
 
I don't see the problem here. Most forums have moderators deleting post they find that are unwarranted or causes flame wars. Its better than locking the whole thread up which moderators at SSC tend to do. I agree with your methods 100% of the way Van.
 
i appreciate your work -- especially where you move wandering posts to a well labeled new thread.

i'd only request that you generally try to err on the side of free expression.
 
ok i admittedly was a bit of a dick in my last post, and as such i apologise - not for the substance of what i said, but for the unproductive tone in which i said it.

my suggestion is that you should let things go to a certain extent, if it develops into a useless flame war (a large one, more than a 2 or 3 posts, and the posts are not only insulting but they aren't even adding to a discussion), pm people and ask them to tone it down. over time, if they continually have to be warned, go beyond that and take action (i still dont think that action should be deleting posts).

That's what briv always did and it was certainly pretty effective, imo. after i continually went too far, he pmed me and i toned it down out of respect to him.
 
DudeUrSistersHot said:
my suggestion is that you should let things go to a certain extent, if it develops into a useless flame war (a large one, more than a 2 or 3 posts, and the posts are not only insulting but they aren't even adding to a discussion)
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That is what I try to prevent by deleting posts. I hate having to sift through 12 pages only to find that a number of them are just retarded flame wars.
 
vanshnookenraggen said:
DudeUrSistersHot said:
my suggestion is that you should let things go to a certain extent, if it develops into a useless flame war (a large one, more than a 2 or 3 posts, and the posts are not only insulting but they aren't even adding to a discussion)
Click to expand...

That is what I try to prevent by deleting posts. I hate having to sift through 12 pages only to find that a number of them are just retarded flame wars.
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i understand the reason you do it, but i just think that some of the flame wars (the ones that don't develop into useless ad-homeim crap, but still have useless stuff mixed in) should not only be left in but do contribute the the forum, as much as they may annoy some
 
This forum worked just fine for years without a moderator, because it was populated by people mature enough to realize that the word 'douchebag' cannot conceivably be relevant to their shared interest. But then came the children...

I have no serious objection to vansh's moderation so far. At times he is, to my taste, a bit over-zealous in classifying things by topic. The best threads on this forum are extended conversations, and those naturally tend to meander a bit: just as an example, I would have left the short Reichstag discussion in its original thread, inasmuch as it concerns architecture in a context which is a potentially relevant model for Boston. But that's not what I care to argue here; the point is that so long as we have a philosopher-king, no matter how competent and benevolent, his decisions will always be open to complaints which are really no more informative than the original posts moved or deleted. Much better, in my mind, to have an enforcer of a short and widely accepted list of standards (I'd call it a constitution but I don't want to go legalistic or to displace judgement, merely frame it).

So here's my proposal:

1. Ad hominems -- name calling without substance or argument -- will be sumarily deleted.

2. A thread in the architecture-related sections (new & existing development, other cities) will be deemed to have gone off-topic if either

a) the discussion still concerns an architecture or visual arts subject different from the topic at hand and has gone on for more than a page or

b) the discussion concerns a non-architectural (usually social) topic and has gone on for more than half a page.

Off-topic discussions will be hived off to separate threads and linked.
--
This pretty much codifies what vansh has been doing, but it might help cool things down to have it spelled out. Vansh, you might also consider using private warnings, as well as marking the deleted posts not just as 'moderator deleted' but 'moderator deleted immature/offensive/irrelevant comment'. Public shaming is a fine social conditioning mechanism.

It's a bit sad that it has come to this; consideration and thoughtfulness from each one of us, including BostonBoy, Dude and Bobby, are still the best way of maintaining the good atmosphere on the forum.

justin
 
Bobby Digital said:
^ i bet thebostonboy could kick the shit out of you dude.
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Here's a new gem from the drunken idiot of the board, and exhibit A in what's wrong with this place as of late. Now I normally bite my tongue and try to hold off on calling people names, but it's obvious that he just doesn't get it, and my patience for his dragging this place down is wearing VERY thin.

Bobby, you do realize you're starting shit with people on a friggin online discussion forum, and you're not out at the bars, right?
 
^^However, if you read the post before it, Dude is actually the one beginning this with his comment who's sole purpose is to mimick TheBostonBoy and belittle him because of his immaturity.
 
Guys,

Van can't babysit this place 24/7. Give him some time.

Just ignore the trolls until he comes in to clean up.
 
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