Moderation Issues

[HyToFry]

[Quailman]

These fora are for the use of GL members, so what they say should determine how obscenity is handled. As stated in other threads about moderation, I've only seen one or two posts that I would delete (the post, not the thread), simply because some imbecile wanted to get attention.

Personally, I've seen (and probably used ) worse than anything that has appeared here. It doesn't really bother me, except to the extent that I know someone's child (someday my own sons) may be reading this. On the other hand, if he(she?)(the child?) is sophisticated enough to access these fora, then they've probably seen worse also.

So now that I'm a moderator, I don't expect to have to delete anything except posts that refer to me in less than glowing terms.

[mithrandir]

me personally, i don't like seeing profanity at all. but it doesnt bother me that much, as long as its used with some sense... cussing people out for no reason is just plain dumb. but yeah, i like htf's warning thing... that could work. course then we'd have to start putting

***WARNING*** This thread may cause you severe brain trauma, proceed with caution.

on most all of the threads

[HyToFry]

I agree, I think a simple warning is BEST solution, but my vote is not all that matters, I want to know what everyone thinks.

My vote is for the Warning. but what words, any, all, just the Big ones; just the small ones hehe

[Evil Empire]

I think that nothing should be done. It's not your jobs to protect the world from "bad" words. The world is a cruel place and people who can't handle seeing profanity in print probably have bigger issues. As far as children go, it is a nice thought that we can alway protect them but it is also unrealistic. If they know what the word means then they have already seen it.

Besides, as far as discussion forums go, The Grey Labyrinth members do a remarkable job of refraning from "bad" words.


HyToFry Rules!

[This message has been edited by HyToFry (edited 07-12-2000).]

[Soma^3]

I like the idea of a warning. That way I'll know to read those threads first!

Actually, maybe a verbal warning might be best. Most people here do a good job of policing themselves. And, if someone starts posting things like, "All you Poo-Poo-heads puzzle's are full of poop! I got the freekiest bestest puzzles here! So suck basketballs twice!" , a post from a ranked moderator explaining that this isn't the sort of post we like to see here, please edit it or it will be deleted, might be the best solution.

Of course, this runs the risk of turning the moderator into a bad guy in the troubled poster's eyes, but of course you have this risk just by virtue of being a moderator.

[HyToFry]

Yes, I know I alwayz hate moderators by default, but sometimes they surprise you and are cool. I hope everyone doesn't start hateing us just cuz were mods, were still GL'rs Damnit, and I'm VERY proud of that fact.


Evil Empire does too!!!

[This message has been edited by Evil Empire (edited 07-12-2000).]

[Mercuria]

well, i think that moderators are human for a reason. if we needed to filter for specific words to delete the post, why not just keep them from posting it in the first place? and if we're going to replace the words with asteriks, we might as well have mechanical filter... no, i think you guys should apply "personal" tactics to the moderator roles. you know, different for each situation...

[Dragon Phoenix]

I think that except for one or two juvenile delinquents, all of us have the common sense to behave. We are heading for a slippery slope when we start censoring words or smilies... The f-word used in quotes from movies is fine with me, but objectionable to some others. I used 'masturbation' as part of a chess quote, and maybe one or two GL'ers don't like that. Tough. Some of us (including me) thought that one of the answers to the 4C in a CC puzzle was unnecessarily rude, but others might find it funny. As long as we are not going for personal abuse, my advice to the mods is "don't touch it".

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XXXXXX rude sig censored by forum monitor

[mithrandir]

like i said, i dont particularly care for profanity, nor do i see the need for it, but it doesnt bother me except in certain circumstances, for example, someone getting mad/annoying and just spouting words for the sake of being noticed. that's really the only time i notice, and in those cases, its not the words themselves, but the intent behind them. the words however tend to get singled out, because without that it is hard to recognize how something is meant.

[Alfie]

I personally do not like reading profanity, but words are words and profanity occasionally has its place, albeit rarely. I don't see any reason to filter out words; the filter needs to occur when a post is abusive or deals with a subject matter that is not appropriate (more than PG-13, possibly R). I hate censorship and I have seen censorship on other boards that looks like this: "La** ** down! ***ist me over here." Although this is an extreme example, I still think that content, not words should be edited.

[serpent lost]

I vote for the warning system and I also think mods should use their own judgement as for deleting posts I dont think you should delete them rather you should replace them with an explanatory(sp?) post saying why the oringinal post is not there also i think maybe since there is more than mod you guys should vote on what should be done about each situation

well ive thrown my 2 cents in the well now im off the play EARTH

[This message has been edited by serpent lost (edited 07-13-2000).]

[HyToFry]

[Tom]

This thread contains some "offesive" spelling too, I've noticed .

I'm not convinced swearing is the problem, really, more rudeness. I could say some extremely offensive things about your mother, without using any swearing at all.

I can't really decide what should be done about all this. I'm of the opinion that under-censorship is better than over-censorship.

What say if someone is offending people, they complain here. If most agree, then the moderators does whatever is decided; if most think it's ok, leave it.

[This message has been edited by Tom (edited 07-13-2000).]

[Evil Empire]

I think it is great that the this board finally got some Moderators, but arn't we getting a little carried away? This discussion board has been around for almost a year and prior to this there was the other discussion board.

In all that time we have had no warnings or censorship, yet we continue to come here. How have we managed to survive?

[HyToFry]

Definately, and feel free email, icq, whatever me if your excentric. i'm just talking about a general rule of thumb.

We've been fine for a LONG time now with NO moderators, but I just wanted to make sure everyone is happy.

One thing, though, if I see ANY Porn, I will delete it, its offensive, and DESTROYING the internet in my honest oppinion. And no I don't consider the two horney smileys porn .

Any ART with nudeity is fine by me too. but if some little shit head punk finds this forum and does it just to be a little punk, I will not hesitate to take it out. (and probably replace it with something cute)

I'm pretty sure all of you would do the same, so thats my plan just so you know.

Now for two new issues..

Racism, and just plain rudeness.

Remember the guy that posted "These aren't puzzles, check out mine, they are much better" I can just ignore those, and we did, and eventully, he just left (i think), or cooled it down, so if someone comes along and causes trouble like that, what then?

My sugestion.. hehe leave it, I mean comeon this place gets boarnge sometimes, and we need a little excitement like that to mix it up again.

Racism, doesn't seem to be a big issue here (as most biggots are dumb) hehe the exception being people that don't like your typical "biggots". But if the mods see it happening, do they step in, let it die down, drop a warning. What?

[HyToFry]

Sorry Evil, I was posting that when you did

[Quailman]

The boards now have moderators. Big deal. We're not 'monitors', we're moderators. Kind of like whatsizname on Politically Incorrect. No need to censor anything. Just sit back and watch, and if the need for action arises, we'll know it.

[HyToFry]

Sounds good to me
I'm changeing my vote to that, its now the majoritiy, so its the method I'll follow

So if someone swears, and the moderators don't jump in and correct it, don't be surprised, this is what the majority currently wants

I'm just here for the food aywayz.

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Moderators SUCK!!!!

[mithrandir]

loi, htf, i don't think i voted... anyway, i tend to agree that nothing really needs to be done, except in extreme cases (and i dont know what i mean by that)... maybe just a message telling the person that whatever isnt appreciated, but anyone could do that... i dont think we need to be censoring.

[HyToFry]

[mithrandir]

oh, i was just saying it bothered me, not that i would do anything about it

[StupidVisitor]

Change the word.

[Alfie]

After thinking long and hard -- about 10 seconds -- I have made up my mind:
The moderators are intelligent people or the Minotaur would not have selected them. So when the moderators see something that they feel is inappropriate, and they will know it when they see it, they act according to the sense that they have. Moderators have brains so let them use them.

[Eamonn Magrath]

Aren't you the silver tongued little devil Alfie? Or should I say brown!

Is that a prerequisite for becoming a Daedalian ... I thought it was the posts?

Just put a banner up 'NO VULGARITY' and bounce the first, and all subsequent, offenders.

There's no b****** need for vulgarity.

[worm]

Every registered user has to agree to this statement (i think unregistered users should follow the same standard btw ):

quote:

---

We have the ability to remove objectionable messages and we will make every effort to do so, within a reasonable time frame, if we determine that removal is necessary. This is a manual process, however, so please realize that we may not be able to remove or edit particular messages immediately.

You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use this BB to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise violative of any law.

---

i agree with alfie...i trust the moderators' judgements about such objectionable posts. all of them visit these forums as much or more than anyone else and they don't want to take anything away from it. they just want to keep things from getting out of hand. not out of hand in the fun way things get out of hand here on a regular basis, but really out of hand.

[mithrandir]

right... like i think i said, i dont think i would do anything at all unless it really did get out of hand... now what that means, i hope we never find out. and in the case that something of that nature did get out of hand (note: there are other things to be concerned about besides profanity, but i am just dealing with this issue for now), i feel that if someone just did it once, and realized there is no need for it, no big deal... if he repeatedly did it, maybe we could warn him, but i dont think that is really a moderator's job... as far as editing, there is really no point... if someone really wants to use profanity, they could make the mods' duties a pain just by posting alot if we were determined to censor them... i think that in extreme cases of repeated insults, spam, etc., that minotaur has the power to ban the offender if he feels it necessary, and that should be left to him. so i guess as far as moderator response, i vote E., unless it is just a message discouraging insulting messages, which anyone can do, not just us.

[mithrandir]

and thank you worm, i had forgotten about that... oh the other thing i was thinking about, if a post specifically insults/threatens/whatever someone (as in a serious insult, not some of the sarcasm that goes on all the time ), and they feel it should be removed, then that might be a place for moderator action.

[Coyote]

I'll put my in a vote for 'E', with a caveat. This place has always seemed to self-police itself pretty well. I missed out on the Solver era, but I was around for Physco_flame's debut and I noticed he was dealt with swiftly and without things escalating ino a full-scale flame war. Physcho even re-appeared several weeks later to apologize and was not treated badly.
The caveat to all this is that we've never really had to deal with a 'ballistic troll' yet, to my knowledge. Even Physcho used asterix on the swear words and didn't overuse the cap-lock. We've been very lucky so far. If such a person ever does show up I'm confident the Moderators will know which of the 'non-E' methods will be best suited for the situation.
Anyway, that's my two cents on this.

[mithrandir]

sounds good...

as for the Solver era, it wasn't profanity, or anything like that, just a guy that couldn't accept that there might be another answer, or that he might be wrong.

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Tell me a lie! Are you a duck?

[This message has been edited by mithrandir (edited 07-14-2000).]

[Mercuria]

actually, i think that E and G are pretty much the same thing. when i read coyote's vote, that's pretty much what i meant. =]

[HyToFry]

Ok on Mercuria's lead, I combined E and G.

Looks like thats our winner for the time being. And hopefully we will never see the need to change it

[Ghost Post]

My choice is not up there.

What about nothing being done? It makes me a little bit nervous that the moderators will edit things when they 'get out of hand' but we don't have any guidelines as to what is 'out of hand'. I think we should either have censorship, or not. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground here. We have been doing fine for a long time. I mean, *** ** ****** **** **** **** **** ***** ** ** * **** ***** ******. *** ***** *** *** **** ** * ***** * ** * ***** ** * * **!

Anyway, glad to be able to voice my opinion.

[This message has been edited by Dr. Seuss (edited 07-17-2000).]

[HyToFry]

LMAO!

I think the majority of us agree that everything is better left alone (except porn, which hasn't happend yet, and hopefully never will).

Most of the users that post here are intellegent (except me of coarse) and don't intentionally try to hurt others feelings. The board needs VERY little moderation, but if you see something that needs action in one of my forums, feel free to email, ICQ, aim, whatever, I'm usually here.

The only things I will do as a mod, is fix a screwed up thread (intentional or otherwise) and delete a pornographic picture. Other than that, just follow our general unwritten rules.
Don't curse excessively (it makes you look like an ass).
Don't flame an icarian. (unless its a deadalias)
Don't take a flame TO personally.
Have fun.
Keep your arms and feet inside the board at all times.
Hang on tight and enjoy the ride.