Forum moderation - your thoughts ?

Hi all, would welcome your thoughts and feedback on this, an earlier post about off topic posts got nicely resolved by the community members.

Currently there are no formal forum rules or guidelines in place for forum etiquette on this site. Think we have enough with golf etiquette

Hopefully this won't turn into a big debate but would be good to get feedback on what you think. Also this post is my Sunday night rambling after a weekend's DIY and lack of golf so don't be to harsh on me

With every community, real world or online there needs to be freedom of speech and expression, within reason, assuming no offense or hurt is caused directly to an individual or group, which general develops from trust and mutual respect to each other. With this in mind I have no reason or plans to patrol the forums with a iron rod.

That said, with the continued growth of the site it may be sensible to allow for soft moderation of the forums by community members but then do we just give to much power to those moderating and who are they to judge?

I actively review the forums so will take the soft approach if content could be deemed spam, abusive or offensive, also let me know if you find a post not relvant to the site, abusive or offensive. It's also worth noting you can delete any comment you make and delete the whole post for any post you start.

Moderation is very difficult to judge, censorship that is deemed offensive to one may not be by another and likewise something that you may not find offensive my cause offense to others. At the end of the day I guess we should all bear in mind that this is a golf related website that allows anyone to join regardless of geographic location, age or gender. And like golf and life it all should be fun ! unless we make it on tour

Regards,

Darren.

[The person who spends far to much time developing this site and not playing golf] 

Darren,

I agree with David, the forum should be managed by the people who use it so if a majority of people voted a certain topic too boring / offensive or irrelevent then either it got 'pulled' / blocked from anymore posts or deleted.

You would have to decide on what constitutes as a 'majority' vote.

 John.

Wayne,

Not as clear cut as you presume. A lot depends on how Darren is going to let people vote. If it is just a simple case of hitting a button called 'VOTE' then how do you account for someone hitting it 1000 times just because they don't like any comments etc being made????

I HOPE THAT CLEARS UP MY PREVIOUS COMMENT.

Thanks.

J. 

Any voting system can only work on a controlled basis, which in this context would be direct PMs or emails.  Hopefully the soft approach I mentioned below.

It has been known on this site for content to be edited/removed based on feedback from users, no further information to devluge

I actively review the forums so will take the soft approach if content could be deemed spam, abusive or offensive, also let me know if you find a post not relvant to the site, abusive or offensive. It's also worth noting you can delete any comment you make and delete the whole post for any post you start.

eeeck ! how did my post show before John's event thought the time's are diffent ??

Quote :

Any voting system can only work on a controlled basis, which in this context would be direct PMs or emails.  Hopefully the soft approach I mentioned below.

It has been known on this site for content to be edited/removed based on feedback from users, no further information to devluge

I actively review the forums so will take the soft approach if content could be deemed spam, abusive or offensive, also let me know if you find a post not relvant to the site, abusive or offensive. It's also worth noting you can delete any comment you make and delete the whole post for any post you start.

Hi Darren

There's a lot of harmless banter on the public forum between regular contributors that is accepted by most for what it is - but I suspect it might be regarded as "offensive comment" if it was posted by new/infrequent visitors to the site. It might even be putting people off contributing, for all I know.

There's something to be said for a separate area on forums such as this for members to relax their guard (and even their dress code!!) a little - where steam can be let off without causing offence to the remainder of the forum visitors.

For example, on Moneysavingexpert.com they have the "Moneysavers Arms" area of the forum site where (nearly) all sorts of antics are acceptable. A similar area exists on Toecutter's satellite forum. Just a suggestion.

Cheers

Hi David

Thanks for responding. I personally haven't found anything offensive here so don't worry on that score.  I've been shot down in flames a couple of times for expressing opinions contrary to the generally held view - but that's what this place is all about - and if I'm that sensitive, I shouldn't be here in the first place.

My only concern is that the vast majority of posts here tend to be from the regulars, to the regulars and about the regulars - and that could make newbies feel excluded from entering into the life of the community. It's the long threads of one-liner banter that could perhaps usefully have their own special home - e.g. "The 19th Hole"? -so that they don't hide the more on-topic comments that are posted in the named subject forums.

I know that another part of the solution is for non-regulars to start participating more - So come on guys & gals - there must be 20000 of you out there. Let's be hearing from you all - and especially if you're looking to play more golf, more successfully and make some new friends around the UK into the bargain.