How About An Unmoderated Forum?

[Seamaiden]

You want my honest opinion?

 

[Dabu]

You want my honest opinion?

Yes, as a matter of fact, Seamaiden, I do!

 

[Seamaiden]

I think that in order to truly enforce the no personal attacks policy, RIU needs a LOT more moderators. The two who are most active are fdd and Chiceh, and there is absolutely NO fucking way they can keep on top of all the activity on this site and still even be able to use the toilet.

Rollitup states that objectionable posts should be reported, however, I would postulate that there is a strong distaste on this site for "snitches", plus no one really likes a whiner, do they? So, I'm guessing that this method isn't exactly the most effective.

Then, the rules as to what constitutes a personal attack should be more clearly defined (which again equals more work for them). Moderators should not hold themselves in higher regard than anyone else in the community with regard to criticisms and the like. And, to that end, don't delete posts because a thread is "yours", or lock it because it's gone off topic, etcetera. That type of behavior marginalizes the rest of the community (none of us can do the same), and this site would be nothing without the community.

That is my honest opinion.

 

[Dabu]

I think that in order to truly enforce the no personal attacks policy, RIU needs a LOT more moderators. The two who are most active are fdd and Chiceh, and there is absolutely NO fucking way they can keep on top of all the activity on this site and still even be able to use the toilet.

Laptop on toilet.

 

[Seamaiden]

Laptop on toilet.

Ok, I've been saving this (as a motorcycle rider), but now it's time to break it out.

 

[ceestyle]

I don't get the acronym.

I think the reporting system should be used, and the stigma removed. I will always report an obvious SPAM, racist, or otherwise offensive post. I regard it as my duty. If I was over-sensistive, well then that is what moderator discretion is for.

I am totally against unmoderated forums. It breeds trolls, antagonism, and brings out the worst in people, on the internet where - without moderators - they are totally unaccountable for their words.

 

[potroastV2]

If you dont report personal attacks then you are letting the site itself slide, this is your community, you guys can make of it what you will. You would think on a site like this there should not even be a need for 1 moderator, everyone said they were above 18 when they entered so act like it.

 

[ceestyle]

If you dont report personal attacks then you are letting the site itself slide, this is your community, you guys can make of it what you will. You would think on a site like this there should not even be a need for 1 moderator, everyone said they were above 18 when they entered so act like it.

I agree with user policing of other users.

All you've got to do to realize you can't expect people to act like adults when they're over 18 is to take a look around the internet. Give them the opportunity to change identities anytime they like, and you shouldn't hope for that unless you are prepared to be disappointed. Repeatedly.

 

[ceestyle]

Ok, I've been saving this (as a motorcycle rider), but now it's time to break it out.

can you send a link for that so i can see it bigger? what is the acronym?

 

[Seamaiden]

I don't get the acronym.

ATGATT = All The Gear All The Time. I've been trying to find a larger picture because there is actually text under the acronym, but I'll be damned if I've been able to find it. I saw it on a motorcycle forum and just had to snag it because it really made me laugh. It's a HUGE debate between motorcyclists, how much gear, what gear, etcetera, and it gets incredibly heated.

I think the reporting system should be used, and the stigma removed. I will always report an obvious SPAM, racist, or otherwise offensive post. I regard it as my duty. If I was over-sensistive, well then that is what moderator discretion is for.

If I have a problem with something someone says, I take it to the source and I tell them. That's just the kind of woman I am, and if I don't say something, then I haven't got a problem, or at least not enough so that I feel compelled to speak up. And that's just me.

I was making an observation about what I perceive to be the general flavor of this board, I think there is a real distaste for 'tattletales' and 'snitches'.

I am totally against unmoderated forums. It breeds trolls, antagonism, and brings out the worst in people, on the internet where - without moderators - they are totally unaccountable for their words.

I don't necessarily disagree with that entirely. However, I still prefer to err on the side of free speech, especially because it is still 'just' the internet. And, again, we have a problem in that the language and standards used to determine what comprises a true personal attack are not at all well-defined and sometimes appear arbitrary. As for the trolls and antagonists, to me it's rather like watching television or listening to the radio, instead of restricting their speech, how about I take responsibility for what I will and will not see or listen to and change the channel or turn it off? I do have that freedom. What I don't have is a handle on the rules, which at first blush appear to be simple and straightforward, until the implementation begins to appear so arbitrary. Don't we also have an ignore function? Wouldn't that be its purpose? Sure would save the site admins/mods a bit of work. Spam absolutely should be reported, though, on that I wholeheartedly agree.

If you dont report personal attacks then you are letting the site itself slide, this is your community, you guys can make of it what you will. You would think on a site like this there should not even be a need for 1 moderator, everyone said they were above 18 when they entered so act like it.

There is a lot I could say to this, but I will keep it simple. Some of the worst personal attacks I've seen have come from some who are much, much older than 18yo.

As for letting the site slide and keeping "our" community, I think that in many instances the community takes care of itself, and that it can and it should. For instance, a thread by a guy who got robbed, mentioned Puerto Ricans did it. Someone jumped in and said how s/he hates 'border jumpers'. It didn't take long for the community to set that person straight (myself included), and I think it was done in a straightforward manner that was not at all out of line. That was a clearly racist post, and the person who made the statement got spanked. It didn't require that one of you be involved, either. I still think that you already have a hell of a lot of work just maintaining the site (by the way, the search function has taken a bit of a nosedive, even if I use the word "marijuana" as the search term, I come up with zero matches).

I am very much about personal responsibility, and I tend to be a 'get involved' person when I see something that is just plain wrong. Like I said, I sure as hell reported that guy who posted those RickRoll links, just got my panties all in a bunch and I made some noise. But that was not until after I made it clear to him how angry I was about what he did.

 

[ceestyle]

There are circumstances in which a report is better than responding to the offensive person/post. Personal attacks are one. Remember in grade-school where the person who fought back after the instigator hit them got in the most trouble? The reason is that fighting back can have no other consequence than more fighting. Even if it shuts the person up, it teaches that fighting is an effective way to solve a problem. On the internet, you can't physically shut someone up, so rebuking a personal attack is for noone's sake but your own - to save face - and there is just no point.

In the case of offensive statements - racist, homophobic, whatever - then yes, I think the poster should be notified that their statements are offensive and have a chance to take them back or at least admit that a public mj forum is not the correct venue for them. If the person refuses to do so or reiterates them, then the mod needs to warn/ban the user. Freedom of speech is great, but take racist talk to other forums. I have the freedom to browse a mj forum without having to deal with racist bullshit.

It goes both ways. When you're trying to talk about an issue, it's really annoying when a minority plays the race card when it's just unnecessary and takes away from the main point. Let me give you an example:

Have you seen superhighme? They use one dispensary as an example in the movie. It is raided by the DEA, etc at one point in the movie. They talk to the owner about his experience setting up shop, etc., what stereotypes neighbors may have, and how it has been dealing with that. Of course the first sentence out of his mouth was something to the effect of "I could feel that the neighbors were like 'oh, here comes a black guy comin' in here to sell dope" or something to that effect. So basically he accuses his commercial business neighbors of being racist with no basis whatsoever. He then proceeds to be a less than stellar representative of the dispensaries that I have had the fortune to visit, in terms of professionalism and attitude. That movie could use some work ... especially in how it portrays legal MJ. Doug Benson especially makes a farce of the MMJ system, saying that it's trivially easy to get a card, implying that he didn't need it for medical reasons but got one anyway, etc. Yikes.

 

[Seamaiden]

You make very good points and a very good argument, cee. Now, if only I could find the original ATGATT picture!

I would suggest to rollitup that maybe he might want to recruit some more moderators to help poor Chiceh and fdd, because I'm sure they need to be able to use the bathroom once in a while.

Seriously, as I asked, I don't actually know how often posts that qualify for moderation are reported, and there is just too much to slog through, even for someone who can read and type as quickly as me. If they're not really reported (and it appears to me that most are not), then I sort of doubt that the mindsets of so many who choose not to do so will be changed. (shrug) I don't know, it's an idea is all.

 

[Twistyman]

If you dont report personal attacks then you are letting the site itself slide, this is your community, you guys can make of it what you will. You would think on a site like this there should not even be a need for 1 moderator, everyone said they were above 18 when they entered so act like it.

Cut them in 1/2 and count the rings.. JK Dream on man, like herding cats.......
I got a drive by ragging, you reply, politely then move on and stop wasting peeps time...IMO, but apparently I'm a flaming asshole.........go figure....me ?

 

[Seamaiden]

Cut them in 1/2 and count the rings.. JK Dream on man, like herding cats.......
I got a drive by ragging, you reply, politely then move on and stop wasting peeps time...IMO, but apparently I'm a flaming asshole.........go figure....me ?

Huh..? You? Maybe you should try some salve on that, it's gotta really burn.

 

[fdd2blk]

Cut them in 1/2 and count the rings.. JK Dream on man, like herding cats.......
I got a drive by ragging, you reply, politely then move on and stop wasting peeps time...IMO, but apparently I'm a flaming asshole.........go figure....me ?

those smileys have really scrambled your thoughts.

 

[Johnnyorganic]

I received this response:

Hi Johnnyorganic,

Thank you for reporting this post, however the Politics forum and the Toke N Talk forum are only to be moderated if it's absolutely necessary. Rollitup thinks those forums should be free-speech forums.

Besides, I really don't see what you objected to in this:

Nice try Jonorg. Obama's not a muslim. I guess you get your perspective from the KKK eh?

Maybe you can fill me in? As it is, I am not going to take any action on this report.

Thanks for playing!
potroast

Am I completely out of line by taking umbrage at the above quoted KKK post? If so, maybe this is the wrong forum for me after all.

 

[ceestyle]

well, without getting into whatever debate you were in, i assume someone insinuated obama was muslim. That is baseless and offensive for many reasons - one of which being that there is nothing wrong with being muslim, the other being that he is not muslim, and never has been. Anyone contradicting that is lying ... and I think that is as offensive as implying you got your info from someone with an ulterior motive - such as the KKK.

So no, I don't think the KKK thing was ban-worthy, unless you provide a larger context that makes it so.

 

[Johnnyorganic]

well, without getting into whatever debate you were in, i assume someone insinuated obama was muslim. That is baseless and offensive for many reasons - one of which being that there is nothing wrong with being muslim, the other being that he is not muslim, and never has been. Anyone contradicting that is lying ... and I think that is as offensive as implying you got your info from someone with an ulterior motive - such as the KKK.

So no, I don't think the KKK thing was ban-worthy, unless you provide a larger context that makes it so.

That's the thing. I did not say Obama was a Muslim. The person who called me a KKK sympathizer made that connection. At the time, I had not made up my mind as to his Muslim-ness. Regardless, when is suggesting someone might be Muslim a racist comment?

 

[ceestyle]

That's the thing. I did not say Obama was a Muslim. The person who called me a KKK sympathizer made that connection. At the time, I had not made up my mind as to his Muslim-ness. Regardless, when is suggesting someone might be Muslim a racist comment?

When it's done so in a derogatory fashion. Why would the media focus so strongly on whether or not he is if it's not a perceived negative?

 

[Johnnyorganic]

When it's done so in a derogatory fashion.

Muslims come in all colors. How is it a racial slur?

Why would the media focus so strongly on whether or not he is if it's not a perceived negative?

Because it's important.