I’ve expressed this in other threads but it appears to need a dedicated thread of its own to help clarify forum rules, protocols, moderating all, and the prior application of rules by moderators in the forum, particularly in the lounge.
Mods have previously expressed a much more hands off approach in the lounge regarding political matters than in other forums such as those dedicated to athletics etc.
There is obviously a new approach now based on thread locks and certain warnings given for making personal attacks. And there is not enough clarity from the mods of what they are doing especially due to prior moderator actions and statements about moderating the lounge and the differences in threads here and in other forums on this site (by John if I recall properly).
Yes things get more heated regarding politics than they typically do for sports topics. And there has been a history of “talking down” to others etc. usually due to philosophical disagreements.
To be clear, political discussion is much more difficult to moderate than a sports forum. Which is why the former policy, or at least the application of rules by mods, made sense previously. And I personally think a more hands on approach by mods in the lounge is begging for more work than they deserve. It also opens mods up to criticism of political bias. And in my opinion unnecessarily so.
No one here is cussing or bypassing to harm young ears (eyes in this case). Everyone here has the option of blocking anyone they find offensive or no longer want to hear from.
Regardless, more clarity is needed from the mods on two particular points.
1. If the mods plan to change their application of rules in the lounge they need to express it clearly here. Because there is a change here currently. Be clear about it.
2. If a post is deleted or a warning given to a member here the warning should be clear, detailed, and unambiguous. A typical “warning” usually states “your post was moved from thread X to thread X. Reason: Against GTSwarm rules. Please do not attack other posters.” Or similar.
This is simply too ambiguous for multiple reasons. Primarily because there is no way to tell what post is being referred to. So there is no way to see what content the deletion is regarding. There is no way to then appeal that to mods or measure the offending content to what it may have been in reply to.
Some members here never complain about the contents of any post. I never have. Though I have been baselessly called a racist a promoter of violence, and more. I didn’t lodge complaints to those slanderous and baseless statements. I have also, who here hasn’t, been ridiculed by some for being dumb, stupid, etc. Though I haven’t lodged complaints about that I also haven’t hesitated to give those members a taste of their own medicine in debate.
To sum up. Rules are not being applied as before and imo moderators need to clarify why the change has occurred and how rules will be applied moving forward, specifically in the lounge. When a member has a post deleted the warning sent for the deletion should quote, at minimum, the content of the post that was in violation as well as what the violation was:
A failure by the mods to do these things will lead to great distrust and even further abuse by some members here. In particular the crybabies who act nasty to others that don’t complain to mods, but then run to the mods themselves when they receive a taste of their own medicine in return.
Such a failure to address these issues will lead to one of two things or both. Members unable to measure fair and equal treatment by mods this leading to members leaving, or a dramatic increase in the number of complaints mods receive for “offensive comments / attacks / etc.”
To the mods. Thank you for volunteering to run this site. Please address the above issues to keep this site a forum to discuss ideas freely and fairly.
@CuseJacket,
@Boomergump,
@John,
@jwsavhGT,
@slugboy
