Applying the Rules & Forum Troubleshooting....an overview

[John_D]

This may be an opportune time to explain a little about the forum rules of conduct, dealing with 'people problems' and how moderators fit into the picture. It's easy to forget that not every regular contributor has been here forever Do note that, although this pretty much covers how it works, it is not an 'official statement'!

The 'rules of the game'

There are two sections about how this discussion site is to be (and not to be) used, and the kinds of topics and behavior which are off limits. These are under "AboutPigeon-Talk" in the list of forums, and are "Policies and Terms of Use" and "Forum Rules of Conduct".

As regards 'bad vibes', these extracts are relevant:

....We require civil and ethical conduct on all forums. Personal attacks on other members, or Pigeon-Life.net itself, will not be tolerated. If asked, you will yield to the requests of the forum moderators and administrators.

....Any user who feels that a posted message is objectionable, is encouraged to contact us immediately by email. We have the ability to remove objectionable messages if we determine removal is necessary, and we will make every effort to do so within a reasonable time frame. 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.

....Although this BB does not, and cannot, review the messages posted, nor is responsible for the contents of these messages, we, at this BB, reserve the right to delete any message for any, or no, reason whatsoever.

Moderators

The moderator team has the (sometimes unenviable) assignment of trying to keep things more or less on track here. We endeavour to look at every situation from the viewpoint that we are (for want of a better word) 'delegated' by the board owners to do a job, that of helping to keep Pigeon-life flowing smoothly as THE place to come to for all things pigeon. Of course, because we're participating members too, sometimes it's a bit of a juggling act... when to wear a member's hat and when to wear a moderator's hat!

Much of what the mods do involves 'housekeeping': removing duplicate threads, merging threads or moving them to a more relevant section, removing 'spam' when we or other members spot it and removing the spammers and trolls (often obvious from unpleasant user names). Sometimes it may be necessary to steer a thread back on topic if it wanders off, particularly when it's a newer member needing some plain, practical advice and help.

Really, I would say that Pigeon-life is a very civilized board ... some of the newsgroups I used to participate in were perpetually argumentative and troll-ridden, and no amount of sweet talkin' ever changed them! Nevertheless, there are times when we have to step in and either try to head off potential disruption, or take some kind of action when we - or others - perceive someone's conduct as dubious or plain unacceptable.

Dealing with 'problems'

The moderators can, of course, close a thread, and delete or edit posts. Sometimes that's sufficient, but deleting posts can destroy the flow of a thread and render it less than comprehensible. And, it doesn't necessarily solve the problem.

Anyone can have a bad day, have personal issues which are knocking them a little off-balance, maybe misunderstand another post or take something personally which was never intended to be so. Posting a gentle reminder about conduct, or writing to the individual off-forum, is the logical first step and a reasonable individual is going to give it some thought, and if an apology is in order, make it. The problem arises when that doesn't work.

Sometimes we get people who suddenly turn up and, pretty much from the start, act confrontational or just seem to be more interested in stirring up ill-feeling than in pigeon welfare. In a few instances, if a polite request to amend their conduct is just met with abuse, they may be banned straightaway. Others may be placed 'on moderation', meaning that they can post, but their posts will be vetted by one or other of the moderators and rejected if deemed inappropriate.

When we have a problem with someone who has been on the board awhile it's more difficult but, thankfully, it's also less frequent! If a couple of 'friendly warnings' doesn't do the trick then, again, someone may be moderated or banned. Neither option is applied lightly, I have to say. One of us may need to take swift action as an interim measure, but there is sometimes a lot of heart-searching and discussion amongst us, especially if it's someone who seems to have the good of pigeons at heart.

Normally, we would prefer to place even people for whom unacceptable posts are not just a 'one off' on moderation, for whatever we consider an appropriate duration. That way, Pigeon-life does not automatically lose a contributor and we can - at least, for the period of moderation - ensure that any inappropriate content is filtered out.

Very few 'real' members have ever been permanently banned - and I would point out that a ban may be applied for a limited time only, as a 'cooling off' period. Nevertheless, we do have to consider the good of Pigeon-life as a whole, and the effect of unpleasant outbursts on its usefulness and especially, I believe, on new members who come here for help. So, the end result of continued unpleasantness - or repeated disregard for the rules of conduct - will generally be that the individual will, albeit with reluctance, be removed from this board.

What it comes down to is that while it would likely be boring if everyone always agreed with everyone else (in this case, on what's best for our pigeons), and healthy debate can give us fresh ideas, it's best for everyone - and saves work for the moderators - if it's kept civilized.

John

[feralpigeon]

John, I know a moderator's duties are taken seriously by the folks who volunteer
their time for the benefit of all here. Also, it can be seriously disrupting to have
on going behaviour problems, likewise it's understood that deciding which course
of action to take is not done so in a superficial or arbitrary manner. I thank you
all for the time and devotion to this forum that is given selflessly, and for being
'target' members in that, when things run smoothly, you don't get the credit, and when times are hard, you do . We should probably get some tee shirts
printed up for the moderators like: "I'd rather be tossing" or "I'd rather be rehabbing" or "I'd rather be crop-feeding"...you get my drift. I'm sure there are
times when this can be a thankless job, and when it brings joy, it is surely
of an intrinsical nature. Again, thankyou for all that you do.

fp

[AZWhitefeather]

Thanks for posting this information John.
The only thing I would add is I think it needs to be placed in the 'sticky' section, which is now done.


Cindy

[Niel]

....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.

Surely we could add to the end of this sentence the words: "except when the subject of the post is Ken Livingstone"?

[Trees Gray]

Thanks John.

[j_birds]

Thanks to John as well as all the others that work to keep this site to where we can all be pround to be members. Jim