poster/mod discussions in real life

Robsweezie · 21-03-2015 6:28pm #1

Have there ever been instances where posters and mods discussed issues on the site (bans etc.) face to face, away from the keyboards?? I personally would never take it that far if there were an opportunity to do so, and a lot of others wouldn't as we distance online activities from reality, but I know there are some passionate members of the site who enjoy what boards has to offer and would probably go down that route if it meant clearing up problems with moderation and securing their place on the site. probably a ridiculous notion and pointless to some but perhaps face to face discussions would better convey tone of posts and help dispute resolutions rather than words on a screen. It might even be a laugh :-:-)

anncoates · 21-03-2015 6:31pm

Unpaid volunteers having to waste personal time meeting people in real life because they're annoyed about a ban or infraction on an Internet forum.

Sounds like a runner.

Zaph · 21-03-2015 6:37pm

Boards mods are volunteers and freely give their spare time to help keep the site running. It would not be reasonable to expect them to give up further time simply to meet people face to face to discuss moderating decisions, even if the poster was in the same part of the country as the mod. However, more importantly, there are some genuine nutters out there, and asking mods to meet up with people they've banned without knowing who that person is or what they're like in real life and potentially putting the mod in harm's way is not something we'd ever be prepared to do.

Tombi! · 21-03-2015 6:45pm

I remember in a drp thread, maybe it was. Someone said they asked the moderator to meet face to face like men to sort it out but the mod wouldn't agree to it.

Glad the chap never met up with the person

Oink · 21-03-2015 7:06pm

Brutal Deluxe wrote: »

I remember in a drp thread, maybe it was. Someone said they asked the moderator to meet face to face like men to sort it out but the mod wouldn't agree to it.

Glad the chap never met up with the person

I certainly have no interest in getting to know someone who doesn't know the difference between Boards and real life. If on top of things he wants to fight, I'm even less interested. What kind of conversation can you expect from that kind of troglodyte.

Penn · 21-03-2015 8:08pm

Brutal Deluxe wrote: »

I remember in a drp thread, maybe it was. Someone said they asked the moderator to meet face to face like men to sort it out but the mod wouldn't agree to it.

Glad the chap never met up with the person

A poster I banned asked to meet face to face to discuss things. I suggested meeting up and settling things by having a pillow fight on the rim of an erupting volcano. They didn't respond.

That's about as close as I'd ever get to willingly meeting a troublesome poster.

Gordon · 21-03-2015 8:19pm

Robsweezie wrote: »

Have there ever been instances where posters and mods discussed issues on the site (bans etc.) face to face, away from the keyboards??

Yeah, there have been a number of incidences, including forum bans and sitebans (although, I think the vast majority would be on the phone, instead of physically face to face). And of course, I've seen many threats from users to mods, including myself, of face to face violence in the real world, even death threats.

We're an online medium, so if users can convey themselves through this medium, they should be able to convey dispute resolutions through it also.

Timberrrrrrrr · 21-03-2015 8:21pm

Has anyone ever followed through and turned up at the office or at any of the various beers?

Gordon · 21-03-2015 8:26pm

I believe both have happened, but refer to others for details.

Pat Mustard · 21-03-2015 8:28pm

I gave a newly registered poster a yellow card for trolling.

He PMd me to advise me about fellatio and expressed a sincere wish for me to meet Hitler in hell for sexual intercourse. I gathered that he may have been somewhat upset.

I don't think that meeting that poster in real life would go well, at all. Also, I doubt that it would look good for me to meet what I can only assume was some angry schoolboy from the Internet.

Gordon · 21-03-2015 8:30pm

Bad Horse wrote: »

A poster I banned asked to meet face to face to discuss things. I suggested meeting up and settling things by having a pillow fight on the rim of an erupting volcano. They didn't respond.

Incidentally, if anyone (mods or regular users) gets any PM from another user suggesting settling matters face to face, please report the PM!

Penn · 21-03-2015 8:41pm

Gordon wrote: »

Incidentally, if anyone (mods or regular users) gets any PM from another user suggesting settling matters face to face, please report the PM!

... so the admin can arrange the volcano pillow fights? Because I was totally just joking about that idea, dude!

Timberrrrrrrr · 21-03-2015 8:44pm

Bad Horse wrote: »

... so the admin can arrange the volcano pillow fights? Because I was totally just joking about that idea, dude!

<<<<<cancels order for 500 pillows

Spoilsport!

21-03-2015 8:49pm

Gordon wrote: »

I believe both have happened, but refer to others for details.

o/

The dude who threatened to rape me showed up at a beers. Twice

Nice chap. Just misunderstood. Or his brother dunnit. I forget which.

Timberrrrrrrr · 21-03-2015 8:49pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

o/

The dude who threatened to rape me showed up at a beers. Twice

Nice chap. Just misunderstood. Or his brother dunnit. I forget which.

What?

Creepy!

Did he introduce himself?

johnnyskeleton · 21-03-2015 8:56pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

o/

The dude who threatened to rape me showed up at a beers. Twice

Nice chap. Just misunderstood. Or his brother dunnit. I forget which.

Jaysus. That might be one to go to the gardai with

Buona Fortuna · 21-03-2015 11:29pm

Deleted User wrote: »

o/

The dude who threatened to rape me showed up at a beers. Twice

Nice chap. Just misunderstood. Or his brother dunnit. I forget which.

I was going to say in reply to the OP that isn't that what BoardsBeers are for - but Woops that some creepy sh1t. As someone said above that should go to the Gards.

MugMugs · 21-03-2015 11:32pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

o/

The dude who threatened to rape me showed up at a beers. Twice

Nice chap. Just misunderstood. Or his brother dunnit. I forget which.

I'm just somewhat lost for words reading this.

I find it difficult to comprehend how anybody can emit something so vile over a ban.

Christ we live in a messed up world.

Tombi! · 21-03-2015 11:55pm

You'd be surprised at half of what the psychos like to say. I've had a few friends who are gay and were told "I'll rape you till you're not a lesbian" anymore (or variations of it). People are... weird online.You get away with saying a lot more online than you would in person is the thing.

Buona Fortuna · 22-03-2015 12:01am

Brutal Deluxe wrote: »

You'd be surprised at half of what the psychos like to say. I've had a few friends who are gay and were told "I'll rape you till you're not a lesbian" anymore (or variations of it). People are... weird online.You get away with saying a lot more online than you would in person is the thing.

Used to have a similar thing when we worked behind an anti bandit screen, people would be inclined to "have a go" (other than genuine bandit types obviously

) because they don't see a person, just an authority figure.

Still fcuked up though.

hullaballoo · 22-03-2015 1:58am

I've seen mod actions have an effect on real life a few times and was involved myself in one occasion.

There was a thread about a place I worked that was less than complimentary. I worked in a group off companies operating in the same town and competition was rife between each company. Leaving aside the almost incestuous relationship that we had, someone from a rival establishment (working for the same employer!) found the thread and printed it (yes, printed) and mailed (yes, snail-mailed) it to my manager.

It was left lying around so I read it and commented on the thread as an admin that the people involved were aware of the thread and to keep that in mind when posting.

Next thing, I was summoned to a meeting about the comment by my manager! Trying to explain to a then 60+ Nazi whose technological knowledge hadn't been updated since the telegraph what it meant to be an admin warning people to be careful not to defame anyone was genuinely one of the most challenging things I've had to do in my life!

Robsweezie · 22-03-2015 3:27am

Zaph wrote: »

Boards mods are volunteers and freely give their spare time to help keep the site running. It would not be reasonable to expect them to give up further time simply to meet people face to face to discuss moderating decisions, even if the poster was in the same part of the country as the mod. However, more importantly, there are some genuine nutters out there, and asking mods to meet up with people they've banned without knowing who that person is or what they're like in real life and potentially putting the mod in harm's way is not something we'd ever be prepared to do.

Im under no illusion of the safety issues surrounding the idea, that's something I immediately considered but neglected to mention in the OP. they could well be psychos with an axe to grind who cant distinguish the virtual world from the one around us, but you never know. its the internet, it takes all sorts.

I know this thing will never be a 'runner' but its just something I've pondered since mods are already volunteering their time freely, obviously passionate about the growth of the site and the users, overseeing its developments and discussions. and often when you're passionate about anything, you tend to go that little extra mile. a bit like a teacher giving after school classes (minus the pay) its not expected of them, but they do it out of their free will. I would never expect to see this be brought in as a mandatory step in the modding process, or as a regular thing, that's just ridiculous.

im not talking about a HSE style waiting list of offending posters, but one or two now and again, who are deemed worth listening to, entirely up to a mods discretion of course, if they want to humour them, if any at all. I understand if its all just a timesink headache in theory, but I just wanted to throw it out there, ask if this is something that happens/has happened and gauge opinion, you never know if you don't ask

Ruu · 22-03-2015 3:30am

Plenty of one off head bangers here who you can brush off and ignore but there are plenty of users who keep coming back. They keep getting banned and send threatening messages etc, I worry how they keep a day job. Plenty of them are just like that online, like the anonymity but I there are others who are plain barmy.

Avada · 22-03-2015 3:32am

[Deleted User] wrote: »

o/

The dude who threatened to rape me showed up at a beers. Twice

Nice chap. Just misunderstood. Or his brother dunnit. I forget which.

Barrel of laughs he was.... or not.

IvyTheTerrible · 22-03-2015 9:34am

Robsweezie wrote: »

Im under no illusion of the safety issues surrounding the idea, that's something I immediately considered but neglected to mention in the OP. they could well be psychos with an axe to grind who cant distinguish the virtual world from the one around us, but you never know. its the internet, it takes all sorts.

I know this thing will never be a 'runner' but its just something I've pondered since mods are already volunteering their time freely, obviously passionate about the growth of the site and the users, overseeing its developments and discussions. and often when you're passionate about anything, you tend to go that little extra mile. a bit like a teacher giving after school classes (minus the pay) its not expected of them, but they do it out of their free will. I would never expect to see this be brought in as a mandatory step in the modding process, or as a regular thing, that's just ridiculous.

im not talking about a HSE style waiting list of offending posters, but one or two now and again, who are deemed worth listening to, entirely up to a mods discretion of course, if they want to humour them, if any at all. I understand if its all just a timesink headache in theory, but I just wanted to throw it out there, ask if this is something that happens/has happened and gauge opinion, you never know if you don't ask

I'd be a lot happier if any interaction I have with unhappy posters is in a written form - you'd end up having a load of he said/she said crap if we were to meet disgruntled posters in real life.

Pawwed Rig · 22-03-2015 9:46am

It is actually very difficult to get banned from this site and users tend to be given chance after chance after chance before they are permanently removed. If someone does get a site ban it is usually after they have repeatedly shown they are unwilling or unable to stay with the rules so I doubt a further chance would make any difference other than waste everyone's time.

Zaph · 22-03-2015 12:59pm

Robsweezie wrote: »

im not talking about a HSE style waiting list of offending posters, but one or two now and again, who are deemed worth listening to, entirely up to a mods discretion of course, if they want to humour them, if any at all.

OK, but here's something else to consider. We have mods in every part of the country, plus mods in various countries in Europe, the Middle East, Australia, Canada, the US and who knows where else. So even just assuming we're talking about a poster and mod who are both in Ireland, but one is in Cork and the other in Donegal, who foots the bill for them to meet up? We can't expect a mod to pay out of their own pocket for something that they do voluntarily, and Boards isn't exactly flush, so do you think that many posters will willingly pay someone else's expenses just so they can argue a moderating decision? I think even aside from the safety considerations I mentioned earlier, the simple logistics of doing something like this would ultimately be what makes it unworkable.

Darkglasses · 22-03-2015 6:51pm

Would never consider discussing moderation off this site, and would be disgusted at the suggestion.

I know of one moderator who got a phone call from a user on his mobile over a mod decision (by his co-mod), that would absolutely drive me up the wall.

5rtytry56 · 22-03-2015 6:55pm

Some boardsie who just HAS to discuss a mod decision with the mod even only by phone texting to his phone seems like jack Nicholson in the movie The Shining tbh.

Lovely Bloke · 22-03-2015 7:15pm

As an ex-mod, and now a user who has interactions with mods on a near daily basis, I never speak about specific mod decisions/duties to a mod who's been involved.

I will sometimes make a comment like "Oh I see XXXXX got banned from YYYYY forum, in fairness he had it coming", but no more than that.

Robsweezie · 22-03-2015 10:49pm

Zaph wrote:

OK, but here's something else to consider. We have mods in every part of the country, plus mods in various countries in Europe, the Middle East, Australia, Canada, the US and who knows where else. So even just assuming we're talking about a poster and mod who are both in Ireland, but one is in Cork and the other in Donegal, who foots the bill for them to meet up? We can't expect a mod to pay out of their own pocket for something that they do voluntarily, and Boards isn't exactly flush, so do you think that many posters will willingly pay someone else's expenses just so they can argue a moderating decision? I think even aside from the safety considerations I mentioned earlier, the simple logistics of doing something like this would ultimately be what makes it unworkable.

I suppose, I didn't realise mods were at an international level and scattered around the place. I considered in my head that perhaps work was done by mods at boards HQ as well as home, so maybe a spare room at HQ where it would be facilitated on a day that a relevant mod is there , like a doctors appointment.But then again I know nothing about the process so forgive my ignorance.

poster/mod discussions in real life

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