Previous Misdemeanors!

kboc

I have had a few of the above, and contested them (not all though).

The one huge thing which frustrated me in this process was a constant reference by Mods etc. to previous warnings, infractions and bans.

I have just red some threads in the Dispute area and I see some other people have issues with the same.

To me fundamental fairness exists when one drills down to the basic issue and deals with it fairly and objectively. Of course, any deterioration in behaviour and comments within this thread/problem should be taken into account.

But when people keep referring to previous/historical issues and colour the water of decison making with these previous issues, surely this fundamentaly flaws the system and the people involved.

When the time is done, the crime is done!

Maybe the trustees of Boards.ie need to address this issue?

Thank you.

Tom Dunne

I don't think previous misdemeanors colour judgements as much as you think.

However, I do think they are a good indicator of a person's conduct on the site and an indicator of the possible future conduct.

Am I more likely to go harder on a person with over 15 infractions and a few bans? Absolutely. If people can't play by the rules, then why should we entertain them?

Would I be as hard on a poster that has one, possibly two infractions? Definitely not. We can all lose the cool and do/say things we shouldn't in the heat of the moment.

kboc

Tom Dunne wrote: »

I don't think previous misdemeanors colour judgements as much as you think.

However, I do think they are a good indicator of a person's conduct on the site and an indicator of the possible future conduct.

Am I more likely to go harder on a person with over 15 infractions and a few bans? Absolutely. If people can't play by the rules, then why should we entertain them?

Would I be as hard on a poster that has one, possibly two infractions? Definitely not. We can all lose the cool and do/say things we shouldn't in the heat of the moment.

I think that is a bit extreme

Tom Dunne

kboc wrote: »

I think that is a bit extreme

Ok, put yourself in our shoes.

Mods/Cmods/Admins give over a lot of their spare time to keep this site running. They are passionate about the site and the specific areas they look after.

When you get people who come along and either (a) don't get the whole discussion forum thing (b) has a misplaced sense of entitlement and really don't understand the Irish legal system and how biased it is against sites like this and (c) won't play by the rules, moderators can become very frustrated an do everything reasonable to keep a forum going.

Likewise, we understand that moderators/cmods/admins get things wrong, we are human after all (no, seriously).

So the whole infraction/banning system is put in place, not to oppress the little people, but to be used as fairly and transparently as possible to keep the site going.

My point being, everything we do is for the best interest of the site. If that means looking at people's past behaviour in judging their potential future behaviour, well than I make no apologies for that.

28064212

There's also a difference between using previous offences to decide the verdict, and using previous offences to decide the punishment. The former shouldn't and doesn't happen (except in rare cases). The latter does and should.

If X calls another poster a "c*nt" in a post, X is guilty of an offence regardless of their past behaviour. However, when deciding what punishment X gets, it will of course be dependent on past behaviour. Why should a first-time offender get the same punishment as someone who's on their 8th warning?

kboc

Tom Dunne wrote: »

Ok, put yourself in our shoes.

Mods/Cmods/Admins give over a lot of their spare time to keep this site running. They are passionate about the site and the specific areas they look after.

100% agreed with you here, and fully appreciate this. This is why Boards.ie is probably peerless in Ireland (and England probably)

When you get people who come along and either (a) don't get the whole discussion forum thing (b) has a misplaced sense of entitlement and really don't understand the Irish legal system and how biased it is against sites like this and (c) won't play by the rules, moderators can become very frustrated an do everything reasonable to keep a forum going.

As a user this is not an issue for me, obviously as somebody alot further up the food chain it concerns yourself, and if Boards.ie is to maintain the high standards it sets then you can blur the lines between two different entities (Govt and users).

(c) won't play by the rules

This i fully agree with, and is the issue that I have, punishment must be fair and not retrospective

moderators can become very frustrated

I hear you on this, but it has to be said some of the moderators do themselves no credit or justice in some of the rash comments/decisions they make/do. This obviously derives from the frustration you elude to, maybe the upper echloens of Boards.ie need to tighten the rules and a little less rail roading over those users who highlight any (perceieved) issues.

Likewise, we understand that moderators/cmods/admins get things wrong, we are human after all (no, seriously).

So the whole infraction/banning system is put in place, not to oppress the little people, but to be used as fairly and transparently as possible to keep the site going.
My point being, everything we do is for the best interest of the site. If that means looking at people's past behaviour in judging their potential future behaviour, well than I make no apologies for that.

This stance/notation/approach/ideology etc is totally flawed in my opinion, but i think we will have to agree to disagree.

K