Is it just me or are a large number of threads locked in Clare Forum??

Claregirl

It just struck me this evening out of 20 Threads on the front page it's interesting to note:

Limerick 0% of threads locked

Tipperary 5% of threads locked

Clare 30% of threads locked


Are Clare posters more rowdy than any other county??


Is there any point posting to this forum anymore??

mikemac1

Tipp forum has a megathread on the 1st page for the GAA

The banter and frustration and abuse is all kept in one place

Lady Chatterton

In almost all cases a reason is given by a moderator for locking a thread and frequently warnings are issued ahead of a decision to lock a thread.


'3G mapping thread' - this thread was better suited to the 'Talk to' forum where the poster could chat to a Three representative.

'Burn the Bondholders thread' - again this issue would be better suited to the politics forum. Clareman has offered to re-open the thread again if the OP wants to update the thread ahead of a new rally/protest event.

'At it again- more traveller fighting' thread - I think it is fair to say that all aspects of the issue were discussed and posters had started repeating points already made. As people have been charged with some of the incidents mentioned in the thread we also had to be careful not to prejudice any legal proceedings.

'Cheap Houses thread' - this thread had run its course and the estate mentioned in this thread was also being discussed in another thread at the same time.

'Menupages.ie. thread' - locked as it was a zombie thread (over two years old).

'Hotels' thread - locked and moved to Wexford forum as the OP was looking for a hotel in Wexford and not Clare.

'Fighting at the Cathedral thread' - this thread was locked permanently when another thread on the same issue was created.

'Limerick Jazz Festival thread' - the event was happening in Limerick not Clare. The poster has started threads in the Limerick, Clare and Tipperary forums.

Please feel free to PM any of the Clare Moderators if you would like to discuss any of our modding decisions in greater detail.

Clareman
MrsD007
Insect Overlord

The Category Mods are as follow:

Mr. Magnolia
The Hill Billy

Alternatively, you can start a thread on the feedback forum.

Insect Overlord

Claregirl wrote: »

Are Clare posters more rowdy than any other county??

No, not at all. You just need a much larger sample size than just the first page of the forum. Go back over the last 2-6 months of threads for a more accurate picture of the Midwest sub-fora.

Trends change over time. Highlighting a fortnight of dodgy/inappropriate/zombie/shill threads doesn't paint a decent picture at all.

Claregirl wrote: »

Is there any point posting to this forum anymore??

That's entirely up to you.

If you reckon you can contribute to discussions, debates, queries that require local knowledge/perspective, then keep on doing so.

If you can't do that without breaking the charter, then try harder.

CptSternn

Claregirl wrote: »

It just struck me this evening out of 20 Threads on the front page it's interesting to note:

Limerick 0% of threads locked

Tipperary 5% of threads locked

Clare 30% of threads locked


Are Clare posters more rowdy than any other county??


Is there any point posting to this forum anymore??

Many of the threads here get started again on Politics.ie. Check out the Clare forum there sure.

Claregirl

I was just making a general observation on the number of locked threads and hoping to promote some discussion from forum users I was not in any way shape or form criticising the mods as that would be against the charter

I am not a prolific poster as can be seen from my post count but I find it a bit frustrating when I come across something which I'd like to express an opinion on only to find it closed.

Thanks to Mrs. D for the responses and below are my own obs!

'3G mapping thread' - this thread was better suited to the 'Talk to' forum where the poster could chat to a Three representative. It appeared to me he was looking for feed back specifically from the CLARE area not 3 reps!

'Burn the Bondholders thread' - again this issue would be better suited to the politics forum. Clareman has offered to re-open the thread again if the OP wants to update the thread ahead of a new rally/protest event. It’s highlighting an event due to take place perhaps people would have liked to agree / disagree or even discuss the event after it had taken place

'At it again- more traveller fighting' thread - I think it is fair to say that all aspects of the issue were discussed and posters had started repeating points already made. As people have been charged with some of the incidents mentioned in the thread we also had to be careful not to prejudice any legal proceedings. 92 Posts and 6,409 views one of the more active threads and although some off topic conversations was largely well written and balanced

'Cheap Houses thread' - this thread had run its course and the estate mentioned in this thread was also being discussed in another thread at the same time.

'Menupages.ie. thread' - locked as it was a zombie thread (over two years old). At least now we know what’s classified as a zombie thread – however according to the charter New questions in an old thread may be merged into dedicated, new thread if appropriate

'Hotels' thread - locked and moved to Wexford forum as the OP was looking for a hotel in Wexford and not Clare. Can’t argue with that one.

'Fighting at the Cathedral thread' - this thread was locked permanently when another thread on the same issue was created. Locked on 23:20 13/10/2012 at 23:20 before the other thread was created on 14/10/2012 at 21:01

'Limerick Jazz Festival thread' - the event was happening in Limerick not Clare. The poster has started threads in the Limerick, Clare and Tipperary forums. Can events not be advertised that might interest Clare people?

Clareman

Hi,

I've been a bit busy the last few days in the RW so sorry for not replying sooner. You might be noticing a lot of padlocks but just remember if we were to merge, move or delete threads you wouldn't see anything. It's also important to remember that Regional forums are for regional issues only, us mods aren't experts on a lot of topics and there are a lot of other forums better suited for such discussions. Also, please remember that all public forums are equal and all topics need to adhere to the overarching rules of the site, so topics that can be impacting on legal or slander impacts will be locked.

If you don't like/agree with the way I (or others) are modding the forum feel free to PM the Cmods or raise a thread in feedback.

Lady Chatterton

Claregirl wrote: »

I was just making a general observation on the number of locked threads and hoping to promote some discussion from forum users I was not in any way shape or form criticising the mods as that would be against the charter

I am not a prolific poster as can be seen from my post count but I find it a bit frustrating when I come across something which I'd like to express an opinion on only to find it closed.

Thanks to Mrs. D for the responses and below are my own obs!


'At it again- more traveller fighting' thread - I think it is fair to say that all aspects of the issue were discussed and posters had started repeating points already made. As people have been charged with some of the incidents mentioned in the thread we also had to be careful not to prejudice any legal proceedings. 92 Posts and 6,409 views one of the more active threads and although some off topic conversations was largely well written and balanced

'Fighting at the Cathedral thread' - this thread was locked permanently when another thread on the same issue was created. Locked on 23:20 13/10/2012 at 23:20 before the other thread was created on 14/10/2012 at 21:01

Thank you for your feedback Claregirl.

I'd like to address some of the points you have raised in relation to two threads I locked.

With regard to the 'At it again- more traveller fighting' thread, if you review this thread you will see that every effort was made by the moderators to keep this thread open for as long as possible and there were a number of warnings and bans issued before finally closing the thread.

I agree that it was a very popular thread and for the most part there was lots of good discussion but as people have been charged in relation to the incidents referred to the thread, we needed to be extremely careful not to prejudice any current or future legal proceedings. This is the law, it's not something that Boards is responsible for.

I think it is really important to remind members that free speech only extends so far and and members could be held responsible for any libellous statements they make. As moderators we endeavour to reduce the risk to Boards and its members by editing/removing such comments or locking threads where appropriate.

With regards to the Cathedral thread, it was locked ("for the moment") at 23:20pm on Saturday, 13/10/2012 because a poster used derogatory/inflammatory language. I advised my fellow Mods that I had locked it temporarily, I had intended re-opening the thread but when I logged on the following evening a new thread had been created, so there was little point having two threads about the same issue.

Sometime after that I spoke to the OP of the Cathedral thread and advised him/her of same.

I would like to echo what Clareman has already said, we are unpaid volunteers with work and family commitments, it is not possible for us to be online 24/7 but if anyone wants to contact us or the Category Mods they can do so by PM. As previously mentioned the Feedback Forum is another place to raise issues.

Jhcx

I must say in all my time on boards i've seen a lot of debate. But i actually think this is the first one i've read that is actually conducted very well by both sides of the argument/debate.

But my two cents on my locked thread. From the beginning it was Clare forum or the 3 forum. Specifically chose the Clare forum first because i wanted Clare people or people moving from America,England,Dublin or Belfast to know what the reception is like here in my favourite home in the world. [Anything outside a 19mile radius on the island doesnt exist for me. :pac: ] and if they wished to conduct a reception thingy on their own network. and have a well documented community map.
But as i had previously said to Clareman if it would have stayed open i would have asked to double post in the 3 forum. But tis just easier on the 3 forum least if anyone does google it , it may show up in the results so im happy. But the mods are only doing what they feel is right. So i have no objections, just wanted to take part...ish.... :pac:

Clareman

Jhcx wrote: »

But my two cents on my locked thread..... :pac:

Don't forget the other reason I locked the thread, I thought it was a bit too like advertising of your blog and that a lot of other mods would have just deleted it.

Jhcx

Clareman wrote: »

Don't forget the other reason I locked the thread, I thought it was a bit too like advertising of your blog and that a lot of other mods would have just deleted it.

Yes! forgot that. Something i have to watch for the future. ... or just never put links in of that sort.

Clareman

No problem putting in links, just different forums have different rules or ways with dealing with people advertising their blogs, a lot of other forums would have just deleted the thread.

Claregirl

Ok first off apologies to all the Mods on this forum - you all seem to be taking this thread as criticism which was definitely not my intention. Mods are a necessary evil to keep us all in check and the work you do is much appreciated by and large:D

As I've said previously I wanted to get a discussion going about the content and the large number of locked threads in the forum.

I'd just like to point out that I have never been warned, infracted, banned or had any dispute with any of the mods on boards.

I've been a member since 2009 and when I first joined boards the Clare forum was a very lively, entertaining forum where you could be kept up to date with issues affecting the locality.

It seems to me that any time there is any attempt in discussing / debating events or issues affecting the people of Clare these are the threads that are shut down straight away particularly the negative ones.

I've lived in Clare most of my life and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else however we all know that there is a darker side and while it's all very well trying to promote the positive aspects in this County the only way to change the negatives is to highlight, discuss, raise awareness and demand action.

I'm referring here to the thread now titled Nice places to live in Ennis - Answer

Dun Na Hinse:D

The Clare forum in its present form is in my view now relegated to queries that require local knowledge/perspective.

I think it's sad and I want the old Clare forum back!!

Clareman

I can't do anything about your perception about how things are going, but on boards everyone is very conscience of the constraints placed on public forums like here, we've no problem with people highlighting negative aspects if they can be kept civil, we only step in when something oversteps the mark or someone reports a post. Legal precedence has been set in Ireland that if a report is issued to impact on an ongoing legal case that the editors/publishers or the article will be held in contempt of court, this has led to a ban on discussing ongoing legal cases site wide.

Carry

For the same reasons I gave up posting here.
Thank you Claregirl!

I still won't post here anymore.* Not that anyone cares.
It's by now too much of a fireside family gathering and beware if you have another opinion! Very parochial.

You see, Clare is not a place apart, it's actually connected to the rest of the world. And people in Clare have opinions about all and sundry. Well, I hope so. Some have, at least.
Clare is not only about festivals and GAA and small town community. There are actually thinking people around who care about the country as such. They just happen to be Clare people.


* Unless there is an open-mindedness about what irks Clare people.

Clareman

Folks, to be honest I've had enough of this thread, if you want to have a whine about the modding of this forum go ahead and feel free, if you want to do something about it open a thread in Feedback or PM the Cmods

Lady Chatterton

I feel that I have contributed as much as I can to this thread, so I'm out.

pappyodaniel

Do mods ever start threads in their respective forums and if not why not? I find the Clare forum to be a tad uninteresting of late.

Insect Overlord

Clareman wrote: »

Folks, to be honest I've had enough of this thread, if you want to have a whine about the modding of this forum go ahead and feel free, if you want to do something about it open a thread in Feedback or PM the Cmods

MrsD007 wrote: »

I feel that I have contributed as much as I can to this thread, so I'm out.

I'm willing to leave this open for another while, so if anything comes up I'm happy to deal with it.

Claregirl and Carry, I'll be honest with ye. The main reason I'm happy to leave this open is because neither of you has yet given a decent point to back up your argument.

Carry, you've posted 10 times in this forum in the past 12 months. I can't take your criticism/concern seriously when you've contributed so little here. Do try to prove me wrong though.

So far ye've just mentioned some vague, rose-tinted notion of how this forum "used to be". This forum was pretty much dead when the current mods took it over. Traffic is way up on what it was two years ago.

The three main issues as I see them:

1) Bigotry towards Travellers has always been dealt with strictly in the Midwest fora. Previous mods treated it with bans of minimum 1 month, even for a first offence. The recent locked threads were left open for as long as possible, with far lower "punishments" given than would have been in previous years.

2) The sub judice issue with live legal cases is a newer problem, but it's not one unique to the Clare forum. Threads have to be monitored/locked/deleted in case of posts that could prejudice a case.

3) Some of the issues that the people of Clare might want to discuss are not specific to the region. Politics, After Hours, Humanities, etc are great forums too. Some discussions are best had in those larger forums than in this comparatively smaller, Regional forum.

If those are not the problems that you guys want addressed, then please do let me know what else we can look at to help improve this forum. That's what we're here for really.

Shapey Fiend

I think the level of moderation on here can stifle conversation a little.

A lot of the other forums on Boards have a much looser interpretation of the moderation guidelines and/or much less active moderators. It's swings and roundabouts though it can mean things degenerate into ranting and raging.

I'm the sort who'd like things to be a little more free for all but I think the mods have been loosening the reins a bit lately. The traveller thread would have been locked after 5 replies a year ago.

I like the odd non-Clare specific topic. The political ones can be amusing and even if stuff doesn't get corrected as quickly as it might in the Politics forum they usually do eventually and you get a different slant on conversation that you might do ordinarily because this forum has a different demographic of readers.

Carry

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Carry, you've posted 10 times in this forum in the past 12 months. I can't take your criticism/concern seriously when you've contributed so little here. Do try to prove me wrong though.
.

I posted previously as "palaver", not on a regular basis but quite often. Look it up. The account got lost when boards broke down a couple of years ago, couldn't retrieve my password since the email provider doesn't exist anymore (oceanfree...:rolleyes:). So I dug up an old boards account.

I read daily here (and elsewhere on boards and the worldwide web) but I didn't post here in a while that's right.
The reasons? I like to discuss things I'm interested in, especially with people with interesting opinions which may be controversial or may be agreeable. Lately there wasn't much which interested me. And controversy (not to confuse with abuse and accusations) doesn't occur anymore or gets stifled.
And I think it's a bit odd that only people with lots of posts are allowed to have an opinion.

But never mind. You do as you wish and see right.

maiden

I have to agree to an extent, it is very frustrating to be involved in a lively discussion and head off to work, think of an absolutely mind-blowing comment only to find the thread locked when u come back!
I think the people who make derogatory comments or dOnt heed warnings should be banned but threads should be left open to the people who aren't doing anything wrong and are enjoying a good debate etc

Claregirl

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Claregirl and Carry, I'll be honest with ye. The main reason I'm happy to leave this open is because neither of you has yet given a decent point to back up your argument.

Think you may have missed the point - I've stated previously I do not wish to start an argument or to criticise the Mods I wanted to start a discussion within the forum. Maybe my attempt to start the discussion / debate has been clumsy as I'm not that used to posting

As Palaver (Welcome Back ) / Carry stated below most people will only post when they see something interesting or something they can contribute to.

There doesn't appear to have been much of that on the Clare Forum lately well not for long at any rate!

I think I'm a reasonable person and I get the point that you're making about racism, court cases etc but I don't think I'm alone in being of the opinion that some threads have been shut down because the Mods do not agree with the thread / opinions expressed as opposed to any breach of the forum charter.

Or that perhaps we're not playing nicely agreeing with everyone and in danger of becoming a little controversial.

As to the statement that "neither of us has given a decent point to back up your argument" I don't think I have to the Mods contributions to this thread so far made the point for me........

Insect Overlord

Claregirl wrote: »

Think you may have missed the point - I've stated previously I do not wish to start an argument or to criticise the Mods I wanted to start a discussion within the forum. Maybe my attempt to start the discussion / debate has been clumsy as I'm not that used to posting

Clumsy is one word for it, yes. Obtuse might be another. I'm starting to get the impression that you're deliberately being awkward with me now.

The word "argument" does not necessarily require that anyone gets annoyed or that words have to get heated. You've made a certain point. Your argument should back it up. So far you have spectacularly failed to do so.

Claregirl wrote: »

There doesn't appear to have been much of that on the Clare Forum lately well not for long at any rate!

The sheer number of active threads in recent months disproves this.

Claregirl wrote: »

I think I'm a reasonable person and I get the point that you're making about racism, court cases etc but I don't think I'm alone in being of the opinion that some threads have been shut down because the Mods do not agree with the thread / opinions expressed as opposed to any breach of the forum charter.

Threads are not dealt with based on the personal whims of any particular moderator. If something goes against the charter it will be dealt with. We (as a team) often review each other's decisions. Such a biased approach to moderating would not be tolerated.

You may not be alone in that opinion, but you are wrong. And anyone who agree with you is also wrong. I can't make it any simpler than that.

Claregirl wrote: »

Or that perhaps we're not playing nicely agreeing with everyone and in danger of becoming a little controversial.

As to the statement that "neither of us has given a decent point to back up your argument" I don't think I have to the Mods contributions to this thread so far made the point for me........

More rubbish. You've made 20 posts on the forum in the last 12 months. I'd appreciate it if you'd made some kind of an effort to add to the discussion here, but to be honest you just seem to like complaining for the sake of it.

You haven't told us what your real problem is. Until you can provide some quantifiable measures for where we've been going wrong I'm going to have to keep calling your bluff.

Carry

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Clumsy is one word for it, yes. Obtuse might be another. I'm starting to get the impression that you're deliberately being awkward with me now.

The word "argument" does not necessarily require that anyone gets annoyed or that words have to get heated. You've made a certain point. Your argument should back it up. So far you have spectacularly failed to do so.



(...)

You may not be alone in that opinion, but you are wrong. And anyone who agree with you is also wrong. I can't make it any simpler than that.



More rubbish. You've made 20 posts on the forum in the last 12 months. I'd appreciate it if you'd made some kind of an effort to add to the discussion here, but to be honest you just seem to like complaining for the sake of it.

You haven't told us what your real problem is. Until you can provide some quantifiable measures for where we've been going wrong I'm going to have to keep calling your bluff.

You just proved her point, Insect Overlord.

What you are doing is borderline bullying: belittling a poster because you don't agree with her, calling her obtuse which I would take as an insult, claim that she is wrong and anyone who agrees with her is wrong, too.

The subtext reads (you do know what a subtext is?): you and the likes of you are too stupid to subject to my opinion, to understand my (non-)argument, and you don't post enough to my liking. So eff off.

You just don't want to see her (or what it's worth, my) argument and just divert to question others and their intellectual capabilities. This is not only a classical tactic of people who don't have a worthy argument and prefer to belittle others to cover it up, this is highly unworthy of a moderator.

I'm sure you feel deeply offended now and will ban me (doesn't really hurt me). We had dealings about your patronizing ways before over pm, remember? But if you just give out but are not able to take the heat or at least take people seriously it just proves that you are indeed a bully.

I reported your post. But I guess that will end like the last time in the bin.

The Hill Billy

Hi there. I am one of the Category Mods for Region & have read this thread with interest now that it has been brought to my attention.

It is great to have feedback on how the regular forum posters feel about their forum, particularly as the Region fora are largely 'community'-focussed.

However, in relation to the last post & the accusation of border-line bullying - this I take very seriously.

Having read the thread I must say that the responses given by the Moderators have covered the issues raised. Additionally, I feel that the manner in which the moderators have responded has been fair & concise & in no way could Insect Overlord's reply be construed as anywhere near bullying.

Additionally, I agree with the rationales given for the closure of the threads in that forum & would have taken similar actions myself if I were in their position.

I am closing this thread now for two reasons:
1. Topics like this should be discussed in the Feedback forum - not in the Clare forum itself.
2. Recent posts have taken the thread off-topic & have moved towards personally attacking a moderator.

Please note that myself & Mr Magnolia as Region CatMods are happy to discuss this matter further via PM. Also, feel free to start a thread in Feedback as suggested.

Take care,

tHB