TGC feedback thread

Pawwed Rig

Hey everyone

We thought it was time for us as forum Mods to open a Forum Feedback thread. We had one about 12 months ago and got some lively feedback.

Here's your chance to discuss all that you find great and not so great about TGC. Hopefully there'll be lots more of the former, but please don't be afraid to talk about the latter if it affects you. What would you like to see more of? What would you like to see less of? How do you find the Moderation?

Once a decent amount of time has passed, we'll close the thread and take the points raised back and see what we can do to make the place even better for everyone posting here.

If anyone doesn't feel comfortable posting something attached to their username, then please feel free to PM me (or one of the other mods) your points and I'll post them on your behalf. I'll do this in strictest confidence, and won't tell a soul, not even the other forum Mods. That way we can get everyones voice heard.

Usual rules apply. Criticism is welcome but try and be constructive.

Liam McPoyle

Speaking as someone that pushed for this forums creation, and speaking as a former forum mod, I genuinely think it's running better than ever.

There is a good mix of light and breezey threads along with the more serious ones, debate is generally good natured and sometimes spirited which is welcome. The mods do a good job of striking the balance between letting threads flow while keeping order in place though for the most part that's not required so the posters themselves should be commended for that.

Some disruptive influences are no longer active in the forum and I do think this has had a positive effect on the more contentious threads.

While I don't post nearly as much as I used to, I am a daily reader of the forum and enjoy it for the most part.

One thing I will say however that may be construed as negative is that there are only 2 of the forum mods that are regular contributors. I'm of the belief that a mod of a forum should have a regular presence. Now that's a Boards wide opinion I hold so it's not forum specific.

Aside from that though I really have nothing bad to say.

Jolly good show!

Panthro

I think yer all doing a splendid job folks.
As said the place has been tidied up and the forum is better for it I reckon.
Good mix of threads, good contributers, good times.

Beercat!

Panthro

Perhaps sticky this thread, make it easier to find/see etc.

awec

This post has been deleted.

CastorTroy

And unstuck.

Ever since you got rid of those 2 mods I find everything's grand.

Seriously though, I've only been passing through here lately and can't see any issues with the place. Though it has been quieter. But that seems to be boards wide.

Oh and thanks for all the work.

Knex*

All seems good to me.

Carry on! :pac:

Pawwed Rig

CastorTroy wrote: »

And unstuck.

Yeah I unstuck it for a while coz I think often the stickies at the top (or bottom) are ignored

Pawwed Rig

Anyone else?

Maguined

I would like to see more transparency and direction on the forum.

The charter lists the rules but then additional changes would be listed below as separate posts. This shows the users how the direction of the forum has evolved over time and how the mods have responded to issues the forum was experiencing. The last one of these additional posts explaining rules changes was in 2011.

Last year there was a 12 page feedback thread but we have no indication of what happened as a result of that feedback, the thread was simply closed. I would like to see a post in the charter thread as before indicating what changes were implemented and more importantly the reasons why the mods made those changes and how they hoped the changes would improve things.

Pawwed Rig

Maguined wrote: »

Last year there was a 12 page feedback thread but we have no indication of what happened as a result of that feedback, the thread was simply closed. I would like to see a post in the charter thread as before indicating what changes were implemented and more importantly the reasons why the mods made those changes and how they hoped the changes would improve things.

Fair point. In general the issues raised last year were around
1. clarity on warnings. Warnings are left up on threads now with details of what the infraction/warning is for.
2. Discussion of topics in particular feminism and its effects - there has been no restriction on these discussions since the feedback thread last year.
3. Involvement of mods in serious threads - New mods were appointed with interests in these threads and existing mods at the time have been posting across the forum.
4. Deletion of posts where threads go off topic - this has not happened since the feedback thread last year.
5. Moderation in general was discussed - there has been a concerted effort by the mods to use a lighter touch. That said we seem to be a magnet for some of the rereg trolls that create account after account so a couple of threads needed heavy moderation in the last couple of months, in particular the thread where the guys girlfriend had hundreds of partners needed heavy moderation.

Anything else you can think of that was raised in the previous thread?

Maguined

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Fair point. In general the issues raised last year were around
1. clarity on warnings. Warnings are left up on threads now with details of what the infraction/warning is for.
2. Discussion of topics in particular feminism and its effects - there has been no restriction on these discussions since the feedback thread last year.
3. Involvement of mods in serious threads - New mods were appointed with interests in these threads and existing mods at the time have been posting across the forum.
4. Deletion of posts where threads go off topic - this has not happened since the feedback thread last year.
5. Moderation in general was discussed - there has been a concerted effort by the mods to use a lighter touch. That said we seem to be a magnet for some of the rereg trolls that create account after account so a couple of threads needed heavy moderation in the last couple of months, in particular the thread where the guys girlfriend had hundreds of partners needed heavy moderation.

Anything else you can think of that was raised in the previous thread?

You got them all covered from what I remembered of last years feedback thread. It might just be me but I do like seeing these changes listed out on the charter thread. I personally find it helpful like a companies annual report stating where they were last year, the actions they implemented and how they view it as positively affecting the outcome of that year.

For example that point 5 of the mods using a lighter touch. I think this was implemented well and has improved the forum as a result but a newcomer to the forum reading the charter alone would not be able to detect that. The charter just lists the rules but the additional posts listing changes to me gives a good indication to the nuance of how the mods are going to apply those rules so the users have a more clear idea of how the mods want the direction of the forum to go.

Soft Falling Rain

Great forum, I don't post much but follow it. If I had one small criticism though it'd be the amount of hair/hair loss threads that seem to be created. There's a good few even in just the first 2 pages of the forum, and the replies seem to be minimal.

I know it's quite an inane issue but I just find it annoying that every time I visit the forum, the first thing I notice are hair threads.

So maybe one superthread with tips and info would be worth a spin?

The Black Oil

There appears to be a greater range of threads and topics in the forum now compared to the last time feedback was collected. This is good to see and reflects well on the community.

Pat Mustard

I like the forum. Well done.

A change that I would like to see is fewer of the men-are-victims type threads.

iptba

The Mustard wrote: »

A change that I would like to see is fewer of the men-are-victims type threads.

If somebody is not interested in a thread, no one forces them to read it.

Shakespeare's Sister

iptba wrote: »

If somebody is not interested in a thread, no one forces them to read it.

Really? This is a feedback thread and you give that generic answer?

IMO nothing wrong with "men are victims" threads, but hostility towards women could be left out of them. Some of the comments towards women of late here are just... wow.

Pat Mustard

iptba wrote: »

If somebody is not interested in a thread, no one forces them to read it.

Nobody is forcing me to read the women-hating threads? Well that's fantastic, because I have no interest in reading them, which is the very reason that I posted.

This is a feedback thread, where people give feedback.

Pawwed Rig

Calm your boots folks. All feedback is welcome

TheBeardedLady

You only have to look down the list of threads in TGC right now to see how hostile the place is to women. Anyone with eyes in their head can see it. And many, maaaaany of the comments are just sickening tbh.

Why don't I report them? Because there's so many and I wouldn't know where to start and mods contribute to those threads, so they know they're there. People get away with blue murder in here that they wouldn't be able to elsewhere.

Nothing gentlemanly about the place imo. You may as well change the place to the MRA forum and be done with it.

That's my feedback, welcome or not.

iptba

I prefer issues, including those where somebody is raising the possibility that men are not fairly treated on the issue, to have separate threads. Having them all corraled into threads covering separate topics means the discussion can be disjointed and one may not get as indepth a discussion on the topic.

This is a response to what is being suggested. I'm happy with the way things are now.

iptba

I think tGC is providing an important forum where men can highlight and discuss issues they are concerned about.

These are often issues they would often not get the opportunity to discuss much or at all with others or, if they did, it would likely only be with a single individual or small group.

skallywag

Is it just me or do a large percentage of the women which come on here to post tend to swear a lot, and generally come across as quite bitter and angry? i.e. when compared to the language used / general behaviour of men which post over on TLL ...

skallywag

TheBeardedLady wrote: »

...You may as well change the place to the MRA forum and be done with it...

MRA

I'm assuming you don't mean anything connected to Magnetic Resonance ...

iptba

skallywag wrote: »

MRA

I'm assuming you don't mean anything connected to Magnetic Resonance ...

Men's Rights Activist (sometimes now called Men's Human Rights Activist). Some people think they're not needed as the feminist and the "equality" movement work for equality :rolleyes:

Seriously?

Personally I think the forum is running fine, though I'm not a fan of mega-threads.

As for the number of mens issues threads, that's a reflection of the interests of the individuals who actively post here.
If people prefer a greater volume of other content, then they need to post it themselves and not attempt to restrict those are actively taking part in the forum.

TheBeardedLady

Seriously? wrote: »

Personally I think the forum is running fine, though I'm not a fan of mega-threads.

As for the number of mens issues threads, that's a reflection of the interests of the individuals who actively post here.
If people prefer a greater volume of other content, then they need to post it themselves and not attempt to restrict those are actively taking part in the forum.

Men's issues should be dealt with and the rights of men are of the utmost importance but misogyny is not acceptable (misandry is not acceptable either and I would never partake in it). There are huge amount of misogynistic posts in this forum that go unpunished and that's the issue I'd have with the forum. I could spend my weekend trawling through and reporting all the offending posts but they're there for all to see (including the mods) and tbh, I'm not bothered. If this forum continued the way it did, it wouldn't affect me as I don't post in here often (too hostile) but it goes against every single charter on Boards so often.

TheBeardedLady

Seriously? wrote: »

Personally I think the forum is running fine, though I'm not a fan of mega-threads.

As for the number of mens issues threads, that's a reflection of the interests of the individuals who actively post here.
If people prefer a greater volume of other content, then they need to post it themselves and not attempt to restrict those are actively taking part in the forum.

Restrict those who are breaking the charter though like anywhere else on Boards, which happens all the time.

Seriously?

TheBeardedLady wrote: »

Restrict those who are breaking the charter though like anywhere else on Boards, which happens all the time.

You can't fault the mod team here, they react to reported posts fairly promptly and have acted upon misogynistic posts here numerous times before.

Anyway I guess this thread isn't really a discussion one.

So I'll exit it with final observation to the mod team of "keep up the good work" and if you're going to review anything perhaps look at splitting out of the mega-threads recurring topics into their own threads.

skallywag

TheBeardedLady wrote: »

There are huge amount of misogynistic posts in this forum that go unpunished and that's the issue I'd have with the forum. I could spend my weekend trawling through and reporting all the offending posts but they're there for all to see (including the mods) and tbh, I'm not bothered.

Why not report such a post as soon as you see it, in only takes 5 seconds. The vast majority of men on this forum don't support this carry on either, an I've reported such posts myself.

Pawwed Rig

Seriously? wrote: »

Personally I think the forum is running fine, though I'm not a fan of mega-threads.

I am not a fan of mega threads either other than the pics one. We don't have any as such other than threads that have been going a long time that people still post to.

What is the difference is the next question!!

Well we don't tend to merge new threads into an existing megathread unless there are two very similar issues that have been posted on within a short space of time.

B0jangles

I've noticed that this forum has become increasingly hostile and insular in the last few weeks/months - I mean stuff like this is being posted without comment from the forum regulars:

stitcheddepin wrote: »

I disagree with you fine sir. sex for male and female is quite different, both physically and emotionally. A lady is more attached to the act of sex, if she has had numerous male partners ( someone threw 20 out there) for one night stands she would be feeling a little empty and depleted inside, having let so many different male members come and go. a male can become detached, he can perform, finish and be forgotten with it. a lady cannot, unless she is a real whore.
I would like to marry a lady who hasn't been left empty and devoid of her soul by numerous pricks, one that is willing to take me in and give me all her soul.
nothing immature about it, but a bird who sleeps around 'for the fun of it' isn't worth pissing on in my opinion. she is definitely tarnished

EdenHazard wrote: »

Analogy makes sense, women are the proverbial locks, while men are trying to get in. A girl who has been with too many guys, das not it mane, not wife material at all I'm afraid despite the protests of white knights and the likes this is just how it is.

Its sad to see the mindset of a lot of girls in this thread, seems finding a good girl these days is impossible, they all wanna 'have fun' which translates to having sex with as many people as they can.

paddy1990 wrote: »

The age of consent is 17. I take issue with saying 18. I've seen gorgeous 17 year olds so I think 17-25 is fair, with 25 pushing it due to the lifestyle some women today have.

The legal age in the UK is 16.

paddy1990 wrote: »

Thanks. I'll have as many prime and fertile 17 year olds as possible. You can have the over 30s. Hopefully the children are healthy - we know that the chances of things going wrong do go up as women age.

I would have posted here occasionally in the past but would not do so anymore, to be honest I feel pretty uncomfortable even reading some of the current threads. When I see posts like the above in threads where the forum mod is actively posting at the same time and apparently seeing nothing wrong with this kind of stuff, it sends a very clear message.

iptba

B0jangles wrote: »

paddy1990 wrote:

The age of consent is 17. I take issue with saying 18. I've seen gorgeous 17 year olds so I think 17-25 is fair, with 25 pushing it due to the lifestyle some women today have.

The legal age in the UK is 16.

What's wrong with that? Going by his username his age is likely 23 or 24.

B0jangles

iptba wrote: »

What's wrong with that? Going by his username his age is likely 23 or 24.

Did you see the subsequent post?

Liam McPoyle

Tbh with the couple of busy threads that are running ATM the main idiots posting in them (no need to name names as it's painfully obvious) have a history across Boards of either being idiots or trolling.

I'd suggest that most people that post in here are fairly well balanced but those few should be ignored because the fact of the matter is that they are either trolls or mongos, neither of which are worth wasting time answering.

LEIN

I lurk here a lot rather than posting and I feel that there's nothing to fix. I enjoy reading through the threads and have rarely been put off by something.

I will have more time to contribute more over the coming weeks and look forward to joining in.

Pawwed Rig

skallywag wrote: »

Is it just me or do a large percentage of the women which come on here to post tend to swear a lot, and generally come across as quite bitter and angry? i.e. when compared to the language used / general behaviour of men which post over on TLL ...

Mod note - It is just you and please don't generalise

skallywag

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Mod note - It is just you and please don't generalise

Fair enough it may not be representative of the majority of women who post here, but as an example there have been multiple occasions in just the last two days when this has happened!

I more than welcome the contributions but I really don't see why it has to involve fcuk this, of fcuking that. You don't tend to come across the same on TLL forum when men post.

RDM_83 again

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Mod note - It is just you and please don't generalise

Its a relevant enough point, I've posted in a tLL a bit and never been sanctioned but you could be sure as be dammed if a thread became as dominated by a male perspective as occurs on threads like this one
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=91230732
there would have been action an awful lot sooner, to a lesser extent thats been seen in the last few days, perhaps clamping down on the semi-trollish comments by male users would help the issue (though its hard to work out what is trolling and what is real opinion sometimes)

I am not arguing for a restriction on posting by woman, or for here to turn into a misogynistic cess pool, but perhaps there could be less of the shaming style posts for users that manage to offend the rent a mob that pops up in the controversial threads

iptba

RDM_83 again wrote: »

but perhaps there could be less of the shaming style posts for users that manage to offend the rent a mob that pops up in the controversial threads

Yes, people can be quite acerbic and other people can often pile in to join them. I remember I started a thread a few years ago about not liking jokes about men being concerned about their health, and "man flu" in particular, posting jokes that I had just been sent. The first three pages or so were a torrent of people belittling it and acerbic replies getting lots of likes. That could certainly put many people off sharing their thoughts, experiences, etc.

TheBeardedLady

skallywag wrote: »

Why not report such a post as soon as you see it, in only takes 5 seconds. The vast majority of men on this forum don't support this carry on either, an I've reported such posts myself.

I've done so in the past and you're right, I should.

Pawwed Rig

Even if we did decide to restrict the to male posters (which noone in the mod team has any appetite for btw) it would be impossible to enforce (you or I could be female for all we know). Also it would probably breach every site rule and we would have Dav pm'ing us asking wtf was going on. So that is not going to happen.

Threads like the one you mentioned were a mixed bag. On one hand there was some interesting discussion on it but on the other it was a troll magnet and turned into a run away mess a couple of times. That thread has the most infractions and bans of any since I became a mod.

The trolls will come unfortunately and leave a mess in their wake for a while. It is not appropriate to ban someone for trolling once as bans are usually an accumulation of warnings and infractions. Therefore a troll can often last a good while on the forum before we can eventually justify a permanent ban. The regular posters would tend to recognise them fairly quickly and ignore them but they can still drag a thread or topic into the gutter. This happens on nearly every forum on boards.

Some good feedback folks. Did people not see this thread until today? It has been open for a month and we only had 13 posts up until yesterday :pac:. It confirms my suspicion that people don't look at the stickies:P

TheBeardedLady

RDM_83 again wrote: »

Its a relevant enough point, I've posted in a tLL a bit and never been sanctioned but you could be sure as be dammed if a thread became as dominated by a male perspective as occurs on threads like this one
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=91230732
there would have been action an awful lot sooner, to a lesser extent thats been seen in the last few days, perhaps clamping down on the semi-trollish comments by male users would help the issue (though its hard to work out what is trolling and what is real opinion sometimes)

I am not arguing for a restriction on posting by woman, or for here to turn into a misogynistic cess pool, but perhaps there could be less of the shaming style posts for users that manage to offend the rent a mob that pops up in the controversial threads

It's very hard to read many of the posts in here and I've often seen red when I have. People shouldn't come in here all guns blazing but some of the stuff is just.....

Here's one of many examples:

We went out for 4 months and had a lot of sex eventually but it was the last time I'll go out with a girl that old again.

I want her back when she was young and excited about doing new stuff. When the topic of anal sex came up, she was like, "i tried that with other bfs and didn't like it so no" to give one example. Holding off sex was because "i had a lot of one night stands when i was younger, i've matured now" and so on. I could give quite a few more examples.

Most guys want young fresh, almost naive women, not old washed up girls who've "had their fun" and are past prime, hitting their 30s. Different mindsets is the problem.

Respect to the female posters for keeping their cool like they did. I couldn't respond. Whether he's trolling or not doesn't matter; "Don't be a dick" is a very basic rule of every charter and how much more of a dick can you be (yes, I have reported this post and I'm assuming I'm not the only one).

I'd argue that for the most part, female posters do a very good job of restraining themselves considering but sometimes their cool is lost and yes, they should be sanctioned like anyone else.

I don't think they're the biggest problem in here though.

Edit: Would this guy only receive a warning if he was trolling? If so, why?

ancapailldorcha

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's noticed that there have appeared a few posters who shall remain nameless who seem to be posting, err.. posts below the usual standard. Other than that, so far so good.

Shakespeare's Sister

iptba wrote: »

I think tGC is providing an important forum where men can highlight and discuss issues they are concerned about.

These are often issues they would often not get the opportunity to discuss much or at all with others or, if they did, it would likely only be with a single individual or small group.

I wholeheartedly agree. I was an avid supporter of this forum when it was pitched six years ago (had a look at the forum requests).
Don't make the mistake of thinking the criticism people have of things at the moment = criticism of the above. We have partners, sons, fathers, brothers, nephews, male friends. I only have brothers. Most of my family is male actually. Fairness and balance towards men is important to me; I hate all the unfunny man flu crap too.

All I and others are saying is: the above can be discussed without the hostility and vulgarity towards women (you'd swear cattle were being spoken about at times). The (minimum of) three posters who are most prominent at the moment are depressing in their hatred, but what's even more depressing is the limited actioning. One was told not to post any more... yet did - churning out the PUA stuff at a rate of knots, and wasn't banned. I thought ignoring a moderator's instruction led to a ban? One got banned for something, which was designed to irk for sure, but was pretty innocuous - certainly not deserving of a ban. The ban got overturned - it's beyond me why he didn't get banned for the myriad of other far more deserving stuff.

I report posts - vast majority of the time it doesn't appear to do anything. The ones I quoted in my last post to this thread actually shocked me. And this is left seemingly unactioned and therefore a message being sent out that it's ok to post this stuff. Not good, really not good. The generic "Stop bickering" posts are like a catch-all towards all posting rather than focusing on the obvious people who start the aggro.

Had a look through just there to quote more stuff. Too depressing though - and slightly nausea-inducing.

skallywag wrote: »

Is it just me or do a large percentage of the women which come on here to post tend to swear a lot, and generally come across as quite bitter and angry? i.e. when compared to the language used / general behaviour of men which post over on TLL ...

Yeh, in TLL there are just trolls who start threads/posts comments designed to rise people. Could you link to some of these bitter, angry, sweary posts?

iptba wrote: »

Men's Rights Activist (sometimes now called Men's Human Rights Activist). Some people think they're not needed as the feminist and the "equality" movement work for equality :rolleyes:

No, in fairness MRA is needed - sometimes it's shorthand for the misogynistic stuff though, the way feminism is shorthand for the misandrist stuff.

TheBeardedLady

Shakespeare's Sister wrote: »

No, in fairness MRA is needed - sometimes it's shorthand for the misogynistic stuff though, the way feminism is shorthand for the misandrist stuff.

Yeah, my "you may as well change the place to the MRA forum and be done with it" wasn't thought through and I take it back as MRA, just like Feminism, isn't inherently woman-hating. The rest of what I said still stands.

iptba

Thanks Shakespeare's Sister.

Pawwed Rig

Shakespeare's Sister wrote: »

I report posts - vast majority of the time it doesn't appear to do anything. The ones I quoted in my last post to this thread actually shocked me. And this is left seemingly unactioned and therefore a message being sent out that it's ok to post this stuff. Not good, really not good. The generic "Stop bickering" posts are like a catch-all towards all posting rather than focusing on the obvious people who start the aggro.

To be honest I have a baby to bath and put to bed when I get home from work so that takes priority over this. The posts were reported 8:30 and have now been actioned less than 2 hours later. I am not sure what level of service you expect from us but I would suggest that a paid service provider would not do it any quicker.

It should also be noted that when you report a post they are all looked at by myself or one of the other mods. If there is no action taken then perhaps others were not as offended as you were. Or there could be action taken that you don't realise. For example a forum ban will have no visible marker on a post.

Shakespeare's Sister wrote: »

One was told not to post any more... yet did - churning out the PUA stuff at a rate of knots, and wasn't banned.

I only told one person today not to post on a thread and he hasn't so I'm not sure what you are referring to here. can you report the relevant post?

Sauve

^^ seconded.

I can assure you that I look at every single reported post from here. Or endeavour to. I also have a job, and other interests outside that.
If a post is not actioned immediately, either nobody has had a chance to get to it, or we've deemed it inactionable.
But rest assured, nothing gets ignored. A lot more goes on behind the scenes that you'll see on the forum.

Shakespeare's Sister

Apologies, I re-read the warning: it actually said "Don't start threads here again" and I misread it as "Don't start on threads here again".

Atrocious posting from that poster though - notorious for it, and replete with PUA out-of-10 stuff. Think he's thread-banned now. Don't know about forum-banned. I get that ye can't just ban someone for one instance of trolling but surely there's no need to be waiting around for trolling and trolling and trolling before anything is done?

Although I wish people wouldn't take the bait, I have to say. The trolls are primarily the problem though, not the troll-feeders, but the latter do help enable the trolls' existence.

Shakespeare's Sister

Were these posts actioned? They are particularly dismaying.

"And more than likely makes you wait multiple dates before having sex to try to uphold a deceiving perception on a naieve, nice male whereas before they'd have given it up for random guys who gave absolutely no sh!ts about them in less than a few hours in a club and afterwards got thrown aside and disregarded for life."

"Think of it as a useful Darwinian marker: these women probably aren't bright enough to be good breeding stock."
Literally referring to them as if they're cattle/horses.