Is Boards aware of the reputation it has across the web?

Effects

smash wrote: »

huh?

Moderators that would support racist posts and ban people who spoke out about them.

smash

Effects wrote: »

Moderators that would support racist posts and ban people who spoke out about them.

This didn't happen.

Effects

smash wrote: »

This didn't happen.

Yeah, it did.

There was also a thread about Africa Day a few years ago. It was actually disgusting to see how it descended into racist remarks about Africans living here with plenty of likes and support.

LDN_Irish

I like boards. There have been a couple of bonkers moderation decisions, the standout one for me was banning mentioning transgenderism in the Rachel Dolezal (the white woman who pretended to be black and became a spokesperson for black people) case when literally every other discussion on the planet had people discussing whether "transracialism" was similar to transgenderism and whether it was a valid thing.

But it wasn't that big a deal and I think AH is still good to pass some time. I haven't been here as long as others though so maybe it used to be better.

turnikett1

I cringe at the moderation here sometimes. Otherwise, I think its a worthy trade off for such an active and diverse board!

RedemptionZ

I find the moderation very useful for sports forums. It can be a little over zealous at times but without proper moderation it descends into Facebook comments and slagging off other teams or players.

It's too heavy handed for After Hours. There will never be any epic threads on boards, it's too moderated and they get locked. Epic threads are what attract a lot of users. That's how I find out about most forums.

So yes I think boards is in a crisis of sorts, it's not attracting anywhere near as much regulars as it used to and as is natural the current regulars will gradually burn out/have other things going on in life/whatever and will stop posting.

Foxhound38

jonnypacket wrote: »

Politics.ie

If you would like to see what this place would be like if there was no moderation, go there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLyHNMOnLTs

KomradeBishop

Ya I have to echo posters talking about condescending attitudes being a problem on Boards - and particularly, mods/admins play a part in legitimizing condescension in discussion as well, especially as it plays a big part in how some mods/admins dole out punishment to posters.

Condescension is only really a (very) short step away from either trolling or outright bullying, it's definitely "being a díck" at least, in my view - and it so often gets used to either try and shut-down or inflame discussion.

There's a place for ridicule and mocking what someone is saying, if it's e.g. of particularly poor quality argument - but when it becomes someones default mode of argument, or is used to avoid actual points being made in argument, then it's just destructive.

On the extreme end, it can even be used to troll certain discussion off of the forum.

RayM

HensVassal wrote: »

I've seen people being banned for trolling when in effect they have just been responding to false allegations. And I've seen people banned for making tongue in cheek comments. Neither were acting like dicks.

Would making a tongue-in-cheek comment or responding to a false allegation seriously be enough to get you site-banned? I doubt it...

Turtyturd

RedemptionZ wrote: »

I find the moderation very useful for sports forums. It can be a little over zealous at times but without proper moderation it descends into Facebook comments and slagging off other teams or players.

It's too inconsistent tbh. The majority of the mods are fine but there's two mods who like to make themselves front and centre and can't draw the line between being a mod and part of a clique. I don't think it's any coincidence that they support the two most protected teams on the forum either.

I reckon you would find this to be the case across most forums, the majority of the mods are fine and do a good job but the bad ones stick out like a sore thumb. It isn't helped by the fact that the higher ups will back the bad mods to the hilt bar maybe overturning the odd yellow card, and never admit that someone just isn't up to the 'job', there was a farcical thread on the politics forum last year that's a perfect example of this. Shutting down the majority of feedback on it probably doesn't help the reputation either.

Personally find myself using it less and less, post mainly in one thread as there's a good group of lads in it and the atmosphere is good but if that was available anywhere else without the mods looking to put a stop to it I'd drop boards. Have probably spent more time browsing Reddit than boards lately but the sh!tty interface puts me and a lot of others it seems off using it, although with boards' new sh!tty interface on the horizon they might take the plunge.

The Moldy Gowl

Try using reddit enhancement suite turdy.

You can edit the layout to suit you then as well.
Never had a problem browsing soccer on reddit with it.

cowboyBuilder

Im not a big fan of the far left wing side boards seem to take, but I take that over spammers and nuisance for sale nonsense being constantly posted and clogging up otherwise interesting discussions.

Turtyturd

Turtyturd wrote: »

It's too inconsistent tbh. The majority of the mods are fine but there's two mods who like to make themselves front and centre and can't draw the line between being a mod and part of a clique. I don't think it's any coincidence that they support the two most protected teams on the forum either.

I reckon you would find this to be the case across most forums, the majority of the mods are fine and do a good job but the bad ones stick out like a sore thumb. It isn't helped by the fact that the higher ups will back the bad mods to the hilt bar maybe overturning the odd yellow card, and never admit that someone just isn't up to the 'job', there was a farcical thread on the politics forum last year that's a perfect example of this. Shutting down the majority of feedback on it probably doesn't help the reputation either.

Personally find myself using it less and less, post mainly in one thread as there's a good group of lads in it and the atmosphere is good but if that was available anywhere else without the mods looking to put a stop to it I'd drop boards. Have probably spent more time browsing Reddit than boards lately but the sh!tty interface puts me and a lot of others it seems off using it, although with boards' new sh!tty interface on the horizon they might take the plunge.

If you have a smartphone, there are really good apps for Reddit. That's how my gf got into it.

The Moldy Gowl

[Deleted User] wrote: »

If you have a smartphone, there are really good apps for Reddit. That's how my gf got into it.

Alien blue is how I got into it. That's very friendly to use.
There is an official app now as well.


The worst thing about reddit is people editing their posts with

thanks for the gold kind stranger.

Holy cow this post blew up, let me take this opportunity to say x

My top comment is about poo. Wtf



Those people annoy the ****e out of me. Those posts really grind my gears.

mariaalice

There are two examples on AH at the moment that neatly explain why boards has to be moderated one has been locked and one is a wind up along the line of fat, single mother on the dole. If boards was not moderated it would be a cesspit.

darkpagandeath

mariaalice wrote: »

There are two examples on AH at the moment that neatly explain why boards has to be moderated one has been locked and one is a wind up along the line of fat, lone parent on the dole. If boards was not moderated it would be a cesspit.

To be fair if everyone believes what people say on the internet or get riled up by what people say on the internet. Well maybe the Internet is not for them.

TerrorFirmer

mariaalice wrote: »

There are two examples on AH at the moment that neatly explain why boards has to be moderated one has been locked and one is a wind up along the line of fat, single mother on the dole. If boards was not moderated it would be a cesspit.

Speaking of cesspit, you should check out 4chan's Random board. Perfect example of what happens when an online board has almost zero moderation.

5rtytry56

ibarelycare wrote: »

One of the worst things about boards is the widespread self-righteousness.....

with self-appointed 'expertise' and 'authority', amongst other put on 'airs and graces'.

Effects

padd b1975 wrote: »

How many years ago?

Four or five I'd say.

Duggy747

Like many users, I used to love coming here frequently and it was essentially one of the first websites you'd go to when you'd open a browser. After Hours was just a hilarious place to be, it felt a lot more like a community rather than a place with a cliquey group (though it existed back then too, just didn't notice it as much)

After Hours filled the criteria of being a fun place that had the capacity to have adult conversations about serious topics but with sprinkles of silly threads to lighten the mood.

I frequent a lot of other forums and they all have a place like After Hours but here on Boards it's the one that I've noticed changed the most. It's turned into a far more serious place, removing that particular capacity for goofy fun it used to have.

After Hours, one of the site's biggest draws, has been for years stuck on an endless loop of the same small scope of discussion surrounding politics, Dublin, immigrants, feminists, fat people, smokers, etc.

The remedy for "fun" threads are the ones of "trivial things that annoy you" or "do you recognise the poster above you", etc

All well and good, they can be ignored if you're not arsed about them except they've existed for so long that they should've been at least stickied instead of constantly pushing other new or current threads down the list.

So what happens is you pop into After Hours after a few days of being away and there you are looking at the same threads sitting at or near the top, the limited scope of topics is off-putting to many people especially to any new users who will think there's not much going on here as opposed to a place like Reddit where new content is constantly pouring in.

I think a while back there was a notable problem where new threads that deviated away from these topics were stopped and locked dead in their tracks before any kind of discussion took off, a lot of times because the first handful of posters chimed in with jokes and a mod figured the topic wasn't worth it.

This particular type of moderation got so prevalent that it was eventually acknowledged over in Feedback that something had to be done to curb the attitude and allow threads to breathe more...............though I think this mindset went on for too long and affected the forum too much.

5rtytry56

RayM wrote: »

The more right-wing a person is, the more likely they are to shoot themselves dead in a bunker at 56.

..........and get his wife to take her own life as well.:D

mariaalice

Another thing I don't understand, if you prefer reddit go for it. I suspect the people who haven't migrated to reddit and stay on boards do so because they like it the way it is, maybe a few minor quibbles.:p

Maguined

mariaalice wrote: »

There are two examples on AH at the moment that neatly explain why boards has to be moderated one has been locked and one is a wind up along the line of fat, single mother on the dole. If boards was not moderated it would be a cesspit.

No one is claiming there should be no mods, people are saying that it is overly modded. If the mods eased back a bit the nonsense stuff would still get removed but it would allow more discussion.

My biggest pet hate is when a thread is locked because a small handful of people cross the line. Rather than take action against the one or two people breaking the rules by banning them if necessary the entire thread is locked so no discussion is allowed further.

It is simply lazy and heavy handed.

The Moldy Gowl

mariaalice wrote: »

Another thing I don't understand, if you prefer reddit go for it. I suspect the people who haven't migrated to reddit and stay on boards do so because they like it the way it is, maybe a few minor quibbles.:p

Reddit is more global and boards had the Irish twist. I like the mix of both.

I go on reddit in the evening becuase im subscribed to far too many nsfw subreddits.

Dyr

Maguined wrote: »

My biggest pet hate is when a thread is locked because a small handful of people cross the line. Rather than take action against the one or two people breaking the rules by banning them if necessary the entire thread is locked so no discussion is allowed further.

It is simply lazy and heavy handed.

It's an ould trick, mod does'nt like the thread so locks the thread as soon as a poster collapses the scrum

scamalert

every forum has rules,boards are just more compliant ant strict -like no porn pics,vids,no drug talks,no dodgy talk,dont ask for help where to get x y z or what your ingesting,or what sites sell what.Then you have likes of reddit where most of stuff is really international so whatever you posts until its not way out there is your opinion experience or sharing it,then you have bottom floor like 4chan where most stuff is allowed within boundaries-that usually comes down to fluffy cartoons and porn pics to go around,and stupid games discussions which always end in topics being trolled or spammed down -by autistic kids.

So no boards dont get any hate of flame its just some kid posting crap of what he thinks is superior place to be in,since usually every country has some kind of forum where local people have discussions thus being more related to region where one lives,other forums are mostly international so you get a lot of variances between topics on hand thus most times if someone speaks about events in US or Asia etc that would have little to do with your location or subject.

Iseedeadpixels

As much as I use Reddit which is more than here, the discussions on boards is much better, after hours is a great laugh and the motors forum has helped me a lot, I mainly use the android forum here and football on reddit, one day that beautiful Zaph will unban me from soccer here and all will be good :pac:

K-9

Samaris wrote: »

Yeeah, I don't know anything about politics.ie, but the Journal and Reddit could also have some things said about their reputations too :P

Pretty much any big site will get slagged off on other sites. I wouldn't exactly call what I read on Reddit about Boards (or vice versa) gospel truth.

Politics.ie used to have a bad rep, haven't been on it in years.

It amazes me how some people get so wound up about boards, or indeed p.ie, the journal etc.

It's like what is your favourite brand of tea except srs business! If somebody finds Boards too moderated, grand so, sorry about that, but it's just a different style of website. If it isn't to your taste, drink/watch/listen/read something else!

AnonoBoy

This has probably been mentioned but I love how people who give out the most about boards and everyone who posts on boards in the end turn out to be people who used to post on the site and have been banned.

I'd love to see them post up what they got banned for.
"Yeah they're all PC brigade Nazi mods over there. You can't say anything without being banned."
- And what did you actually get banned for?
"Eh.... I PMed someone saying I was going to come to their house that night, burn it down and rape their wheelie bin."
- ....... Whatever happened to Free Speech wha? :pac:


It's like Dave McSavage and the TV licence - no complaints about it when he was getting some of it into his bank account but when his show doesn't get renewed? "IT'S A WASTE OF MONEY WAAAHHHH!!!"

Arghus

I find boards to be grand. I think it's plenty busy.

I'd rather have an environment that is somewhat policed, anything goes type of discussion boards tend to devolve into a race to the bottom.

I've been on Politics.ie a few times - life is just too short.