The slow death of forums *see OP for Admin warning and update 28/02/18*

dxhound2005

Just an example of what goes on. A new poster signs up on a thread here with the name "traveller scumbags". Their first post is:

whatever about anything else you wrote, but dirty robbing pikey scumbags deserve the horrible reputation they have in Ireland, you dont see that no?

Nothing wrong with that and the Mods should just let them carry on.

Tzardine

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Just an example of what goes on. A new poster signs up on a thread here with the name "traveller scumbags". Their first post is:

whatever about anything else you wrote, but dirty robbing pikey scumbags deserve the horrible reputation they have in Ireland, you dont see that no?

Nothing wrong with that and the Mods should just let them carry on.

These clowns are a part of online life. You will not find anybody genuine that will defend them. The mods ban them as appropriate.

But I dont get the point you are trying to make. Maybe you could elaborate. (Not being smart, actually interested)

Wibbs

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

So as I'm typing this, I'm torn between wanting to give my thoughts (again!) and wondering if it's a futile effort as the thread will end up locked closed for review (indefinitely it seems) again anyway!

There's several fundamental problems at this stage..

- Boards.ie's owners and management don't seem to understand the site, its history, userbase, or why people come here. This is reflected in things like the Feedback debacle, the Cafe mess, and some questionable commercial decisions like the Gearbest forum

- The mess that is the UI.. the "temporary" menu on the "legacy" site, and the godawful "responsive" site specifically. Neither of these should have gone live and the former should have been rolled back on when the overwhelmingly negative (and constructive!) feedback started rolling in.
Instead, here we are years later with still the same "temporary" layout, unnecessarily burying forums and then wondering why they've become wastelands

- The Moderation structure... too many Mods, too many levels of Mods, and always from the same pool. It feeds on itself and results in a system that is not actually responsive or suited to the userbase, but more to maintaining the status quo

- The users. Yes, we have to share the blame too. From the permanently offended types, to the petty bickering and (deliberate) derailing of legitimate topics with the intent of getting them closed down (as happens more often than not), to the little groups that form out of the Chat threads and carry over into other threads (these do exist.. I've posted about it before only earlier this week in the other thread on this topic).
All of this kills actual discussion and debate and more than that, it presents an overwhelmingly negative impression of the site to new or casual users which isn't exactly helpful in attracting new blood.

But at this stage I don't see much hope for change. After all, this is the second thread on this subject in less than a week and it's following the same path.. people complain (many with fair points and constructively), Mods get defensive and take a "if you don't like it, leave" stance, and the thread goes round and round for a while until it degenerates into the aforementioned bickering which then in turn legitimises the Mod action of locking it.

But the problems still remain.. and sticking heads in the sand won't do anything to fix it.. assuming there's actually a will to do so anymore which I don't see any real evidence of unfortunately

Sums up much of it for me _K_

dxhound2005

Tzardine wrote: »

These clowns are a part of online life. You will not find anybody genuine that will defend them. The mods ban them as appropriate.

But I dont get the point you are trying to make. Maybe you could elaborate. (Not being smart, actually interested)

That other posters here would regard that as free speech and nobody should interfere with that.

Ewan Hoosarmi

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Just an example of what goes on. A new poster signs up on a thread here with the name "traveller scumbags". Their first post is:

whatever about anything else you wrote, but dirty robbing pikey scumbags deserve the horrible reputation they have in Ireland, you dont see that no?

Nothing wrong with that and the Mods should just let them carry on.

Yeah, take the extreme example of a trouble maker just looking to get banned. That'll help.

What about the driver who posted videos of a van that was doing outrageous stuff in Dublin? He was made the victim? I mean WTF is going on? Or maybe, a couple of years ago, a poster found a safe! A highly entertaining thread until the jackboot was put in and the OP was banned. Again... WTAF?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

dxhound2005 wrote: »

That other posters here would regard that as free speech and nobody should interfere with that.

That individual is not exercising free speech at all. He's a regular troll who looks to disrupt discussions with whatever incites the most. Always off topic, offensive and just looking to ruin the forum. The mods are right to nip him in the bud because he has no interest in a discussion and would add nothing of value to the forums - quite the reverse.
There is a huge difference between free speech and this guy's agenda.

dxhound2005

Ewan Hoosarmi wrote: »

Yeah, take the extreme example of a trouble maker just looking to get banned. That'll help.

What about the driver who posted videos of a van that was doing outrageous stuff in Dublin? He was made the victim? I mean WTF is going on? Or maybe, a couple of years ago, a poster found a safe! A highly entertaining thread until the jackboot was put in and the OP was banned. Again... WTAF?

Somebody found a safe?? What was that about?

tomwaterford

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Somebody found a safe?? What was that about?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056884317

Ewan Hoosarmi

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Somebody found a safe?? What was that about?

Strangely enough, It was about a fella that found a safe buried in the floor of his shed.

dxhound2005

tomwaterford wrote: »

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056884317

Search function suddenly working?

Tzardine

dxhound2005 wrote: »

That other posters here would regard that as free speech and nobody should interfere with that.

Fair enough. From what I can see most people get that Boards needs to be moderated and free speech can not exist so long as Boards will be held responsible for libellous content.

From my point of view I think the problem with some of the moderation is that it is not done to prevent libel. Look at the examples given from the aviation forum regarding the coast guard crash. Opinions were muted for other reasons, which most agree was incorrect.

I actually genuinely think that users should be allowed to challenge mods, in a respectful way of course, but I suspect that a bit like appealing a clamping fine with a private company it would be a waste of time.

retro:electro

I dread to think what this site would be like if people were given carte blanche to write whatever they desired. Sure, the anonymity is nice but people still need to be held accountable for their views. Moderation is surely an issue but so is posting etiquette.

The "cliques" or whatever don't bother me. It's natural for people to build up a rapport with one another when they've been posting alongside one another in various forums for years. That's always going to be the case and it seems futile to want to stop that. I tend to just float along and say whatever bit i have to say and tend not to think too much about it it's receptive or not.

Threats of legal action are a real issue too. I post in the blogging forum and have lost count at how many times conversation has been culled and deleted due to bloggers getting threat happy and issuing the site with cease and desist letters to get us to stop talking about them. It seems like empty threats to me and bullying tactics to silence opinion, but one that boards easily folds to. A lot of us fought really hard for a blogging forum only to have it basically fall on its arse because we can't discuss much and so we have migrated elsewhere, which is crap because a lot of us have posted here for years and have build up a comradery with one another- but it seems boards isn't all that interested in hosting our opinions and the mere threat of a sanction is enough to smother discussion. One blogger was buying cheap crap from China and passing it off as her own produce with a 500% mark up. We exposed her and she sent boards a C&D letter and all conversation was removed and we were told not to start another thread on the topic, despite various media outlets picking up on the story and reporting on it. It's crap like that which makes you think why bloody bother in the first place.

MadDog76

dxhound2005 wrote: »

That other posters here would regard that as free speech and nobody should interfere with that.

If there's any Poster here that will defend that post as free speech I'm sure they'll be along shortly to prove your point ........ but don't hold your breath.

Have you any other points?

tomwaterford

Tzardine wrote: »

From my point of view I think the problem with some of the moderation is that it is not done to prevent libel. Look at the examples given from the aviation forum regarding the coast guard crash. Opinions were muted for other reasons, which most agree was incorrect.

It was supposedly for fear family members would read it


A lad I knows (he'd be good mates with a cousin of mine) was shot in dublin few years ago and lad he was with was killed and people openly posted on boards saying pity he wasn't killed and hoping the other lad died in pain...


.no problem with anyone saying it (they weren't saints tbf)....but it's obvious that boards don't give a sh1t about their families
.

.but mention other cases and it's deleted immediately???...fcuk all consistency

riffmongous

Ewan Hoosarmi wrote: »

Yeah, take the extreme example of a trouble maker just looking to get banned. That'll help.

What about the driver who posted videos of a van that was doing outrageous stuff in Dublin? He was made the victim? I mean WTF is going on? Or maybe, a couple of years ago, a poster found a safe! A highly entertaining thread until the jackboot was put in and the OP was banned. Again... WTAF?

Em just looked at the safe thread and it was locked cause the OP asked for it and it doesn't look like he was banned either..

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

dxhound2005

riffmongous wrote: »

Em just looked at the safe thread and it was locked cause the OP asked for it and it doesn't look like he was banned either..

The safe was locked?

LuckyLloyd

Arghus wrote: »

Said all I had say really about the issue in the thread about it that was uncermoniously locked a few days back.

At the risk of sounding like one of the tinfoil hat brigade, that was the most boards thing I'd ever seen.

Nah mate, that thread was only “closed for review” and will “be back shortly”. Quite the laugh.

bloodless_coup

I blame the moderators for making this site as bland and worthless as it is today.

It's funny how you can't even mention something like IPTV or streaming services without discussion being closed down yet it seems people are freely allowed to discuss highly illegal drugs and taking of drugs. I recall a mod called Watty a few years ago had some interesting points about this trend. He of course was removed from his position.

There's nothing more grating than a moderator posting in bold text to shut down discuss because it doesn't suit thier narrow viewpoint.

Vronsky

riffmongous wrote: »

Em just looked at the safe thread and it was locked cause the OP asked for it and it doesn't look like he was banned either..

If I remember correctly the poster of the safe thread was wrongly accused of being a re-reg and summarily site banned.

In a rare case of a site banning being overturned, he returned from the prison forum to finish the thread.

There were empty jars in the safe

riffmongous

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I can't remember it too well, tbh as far as I can remember I wasn't too interested in that thread. Brian/ ciara was the last epic imo

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

dxhound2005

Vronsky wrote: »

If I remember correctly the poster of the safe thread was wrongly accused of being a re-reg and summarily site banned.

In a rare case of a site banning being overturned, he returned from the prison forum to finish the thread.

There were empty jars in the safe

I don't think it is rare at all. Based on my reading of the Prison forum.

ArnieSilvia

I never posted much because I didn't feel the need for it if I didn't contribute. No need to repeat what already been said. Search function means less questions asked hence less posts maybe?

This site gave me a wealth of knowledge about Irish society and the way people think here and I managed to use it to my advantage at work, when buying a house, car etc.

Being a foreigner, it also helped me to mix with society. The way how people here approach life, investments, property, politics etc is so different. I no longer look at ye as weirdos, nowadays I just assume that you just think differently.

Finally, it's been the main outlet for discussion with Irish. Not much of good discussion with people at work over the years if you're not into football, this has changed with new job and people there.

weldoninhio

AllForIt wrote: »

That's nonsense. Mods don't interject in the discussion or argument, they weed out trolls, infarct bad behaviour and keep the discussion civil. If it wasn't for them discussion forums would be a waste of time for anyone who genuinely wants to engage in them.

So when they closed the previous thread like this “for review, be back soon” a few days ago, were they weeding out trolls, infracting bad behaviour or keeping the discussion civil??

Biggest lickspittle on boardz

I'm baffled. A site that has banned probably 50% of the Irish population over the years is now declining in popularity. It's almost like actions have consequences...

Edit: As someone pointed out earlier, the absolute low point of boards.ie sh1t show moderation has to be the Rescue 116 Coast Guard crash thread. Many users provided very accurate data, information, and reliable graphs to indicate what were very likely factors in the cause of the crash. (Which proved to be extremely accurate, as the preliminary investigation has shown so far.)

Instead of boards allowing this information to be posted, the moderator Steve (I think) decided to throw his toys out of the pram and ban everybody instead.

Farcical doesn't even begin to describe it. It was like some sort of David Brent middle management wannabe having a live meltdown.

J Mysterio

It was a shame facekicker was banned. He made a real contribution to the place.

On a more serious note, I think it's true to say that these old forums are mostly populated by people of around 30+. V bulletins and the like are old school now. The young wans just don't see the point for the most part, they are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat. Instant turnarounds, big pictures, colours and celebrities!

I think the moderation is fine for the most part. There will always be examples of over modding, such as the quoted example of the R116. It is a thankless task and most of them do their best and try and keep to good humour.

The commercially sponsored forums are distasteful, but I can understand it and just avoid it.

I think the owners do need to take heed of the fact that 90% of the userbase think their 'responsive site' is a stinking pile of shıte and respect that, though I guess they have to an extent by keeping the 'legacy site' going. If that goes, many will go with it.Sometimes it can be hard to admit you were wrong, particularly on what was ultimately a business decision which would have required investment.

I think that the menu system could do with a rejigging alright, but it's not terrible either.

Ultimately I love boards. I like the community feel to certain forums and threads and I like how you have a variety of memorable 'characters' and 'persona's' that pop up around the place. You get favourites. It can be helpfull too in the knowledge that can be shared and I love the unique 'one nation' feel to it.

Boards will survive but its true to say that it will become more niche. It is old school now.

Joebobs

I think the app is just ok... maybe a smoother app; site would help...its(the site) is a bit 'old' fashioned ...still

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Biggest lickspittle on boardz wrote: »

I'm baffled. A site that has banned probably 50% of the Irish population over the years

Exaggerate much?

NollagShona

Thread titles that are inaccurate, sensationalist and misleading

See Berlin NYE thread today