Major problem in the GAA forum

Farawayhome

Hello. Not sure of the right place to post this but this seemed right.

There is a major problem with a mod in the GAA forum. I don't know boards.ie policy but modding a thread you are actively engaged in is allowed? The mod I'm referring to has come down strongly on one side of a debate. She deleted a lot of posts discussing this issue off one particular thread and outlawed any discussion about it on that thread. Instead, discussion was only allowed on a thread she linked to. Upon inspection, this was her first post on the GAA forum in 5 months and the second in 9 months!
The debate is about Dublin and their finances in the GAA. After banning discussion of it from one thread, she had a few posts with her buddies in the specific Dublin GAA thread. A few posters including myself followed her orders and started to post in the specific thread designated for discussion of Dublin GAA and their finances. Here she responded by stating her views, those being that she was in favour of it. She went on to call people expressing views against it as moaners and whingers. https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=110417470&postcount=411

It was then when she started issuing on thread warnings. Only to myself and not to posters who were making comments that were neither on topic and were just trolling. https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=110417472&postcount=412
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=110417568&postcount=415
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=110417683&postcount=419

The mod in question thanked the last post instead of issuing a warning. She's obviously removed her thanks after I mentioned it when reporting these posts. I know you probably get a lot of complaints where people claim to be harshly treated but any sort of examination of this will show that the mod is completely out of line. I know she is going to attempt to ban me very soon. Please look at this with an unbiased view.

Thanks.

Beasty

Moved from Feedback, as this is a mod complaint

Beasty

Farawayhome wrote: »

It was then when she started issuing on thread warnings. Only to myself and not to posters who were making comments that were neither on topic and were just trolling. https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=110417472&postcount=412
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=110417568&postcount=415
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=110417683&postcount=419

The mod in question thanked the last post instead of issuing a warning. She's obviously removed her thanks after I mentioned it when reporting these posts.

I can find no record of you having reported the first two of these posts

Have you attempted to discuss your concerns via PM directly with the mod in question?

Farawayhome

Beasty wrote: »

I can find no record of you having reported the first two of these posts

Have you attempted to discuss your concerns via PM directly with the mod in question?

Sorry, I reported the third one but my report comment mentioned them all. I said that I'm not going to respond to those types of posts and I was wondering whether any action would be taken against them apart from a mod thanking that third post.
The only action taken was the removal of the thanks by the mod in question. I haven't discussed it with her. What am I supposed to say?

Beasty

You were complaining about her actions. The most straightforward way to deal with such complaints is to discuss them directly. If you had I would have been interested to understand where you had got to with the mod

As you have started a thread though I will have a look when I get a chance and alert the mod to this thread, as they are entitled to their say in the matter

Farawayhome

Beasty wrote: »

You were complaining about her actions. The most straightforward way to deal with such complaints is to discuss them directly. If you had I would have been interested to understand where you had got to with the mod

As you have started a thread though I will have a look when I get a chance and alert the mod to this thread, as they are entitled to their say in the matter

Well, I asked her on thread whether she was going to mod the thread having clearly stated her views. She said that she was and having posted on the thread or not is irrelevant. That's why I asked was this common policy for boards.ie. It just seems a bit odd that a mod can close down discussions on a topic they are against in one thread and then hand out warnings to posters with opposing views in another while also thanking posts that went against the charter.

Anyway, thanks for looking at this.

Beasty

Farawayhome wrote: »

Well, I asked her on thread whether she was going to mod the thread having clearly stated her views. She said that she was and having posted on the thread or not is irrelevant. That's why I asked was this common policy for boards.ie. It just seems a bit odd that a mod can close down discussions on a topic they are against in one thread and then hand out warnings to posters with opposing views in another while also thanking posts that went against the charter.

Mods typically work in teams, particularly across busier forums. We do discourage mods from dealing with issues in threads they are actively involved in, but sometimes there may be no-one else about. Alternatively there may have been discussion behind the scenes with an approach agreed between the mods on certain issues and how they would be dealt with

At this stage I am providing background to what may happen in practice anywhere on the site, as I've not had a chance to have a look at the specifics here yet

Farawayhome

Beasty wrote: »

Mods typically work in teams, particularly across busier forums. We do discourage mods from dealing with issues in threads they are actively involved in, but sometimes there may be no-one else about. Alternatively there may have been discussion behind the scenes with an approach agreed between the mods on certain issues and how they would be dealt with

At this stage I am providing background to what may happen in practice anywhere on the site, as I've not had a chance to have a look at the specifics here yet

Ok, that could be the case. Obviously, I have no clue how it works. It doesn't seem to add up in this case though as the mod in question had one post in 9 months. Maybe they were modding but not posting? Hopefully, there's a reasonable explanation. You have to admit that it looks a bit off though?

Hammer Archer

Farawayhome wrote: »

Hello. Not sure of the right place to post this but this seemed right.

There is a major problem with a mod in the GAA forum. I don't know boards.ie policy but modding a thread you are actively engaged in is allowed? The mod I'm referring to has come down strongly on one side of a debate. She deleted a lot of posts discussing this issue off one particular thread and outlawed any discussion about it on that thread. Instead, discussion was only allowed on a thread she linked to. Upon inspection, this was her first post on the GAA forum in 5 months and the second in 9 months!

The thread that she moved the discussion to has been the designated thread for that topic for a while. You brought the topic up in (at the top of my head) two different threads meaning that these threads would basically be bogged down for pages and pages. That's why the discussion was moved to the other thread so that it can be contained to a single thread.
And I'm not sure what her posting regularity has to do with anything.

The debate is about Dublin and their finances in the GAA. After banning discussion of it from one thread, she had a few posts with her buddies in the specific Dublin GAA thread. A few posters including myself followed her orders and started to post in the specific thread designated for discussion of Dublin GAA and their finances. Here she responded by stating her views, those being that she was in favour of it. She went on to call people expressing views against it as moaners and whingers. https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=110417470&postcount=411

It was then when she started issuing on thread warnings. Only to myself and not to posters who were making comments that were neither on topic and were just trolling. https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=110417472&postcount=412
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=110417568&postcount=415
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=110417683&postcount=419

The mod in question thanked the last post instead of issuing a warning. She's obviously removed her thanks after I mentioned it when reporting these posts. I know you probably get a lot of complaints where people claim to be harshly treated but any sort of examination of this will show that the mod is completely out of line. I know she is going to attempt to ban me very soon. Please look at this with an unbiased view.

Thanks.

She did not call anyone whingers or moaners. Please do not make untrue statements.
And the posts you've quoted are not trolling. They're lighthearted. If you take such offence to these types of posts, then maybe the GAA forum isn't for you.

Farawayhome wrote: »

As I said. The days of discussion for this is over. We know Dublin have been financially doped since 2005, we know it has led to increased success across the board. This is not up for debate. It's what we should do now. We have to split them. This will benefit the children of our capitol and it will go along way to righting the wrongs af the past decade. Time to get our games back in shape.

This is the post that RG pulled you up on. Note that you're posting on a discussion site and you state "The days of discussion for this is over" and "this is not up for debate". Personally, I feel that this crosses the line of soapboxing and if RG hadn't given the on-thread warning, myself or one of the other mods probably would have carded you.
Indeed, your posting style in general is borderline soapboxing. You consistently post the same links and rarely, if ever, actually engage in civilised debate. The issue that you are debating is obviously a contentious one. But, in my view, the way you're posting about it does not constitute mature debate.

Farawayhome

Hammer Archer wrote: »

The thread that she moved the discussion to has been the designated thread for that topic for a while. You brought the topic up in (at the top of my head) two different threads meaning that these threads would basically be bogged down for pages and pages. That's why the discussion was moved to the other thread so that it can be contained to a single thread.
And I'm not sure what her posting regularity has to do with anything.



She did not call anyone whingers or moaners. Please do not make untrue statements.
And the posts you've quoted are not trolling. They're lighthearted. If you take such offence to these types of posts, then maybe the GAA forum isn't for you.


This is the post that RG pulled you up on. Note that you're posting on a discussion site and you state "The days of discussion for this is over" and "this is not up for debate". Personally, I feel that this crosses the line of soapboxing and if RG hadn't given the on-thread warning, myself or one of the other mods probably would have carded you.
Indeed, your posting style in general is borderline soapboxing. You consistently post the same links and rarely, if ever, actually engage in civilised debate. The issue that you are debating is obviously a contentious one. But, in my view, the way you're posting about it does not constitute mature debate.

Then why isn't things like the tiered championship banned from discussion on multiple threads? Her posting regularity turns out to be very important because I've been doing some digging!

She hasn't posted often in the GAA forum of late, as I said, once in 9 months so I only had to go back a few pages to find where she locked a thread called "Should Dublin football be split?". She opened up the "Changes in the GAA - super thread" and confined discussion on the topic to there. Then after very few posts and her first in 5 months, she returned to again shut down discussion on Dublin funding. She locked the thread and deleted a load of posts and again confined discussion to the thread she established. On this thread she made her views clear, she saw no problem with the funding of Dublin and was pretty clear in her dislike of the people "moaning and whinging and begrudging them".
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=110417470&postcount=411
Then, of course, she thanked posts that made no attempt to "engage in civilised debate", using your phrase and gave warning to myself who was actually participating in debate. It's clear her purpose is to shut down debate on the topic of Dublin funding, her posting history, expressed views and mod action/inactions are proof of this. That's why this thread was created, I'm hoping a neutral observer can look at this and make a judgement. To me, it clearly looks like poor mod behaviour and I'd go as far as to say an abuse of powers. To you maybe not and to a neutral observer maybe not.

Just to clear up your comments about my posts. I've already explained them on that thread but I'll do so here as well. Saying things like "The days of discussion for this is over" and "this is not up for debate" is clearly not referring to boards.ie in any shape or form. What difference will it make on this website? I'm talking about in the real world. I have partaken in reasonable debate and I ignored efforts to troll and drag things off topic. I reported these posts, this is what I was informed to do. That these were not actioned on and are being referred to as jokes doesn't seem right but again hopefully there will be a neutral view on this.

Farawayhome

Beasty wrote: »

You were complaining about her actions. The most straightforward way to deal with such complaints is to discuss them directly. If you had I would have been interested to understand where you had got to with the mod

As you have started a thread though I will have a look when I get a chance and alert the mod to this thread, as they are entitled to their say in the matter

I don't really know the process here. The mod doesn't have to respond but it would only seem right that they would? Her only contribution in the past week was to go on to the thread she created to state that there was a "Lot of rubbish made up" amongst other things.

Beasty

Farawayhome wrote: »

I don't really know the process here. The mod doesn't have to respond but it would only seem right that they would? Her only contribution in the past week was to go on to the thread she created to state that there was a "Lot of rubbish made up" amongst other things.

The process is that if you have an issue with moderation take it up with the mod(s) via PM - not openly in thread as that is taking discussion off topic

If you are unable to resolve your issue with the mod(s) approach a CMod to attempt to resolve it

If after that you feel something is still unresolved and you wish to take it further start a thread here, in Help Desk (not Feedback as that deals with site wide issues. Help Desk deals with forum specific issues).

Here you can get input from anyone, including Admins (hence my own responses in this thread)

Farawayhome

Beasty wrote: »

The process is that if you have an issue with moderation take it up with the mod(s) via PM - not openly in thread as that is taking discussion off topic

If you are unable to resolve your issue with the mod(s) approach a CMod to attempt to resolve it

If after that you feel something is still unresolved and you wish to take it further start a thread here, in Help Desk (not Feedback as that deals with site wide issues. Help Desk deals with forum specific issues).

Here you can get input from anyone, including Admins (hence my own responses in this thread)

You said this earlier:

Beasty wrote: »

As you have started a thread though I will have a look when I get a chance and alert the mod to this thread, as they are entitled to their say in the matter

Did you alert the mod? They again posted yesterday to lock a thread and shut down discussion on the same topic. Do you think this is appropriate behaviour? I thought this is why you moved the thread here, it was the correct place to discuss the actions of mods.

Beasty

Farawayhome wrote: »

Did you alert the mod? They again posted yesterday to lock a thread and shut down discussion on the same topic. Do you think this is appropriate behaviour? I thought this is why you moved the thread here, it was the correct place to discuss the actions of mods.

One forum mod has already replied in this thread, and I have just alerted the full mod team to this thread - apologies but I did not get round to that previously. She was aware of the thread when you originally started in in Feedback. I would add there is no requirement for her to post here, and the standard approach is to discuss issues with the mod via PM

I take it you have not approached the mod?

Just to make one point clear - I have no issues with the mod's actions. Whether she posted regularly in the forum recently does not particularly bother me. She has extensive experience of modding the GAA forum and I would trust her to act accordingly as and when necessary

I would note that yet again their were numerous reported posts leading up to the recent thread-locking. The thread was re-opened once a proper review of those reports had been carried out. This was discussed among the mod team

Farawayhome

Beasty wrote: »

One forum mod has already replied in this thread, and I have just alerted the full mod team to this thread - apologies but I did not get round to that previously. She was aware of the thread when you originally started in in Feedback. I would add there is no requirement for her to post here, and the standard approach is to discuss issues with the mod via PM

I take it you have not approached the mod?

Just to make one point clear - I have no issues with the mod's actions. Whether she posted regularly in the forum recently does not particularly bother me. She has extensive experience of modding the GAA forum and I would trust her to act accordingly as and when necessary

I would note that yet again their were numerous reported posts leading up to the recent thread-locking. The thread was re-opened once a proper review of those reports had been carried out. This was discussed among the mod team

And you're ok with her issuing warnings on the dedicated thread for this topic to those she doesn't agree with while thanking posts of those who were trolling? It appears to be clear inappropriate behaviour from the mod in question to me but it's not up to me. I'm just glad I started this thread in time because I was sure a ban was on the way. You say you have no issues with the mod's behaviour but I hope you take on board the valid complaints I've made and keep that in mind if issues arise in the future. Thanks very much.