Lads ye need to start advertising for mods

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119825039#Comment_119825039

that is nothing to do with moderation. to say that reddit moderates itself is nonsense. It has mods like any other discussion forum.

Tom Mann Centuria

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119825097#Comment_119825097

I like reddit but you're quite right they have moderation, sometimes very heavy handed, I'd argue much more draconian at times than boards. Some will ban you from their sub-reddit even if you've never posted there, but have posted on subs they don't agree with.

Tom Mann Centuria

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119825039#Comment_119825039

If you want an echo chamber.

As somebody suggested a limited-time modding option might be a good idea, as there are some people out there who might give it a stint, but know they have probably commitments in the horizon like new study course etc. It should be open to volunteers, although we all know there are pure narcissists out there who would put themselves forward. Those with a pretty clean record, yet who post fairly frequently might be thought to qualify, after which the ones with cleanest records would be chosen in turn off the panel by Admins.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119825097#Comment_119825097

I never said that reddit doesn't have mods.

Of course the upvote / downvote mechanic has a connection to moderation - that's not an intelligent comment in that respect.

It effectively removes the need for mod intervention in most cases which reduces a huge overhead in that regard.

You can argue the pluses and minuses of the same mechanic but the results are unanimous

one site is up there with google, twitter etc in terms of visits, the other is trading blows and in fact surpassed by "rsvplive" ffs

https://www.similarweb.com/top-websites/ireland/

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119825154#Comment_119825154

The upvotes are nothing to do with moderation.

Sure, sure.

The blatantly obvious connection to same in terms of mod-overhead has already been explained.

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119825208#Comment_119825208

you've explained nothing. it does nothing to stop people post shite either before or after the fact.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119825222#Comment_119825222

because such shite it will disappear down the list and indeed from view completely and requiring a click on the + to see same

if you really are arguing that that does not have a connection to moderation intervention overhead required then WTF?

another absolutely key point worth mentioning is that anyone can create a subreddit on reddit and if that one becomes more popular than an existing subreddit on the same subject where mods have completely lost touch with the community and / or reality then that new one become the dominant subreddit and the "out of touch" one less relevant over time

(obviously hate speech subreddits and similar have and will be shut down but that's standard)

as opposed to boards where it's a case of being stuck with and relying on whether a group of predominantly middle-aged people (and mostly men) have their finger on the pulse and know best.

shocker - in not a few cases they don't!

Quantum Erasure

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119825097#Comment_119825097

You also have automod facilities on Reddit, where if a post or comment gets quickly downvoted it gets removed automatically, and you can adjust how strictly it's implemented

ancapailldorcha

Reddit is a sh*tshow in terms of actually having a conversation. Great for feeds about news, memes and the like but nothing else. If Boards wants to turn into Reddit, it'll at best be an abysmal iteration of r/Ireland.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119825118#Comment_119825118

I absolutely hate that about reddit. I regularly try to look through the massively downvoted posts just to try to get any sense of a contrary opinion to the OP.

Tabnabs

r/Ireland was locked for a while during the wee small hours because they had no mods to cover those hours! Moderation on that forum is as strong/heavy handed as most public forums.

Inviere

The site has obviously deteriorated over the last while, the 'upgrade' really exacerbated it though....but that said, I'd no idea it was as bad as it is at mod/admin level (from reading Beasty's comments.)

Beasty, you need (imo, with the help of the one or two other Admins who pop in/out obviously) to put together a fresh Admin team, be-it promoting long standing mods/cmods, and grabbing some active/positive contributors. From there, there needs to be an active 'buffer' put between the community, and HQ...a buffer that starts to engage with the community (at at-least Category level), and one that can start rebuilding the mod/cmod teams to a functional level again. Seeking feedback from category/forums levels is a good place to start, on what the community feels needs fixing (realistically obviously, given current resources) and to prioritise things accordingly. HQ needs to prioritise functional mod-tools, and then begin engaging again with the community, if even through a new/active Admin team.

It'll be a thankless task taking on the problems here with a team of volunteers, but until there's a strong Admin presence guiding things along, who on earth would want to mod any forum on the site currently?

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119827872#Comment_119827872

The problem as I see it is threefold.

Firstly, while some of the modding tools have been restored since the rework was implemented, there is still so much to do and there's no sign that anything has been done. This was incredibly demoralising when the rework landed and it was the reason I stepped back from modding.

Secondly, we have haemhorrhaged both quality mods/cmods/admins and quality posters. These cannot be easily replaced, if at all for the former.

Thirdly, engagement from head office has stopped altogether. We have no indications what, if any progress is being made and no strategy whatsoever for what the site ought to look like in 1, 5, or even 10 years time.

I don't see how things get better from here. I hope they do because I don't want to go to the few Irish sites that do the same thing Boards does. They're utter cesspits, frankly.

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119828070#Comment_119828070

Christ, that's a grim picture. To think there's no bridge between HQ and the admin/mod teams is, frankly, unacceptable from HQ's end. Obviously engagement with users has ground to a virtual halt in Feedback etc, but to the volunteers who run the site too? This is a site that so many of us have poured huge chunks of our time into to help it grow into what it was, only to see it pissed away, just isn't on.

What an absolute **** way to approach the mess, just hope it goes away? That lad at the top has a LOT to answer for.

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119828157#Comment_119828157

I don't like blaming people unless I'm sure I know what the story is. I also don't want to divulge information that I'm not sure I should be sharing so I've kept things vague. There's been one issue with modding that we've been repeatedly promised a fix for and which hasn't materialised at all since the rework. That's pretty much it in a nutshell and we're not even getting promises any more.

It's frustrating and completely enervating. This was a volunteer gig and anyone doing it knew what the deal was. The rework cause a serious deterioration in that framework and here we are.

I appreciate this is the n’th thread on the state of modding on the site but it’s no bad thing as long term posters here were simply at a loss wondering just what’s happened to the site and how come modding became so poor - it’s good this thread pops up on the front page as it makes people aware of the current challenges and that it’s not all the fault of mods not doing their job.

I think it also helps to calm people down a bit- it certainly did me, when I read and contributed to the last one- I just report all trolls and baiters and abuse posts now and move on- if they get actioned then great- if not then I report that poster again if they cross my path in a similar manner - but it doesn’t get in on me like it would have done in the past

For those still modding, thank you- but doesn’t look like things will improve much in the short term

Beasty

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119827872#Comment_119827872

That's pretty much what we are doing. I was hopeful to get a bit more input from other Admins before we tried to move things forward. It's not been completely silent, but equally it is no-where near the "scale" of input I would like

I think it's largely down to Niamh and me to push on with this. Just to add though, Niamh has had a hell of a lot to deal with herself. Yes it's a paid job for her, but she's the one dealing with all the GDPR stuff, highlighting bugs to the limited developer resource we do have, dealing with advertisers (and indeed all the issues highlighted with adverts). In the past we had two people doing this plus a dedicated developer. And I know I've been doing far too much modding in the context of being an Admin, but unfortunately there's only really me and one other dealing with the "problem" forums and I hate to think of the state they would be in without that modding. I really would not want to leave all that to a single person.

Another thing I am conscious of is the amount of crap I am getting and having to deal with pretty much on my own in this forum and Help Desk, which does not paint an attractive picture for would-be Admins

celt262

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119829929#Comment_119829929

Is this a job to you or a hobby? If the latter why do you bother?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119829929#Comment_119829929

Some interim rules need to be brought in Beasty- you’re behaving as an Admin as if it was 2018 where you had tons of support, plenty of mods and cmods around and a workable site- we’re not that site anymore- but yet the standard procedures of appeal etc are in place - there has to be emergency measures introduced and communicated to all - as I said many genuine posters are still at a loss as to what’s going on behind the scenes- and some other not genuine posters have picked up on this and are basically ruining the site - we need a Covid measures type approach to boards- you can’t do it all - and no one is expecting you can - but you’re getting dogs abuse and it’s not fair

my tuppence worth

Beasty

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119829975#Comment_119829975

This is not a job. There is only one paid employee - Niamh

Why do I bother? Well looking at some of the crap I have to put up with it's a good question

In my early years I got a lot out of this site. In recent years I've put a lot in. I actually built up a lot of friends in real life from the time I was active in and modding Cycling. I used to get a buzz out of the Santa Strike Force stuff. That is all in the past now. However I do think this site offers something in Ireland that is not matched elsewhere. There was a lot more of a community feel to it, but less so now. However even though my regular posting has dried up big time, I do actually get something out of dealing with issues and resolving things with posters. I like it when an issue arises and can be resolved through constructive discussion. And despite what is seen in public on this site, there is a hell of a lot more stuff that I deal with behind the scenes. Mainly through discussing and resolving issues directly with posters. Yes the malcontents have it in for me. Many of them eventually show their true colours in public. And actually when they do slip up and get their trolling privileges removed I know I'm actually doing something positive for the site. And yes there are others with no malicious intent that I don't agree with, or more often do not agree with me. All I can say is that when I do act I do so with the best interests of the site in mind. Others may disagree but that's my view.

Why do I bother? Yes a very good question.

Wikipedia still showing Distilled Media as the owner. Without doing some CRO sleuthing can I ask who now owns it?

It seemed to have grown out of a love for gaming and organically grew until Distilled Media acquired it for commercial reasons and then ultimately only wanted adverts.ie (but that ownership went on for years).

Boards.ie is now owned by a somewhat disinterested owner that keeps one person employed? Is it simply going to run down like something from SK’s Dark Tower series or do they hope it will become profitable and THEN actively manage?!

EmmetSpiceland

Something I, personally, would like to see actioned would be “thanks” abuse and intimidation.

I, myself, thank any post that meets a certain criteria, ones I agree with, ones that are funny and ones that are interesting. Some of us aren’t on the site 24/7 so thanking posts is a way to “acknowledge” seeing a good post.

Other, more negative, users tend to use this as a way of dragging people into “discussions” they are not, actively, part of or to intimidate others from supporting those they are arguing against. The irony being that these users are, themselves, thanking posts they agree with.

Now, this isn’t something that would stop me from thanking posts but other users might well be frightened off when they get ganged up on in such a fashion and, as such, should be a “sanctionable” offence.

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119836536#Comment_119836536

What?

EmmetSpiceland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119836896#Comment_119836896

Never happen to you, O? You look through a thread, one you mightn’t have time to post in, due to having a life, and then your name starts appearing in posts by, very negative, users.

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119836943#Comment_119836943

How does other users thanking posts achieve that?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119828157#Comment_119828157

I’ve been saying that a long time, owner not interested.

If anyone’s interested in paying a few bob…

https://www.solocheck.ie/Irish-Company/Boardsie-Limited-319114

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119836536#Comment_119836536

I think that's the most consideration anyone has ever given to the thanks function on boards.

I see a post I like/agree with, I thank it. There's no downvoting on boards, so I don't understand how it could be used in a negative way whatsoever.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119836536#Comment_119836536

Good grief. WTf?!? Coming from one of the most judgemental and least self-aware posters I have ever come upon any site, and I very rarely make such observations here, if you look at my track record.

EmmetSpiceland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119836956#Comment_119836956

Other, more negative, user are referencing the users thanking posts. It’s a form of intimidation.

EmmetSpiceland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119836999#Comment_119836999

That’s grand, O.

I do the same but what I’m talking about here is other, more negative, users referencing that you’ve thanked a post they disagree with.

Trying to intimate users into not thanking posts or showing “support” to others they agree with. Just think it should be discouraged and worthy of a sanction.

EmmetSpiceland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119837009#Comment_119837009

Well aware of your “track record”, R.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119835941#Comment_119835941

I’m very curious about the motivation of the owners. It’s a little sideline as far as I can see, bestowed with no love. I’m really half tempted to fork out on a search, have an account with solocheck.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119837025#Comment_119837025

Well I’m sure glad I gave up the modding with the way the site is now.

bucketybuck

Nobody over the age of 12 even looks at the "thanks" or gives a toss about them.

What I’m getting on solocheck is “dissolved companies not included on search results”

Getting it under Boards Software Ltd. All other Boards.ie have been dissolved/deleted. Now going to check basic company report.

EmmetSpiceland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119837055#Comment_119837055

They do, though, B.

Now, I, myself, haven’t seen who thanks a post since the “changeover” as I, almost exclusively, use the mobile site.

I just think this sort of intimidation shouldn’t be allowed on the site and users should be free to “thank” whatever post they like without recrimination, or attack.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119837010#Comment_119837010

I've seen this, and I think I know what you mean. There are definitely posters who keep track of who likes their posts and who is liking other posts and then will make passive-aggressive references to who is liking posts which disagree with their viewpoint. "keeping notes".

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119836999#Comment_119836999

A few years back, in certain forums, I remember this coming up highlighting 'cliquey' behaviour, and it being allegedly used as a way of dismissing a poster(s) with perhaps opinions that went against the grain per se. It was a very grey area back then, and examples were few and far between (it's a legitimate feature being used in a legitimate way)....but I imagine there's much more pressing matters at hand today.

Admin Side:

1) Campaign to de-mod inactive mods, cmods, and admin - at least then you know where you stand in terms of what hands are on deck.

2) Make efforts to recruit new mods, and promote existing ones to fill the gaps left from inactive mods/cmods/admin.

3) Reconnect with the userbase through perhaps category specific feedback threads (and indeed the mods forums), and collate the feedback into useful data that can be prioritised accordingly. Such feedback threads will need to be strictly constructive....everyone knows it's been a shitshow, but the direction should be turned to looking forward.

4) Bring collated and prioritised information to HQ. Niamh is but one person, and as Beasty mentioned previously, is already fairly heavily loaded up with tasks, but perhaps the CEO can lend a hand here??

HQ Side:

1) Mod tools....without functional/adequate mod tools, the side is doomed because this filters down to people just not wanting to mod, and rightly so. Without mods that are supported and motivated, forums and categories just become crap to read and use.

2) Not sure why the CEO stopped updating through the Feedback thread, but that was a baaaad decision. Significant damage to the community done there, all for the sake of a few minutes per week....even if there's nothing to say or update, a simple check-in keeps users reassured that there's at least someone out there looking and listening to them (more so through a really difficult 12-months post Vanilla move.) As it stands, anyone trying to submit useful feedback there will likely feel ignored, abandoned, and demotivated in terms of continuing to submit good feedback. Really bad call to bury the head in the sand, and is such a far cry from when Dav was so actively engaged with the community (again no disrespect to Niamh, she's hung in there far longer than I would have...but her role as Community Manager seems to have been remoulded into Life Support Manager unfortunately.) The CEO needs to get back engaging again, or take some of the workload off Niamh so she can do it like she used to be able to. I can't overstate how bad it looks from a user perspective, to see an abandoned Feedback forum during a time when the site still has so many issues (some simple, some not).

3) See 1). Seriously, make it happen.

Again these are just my opinions, and some of them may be in effect/in place, but the side is so badly fractured from an overall community perspective, I don't see many ways forward.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119836988#Comment_119836988

I can check for free later.

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119837010#Comment_119837010

Who is intimidated by it? You say you're not so who are you speaking for?

TherapyBoy

..but perhaps the CEO can lend a hand here??

EmmetSpiceland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119837149#Comment_119837149

I’m speaking for myself and, I suppose, any others who might be intimidated by such a “tactic”.

Anyway, it’s just a suggestion. Something for the powers that be to consider.

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119837261#Comment_119837261

Perhaps you should report your "suspicions" properly in the appropriate forum. I doubt this thread is yhe correct place.

EmmetSpiceland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119837363#Comment_119837363

I dunno, maybe, not sure it’s worthy of an independent thread. This thread involved the mods so felt the point was a “tangent” worth pursuing.

Quantum Erasure

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119837062#Comment_119837062

I don't think it's so much "keeping notes" as another poster said, but just noticing that EVERY post from one side of an argument has one thanks under it, and it's from someone who is not involved in the discussion, at all (to such an extent that I thought you might have been thread banned, tbh. and I think that issue is something that mods have looked at in the past)

I do something the same myself, but I wouldn't thank EVERY post I'd vaguely agree with, and I'd thank a few from the other side of the debate if they make good points, oh and also contribute a little to the thread. But this is all off topic...

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119837378#Comment_119837378

Pm a mod. This is nothing to do with a lack of mods.

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119837228#Comment_119837228

I know, right 🤷‍♂️