What's the point?

Scotty #

I don't visit After Hours very often but today I did and came across this thread... https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058283309/aggressive-facial-features

I was surprised to see it closed as the moderator didn't 'see the point in it'. Really? Have they looked over the past 20 years of threads in AH? You'd have a lot of closing to do!

The way it used to be, if a thread had no interest it dwindled down the page to obscurity. If it had interest - it didn't. This thread was closed within 20 minutes of someone thinking it was worth posting in. Closing it seems counter productive to me.

Anyway, if this is to be the policy of Boards.ie now, to close active threads that mod's deem 'pointless', perhaps you could post some guidelines on what constitutes a worthy thread in AH and what doesn't?

Mrs OBumble

Another thread closed in a similar manner:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058283138/my-neighbours-dad-is-stone-mad-he-is-mowing-her-lawns-already-and-they-are-not-even-long-like-wtf

Since when were threads in AH even meant to have a point?

Boards.ie: Mike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058283699/whats-the-point

Did you raise this with the Mod who closed it before creating this thread?

Leg End Reject

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120223414#Comment_120223414

It's a new mod, Mike, they seem to have lost the run of themselves.

Princess Calla

Yeah very annoying when threads that are "alive" can be just shut down on a whim. Especially when the content is not in the slightest bit controversial.

While one person may not "see the point " in them, others who are contributing obviously can.

Just let the non controversial threads die their own natural death.

It's after hours not "personal issues"

Leg End Reject

Here's another one with a snotty closing post. I'll add that im not one to complain about mods and all the other AH mods and cmods are grand.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058283084/have-i-got-this-correct

Dial Hard

Honestly, I'm glad to see AH being taken somewhat in hand. The nonsense threads really were gone beyond stupid. And I don't really agree with the "Let them die on their own" argument, tbh. If self-moderation of that kind actually worked, we wouldn't need mods in the first place. I think Raichu is doing a great job.

Princess Calla

After hours is supposed to be full of nonsense threads.

That's the premise of after hours ...the sh!te people talk about after a belly full of drink...and still drinking after closing time ie after hours.

The only rule used to be "don't be a d!ck"

There are plenty of forums that cater for indepth discussions at a "high brow" level if that's what you want.

There's absolutely no requirement to read after hours threads if they are not your cup of tea.

Closing harmless threads on what appears to be the whim of one mod is going to kill an already faltering forum.

Maybe the mod needs to put up a sticky of items that they "see the point of" then we can all fall in line, keep to pre-agreed discussion points.

Scotty #

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120223414#Comment_120223414

No I didn't, I'm simply offering feedback. I don't particularly care about the thread in question. It's more to do with Boards.ie policy rather than any particular thread.

If someone started a thread about cows in the motors forum I could see it as pointless and why it might be closed. But a thread about people's facial expressions in AH doesn't seem that pointless, to me anyway. Let threads die off naturally, as someone else put it, or else inform users what's seen as pointless and what isn't. But if this is to be the policy, where mods decide what's interesting to people and what isn't then it's yet another nail in the Boards.ie coffin I fear.

bucketybuck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120223414#Comment_120223414

Why are official responses always some petty variant of "Have you filled in the proper forms"?

No surprise at the pattern emerging with that mod quite frankly, a more uncivil poster you were unlikely to ever meet.

EmmetSpiceland

Yeah, it does smack a bit of new mods being a little over eager in “stamping” their authority. To be expected, not something the average user should worry too much about.

It does seem a bit “arbitrary” in the examples provided, when it may seem that there are other threads far more suited to closing/moving but such is the mystery of boards.

To be honest, I do think it’s better to have threads moved, rather than closed with a link to the more relevant forum. At least with moving an active thread it may breathe some life into dormant peripheral forums. Closing with a link is not as “inviting”.

Anyway, have to say it’s a nice change in having the ire of the site spread out a little, as opposed to just being directed at one, or two, main players.

Flinty997

Rarely post in AH as it's mostly nonsense. But I thought that was entirely the point of it.

Esel

**Mob edit**

Thread closed

😀

Curse These Metal Hands

Agree that the standard of modding in After Hours has gotten very poor recently.

Princess Calla

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120223759#Comment_120223759

It's funny when you see another mod calling them out, in thread, about the power going to their head. (The thread had been running well before they were made a mod and they became a bit trigger happy with the bold font)

I don't remember that ever happening before.

Leg End Reject

And again

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058283857/so-thinking-about-this-last-night-acronyms-for-rte

Princess Calla

Ah another funny light hearted thread.

Honest question, what is the point in the "After Hours" forum if we can't have abit of light hearted craic.

Guaranteed the "wherers thread" ,the trivial annoyance thread and definitely the etiquette thread would have be closed today if someone just started them.

Deregos.

So all these concerns are really just about the same one, trigger happy mod.

blackbox

Any chance the facial features thread could be reopened?

It seemed like a bit of fun.

Princess Calla

And the rte one ....I love how inventive people can be.....I'm absolutely useless at that type of thing!

Tell me how

Don't think this is about just one new mod, I noticed it in particular after the migration to the new platform that a couple of the long term mods who were still left around adopted a similar approach.

I had a bit of back and forth with one of them about a thread (that I didn't start that was getting a lot of traffic of conflicting viewpoints but they closed it down because they said it was a pointless topic.

Seemed an approach at the time to limit the need for moderation. Less threads = less modding.

eggy81

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120223759#Comment_120223759

How have they ended up a mod?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120223414#Comment_120223414

No they did not.

I have said before and I’ll repeat it here:

If anyone thinks a thread I closed has merit and warrants being reopened absolutely give me a shout and I’ll review my decision.

The fact is the threads that were closed were either trolling or outright nonsense in some cases. The forum may well be a more relaxed environment but the place being filled with ridiculous threads (some of which would actually fit better in existing ones) is not going to be tolerated either.

For example right above you someone mentioned the lawn mowing thread, would anyone disagree with me saying that the OP (original post) couldn’t have gone into the Trivial Annoyance thread?

I have outlined my reasons for closing those threads in the AH thread started by a user there also.

The site has been given endless amounts of hardship for lacklustre moderation and when someone does try to keep the place in some sort of order they’re demonised without even talking to them.

If any one of the people here complaining had reached out and asked me for some insight as to why those threads were closed, I’d happily discuss this with them and potentially even consider reopening if there was good reasons to do so.

I’m not an ogre. I won’t bite. But the forum being lighthearted does not = post whatever you want sure. There’s an expectation that threads at least serve some purpose. It’s not there just to put every thought that comes to mind.

Leg End Reject

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120228667#Comment_120228667

If a thread is getting responses does it matter if you think it's outright nonsense?

No one comes to AH for serious debate, pointless threads are exactly its raison d'être.

They weren't contentious nor inflammatory and there was no reason for them to be shut down, anymore than there was need for all your bold mod posts in other threads. You're a mod on an internet forum, you're not going to change the world.

Princess Calla

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120228667#Comment_120228667

No the gardening one couldn't, well shouldn't have gone into the trivial annoyance thread as the one rule of that thread is not to go against the trivial annoyance.

So yeah they could have a "mini rant" there couldn't be a discussion around the topic. The thread was active when closed so people obviously thought it a worthwhile topic of discussion.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120228742#Comment_120228742

As I explained the threads were closed for different reasons depending on the thread in question. This isn’t Twitter, right, like you don’t need a thread to complain your neighbours cutting the lawns in February. In fact we do have a thread for things like that, trivial annoyances.

As for the RTE thread, I mean seriously, do we need another thread to bash RTE on the entirety of boards never mind AH.

another closure was a thread specifically setup to troll users on another website. I’m not getting into that here but that’s not even being discussed it’s closed and it’s staying closed.

I never said the forum is meant for serious debate but at the same time if a thread has little purpose or could be quantified in a single post which could be better directed at a prexisting thread then that’s where it should go.

Then onto the thread where the opening post was a jumble of words that no one could understand the point of. The OP of that thread infact did reach out and say they didn’t have an issue with it being closed.

Look, if you want to devolve into silly quips at me with absolutely irrelevant points about changing the world then I don’t see any point in talking to you one way or the other. If you think I’m just out to piss on your cornflakes think again. I am under no illusion that AH is for serious debate only but regardless it’s not a dumping ground for every thought that comes to mind.

I will review the aggressive facial features thread as in fairness I might have called that one wrong, but for the rest I do not feel that I was unfair in my closing of them.

One thing that’s become very apparent however is that no matter what the mods are always wrong somehow. We were wrong when there wasn’t enough being done and were wrong if we actually do something.

If you feel that strongly about a thread bashing RTE or mowing lawns or peoples faces being closed I apologise but again AH is not just a dustbin for threads that don’t really have a purpose anywhere else. Sometimes they just don’t have any purpose, period.

Leg End Reject

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120228844#Comment_120228844

You are unilaterally deciding which threads deserve to stay open, they were all active threads that others were engaging with.

Now, the one you describe as a "jumble of words" - some people struggle with spelling, grammar, syntax etc. Should we ridicule them and shut them down? Because if that's your justification for closing a thread you might need to bring in some form of literacy test with a defined baseline that must be achieved before gaining posting privileges.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120228864#Comment_120228864

That is simply not true. I am not the sole mod of after hours & in fact there are Cmods and Admins all of which supersede me and can overrule any decision I make one way or the other.

That’s excluding the fact as I stated numerous times— if you think I should review a decision just say so. You’re acting as if I shut them down and told you all to get fcuked. None of you posting here, not even once, messaged myself and asked me to reconsider. If you all feel so passionately about the topic, I wonder why no one’s done this?

I know myself if I had a problem with a moderators decision my first action would be to DM them and discuss to see if we can reach a resolution; that’s encouraged throughout the site and the first step in DRP for example.

I’ll leave it here because there’s little more I can add to this tbh. The DM’s are open and I will check them regularly enough so if you wish to discuss anything with me feel free.

Cheers

banie01

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120228667#Comment_120228667

You have clearly said

If you feel that strongly about a thread bashing RTE or mowing lawns or peoples faces being closed I apologise but again AH is not just a dustbin for threads that don’t really have a purpose anywhere else. Sometimes they just don’t have any purpose, period.

The charter for AH lays out what the forum is for, aside from "craic" could you lay out precisely what purpose AH threads are supposed to serve? What's your definition of merit or purpose? As it certainly doesn't appear to be anything that may raise a smile.

I know you're a freshly minted mod, but perhaps have a read of the charter for AH, in particular rule 1 and then let us know how your arbitrary opinion on "merit" fits in with what the charter claims the forum is for.

If there has been a change in the rules as to what's acceptable and new standards are in play to go along with the nee sheriff in town?

Then the least you could is to update the charter to include the Raichu merit test.

Leg End Reject

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120228917#Comment_120228917

Read the tone of your mod warnings and closing posts - that's why no one contacted you.

I note you ignored the last part of my post, being a grammar nazi or ridiculing the spelling/wording of a post has always been a no-no, it falls well short of the "Don't be a dick rule", yet you had no qualms in doing just that in your closing post.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120229047#Comment_120229047

Fair enough, I can understand why it may have come across in a negative way. In future I will make sure to correct that.

As for the grammar nazi comment, I am the furthest thing from and I’m not going to get into major details regarding the thread, but the post made absolutely no sense. It just didn’t. That’s really the end of it.