What happened to Boards.ie - genuine question

26-06-2023 12:30AM

Theres one or two unholy trinities of lads/lasses (I think all lads tbh) most likely in a WhatsApp group or two (or one person in a few guises) who would argue blue is red and purple is green, and call an earthquake a sensory illusion, if ya get my gist, but seem to have relatively free rein to sometimes act as absolute dicks, and have had signatures clearly intended to troll users. Some of these guys manipulate threads in such a way as to get them shut down.

suvigirl · 26-06-2023 12:37AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120765163#Comment_120765163

Yeah, but it's basically the same thing here, personal abusive posts, put people off posting, and just make people leave

Leg End Reject · 26-06-2023 12:40AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120765806#Comment_120765806

They haven't put me off and I've been accused of all sorts - bullying, transphobia, talking out of my arse and so on and so forth.

CGI_Livia_Soprano · 26-06-2023 12:41AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120765788#Comment_120765788

I’ve seen so many people accuse so many accounts of being controlled by a single person. It’s been going on for years.

CGI_Livia_Soprano · 26-06-2023 12:57AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120765396#Comment_120765396

I presume that you will be deleting the accusations of “dishonesty” then from your posts, after falsely accusing me of sharing a single example?

You were so keen to hector me and dismiss my experiences because of your fixation over “singular” or “plural” examples, are you big enough to admit you were wrong beyond a mealy mouthed “sorry?”

26-06-2023 01:03AM

Done! 😊

CGI_Livia_Soprano · 26-06-2023 01:04AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120765863#Comment_120765863

Much obliged.

Princess Calla · 26-06-2023 07:05AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120765616#Comment_120765616

A new account isn't the issue. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to close an account and return under a different name. Also everyone if us started out new.

However when you see a new account basically sh1t stirring you can tell they are up to no good.

They try to drag a thread off course , posters respond, warnings get issued. Rinse and repeat.

TheRepentent · 26-06-2023 08:00AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120764194#Comment_120764194

Good god no , r/ireland is like boards.ie if it only had 1 forum ...After Hours . It's full of scutter threads, and plagued with moany fukkers

Glaceon · 26-06-2023 08:54AM

I never liked the concept of Reddit, the ability to downvote a post into oblivion has the makings of an echo chamber. But as a poster mentioned here previously, it seems that's what many want.

26-06-2023 08:57AM

There’s a lot of very “bound up” sorts on this thread. Should get the blood pressure checked tbh.

timmyntc · 26-06-2023 10:06AM

Plagued with the same sh*te all over the internet whereby if you arent with us, you are against us.

This stupid us vs them, right vs left type of thinking is now everywhere. And it ruins everything. Poster X is a champagne socialist for believing in welfare whilst earning 100k+. Poster Y is a right wing racist for believing that current welfare is too generous. And if you are happy with the status quo then you are schrodingers facist-socialist depending on who the observer is.

Its like people have lost all ability to appreciate other viewpoints and immediately jump to flaming and asinine labels. I blame American 2 party politics - but that probably puts me in league with Clare Daly and Mick the merciless if I criticise the US? And if I criticise the Russians I'm a NATO imperialist!

You cant win!

yagan · 26-06-2023 10:31AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120766585#Comment_120766585

I think social media is the main reason why anonymous forum discussion became so antisocial. The likes of Facebook exploded personal narcissistic behaviour. I've seen normal people who used to be very levelled headed and sociable become deeply entrenched angry people who alienated everyone around them because they fell down an antivax wormhole on their FB years before the pandemic.

Of the few threads I follow on boards it's same few posters who create drama for no good reason. Its tiresome, and frustrating that they aren't banned.

Darmac84 · 26-06-2023 07:12PM

Worst thing happened on fb was introduction of emojis, lot lowlifes putting laughing emojis on posts where people have died or come to harm, have an illness anything they think will irritate, always see people question it in comment and there comment gets same laughing reactions, they should go back to the like and that's it, if people have something say let them say it can't stop that but too easy for them show disrespect with the emojis, if they laughed at such a thing on the street they be floored

Glaceon · 26-06-2023 07:24PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120769493#Comment_120769493

They said they wouldn’t introduce a “dislike” button for fear of attracting trolls, but the laugh reaction might as well be a troll button sometimes…

Packrat · 27-06-2023 11:34PM

I think that's an over - emphasis on re-regs/new accounts.

As far as I can see, most re-regs/new accounts are previous posters who want to move beyond their past ie: young and stupid posts, previous history of being a mod, site/rl relationship ended, pigeon holing, too much personal info, - a myriad of reasons.

I've been here since probably 2007, under 3 or 4 different handles. I've had moderation, threadbans, temporary site bans under almost all of those.

I have a tendency to be too direct, too blunt, too black and white. It's part of my personality and it's evident in my real life as well. I'm a nearly 50 year old, somewhat of a curmudgeon.

I'm still a real human Irish person living and working here though, and I post honestly. Always.

Obviously there are serial rereg trolls who just need to be deleted when seen based on past 'beyond the line' posts. That goes without saying and they should be removed without pity.

The primary harm here however, is done by the, always within the rules, right on, PC, smarmy, "link?", "can you link a peer reviewed study?" Never ever EVER, moderated, threadbanned or warned for their shyte, run away from their statements of fact when proven to be outright lying, - basically bullsh1t artists who nobody in real life takes a blind bit of notice of so they come here to have relevance. Those who constantly destroy every thread not to their liking. Those who shut down discussion of any topic not deemed to be correct. Those who dogwhistle, those who spam endless links of spam/propaganda, (didn't shilling and astroturfing used to be bannable offenses?)

They are the real destroyers of the site.

A good test would be to look who posts on the same thread/topic more than a couple/5 times a day, because the rest of us don't have time to do that.

The secondary harm is done here by moderators/admins who choose and suggest each other for the roles, based on site friendships, sympathetic points of view, and common ideology. You guys are utterly driving people away with your over moderation of anyone with outside the group think views, and your under moderation of the serial bullsh1t artists I described above.

Reacting only to reported posts rather than actually reading and understanding a thread is only pandering further to the btb thread destroyers and playing into their hands.

You, the mods, constantly complain of having lives and not enough time to do what you signed up for.

Question: why then would you aid and abet those who have nothing to do all day but troll, spam, report and bait others who post honestly?

This is what you do by not reading the room in threads, not reading the thread at all in your chosen forum, and reacting only to the posts reported by those with nothing better to do?

thegame983 · 27-06-2023 11:50PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120769551#Comment_120769551

I would genuinely be concerned for the mental health of the more regular posters if a dislike button was introduced.

Packrat · 28-06-2023 12:21AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120775748#Comment_120775748

I wouldn't be at all concerned because if their mental health depends on likes or dislikes online, then it's already well fxxcked.

LuckyLloyd · 28-06-2023 11:56AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120759187#Comment_120759187

This is the answer to the OP, in a nutshell. The userbase is aging out. It's why Facebook is going all in on the Metaverse stuff too - platforms are not sustainable without a steady stream of younger / newer users.

From a Boards History perspective, I think the dividing line was around the "Feed Forward" stuff. That didn't work (the extent to which people tried to make it work can be debated) and the place has lost a "community" feel ever since imo. A maintenance of Community as opposed to professional management may have slowed the trend of the last decade. But fundamentally the odds have been against boards.ie since web 2.0 hit its stride.

EDIT: just to add, the reason 2.0 kills boards is not because of echo chambers and people not liking genuine challenge and open discussion anymore, etc. That's for sure part of the story, but the much bigger part is that whatsapp, etc give people 'an early 2000s boards experience' just with their own family and friends. People are spending time discussing the issues of the day in whatsapp threads with their mates (or what were their mates). Why go onto Boards to discuss Tubs and RTE when you're already spamming back and forth messages with the lads on the topic?

Posting on Boards used to be a thing you'd do in between meeting people socially. It was a world that filled the spaces in your own lives in between meeting people, hanging out and discussing the things you were interested in. Web 2.0 has captured all of that space. Boards now has to be a choice you make, because you want a different level of discussion or you're such a **** that nobody you know wants to talk to you about stuff on the group whatsapp!

28-06-2023 05:23PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120775707#Comment_120775707

Couldn't agree more with this assessment.

Moreover, if there were two new rules I would make to moderating, it would be:

Punish those who deliberately over-report other users posts -- this will discourage the activity, whilst also saving time for moderators.
Don't always assume the worst possible motive for a post -- often a poster may be sincere, even if their opinion seems unorthodox.

Like in the real world, policing and the community must be on the same level, to respect one another.

And if the list of things you can't say is longer than the list of things you can say, that's a problem too.

If the above alone were improved, retention of users would no doubt increase. It may not be the only solution needed, but it would steer things in the right direction.

That's just my opinion, though.

Arghus · 28-06-2023 06:55PM

Have to say boards is still unbeatable in many ways. I watched the Oireachtas Committee in action today - like the true saddo that I am - and it was great having a busy thread going along alongside about it in real time, with people pitching in and providing often illuminating and occasionally hilarious commentary in real time - and it was 99% civil too. You won't get that kind of long discussion format on twitter, reddit, facebook et al, especially about something highly specific to Ireland. It is a type of discussion that older message boards always did best.

Faugheen · 28-06-2023 07:08PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120778709#Comment_120778709

Sorry but I have to laugh at you championing a post which calls out those who make statements of fact and then run away when challenged, followed by posting new rules for people who are quite frankly sick of that sh*t.

I’m considered a ‘right on, PC, lefty pinko liberal’ type who plays within the rules yet I’m not long back from a five week site ban.

Anyone who suggests the lefties are never punished are absolute bullsh*tters. From my point of view, it’s the antagonistic conservatives who post in bad faith who are given way more leeway than those who are actually trying to have a conversation and then the point which they have spent so long researching and backing up with clear evidence is just dismissed with a one-line retort which contributes f*ck all. This leads to frustration and the poster who faces the brunt of that frustration goes crying to the mods screaming abuse and hostility.

There are plenty of people considered woke, lefty etc who can actually have conversations with each other and disagree without feeling the need to be hostile about it. However whenever the doom mongering is called out about immigrants, hate crime etc then everyone clutches their pearls and it’s just bad faith nonsense all over again.

Not to mention that people create culture war bollocks as well. The fact that so many people fall for the same fake news bullshit about a child identifying as a cat every couple of months just tells you how dumb they are and how they’ll believe anything that is written just because it suits their ‘the world is gone mad’ mantra when so many of them don’t step outside of their houses. nothing happens to those posters who spread misinformation and then refuse to own up to it when caught.

So yeah, don’t go around pretending that it’s only the conservatives that get in trouble. They get a lot more leeway than many others and anyone who suggests that the ‘lefties’ don’t get warnings or bans is a liar, too.

28-06-2023 07:20PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120779217#Comment_120779217

I didn't argue that left-wing people do not receive infractions when they quite obviously do. My post didn't mention left-wing or right-wing once, by the way.

And the irony of your post saying this:

There are plenty of people considered woke, lefty etc who can actually have conversations with each other and disagree without feeling the need to be hostile about it.

To then go on and state in the same post:

...just tells you how dumb they are and how they’ll believe anything that is written just because it suits their ‘the world is gone mad’ mantra when so many of them don’t step outside of their houses.

My post was specific: it was about punishing over-reporting by a minority of users against a lot of users, which generates needless levels of reporting backlog; and the need to ensure that unorthodox opinions are allowed and not classified as de facto "trolling".

Nothing more than that.