What happened to Boards.ie - genuine question

Backstreet Moyes

The biggest issue for me is no clear indication of what is not allowed and inconsistency.

It seems it is deemed okay to call someone you disagree with far right, racist and nazi etc.

In most cases completely undeserving and those are horrible insults.

If you were new to a forum and were abused for your opinions then it wouldn't encourage you to stay around.

Then to consistency on people being banned or posts disappearing.

I was banned for uncivil posting recently and to be fair it probably was.

I have had posts removed some I agree and others I don't.

I can go to a thread now about about horse racing deaths.

I was called a far right incel and a few other insulting posts from a poster which I reported.

I can go in and see those posts still exist and the poster is not banned.

Those posts were far more uncivil than the post I got a ban for and completely off topic.

It seems if you start a sentence with far right it's okay to post what you want.

Leg End Reject

There's also the inconsisteny of having a post removed and receiving a warning for referencing something, yet others posts referencing the same thing remain.

astrofool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798745#Comment_120798745

The far left are usually more up front and easier to spot but they often get banned too (there does seem to be far less of them active and pushing agendas, maybe they're just better at it).

With the far right people, it's really obvious that they're racist/misogynistic/homophobic/whatever and comes across in their posts even when they're pretending to be reasonable. People aren't dumb and see that and respond accordingly and far right poster inevitably jumps off the deep end (or re-regs). People get reputations, if you're posting about election denial and vaccine misinformation, don't be surprised if your thoughts on russia get ridiculed.

Backstreet Moyes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798834#Comment_120798834

The definition of what is far right seems to be a problem for a lot of people.

Anyone who raises genuine concerns around immigration for example seems to fall into the far right category.

The far right will get around 200 votes like they do every election.

Yet some posters on here think we have hundreds of far right types on boards.

I'm not really sure what point you are making unless you are saying people should be free to call people they disagree with as far right etc.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798834#Comment_120798834

We have very very few "far" left, it's all but non existent and ridiculed.

We have a small, but growing, far right fringe who are extremely vocal being promoted by destabilising actors in America and Russia.

I agree that personal insults were never allowed before BUT those agitators were also removed long before they goaded people into insults

Oscar_Madison

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120796240#Comment_120796240

I’d like to see a clearer picture and layout of forums in general - there’s likely good ones that rarely appear

Spanish Eyes

Is there an app for Boards yet? Maybe I missed it.

B.A._Baracus

There is an old thread about Boards.ie on Reddit - One user wrote (with a gilzillion upvotes) That one day he was writing a big reply to someone on here. Then he simply stopped and realised whats the point. Some ars*hole is gonna argue to the bitter end or a mod is gonna delete it or give him an "infraction". What's the point. He was right.

When Boards finally shuts off it's servers it will have been the users and mods of boards who killed boards. Coming to this site is meant to be a form of entertainment you do in your past time. No different than going to YouTube. You get something out of it. Getting annoyed stops people from coming back.

Being honest I myself am only one ban away from never using this site again.

lmao10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798834#Comment_120798834

Good post. Definitely going over some peoples head for obvious reasons. It's just too obvious when someone is a racist far right troll. It's quite alarming that they don't have the intellect to see that. Those are the posters who are killing the site and have it as their goal to kill the site, according to some posts I've read in their telegrams. Sadly they have succeeded in creating a bad atmosphere. I don't think boards will ever get back to what it was.

astrofool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120799030#Comment_120799030

I don't think a lot of people realise how extreme they are because the social media they consume overloads their feeds with similar content and opinions, it's why they also start rejecting mainstream media (which is usually down the middle with a small swing either way) as it doesn't reflect what they think everyone is thinking.

And I've seen some of your posts, you're not a moderate on any scale but I bet you think you are.

And as I pointed out above, people will respond to your posts accordingly and you'll feel maligned unfairly (in your mind) because of it, this happens to many posters who have found themselves at the extremes without realising it.

Overheal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797926#Comment_120797926

This works both ways and trolls determine what they can get away with.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120799157#Comment_120799157

Pfft imagine referencing Reddit while slating boards as if r/Ireland isn’t the most bullshit subreddit known to man.

Go against the grain and you’re immediately banned (like I was) it’s the textbook definition of ban happy moderation.

its very easy not to get banned on boards. Just don’t be a dickhead. Attack the post not the poster. Two very straightforward ways that escape many, many posters regularly.

Let’s get something clear, we’re not the problem when you’re banned, you’re the problem.

Arghus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120799698#Comment_120799698

Everyone thinks they're a moderate person at heart because you wouldn't hold the political views you have if you didn't think they were reasonable - no matter how extreme those views objectively are.

Slutmonkey57b

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120799062#Comment_120799062

Given the prevalence of "terf scum" rhetoric I am pretty sure the "far" left is larger than you claim, and the cultural import factor is just as high, but again one person's definition of fringe is different to another's.

B.A._Baracus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120800166#Comment_120800166

There is only 1 tiny problem with what you have just said... and that is it's your opinion. Another could view boards as sh*t. Who is to say who is right or wrong.

Also, given you are a mod.... i do feel you are being bias. But hey, that is my opinion. Perhaps I am wrong... perhaps I am right.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120800225#Comment_120800225

Name calling on Twitter is a minority of a niche. Talk to me when they start harassing people going to mass, trying to force the closure of churches/mosques/other places of worship.

This is not a politically left leaning country. We are centre/centre right (with some left leaning social aspects). We've always had centre right to centre governments and a very splintered left spectrum because Labour never got the votes to present an actual leftist government.

Brussels Sprout

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120800216#Comment_120800216

I have noticed that the far-left are a lot happier to own that description than the far-right are. The far-right always seem to delude themselves that they're centre-right or even centrists. It's almost like the thought process is "Well I'm not a Nazi and so therefore I cannot be far-right".

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120799698#Comment_120799698

Both sides deserve an equal playing field, whilst everyone can agree that all extremes should be harshly dealt with (and are).

What's unfair if one side of the pitch argues that the moderates on the other side of the pitch are in fact part of the extremism problem. To extend the pun, the referee on the pitch should ignore those people -- instead adjudging the match as impartially as possible, not allowing their personal opinions to compromise that duty.

Goldengirl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120800395#Comment_120800395

No offence, but the peeping of Farage out whenever you comment makes any somewhat reasonable political point you make hard to take .

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120800339#Comment_120800339

what of my post was opinion? Is it not true that r/Ireland mods will ban you (or you’ll be downvoted to oblivion) for going against the grain over there?

It’s also not an opinion if you follow the site rules and forum charters here you won’t be banned.

Im not bias and I’ve never banned you (or had any reason to) but in my experience so far even a warning can be met with the most hostile of responses from posters. No one’s ever “in the wrong” it seems. except the mods of course.

Mind you I’ve been here a long time by now and I’ve seen time and time again people who swear the mods are killing boards and the site won’t last another 6 months. Many years & a rocky platform move later we’re still here.

Isn’t that funny 😄

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120799144#Comment_120799144

There was agessssss ago. I’d say it’s dead now though

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120800478#Comment_120800478

I've been in the wrong many times, and don't mind the infraction if I cross a line. I never dispute cases where I've clearly made a mistake (such as inadvertently talking off-topic; or discussing a poster rather than the post etc.). It has happened, and I accept it.

But there have been questionable cases where, for example, I was accused of "trolling" (which effectively means I'm accused of lying about holding the position that I do), when I know perfectly well that I was well-intentioned and was not trolling in the slightest.

I believe it's these latter cases that some people point to. I've certainly been a victim of it, and it's remarkably frustrating -- because oftentimes, you'd put a great deal of effort into an extensive, well-thought out post, only to have it deleted and then have the false accusation of "troll" smeared across your forehead.

Tell me how

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120800478#Comment_120800478

what of my post was opinion?

This bit

Let’s get something clear, we’re not the problem when you’re banned, you’re the problem.

An opinion you're entitled to have, everyone has them but does nothing to lead people to think that moderation isn't being carried in an unbiased manner.

To be honest, this display of 'holier than thou' entitlement is exactly what people are talking about leading them to stop engaging with Boards.

Arghus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120800386#Comment_120800386

Fair comment.

ilovesmybrick

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120799144#Comment_120799144

Years back there was, though they stopped maintaining it a good few years back. One of the reasons I only use boards on my desktop, it was manageable on mobile before the migration, but I find it borderline unusable now. Maybe vanilla has improved, but to be honest I fell out of the habit of trying after a while and haven't really looked back.

The exact same thing has happened the past few days since third party APIs aren't able to access reddit, just stopped bothering unless I'm on a computer. Though Reddit is Fun still seems to work in read only mode at the moment.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120800532#Comment_120800532

ah fair enough, I’ll stick an astrix and addendum because in fairness I should say most of the time that’s the case.

as I said though in my experience it’s always me who’s wrong. I’ve sanctioned people for personal abuse who retort that it’s “the other guys fault” and I’m “a **** mod” or “just picking on me because [excuse here]” and I don’t mean Jimmy called Johnny a poo head I mean straight up personal abuse.

No matter what the website if someone is a moderator they are instantly wrong or out to get you is my general experience. I’ve moderated discord servers, twitch chats and more before my mod appointment on boards. I’ve seen this exact craic 1000 times before.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120800496#Comment_120800496

But that’s what DRP is for. Now I get it that most people don’t bother because the idea that “all mods stick together” but that’s not true at all.

If a Cmod feels a mod was wrong they’ll overturn. If they don’t but an admin does they’ll overturn it.

If a forum mod, Cmod & admin feel that you’re trolling, then I’m sorry but you’re probably trolling. Like beasty, awec, big bag of chips etc don’t care I’m a mod. If I’m wrong I’m wrong and they’ll overturn any sanction I’ve applied that wasn’t fair.

Look I’m not saying it doesn’t happen that people are infracted wrongly or unfairly but it just doesn’t happen on the near constant basis it’s made out to in these threads.

I am going to read this thread throughly, as I have all the rest and I will look to identify any ways I can improve my moderating and how I handle infracting users and interacting afterwards.

What I will say is I’ve looked at the history for some of the loudest voices against the mods here and they’re the ones who spend a lot of time wasting ours.

tesla_newbie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120800355#Comment_120800355

Ireland is and has always been a centrist to centre left country

we love the government doing stuff for us and this attitude straddles all Social and economic classes, we have no tradition of libertarian thought whatsoever in Ireland, we are inherently statist , that we were deeply catholic for so long doesn’t change this

Spanish Eyes

Not having an app is so bizarre these days. So the site is really confined to those on a desktop (which I use for the site). Using the site via search engine on mobile phone is just not worth the hassle. So it must reduce the traffic considerably when you factor in advertising. I can't understand it myself.

The desktop is not anything to write home about either. So so so SLOOOOOW to load. And while I'm having a rant, could someone explain to me why I have to go through three steps to find a post I previously made? I might be missing something but I have to click on my avatar (grinning mad image provided free lol), then another step, then another step. What! And while I couldn't give two fecks about it really, it annoys me that I can't see all the thanks I rarely get. I might get say ten in a post but can only see 5, so I don't know who my fans are ha ha.

OK I'm lazy and there is probably a quicker way, but surely it should be a bit more intuitive. But I stay for the banter and often thought provoking discussions, better than any news outlet for breaking news items, and the trolls can be hilariously obvious too. Mods can be a bit heavy handed though, but hey power trips and all that. I have the dubious honour of having been banned on a few occasions, and there I was thinking I was saintly and calm, not so!

Leg End Reject

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120801116#Comment_120801116

Part of the rationale of choosing the Vanilla platform was that the site would perform the same on mobile and desktop ...