Site is a graveyard - How can boards save itself? [Threadbanned users in 1st post]

briany

@BaywatchHQ

I usually post about blackpill incel related topics so it is very easy to rack up the down votes.

Sounds like you'd be happier on 4Chan.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121956573#Comment_121956573

Who said anything about suddenly?

satguy

We all know over moderation is a big part in how the site died.

But also new members and low post count members, never get given time to grow,, You see it all the time,, Some new guy starts a thread, and then gets pounced on by the usual clique, and run off the site.

It is a discussion board,, but there is a certain clique on here and some out of touch Mods,, That seem to want to shut down any discussion that does not fit in with how they think.

Ezeoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121956482#Comment_121956482

The old yellow card / red card system was better than nothing.

jackboy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121956621#Comment_121956621

There is a trend of a few posters combining forces to bait posters into saying something terrible, resulting in a ban. Fair enough ban the guy that says the terrible thing but surely baiting fails the 'don't be a dick' threshold.

A tiny number of posters have banded together and are successfully getting posters banned left right and centre across multiple threads.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121956676#Comment_121956676

Yep, same names most of the time. Most people who look through CA could list them off from memory. It's a valid and successful tactic on their part I guess.

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121956595#Comment_121956595

Posters are actively encouraged not to engage with "suspect" posts and to report them.

droidman123

Did they ever get a replacement mod for the the mustard and carlow south east forum?

osarusan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121956036#Comment_121956036

The basic rule of "Don't be a dick" still stands.

It doesn't really though. As I've commented before, for a site whose mantra is 'don't be a dick', Boards has always tolderated a staggering amount of dickishness.

How often did we see some clown in prison and a mod/admin pointing out that they've had 9 reds and 16 yellows and they're just back from their second site ban in 6 months or whatever.

That kind of poster should be permanently gotten rid of before they've amassed even half that kind of record.

Mods and admin can argue that this is the process at work, but it's glacially slow, and in the meantime, those posters pollute as much as they can, for as long as they can, and it absolutely does have an effect on the extent to which the kind of poster Boards wants to keep (or should want to keep) can be bothered engaging with threads, fora, and the site itself.

Big Bag of Chips

it implies that in 50% of cases a moderator does intervene in some way. So the tactic by some of reporting posts is a valid one, you get a 1 in 2 'success' rate.

No. Action isn't dependent on 'hit rate'. And people abusing the reporting function by reporting everything and anything they don't agree with have been warned about it.

It must be possible to generate reports of a posters reporting history.

It's not. It's not even possible to generate a report of the most prolific posters in a forum at the moment.

If I were to suggest an improvement, it would to assign a particular mod to contentious threads as they arise in AH/CA or elsewhere.

Not workable when volunteers are giving their time to the site. Would a nominated moderator be expected to be online during particular hours? If they were not available and the thread descended into over and back abuse by two opposing sides should the thread be left run until a moderator comes back to maybe 100s of off topic abuse?

There's no easy fix. If there were it would be implemented. The entire internet is full of arguing people, angry people, people deliberately trolling to get a reaction. Boards is no different. Moderators do their best. Sometimes getting it wrong. Very often getting it right. And regularly getting abuse.

I think I am generally fair and give posters time to explain their issues and try to give reasons for why certain things are done or not done. I have on previous threads taken the feedback and gone back to the moderators group with suggestions and ways of improving the overall experience of posting here. I am regularly abused both in PM and on-thread. I have no vested interest in Boards.ie whatsoever, other than it is a place to pass a bit of time in the evening, advice and information can be good and occasionally it can be a bit of craic. I help out because I was approached to and I would like to see the place continue to be somewhere to pass a bit of time, get some advice and occasionally be a bit of craic.

I suppose one can always dream!

corks finest

Jim Jones is your only man

Ted222

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121954750#Comment_121954750

It’s a curious one. I personally think recommendations should be expressed openly so they can be challenged by others if necessary.

Restricting recommendations to PMs surely facilitates and encourages bogus claims as nothing anyone says is open to contradiction.

Tom Mann Centuria

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121956839#Comment_121956839

He did a terrible job on my gutters, Davey Duke is the fella you need.

Big Bag of Chips

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121956851#Comment_121956851

I think this is a fair point.

Obviously new posters signing up to give recommendations would quickly be spotted for what they most likely are.

But regular, long-term posters should be able to recommend. But.. that then could be open to abuse with posters maliciously giving a local company a bad review due to a grudge etc. The moderators can't know what's a genuine recommendation for/against something and a malicious complaint - and then we're back to a company potentially taking legal action due to being defamed on the site.

daarmcd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121955623#Comment_121955623

This is hilarious, no consequences for mods or admins whatsoever

BBOC said he checked out the 22 warnings mod liamog gave me over a 3 week period. All were fine!

One of the warnings was for using bold in a post, apparently that's not allowed

Another warning was for deleting my thread on Tesla Irelands VRT issues and he moved it into a 200 page thread about vrt for UK imports

Another warning for complaining about another thread being moved incorrectly without informing the OP and then BBOC saying he did inform you

Another warning was for LIAMOG moving a thread then moving it back because he probably read it correctly after instead of a glance but he still used his power by renaming it

Then I asked for my account to be closed 3 weeks ago because the site is just not worth it anymore. Hey I can still login

and BBOC I emailed the datarequests@boards.ie

<Snip> Do not post PMs without permission.

You requested your account be closed via PM to me. You PMd me again the other day telling me you had requested I close your account and "you c's couldn't even do that properly".

I'm not sure what the "c's" meant.

All requests to close accounts must be made via the office. Allow 30 days for your account to be closed. Although it is usually done much quicker.

Kurooi

I'm surprised your solution to this is "hiring younger moderators" have you met any young people recently? I've seen them censor words like "death" because it's a no no boo boo word

daarmcd

• <Snip> Do not post PMs from other users without permission

daarmcd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121956823#Comment_121956823

You are not fair, you did not investigate the complaints I had. You left it basically saying liamog is a grand fellow and as another mod agreed with you I could F off.

So I am going to F Off

I have copied the last 3 posts in a text doc so I can easily repost them when you delete them

I wanted Beasty to look over the 22 excessive warnings.

anewme

maybe the posts above as an example are part of the reason the site is declining…

Big Bag of Chips

@daarmcd you were given 3 warnings by liamog, not 22. You were given a 0 point warning on 11th Feb which is an instruction rather than a warning. You were given a 1 point warning on 15th Feb for ignoring that instruction, and another 1 point warning on 19th Feb for repeatedly ignoring the moderator. The rest were PMs where he discussed with you how to best post in the forum. One decision he overturned after discussing with you. You opened 3 helpdesk threads where decisions were discussed and explained. You were also told you were not allowed post PMs without permission of the sender or being requested by a moderator.

I eventually applied a 4 point warning for repeatedly and consistently ignoring moderator instruction and wasting moderator's and administrator's time This put you in "jail" and stopped you starting anymore new threads but still allowing you to post on the site. The moderator applied a 1 point warning after that for again ignoring mod instruction. He quickly reversed the decision when he realised it triggered a temporary siteban (giving you more chances than you realistically should have been given). He was not obliged to reverse it, but did so to give you a chance. He didn't want to see you sitebanned.

You are now trying to hijack this thread with the same argument. An argument that 2 Admins have reviewed. I will delete the above PMs as you have no right to post them here. I am also applying another 2 point warning which will result in a temporary siteban.

As per my 2 PMs to your request to close your account if you want to close it you must email datarequests@boards.ie or PM @Boards.ie: GDPR. This request can only be handled by the office.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121956823#Comment_121956823

Fair enough and thanks for taking time to reply. I still think that in the case of contentious threads, it would be better if specific moderators were assigned to them. They'd be familiar with the thread as a whole then and in a far better position to judge who is being a 'dick', what's over the line and what's fine on the whole. You could still have a report function but make it very clear that it's only for serious allegations or clearly defamatory posts, akin to pulling the emergency cord.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121956782#Comment_121956782

True and what happens? Moderators get a raft of reports to check out which is time consuming, some maybe serious, others often frivolous. There's no doubt that some people here use the flag/ report function as an extra tool - they don't like someone else's POV, so report them for some insinuation as they see it in the hope of getting their wings clipped/ thread banned. When you offer the facility to report and invite it, it's a valid tactic. Just not one I'd personally indulge in.

and as usual a thread that could have maybe been useful has descended into farce.

corks finest

Ohhhhh

_H80_GHT

Too few people been responsible for so many posts will kill any site.

Green Peter

I think we should have a week without Mods, anyone banned let back in and see how it goes. That would give it a bit of a boost.

ShamoBuc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121957279#Comment_121957279

Funny enough, I have a few acquaintances who were posters on this site in their time. They all admit to just being a dick on line….. some people are just pricks as you say…. easier to be a dick than to engage in any sort of meaningful manner.

Human nature as you say.

Green Peter

Swap the Mods around, for example put the GAA ones into the religion section, they might like it and stay

nachouser

Ah yeah, whenever these threads pop up, you have to laugh that the same people complaining about site moderation and being on the right side or whatever, moderate themselves every day in real life. They're not going to post anti-trans, anti-immigrant, anti-whatever-you're-having-today in a work group chat. But it's grand to post it on here and then complain about being moderated.

ShamoBuc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121957319#Comment_121957319

Tried that, didn't work out, can't imagine why.