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Oppressive moderation in blogging forum

retro:electro

Biko has closed yet another blogging thread in the "Blogs and social media forum".
Why is yet another blogger thread closed? Apparently due to "gossip". Nobody was gossiping. People were discussing Marissa Carter's quote that there's no authenticity left in the blogging industry. We also used references where applicable. How is this gossip? Why do you always use the word "gossip" to describe women discussing something? We are having a discussion about a topic that came up in the media this week about blogger authenticity and credibility in ireland. Are you saying you'll no longer allow any more blogger topics in the "blogs and social media" forum???

The moderation in that forum is so heavily repressive and restricts any discussion. Biko is now saying he will no longer allow any blogger talk in the forum at all whatsoever. How is this fair in a forum that is called "blogs/wikis/ social media"..

I've Pm'd Biko, and his advice was to "start a thread in after hours" instead. Well, a few weeks ago a thread was started in After hours about blogging, and that was closed after about two days. I was told to go here if I had a problem with that decision, and guess what, that thread was closed also.

Why should we have to move to after hours? This is the blogging form. If Biko is unable to handle the conversation then may I suggest he be the one to move, and get another, more capable, less oppressive moderator to moderate the forum.

Totally pathetic that a in forum about blogs we are banned from discussing Irish blogging.

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retro:electro

Hrududu wrote: »

There are personal and potentially defamatory comments being made every week in the thread about the Late Late Show. It seems like double standards to be honest

The things I've seen written about some public figures on this site is appalling and very offensive. Yet we can't even discuss lack of transparency without being labelled gossips and bitchy.
I also suspect this thread won't remain open for long.

dudara

Hrududu wrote: »

There are personal and potentially defamatory comments being made every week in the thread about the Late Late Show. It seems like double standards to be honest

Then please use the Reported Post function to bring them to the mods attention. I know that seems like a cliched answer, but it's the main tool we have to identify problematic reports.

qxtasybe1nwfh2

It's ridiculous another tread has been closed! We were discussing ad/spon, it might not have been referred to in every post but the Marisa carter article referred to bloggers shadiness in the area as a whole! The fact that she used bloggers influence to grow her company with adverts and is now saying this is dead. Not everyone is on Facebook either, that was such a patronising comment IMO.

retro:electro

I think it's clear from the posters here that it's not just me who has a problem with this and a lot of posters are fed up with the situation.
Is there any chance the discussion could come back to the beauty forum or fashion and appearance? It's not fair to restrict fair discussion on a discussion forum.

biko

Rhea Glamorous Bearer wrote: »

Not everyone is on Facebook either, that was such a patronising comment IMO.

It's fairly realistic to assume that people that follow bloggers on many social media will be on Facebook, the largest social media network in the world.

scarbouro

I totally agree, it's absolutely ridiculous that every single thread is closed down. Not allowed to discuss a topic that has been all over social media the past few days and stating that it's "gossip" is unbelievable. There was no gossiping in that thread but as usual Biko comes in and shuts the whole thing down. Suggesting we go somewhere else to discuss the topic such as Facebook is appalling. We joined boards to discuss topics end of....

I made a complaint recently about Biko and the closure of every single thread on the forum. Nothing was done about it. People are complaining but board's isn't listening. How can you have so many complaints about one moderator and nothing is being done about it?!

qxtasybe1nwfh2

biko wrote: »

It's fairly realistic to assume that people that follow bloggers on many social media will be on Facebook, the largest social media network in the world.

I know plenty of people that don't have Facebook accounts but are fairly active in Snapchat and Instagram. I haven't posted on my own fb since I changed my profiler last Summer

scarbouro

biko wrote: »

It's fairly realistic to assume that people that follow bloggers on many social media will be on Facebook, the largest social media network in the world.

Please explain why we should leave Board's to discuss this topic on Facebook when Board's is a platform for discussion. I'm honestly shocked you're telling people to leave Board's because you don't want the topic discussed on your watch.

SpillingTheTea

I have to say I find the whole closing down threads to be so childish. People have opened up threads and you've closed them without anyone replying 'in case there's bitching'.

Your response is always, 'put it on your Facebook' or 'go talk about it in the pub'. It's so patronising.

Well the last time I checked, Boards is a public discussion forum. I've seen ridiculous things being said on all different threads but for some reason having a normal, non speculative, non gossipy discussion is forbidden.

What gets me is even bloggers used to actually come in and discuss with us so tbh, we obviously weren't that bad?! It feels like censorship, and your answer is to ship us off to another site instead of actually dealing with it.

As others have said here, we've tried posting in F&A and even After Hours and we were told to go back to our board, except our board is completely restrictive.
Speaking for myself, but I feel like I'm constantly watching what I'm saying to the point where I can't even talk about facts.

biko

Irish blogger discussion were discontinued in Fashion and Beauty where it belongs.
My forum is a technical forum but have humoured you until today.

There are AH threads, maybe you can post there?
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=101947466
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=102855179

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

I mean isn't this why boards are losing posters constantly anyway? Boards has been declining in the past few years because users are going elsewhere (i.e. Facebook) to have their discussions. Havent "the office" spent a lot of time going through feedback to see where or what can be done to stop the numbers dwindling from boards and here we have a mod telling people to go elsewhere

retro:electro

I think it's pretty clear that Biko is only looking for excuses to close blogger threads and pounces at the most pathetic of opportunities. This topic needs to be in another forum and away from such a harsh, oppressive and insulting moderator.

qxtasybe1nwfh2

biko wrote: »

Irish blogger discussion were discontinued in Fashion and Beauty where it belongs.
My forum is a technical forum but have humoured you until today.

There are AH threads, maybe you can post there?
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=101947466
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=102855179

We were told to move to "your" forum

Cria

There have been too many threads closed for no reason .. can you please show us where gossip was posted and bitchiness and which particular comments needed us to put our handbags down .. honestly comments like this are just patronising..

Read the threads if anyone who is a regular poster sees a new poster say something that Biko would shut the thread down immediately for we would ask them to remove the comment or tell them to be careful.
Can you please show us at which point you made your decision to shut the thread down
And if I'm not mistaken when a thread was moved to after hours it was Biko who immediately shut it down

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Also a lot of these bloggers are now called "lifestyle" influencers so how does a blogger peddling baby forumla fit in with discussion in fashion and appearance?

Cria

biko wrote: »

Irish blogger discussion were discontinued in Fashion and Beauty where it belongs.
My forum is a technical forum but have humoured you until today.

There are AH threads, maybe you can post there?
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=101947466
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=102855179

Please don't make comments like I have humoured you its uncalled for we are not children here .. we were moved to your category which cane under the heading blogs/wiki/social can you explain why we could not start a thread under that heading.

retro:electro

Asking is to take to After Hours is ridiculous! We'd be laughed out of the place. It's a niche discussion, and most of the posters on there have no clue about bloggers nor do they care. Snide remarks is all we got last time. It's not too much to ask to want a blogging discussion to take place in the blog forum.

SpillingTheTea

biko wrote: »

Irish blogger discussion were discontinued in Fashion and Beauty where it belongs.
My forum is a technical forum but have humoured you until today.

There are AH threads, maybe you can post there?
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=101947466
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=102855179

This is the exact problem...

Cria

SpillingTheTea wrote: »

This is the exact problem...

This is exactly the problem comments like that I'm actually shocked at some of the comments that have been made to us inregards of our gender in some of the threads .

blairbear

Biko has such a disgusting, sexist, derogatory attitude to the posters.

I'm actually shocked at his comments in this thread.

Already discussion on boards threads on bloggers has effected change in the industry, so we're hardly as insignificant, petty, bitchy and superficial as Biko appears to consider us and these issues.

qxtasybe1nwfh2

Another mod closed a topic in after hours about a blog post with the following:

"I'm closing this thread now. This thread was an eye-opener and there was alot of informative discussion that took place on the subject.
As I see it now, the thread has trickled off and the posts are more about the person and their online presence and how they are using social media, rather than the initial topic.

Please let me know if you have any queries about this, please PM myself or any of the other AH mod team.

We also have a Blogs/Social Media forum where you can discuss the merits of an online presence which is where this thread is currently at. Please pay attention to the charter if you choose to post there."

I don't disagree with this mod but just where are we to go. It seemed to make sense sending people to the blogs forum.

SpillingTheTea

Could I make a suggestion? Maybe there either should be another Mod on the board that actually understands the specific needs of the social media and blogging world. It appears to me that Biko is out of his depth on this issue because he thinks that it's solely 'technical forum', when in fact it's quite diverse.

heyjude88

I don't have a facebook account anymore so I can't just go there to discuss these topics. Thats why I come here to a boards discussion form. My husband doesn't understand any of these blogger topics and I work with mainly men. So I love coming on here to discuss these topics. That's what boards.ie is for, or so I thought.
I think its highly unfair that these threads keep being shut down. I have seen some horrific things in other threads like after hours that is seen as "banter". I understand that some comments were said, but we have all highlighted the fact that these posters mostly has maybe 1 or 2 posts to their name. Maybe these threads should have something where you need 10 or 20 posts to your name in order to post in the topic. Some new users were clearly coming in to derail the thread and get it shut down.

retro:electro

blairbear wrote: »

Biko has such a disgusting, sexist, derogatory attitude to the posters.

I'm actually shocked at his comments in this thread.

Already discussion on boards threads on bloggers has effected change in the industry, so we're hardly as insignificant, petty, bitchy and superficial as Biko appears to consider us and these issues.

Exactly. A lot of change has been made in the industry due to us challenging blogger ethics and our thread has been quoted and praised by various bloggers who agree with our ethos. To be be deduced to a bunch of handbag yielding gossipy bitches by the forum moderator is disgusting and insulting to say the least.

Cria

blairbear wrote: »

Biko has such a disgusting, sexist, derogatory attitude to the posters.

I'm actually shocked at his comments in this thread.

Already discussion on boards threads on bloggers has effected change in the industry, so we're hardly as insignificant, petty, bitchy and superficial as Biko appears to consider us and these issues.

I have been offended by some of the derogatory sexist comments that have been made to us in threads ...
also I feel trying to banish us to Facebook instead of boards doesn't help any company who advertise on boards.ie it would essentially lose them business if every moderator said this .. in fairness any topic on boards can be discussed on Facebook ect , people are choosing to discuss the issues on boards isnt that what boards was created for ..
Biko can you tell me what the heading blogs/wiki/social stand for

Little CuChulainn

SpillingTheTea wrote: »

Could I make a suggestion? Maybe there either should be another Mod on the board that actually understands the specific needs of the social media and blogging world. It appears to me that Biko is out of his depth on this issue because he thinks that it's solely 'technical forum', when in fact it's quite diverse.

Has anyone considered making a forum request for something like a "Bloggers" forum?

Cria

heyjude88 wrote: »

I don't have a facebook account anymore so I can't just go there to discuss these topics. Thats why I come here to a boards discussion form. My husband doesn't understand any of these blogger topics and I work with mainly men. So I love coming on here to discuss these topics. That's what boards.ie is for, or so I thought.
I think its highly unfair that these threads keep being shut down. I have seen some horrific things in other threads like after hours that is seen as "banter". I understand that some comments were said, but we have all highlighted the fact that these posters mostly has maybe 1 or 2 posts to their name. Maybe these threads should have something where you need 10 or 20 posts to your name in order to post in the topic. Some new users were clearly coming in to derail the thread and get it shut down.

The threads were always closed when someone new came on the thread they should just have been snipped and banned

SpillingTheTea

I would also like to point out the rules of the forum, all of which we adhere to so I am still confused how we actually keeping getting closed down.

Be helpful and nice, don't be mean - especially to people that are not here to defend themselves.

Stay on topic

Use constructive criticism, mean comments will be removed and actioned.

If you are asking about Facebook and similar apps, please remember to add what device it is on and what operating system your computer has/

General boards rules and policies apply.

biko

Cria wrote: »

Biko can you tell me what the heading blogs/wiki/social stand for

I think my first post in this thread clarified that -
"did you never wonder why the forum is under the Tech category and not under Soc?
It is because it's a help forum for technical questions and not at all intended for beauty/fashion stuff"

looksee

Biko has said that the forum is for discussing technical aspects of blogs etc. So maybe the solution is for him to put a large pinned notice at the start saying that that is what it is for, rather than popping up after the fact to make dismissive comments about a genuine mistake on the part of a number of posters and apparently a few other mods.

Then Boards should decide whether a forum for discussing blog content is needed, and supply it.