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Boards is becoming a Ghost Town

WarZ

Is it just me or is boards.ie becoming extraordinarily quiet? It's something I've started to notice and its making me go elsewhere (Reddit is incredibly busy in comparison). I'm not sure if its because the quality of posting is taking such a dive or if its because of over zealous moderation. Perhaps both. I think a balance needs to be struck; posting needs to be better but at the same time a lot of mods in the forum have over exerted their influence to the extent where we've lost so many great posters. The site is becoming too nany-esque however I'm aware the site was suffering from a huge problem with trolls and racists. I'm just wondering what are the thoughts of the admins on this issue?

Seems like boards is dying out.

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Satriale

Feck, I feel guilty for reading the prison forum now.

kneemos

Satriale wrote: »

Feck, I feel guilty for reading the prison forum now.

90% of them are piss takers,the rest are dealt with properly.

K-9

I thought the appeals process was supposed to be transparent, not hidden?

Benny_Cake

I hadn't had a look at Prison in quite a while. Honestly, the jokes had become more than a little repetitive and it didn't present a good image of the site. I've little sympathy for the many rereg trolls that passed through Prison but I still think the way that the Admins behaved sometimes rubbed people up the wrong way.

That said, looking at the first couple of threads there this evening, the cheap jokes seem to be a thing of the past and the forum is serving it's purpose. The fact that it's public provides a level of accountabilty insofar as Admins must be seen to respond.

511

FA Hayek wrote: »

Agree. Having that forum public is just a way to publicly humiliate posters. Like what is the point of it apart from a few admins getting their kicks off in some juvenile fashion? Makes the place look a) amateur and b) like a school playground

Here's a good example, I remember this thread being discussed in After Hours way back: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=84593568&postcount=3

If I went into After Hours and said to a poster that I "think they're very, very stupid", I'd get a yellow. The admins are the ones who set he rules and should be leading by example.

fred funk }{

I enjoy reading the prison forum. Anyone who's getting the piss taken out of them generally deserves it.

[Deleted User]

fred funk }{ wrote: »

I enjoy reading the prison forum. Anyone who's getting the piss taken out of them generally deserves it.

I think it just seems bad as a lot of the threads seem to be from the same re-regs, who are clearly just trolling, if anything I am surprised at how easy it can be to get a permaban overturned if you just say you're sowwy and promise to be good

maudgonner

I read the prison forum and am surprised that anyone thinks the mods are belittling the people that post in there. It seems to me that 90% of the threads go something like:

- I have no idea why I'm banned.
- Really? Have a think about it...
- Seriously, I've done absolutely nothing wrong.
- What about the four other accounts you have?
- I've never had any other accounts. Well, once, but that was a mistake and I deleted it.
- You were banned, re-regged, banned again, re-regged...
- Screw you, you fascist git! I hate this stupid site anyway.

Anyone who has a genuine case, or is willing to right their wrongs is treated pretty well. I have no problem with mods pulling the piss out of someone who is clearly pulling the piss out of the site.

K-9

We'll end up with prison like the talk to forums, giving out prepared stock replies and any fun or individuality gone out of it.

Far too pc and corporate culturish.

[Deleted User]

K-9 wrote: »

We'll end up with prison like the talk to forums, giving out prepared stock replies and any fun or individuality gone out of it.

Far too pc and corporate culturish.

You think belittling people and making fun of them on an open forum just to entertain the crowds is fun? Let me tell you,it's not.it's done by cowards, and as I said before,the same people wouldn't have the balls to say it to their face, and it should be stopped now.

FriendComputer

Ah but sure is it not "just the internet"? :pac:

I wonder how many of the people who agree with that are also against Prison's current incarnation.

K-9

droidman123 wrote: »

You think belittling people and making fun of them on an open forum just to entertain the crowds is fun? Let me tell you,it's not.it's done by cowards, and as I said before,the same people wouldn't have the balls to say it to their face, and it should be stopped now.

Sorry, but that's hilarious, you see the stuff gets thrown the other way? I'd say those posters are just as tough and would say it to their face. Reminds me of 5live sport call in shows or liveline!

A troll getting a little of their own medicine is fine. Don't dish it out unless you can take it back.

Tipperary Fairy

I've never been banned, but I agree that at the very least boards should be concerned about the image the admins (or whoever) are putting out there for not only current users to see, but potential users.

The general rule of don't be a dick is meant to apply to everyone right, so why should admins be an exception, and be allowed act the dick to these people? It's fine not to care about the trolls or pisstakers, but do they not realise how dickish it comes off? Do they not care about gaining a reputation?

I certainly wouldn't ever want to be involved in drp or prison, because of the self important condescending dickish attitude.

Esel

Prison (on the Boards) is the last refuge of a scoundrel. Ninety nine times anyway.

Think The Wizard of Id.

Elcomeway otay the ungeonday, artiesmay.

Wibbs

K-9 wrote: »

We'll end up with prison like the talk to forums, giving out prepared stock replies and any fun or individuality gone out of it.

Far too pc and corporate culturish.

Actually, yeah, on reflection you're dead right K-9. It can be corporate enough at times as is. Yeah strike my last take on the Prison forum.

OldGoat

I really dislike the Prison forum, always have. It's a level of transparency too far. When Admin engage in it only seems to encourage re-regers to keep coming back, the equivalent of feeding trolls.
I appreciate that it's a necessary thing to have, a last (last last last ) chance to get back onto the forums but I really don't need to see re-regers and admin getting into some kind of warped banter relationship.

Make the forum private if you really need to keep it.

KomradeBishop

You don't fix an image problem by hiding away the actions that lead to criticism though - removes the whole point of transparency/accountability - you do it by changing the actions, if deemed appropriate.

Going beyond problems with moderation and the appeals process, I think Boards has a problem taking on board constructive criticism overall - not just in one specific area - and the recent site changes were a good example of this.

[Deleted User]

K-9 wrote: »

Sorry, but that's hilarious, you see the stuff gets thrown the other way? I'd say those posters are just as tough and would say it to their face. Reminds me of 5live sport call in shows or liveline!

A troll getting a little of their own medicine is fine. Don't dish it out unless you can take it back.

Again you miss the point,what the posters say on the prison forum is irrelevant,simply because the admins have the option to edit or delete whatever they want,the.poster doesnt.anyone who condones the cowardly bullying and deriding on that forum is as bad as the people who do it.we have all seen up to 3 or 4 admins getting in on the act against one poster,each trying to be funnier than the other,its pathethic.the appeals process should be a private affair and not for the public humiliation of what are sometimes kids.i,m sure the brave admins who conduct this behaviour can find something else to do to amuse themselves.i wonder are the owners of this site aware of what goes on

LuckyLloyd

I think appeals should be public, bottom line.

The reason the Prison forum was turned into an approved posts (post initial thread creation) was because some trolls would lose the run of themselves in there if left unchecked. There is no doubt that it isn't a fair space considering the approval system and posting rights, but it's certainly better than nothing.

I think what people have issue with is numerous Admins 'gradually pulling the legs off trapped spiders' type vibe that ends up occurring from time to time. The suggestion of a private forum however is a huge no for me. There still exists the (admittedly very low percentage) chance that a user is site banned unfairly and we should have a public space for a case to be stated in such circumstances. I'd be frankly uncomfortable if we didn't.

Ultimately I reject the suggestion that the current nature of the Prison forum is a major problem with the site. I would wonder what percentage of the user base even knows it exists and / or checks it regularly. Seems like a separate and much more minor issue to the more substantial questions raised in this thread.

[Deleted User]

I have no no problem with the prison forum being public,if the admins stop the nonsense and stop using it to play to the crowd and belittle people.if the person that is appealing is being abusive,their posts,as i said,can be edited/deleted.i certainly dont think the carry on there by some of the admins is "a minor" issue and i think it needs to be addressed.

smash

droidman123 wrote: »

I have no no problem with the prison forum being public,if the admins stop the nonsense and stop using it to play to the crowd and belittle people.if the person that is appealing is being abusive,their posts,as i said,can be edited/deleted.i certainly dont think the carry on there by some of the admins is "a minor" issue and i think it needs to be addressed.

Renaming the forum to "Appeals" would be a start. And also removing this silliness from the charter:

Is boards.ie out to get you?

Yes.

Is boards.ie run by nerds, power crazed moderators, illiterate little nazis, people who need to get a life, [insert random put down here] ?

Yes and you were probably banned for thinking/saying that.

Pawwed Rig

smash wrote: »

And also removing this silliness from the charter:

The site is constantly accused of taking itself too seriously. Personally I see this as harmless humour.

There is only so many chances you can politely give someone before telling them to p off imo.
It is very hard to end up in prison*. You have to ignore multiple warnings, infractions, bans before a siteban is even contemplated so those that end up there are usually a complete pita.

*unless someone inadvertently breaks a site rule as a new poster re advertising but they tend to be dealt with politely

smash

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

The site is constantly accused of taking itself too seriously. Personally I see this as harmless humour.

There is only so many chances you can politely give someone before telling them to p off imo.
It is very hard to end up in prison*. You have to ignore multiple warnings, infractions, bans before a siteban is even contemplated so those that end up there are usually a complete pita.

*unless someone inadvertently breaks a site rule as a new poster re advertising but they tend to be dealt with politely

There's a huge amount of stringing people along to drag out a thread. Too much "Come on, own up, you know what you did" type stuff. A simple reply listing what the banned user did and the reason for the ban should be suffice.

KomradeBishop

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

The site is constantly accused of taking itself too seriously. Personally I see this as harmless humour.

There is only so many chances you can politely give someone before telling them to p off imo.
It is very hard to end up in prison*. You have to ignore multiple warnings, infractions, bans before a siteban is even contemplated so those that end up there are usually a complete pita.

*unless someone inadvertently breaks a site rule as a new poster re advertising but they tend to be dealt with politely

I ended up in Prison for breaching a ban, that was retroactively placed on my old account long after I closed it - i.e. that I did nothing to deserve, and had no way of knowing was in place - and then my original ban actually got escalated above what it originally was during that appeal.

It was all dealt with politely enough though, but I still got screwed in the end - and it began a long saga of similar arbitrary decisions, which incrementally screwed me more and more.

It can be easy enough to end up in there, but when a genuine mistake is made it's polite enough - but when the appeals process goes wrong...it can go wrong bit by bit in an epic way.

Irish Aris

For me both the Prison Forum and DRP (I follow/read both) work as a reminder of what is not on - DRP more so than Prison where most of the cases are either reregs or new users that didn't read the terms and conditions properly and advertised or posted a survey etc.

On the topic, some of the fora I follow do seem quieter. I am not sure though if that's coincidental or a trend. I, for example, haven't been posting regularly lately (not that I was the most frequent poster in general) and it is down to work and personal commitments that the last 2-3 months have increased. I still read but don't contribute: in the busier threads (i.e. the Arsenal thread) the discussion moves fairly quickly so I can barely keep up, on other threads I wouldn't just post for the sake of it.
Lately, I have started reading other threads to get info (I am nearly 5 years in Ireland and plan to apply for the citizenship, so I try to keep up-to-date on what's going on in the country) and I find some of the discussions quite good (albeit they tend to go in circles sometimes). I think there still is a lot of good information in boards and I hope it continues.

Lastly, I wasn't impressed with the new layout. I still use the legacy site and will continue to use it for as long as it is available.

Dial Hard

smash wrote: »

I still fail to see the issue with the close account option. If people don't like it for the aesthetics of a thread then fine, petition to get the text removed from under the username, but don't petition to get the functionality removed.

This. As a re-reg, I can personally attest that not everyone who closes their account does so to make a dramatic "Look at meeeee!" gesture in a fit of ill-considered pique. There are often genuine reasons for it.

Tombi!

We remove the fun and we're going to be called fun sucking Nazis.
Prison gets three types of replies from what I can tell over the years:
More "professional" types. Where the person is usually confused and/or might genuinely might not realize they've broken the rules.
"I'm bored with you being a troublemaker" ones where the person is blatantly known as a trouble maker and just isn't given the time of day*
"Fun" ones where the admins are aware they're dealing with a troublemaker but feel like it's more fun to not just be a straight faced robot.

*Should point out that by this I mean most users have no clue what sort of record people have or what sort of vitrol they post. So it appears when the admin goes "nope, you're in the wrong. You're a waste of time" it looks like they're just being a dick to a poor banned user when it's usually never the case.

[Deleted User]

I've been following this thread. It's interesting to hear the different opinions people have about the site.

Inconsistent moderation is always going to be evident. Each forum has it's own unique purpose and user base. What I post on AH might not fly over on PI. I also think many of the mods use common sense. A poster who is a worthy contributor and causes no grievance to others is far more likely to get away with a slip than a troublesome one.

Heavy handed closure of threads is an issue. This was particularly obvious in After Hours. The place is supposed to be fun and easy going. Constant mod intervention of 'stay on topic' in the middle of light threads is very frustrating and off-putting. It stifles the natural flow and movement of discussion. Now two have been reinstated since so that's a positive move and shows that the mod team do listen to the posters.

I love After Hours. It's good craic and informative and interesting however I think this forum is what is destroying the site. Maybe 'destroy' is too strong a word but it's like a one stop shop for boards. Why post about our lenient justice system in Humanities or Society when we can just stick it in AH. What the solution to that is I have no clue.

Regarding the powers that be I think they get a huge amount of unfair criticism. Dav works extremely hard for the site and all of us. He only has so much say and control regarding how things work. He is one of two community managers and certainly isn't boards. What I do think might help is if both Niamh and Dav maintained more of a presence about the place. So instead of just posting in their professional capacity they could get involved in some of the forums.

The prison forum is great craic. I don't understand why some people are saying that the admins need to reign in the jokes. How come it's ok for the trolls to talk crap and cause hassle but the admins to just sit back and take it?

Boards is the internet but for many it's so much more than that. It's a society all of its own made up of different communities. People will get provoked and riled up, they will get upset, angry, happy, you name it. Projections, insecurities, bitterness, all sorts of stuff gets played out from behind the comfort of a screen. I don't envy those charged with managing all of that.

The Moldy Gowl

Dav and niamh have control over the site though. They are equal.
Any critisism over the years has just seen Dav put his foot down and go ahead and do it his way.

[Deleted User]

The Moldy Gowl wrote: »

Dav and niamh have control over the site though. They are equal.
Any critisism over the years has just seen Dav put his foot down and go ahead and do it his way.

But it doesn't appear that they are equal. Dav gets the criticism, not Niamh.

I can't comment on Dav doing things his way because I haven't been around long enough but perhaps he is only doing what he is instructed to do?