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TBF: Moderation Issues
- Thread starter StillILearn
- Start date
Motokid
New Member
I prefer the culture of a forum to be more open. I like the constant flow of new members, and what they may or may not bring.
I don't really care for the idea of a "private club" where participation is by invitation only.
I feel a forum of potential hundreds, or thousands of members should ebb and flow with the members and not such much be confined by strict guidelines.
I don't really care for the idea of a "private club" where participation is by invitation only.
I feel a forum of potential hundreds, or thousands of members should ebb and flow with the members and not such much be confined by strict guidelines.
Shade
New Member
Motokid said:
Unless it's Moto's Mosh Pit!
I agree with Toadal on two issues particularly: I only discovered recently that the default setting for viewing the forums on TBF only shows threads which have been active within the last month. I think the default option should be to show all threads regardless of when they were last posted to, otherwise browsing becomes less appealing.
I also agree that there are too many forums and subforums on TBF. A whole Harry Potter forum? Magazines? Simplify, simplify!
The question of the 'culture' of TBF (or of any board) is an interesting one. The culture or tone of a board tends to be defined by its dominant members, who are often uncomfortable if others come and change the way things are or begin to become dominant members themselves. (I realise that the use of the word 'dominant' was unwise as I am now beginning to picture these notional board members like male gorillas, vying for power within the clan. However.) Nonetheless people leave boards as much as they join, and of course the active membership of a board is rarely above 10-15% of the total membership, so someone has to replace the older members as they move on, and this is bound to change things somewhat.
I don't want to divert this discussion again toward Palimpsest, but I would agree with novella that it's a less fluid place than TBF - then again, it seems to have a greater longevity of membership - in that many of the most active members have been using it regularly for 2-3 years - so they must like it like that. Any board where people feel they have virtually if not actually made friends is bound to have some cliquishness, though Palimpsest continues to welcome in new members regularly who seem to assimilate well and stay the course, so I think it's successful enough. To TBF's credit, I think it's become less cliquish in the last year or so, in terms of regular high-posting members spamming threads with general waffle, which tended to put lower-grade members like me off a bit. That happens rarely now, so in that sense TBF is better than it used to be.
Zolipara
New Member
Kenny Shovel summed it up nicely.
I was never among the most active posters, but now i hardly visit this place anymore for several reasons.
A lot of the most active members with knowledge of books outside the bestseller list has disappeared. There is now a very small pool of books beeing discussed, and outside of the Nabokov threads there is very little input from the members on the books.
The moderation, or self-moderation has gone too far. In most discussion threads there is always someone saying "we cant discuss politics/religion here", and thats pretty much the end of the discussion. I find it hard to believe that people can be this upset if someones opinion differs from their own. The discussions that have been on this forum has been for the most part calm and "constructive" with a few exceptions. But any discussion on moderation/forum rules must be done with the admin. However since the admin doesnt check this place anymore there is very little that can be done. Perhaps its better to just make a new forum and move the userbase there.
Chatty threads about favourite foods etc are fine, but they are not enough to keep me interested for long, and i doubt it attracts new active users.
I was never among the most active posters, but now i hardly visit this place anymore for several reasons.
A lot of the most active members with knowledge of books outside the bestseller list has disappeared. There is now a very small pool of books beeing discussed, and outside of the Nabokov threads there is very little input from the members on the books.
The moderation, or self-moderation has gone too far. In most discussion threads there is always someone saying "we cant discuss politics/religion here", and thats pretty much the end of the discussion. I find it hard to believe that people can be this upset if someones opinion differs from their own. The discussions that have been on this forum has been for the most part calm and "constructive" with a few exceptions. But any discussion on moderation/forum rules must be done with the admin. However since the admin doesnt check this place anymore there is very little that can be done. Perhaps its better to just make a new forum and move the userbase there.
Chatty threads about favourite foods etc are fine, but they are not enough to keep me interested for long, and i doubt it attracts new active users.
Motokid
New Member
Shade said:
Nice catch.
However, you obviously missed where I suggested a new name.
And that's was for a "special test area".
Much like an adult film section of a video store would be off limits to underage people, and tucked away in a special area for those that wanted to go there, I do think a "no-holds barred" type of area would require some basic stipulations for participation. Age and the ability to control emotions being key factors. Having differing opinons would in no way be a reason to keep/kick somebody out.
direstraits
Well-Known Member
Agreed, fully and totally. I remember those days, and have read lots of threads featuring funny funny funny posts. SillyWabbit was funny, Litany was funny, BillyO was funny (in a dangerous way), Freya was, uhm... quite funny.Freya said:
Sigh...
ds
StillILearn
New Member
direstraits said:
I am just so much in agreement with you here, ds.
It takes serious smarts to be that funny.
direstraits
Well-Known Member
I know, and it's a shame. However, I've seen many who are here today who are doing so much more than just being a member to TBF, but a friend as well, with plenty to share. Yes, those people I mentioned were good, and if they appeared again I'd be more than happy. But hey, if they moved on, shouldn't we?Shade said:
So I do my part to contribute to the forum in a way I believe that helps others, and nourishes myself. I'd like to be able to leave this forum (one day far away, I hope) and have people who remember me say they learnt something from me (Guy Gavriel Kay!!!) or enjoyed reading my inane ramblings.
It's my way of "taking back the boards", as it were.
ds
p.s. SillyWabbit's post that prompted me to register, a long time ago. This is not a buddy buddy thing, just the fact of the matter.
venusunfolding
New Member
I haven't noticed much of the issues because I'm really new. I do think the "no political or religion" talk is silly in a book forum.
Mods closing threads because they could get offensive later is a foreign concept to me. In almost every forum I post in, the mods take of the thread when it starts to become a problem, not "if there's a chance at some point it could be a problem"
I do think it's sad that this forum does get as little traffic as it does.
Mods closing threads because they could get offensive later is a foreign concept to me. In almost every forum I post in, the mods take of the thread when it starts to become a problem, not "if there's a chance at some point it could be a problem"
I do think it's sad that this forum does get as little traffic as it does.
StillILearn
New Member
venusunfolding said:
Where do you visit that gets much more traffic, Venus? I wanta see!
abecedarian
Well-Known Member
StillILearn said:Where do you visit that gets much more traffic, Venus? I wanta see!
Still's right, I can't imagine someplace with lots more traffic. I sometimes poke around at able2know and for all the variety of forums available, I think TBF has at least as much activity, if not more.