Moderator: MIA

[August1991]

We have threads peddling pharmaceutical products.

We have posts calling respectable politicians liars or worse.

We have posters who insult one another using vulgar terms.

We have threads that turn into pointless one line rejoinders.

We have discussions about personal matters completely unrelated to politics.

We have a proliferation of multiple threads on the same topic.

We have posters who don't take the trouble to spell properly and won't master the simple formatting conventions.

We have posters who copy long previous posts to add a one line, silly response.

We have posters who link to external articles without providing quotes or even an intelligible context.

We have posters who create threads with meaningless titles.

We have posters who don't bother to read other posters' links or points, and don't bother to search on previous discussions.

We have conspiracy theorists who lack even comedic value.

All of this is largely due to an absent moderator.

I'm tired of wading through the nonsense. My thinking about Internet forum censorship has undergone a sea change. Idiots don't have the right to waste my time.

Greg, you have to be more involved or you should delegate authority to others. Otherwise, this forum will die. Don't let growing membership numbers deceive you.

[jdobbin]

Greg, you have to be more involved or you should delegate authority to others. Otherwise, this forum will die. Don't let growing membership numbers deceive you.

The moderator banned a person today.

[Cameron]

Greg, if you need help, my offer is STILL on the table...think about it please.

[Canadian Blue]

I don't think the moderator would even know were to start!!!

[August1991]

The moderator banned a person today.

As BD said, is anecdote plural for data?

[Riverwind]

--

[M.Dancer]

We have threads peddling pharmaceutical products.

We have posts calling respectable politicians liars or worse.

That is an illogical presumption.

respectable politician is an oxymoron.

[Higgly]

Greg, if you need help, my offer is STILL on the table...think about it please.

--------------------

Nova Scotian & Conservative

Economic Left/Right: 5.13

Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 0.46

No offense but would it really be wise to appoint a moderator who openly declares allegiance to a particular party?

[Cameron]

Greg, if you need help, my offer is STILL on the table...think about it please.

--------------------

Nova Scotian & Conservative

Economic Left/Right: 5.13

Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 0.46

No offense but would it really be wise to appoint a moderator who openly declares allegiance to a particular party?

I do take offense. I wouldn't moderate based on political views. I would moderate based on forum rules and etiquette. If you start to smear or attack someone, I will edit your post or tell you to stick to the point. My posts and moderation will be separate.

[Riverwind]

I do take offense. I wouldn't moderate based on political views. I would moderate based on forum rules and etiquette. If you start to smear or attack someone, I will edit your post or tell you to stick to the point. My posts and moderation will be separate.

You shouldn't. Someone else pointed out that the strength of this forum lies in the fact that the moderator does not participate in any discussions and does not make his personal views known. This eliminates the 'perception of bias' that would always exist no matter how diligent and fair a participating moderator would be.

[August1991]

Someone else pointed out that the strength of this forum lies in the fact that the moderator does not participate in any discussions and does not make his personal views known. This eliminates the 'perception of bias' that would always exist no matter how diligent and fair a participating moderator would be.

That needn't be so.

The Speaker in the Commons is a party member and lawyers frequently wear different hats according to their position. I see no reason why a moderator necessarily could not participate in debates here.

I don't know if Greg wants to delegate authority to a participant here or find someone else from the real world to share these duties. There may be a technical fix such as only allowing certain posters to create new threads. I don't know.

The forum is getting more ragged around the edges and I think it should aim for quality rather than quantity. But what do I know.

[geoffrey]

The forum is getting more ragged around the edges and I think it should aim for quality rather than quantity. But what do I know.

I'm in complete agreement, there needs to be a reshuffling of priorities.

[crazymf]

Looks to me that certain members want this forum to be a 'boys club' with invited guests only. I agree that manners should be used. However, every person here gets their point across in the way that they know how.

If what you are implying is that all posters have to fit some kind of mold, such as a minimum education level or a certain age group or merely not having a sense of humor, then you will close out the majority of people who merely want to relax and discuss things as they see fit.

I think it's getting rather snooty to tell people HOW they should post. Use your ignore button. That's what it's for.

I personally think this board is too dry. IMHO the majority of posts are news snippets of no real debatable value. Many posters aren't interested in friendly debate but rather shooting down someone elses opinion at all cost.

I don't think it's fair to call out the moderator and complain about him. It's his board. He owns it. End of story.

My 2c.

[Canadian Blue]

How about this lets make RB and GH moderators!!!

Anybody else up for it.

[Higgly]

You shouldn't. Someone else pointed out that the strength of this forum lies in the fact that the moderator does not participate in any discussions and does not make his personal views known. This eliminates the 'perception of bias' that would always exist no matter how diligent and fair a participating moderator would be.

Good point. The Speaker of the House, regardless of party affiliation, does not participate in the debate.

[Higgly]

How about this lets make RB and GH moderators!!!

Anybody else up for it.

Who are they?

[Argus]

We have threads peddling pharmaceutical products.

They're usually deleted within 24 hrs

We have posts calling respectable politicians liars or worse.

What if they ARE liars?

We have posters who insult one another using vulgar terms.

Have you reported them?

We have threads that turn into pointless one line rejoinders.

Then don't participate in those threads.

We have discussions about personal matters completely unrelated to politics.

Very rarely.

We have a proliferation of multiple threads on the same topic.

Stupid, I admit, but usually one gets ignored.

We have posters who don't take the trouble to spell properly and won't master the simple formatting conventions.

We have posters who copy long previous posts to add a one line, silly response.

We have posters who link to external articles without providing quotes or even an intelligible context.

We have posters who create threads with meaningless titles.

We have posters who don't bother to read other posters' links or points, and don't bother to search on previous discussions.

We have conspiracy theorists who lack even comedic value.

How do you moderate for all this without reading every post before it goes up on the board?

All of this is largely due to an absent moderator.

Not entirely absent. I complained about an obvious flamebait thread a couple of days ago and the thread was deleted and the poster banned the next day.

Do you ever complain about these things to the moderator? He doesn't read the threads, generally, so if no one complains he's not going to notice any particular thread or post.

Don't get me wrong, this forum could use tighter moderation. There are still a lot of ad hominem's posted each day, a lot of attacks on the poster rather than the post. I know Greg floated the idea of volunteer moderators earlier, but nothing ever came of it. I think he should appoint a few, as an experiment if nothing else.

As for the moderator not posting... that wouldn't work. The only people who are interested enough to take on the job would be people who were into politics enough to post fairly regularly. You could give them another ID for moderation purposes, I suppose ,but there will always be claims of bias. There are some now, after all.

[gerryhatrick]

We have posts calling respectable politicians liars or worse.

I hope you're not suggesting the moderator should step in when someone accuses Peter Mackay of lying about the Stronach comment/gesture?

[Ricki Bobbi]

We have posts calling respectable politicians liars or worse.

I hope you're not suggesting the moderator should step in when someone accuses Peter Mackay of lying about the Stronach comment/gesture?

do you gotta bring your anti-harper/anti-conservative agenda to the Support and Questions part of the forum?

[Ricki Bobbi]

We have threads that turn into pointless one line rejoinders.

Then don't participate in those threads.

Love the irony of this exchange.

[Ricki Bobbi]

How about this lets make RB and GH moderators!!!

Anybody else up for it.

I am.

Although I wouldn't want to share personal contact information with him. Too much potential for a 'going postal' sorta incident.

[ft.niagara]

Greg, if you need help, my offer is STILL on the table...think about it please.

I second his offer. He seems quite reasonable, and balanced.

[ft.niagara]

Anybody else up for it.

I am.

Another good candidate.

[ft.niagara]

Greg, you have to be more involved or you should delegate authority to others. Otherwise, this forum will die. Don't let growing membership numbers deceive you.

I have seen it before, what starts out as part time fun grows into something else. It becomes a job. I am a member of another forum where the founder sold it. He actually found a buyer, and it is still in operation.

[RB]

How about this lets make RB and GH moderators!!!

Anybody else up for it.

Who are they?

Are you speaking of myself - I thank you for the vote - no thanks though.

I already don't participate much. I try for once a week, well unless I have to defend/expand on what I post

I think Greg is good at this, he'll figure something I am sure.