Time for a serious talk about moderation

[jollyreaper2112]

I can't find any forum that seems appropriate for board metadiscussion so I'm posting here.

I feel that there's an important distinction between a message board troll and someone voicing an unpopular idea. A troll is simply looking to get a rise out of people whereas the other guy is putting forward an opinion that could lead to an interesting discussion. Now some people might think that this is hair-splitting but I think it's the difference between shutting down a troll who's being an ass and shutting someone up for violating groupthink.

I moderate on a board myself so I know that there can be headaches and drama with this sort of thing. When someone is deliberately trolling ala Fred Phelps, I think it's fair to nuke the post. When you see two diametrically opposed sides settling in for a flame war on a topic they will never see the middle ground on, I see moderation as appropriate, telling both sides to cool off. But I still don't like the idea of deleting the posts. Lock the thread if people cannot act civilly? Sure. Suspend a poster for a cooling off period if they keep spreading the fight to other threads and won't back down? Sure. But such decisions should be made openly. If a moderator feels someone is out of line, they should state their opinion.

After the superbowl snickers controversy, I photoshopped the photo of the embracing skeletons to put a snickers bar there with the idea of "wouldn't the religious conservatives freak if they saw this?" I was jumped on by a gaggle of homosexual posters telling me I was horrible and a goddamn freeper and all sorts of ugliness. The original thread was locked because of it. Wow, isn't that a nice example for all us libs here, if you make enough of a stink you can get a thread shut down. Guess what, people? This is the same shit the christian right pulls. I know, I grew up in a dobson household. I read the newsletters they sent out each and every week. A positive portrayal of a homosexual on a TV show? Start a letter-writing campaign. Get it taken off the air. Remove all form of public discussion and debate.

That's just stupid. Look, so long as a disagreement in a thread sticks to facts and avoids namecalling and flaming, it should be left alone. Even if you aren't going to win the other guy around to your point of view, you might convince fence-sitters who are reading the thread. If you think the other guy is full of it, put forward your best argument and demolish him with facts and reason and grease it with a little humor. Neocons don't have facts on their side and that's why they always try to change the grounds of debate, redefine what's at stake and shutdown discussion.

I don't like it when mods step into a thread and start nuking messages with no explanation. It just feels heavy-handed and undemocratic.

[WilliamPitt]

1. 3...2...1...

Insert "Respect the moderators, send any questions here" message in 3...2...1...

[asthmaticeog]

2. This thread will probably get locked, but you make some excellent points.

Foremost among them being the near-impossibility of metadiscussion on DU.

[kimmerspixelated]

3. Touche'!

[Dora]

4. IBTL: You Don't Get It.

"I was jumped on by a gaggle of homosexual posters..."

And why were you jumped on? Did you consider that?

Your use of the word "gaggle" shows me that you don't have any respect for the concerns of the homosexual community here.

The disagreement about your photoshop was not about facts, but about feelings.

You Don't Get It.

[jollyreaper2112]

6. I don't get it?

Why was I jumped on? Because they didn't like the picture. It wasn't a slam directed at homosexuals, it was a slam directed at the conservative "oh my" handwringing over sexuality.

And gaggle is offensive now?

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gaggle

–noun 2. a flock of geese when not flying. Compare skein.
3. an often noisy or disorderly group or gathering: a politician followed by a gaggle of supporters.
4. an assortment of related things.

This is precisely the sort of inexplicable "I'm offended" behavior I'm talking about. I can't even get a proper explanation of WHY someone is offended. But if enough people make a stink, this thread will be shutdown as well. This is just like the dreaded relationship dispute: "If you don't know what you did, I'm certainly not going to tell you!"

So, how were feelings hurt by the photoshop? The humor was directed against conservative christians, not gays.

[Solo_in_MD]

9. Dora: You just made his point for him by demonstration. Bravo!

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jollyreaper2112]

7. :(

Stop it, you're harshing my "Bush si going down" buzz. There's been some great news this week aside from the realistic fear that it will all get swept under the carpet once more.

[yardwork]

8. Why don't you take your concern to the mods and admins?

[The empressof all]

10. Lock

If you have concerns about moderators actions or how this site is administered. Please contact the admins directly

mailto:[e-mail]

Thanks