Ive just spent ages trying to read all the threads etc on all this, some of them have started off so very well and then just degraded, this is an example of what mods have to deal with, as it happens on all sorts of threads, Ill talk more about that in a minute though.
Martyn and others have done a great job of trying to explain the difficulties in being a Mod on here, for which Im grateful as the bottom line on it is that the issues raised are directed at me, Im the one that has asked people to help out keeping things how I like them. The rules are written by me, most of them are quite generic across lots of forums, and some are just for here. The underlying thing across the whole community though is just that we have respect for one another and were polite, with no bad language and no smutty comments etc. Im sure that everyone gets the drift. Now I have quite strong feeling about it being a family friendly site and I want it so that my kids can come on here without fear of them reading smut or bad language. Theres always the difficulty that people have different opinions on whats bad language and thats just an example of opinion, there are hundreds, if not thousands of opinions on all sorts of things to do with the forum. Some people are moderated and they say - Fair enough, sorry about that - and for the same thing, some kick off. Thats just life and people.
Ive read through a lot of the comments and suggestions made and I agree with some and others I think are unworkable. I and the other mods have no problem with people posting up questions, or asking for things etc Its great that you do, I saw the thread earlier entitled Where is this going part 2 and I was reading through it thinking it was great and that I could really take on board some of the stuff in there. Then it went down hill and was closed, a huge shame in my view, but I have to say that its understandable.
When it comes to members not understanding why something has been done by a mod I see the points that have been raised. Its also been explained that if we explain everything it gets really complicated and time consuming because theres always different opinions. I do agree though that we can help things run a bit more smoothly with some more commentary and Ill endeavour to get that in place.
Sometimes the forum flows along nicely, the mods dont have to do much and the members enjoy the time on here, thats the best situation for all of us and it comes about by people knowing the rules and abiding by them. If people did that, then there would be hardly any hassle on here at all. Now Im not saying that we dont have a role to play in that, we can help it along and thats the role we need to play, we are here to help it flow and to keep it within the boundaries set in the rules. I think that a great deal of the issues raised can be dealt with by all of us getting on with it and working towards the same goal. I want the forum to be an enjoyable, interesting and educational place to be, for people to get out of it what they want. I as the owner of the site need feedback from you, I do get some from people, they PM me or email me and say what theyre thinking and thats great and hugely appreciated. Some bottle it all up and then it explodes and its hard for it not to go down hill in that instance. I have to admit that I can be defensive about the site, I try not to, but I sometimes take things personally, but hey, Im human as well. On the whole though I really do try to take on board what people say and I will do the same with all this.
I really dont think that its all down to the moderators (which is ultimately me) or all down to the members, were all part of the forum and I think that it will take us all to work at it to make it an even better place to be. We will continue to moderate, as we do so, we will endeavour to be consistent, polite and friendly, we will address the issues that come up as best we can, given the time we have and the knowledge we have. It would help no end if you all made the need for moderation a rarity by staying away from the edge created by the rules and not pushing them and by cutting some slack now and then. Were all busy people, I should have taken my boy to a birthday party but Im writing this instead. At lunch time my wife asked me what I was doing this afternoon, I said I need to work NO, I need to spend time with you, (my family, wife and 3 kids) what do you all want to do? ..and here Ive been since just after that.
I think that the thing we all forget sometimes is that were all human, we all make mistakes, we all have great days and awful days. We need to cut each other some slack and get on with it. We all need to be people helping things flow and when someone starts spinning in the water we steady them and off they go. Those that dont want to do this will always find it a restrictive place to come and theyll not get the most out of it and make it hard for other people to get the most out of it.
So, where do we go from here, Id like it to be just as Ive said above, we all get on, we all try to be tolerant, we will try to make things easier to understand when we moderate (although theres not going to be pages of discussion about it) and everyone helps to make moderation un-needed. Sometimes things are going to happen that people dont understand and thats unavoidable, theres some stuff that gets posted that gets people banned with no explanation at all and theres some stuff that isnt anyones business. Making this a better place is doable, Im not going to compromise the rules to make some people happier but more tact and more regard all round would work wonders.
Before I sign off I want you to know that I appreciate all the efforts you put into the community, all of you, members, subscribers, Mods, past and present members. I appreciate that people want to help the community grow and move forward, this has been shown by the plethora of comments over the last few days. Lets make sure that we get on with taking them onboard and moving forward, theres something in there for all of us. Im up for a clean slate, theres members upset by other members, members upset with mods etc if we met each other face to face most of us would get on, were good people, lets remember that.
Martyn and others have done a great job of trying to explain the difficulties in being a Mod on here, for which Im grateful as the bottom line on it is that the issues raised are directed at me, Im the one that has asked people to help out keeping things how I like them. The rules are written by me, most of them are quite generic across lots of forums, and some are just for here. The underlying thing across the whole community though is just that we have respect for one another and were polite, with no bad language and no smutty comments etc. Im sure that everyone gets the drift. Now I have quite strong feeling about it being a family friendly site and I want it so that my kids can come on here without fear of them reading smut or bad language. Theres always the difficulty that people have different opinions on whats bad language and thats just an example of opinion, there are hundreds, if not thousands of opinions on all sorts of things to do with the forum. Some people are moderated and they say - Fair enough, sorry about that - and for the same thing, some kick off. Thats just life and people.
Ive read through a lot of the comments and suggestions made and I agree with some and others I think are unworkable. I and the other mods have no problem with people posting up questions, or asking for things etc Its great that you do, I saw the thread earlier entitled Where is this going part 2 and I was reading through it thinking it was great and that I could really take on board some of the stuff in there. Then it went down hill and was closed, a huge shame in my view, but I have to say that its understandable.
When it comes to members not understanding why something has been done by a mod I see the points that have been raised. Its also been explained that if we explain everything it gets really complicated and time consuming because theres always different opinions. I do agree though that we can help things run a bit more smoothly with some more commentary and Ill endeavour to get that in place.
Sometimes the forum flows along nicely, the mods dont have to do much and the members enjoy the time on here, thats the best situation for all of us and it comes about by people knowing the rules and abiding by them. If people did that, then there would be hardly any hassle on here at all. Now Im not saying that we dont have a role to play in that, we can help it along and thats the role we need to play, we are here to help it flow and to keep it within the boundaries set in the rules. I think that a great deal of the issues raised can be dealt with by all of us getting on with it and working towards the same goal. I want the forum to be an enjoyable, interesting and educational place to be, for people to get out of it what they want. I as the owner of the site need feedback from you, I do get some from people, they PM me or email me and say what theyre thinking and thats great and hugely appreciated. Some bottle it all up and then it explodes and its hard for it not to go down hill in that instance. I have to admit that I can be defensive about the site, I try not to, but I sometimes take things personally, but hey, Im human as well. On the whole though I really do try to take on board what people say and I will do the same with all this.
I really dont think that its all down to the moderators (which is ultimately me) or all down to the members, were all part of the forum and I think that it will take us all to work at it to make it an even better place to be. We will continue to moderate, as we do so, we will endeavour to be consistent, polite and friendly, we will address the issues that come up as best we can, given the time we have and the knowledge we have. It would help no end if you all made the need for moderation a rarity by staying away from the edge created by the rules and not pushing them and by cutting some slack now and then. Were all busy people, I should have taken my boy to a birthday party but Im writing this instead. At lunch time my wife asked me what I was doing this afternoon, I said I need to work NO, I need to spend time with you, (my family, wife and 3 kids) what do you all want to do? ..and here Ive been since just after that.
I think that the thing we all forget sometimes is that were all human, we all make mistakes, we all have great days and awful days. We need to cut each other some slack and get on with it. We all need to be people helping things flow and when someone starts spinning in the water we steady them and off they go. Those that dont want to do this will always find it a restrictive place to come and theyll not get the most out of it and make it hard for other people to get the most out of it.
So, where do we go from here, Id like it to be just as Ive said above, we all get on, we all try to be tolerant, we will try to make things easier to understand when we moderate (although theres not going to be pages of discussion about it) and everyone helps to make moderation un-needed. Sometimes things are going to happen that people dont understand and thats unavoidable, theres some stuff that gets posted that gets people banned with no explanation at all and theres some stuff that isnt anyones business. Making this a better place is doable, Im not going to compromise the rules to make some people happier but more tact and more regard all round would work wonders.
Before I sign off I want you to know that I appreciate all the efforts you put into the community, all of you, members, subscribers, Mods, past and present members. I appreciate that people want to help the community grow and move forward, this has been shown by the plethora of comments over the last few days. Lets make sure that we get on with taking them onboard and moving forward, theres something in there for all of us. Im up for a clean slate, theres members upset by other members, members upset with mods etc if we met each other face to face most of us would get on, were good people, lets remember that.
well said!
