Moderation reports

[Zero999]

I agree, this forum deserves a higher class of moderator.

Moderator Simon is going wild again.

Falsely accusing others about "going Wild" in the Brexit tread, but read his own remarks and language use.
Threatening with Warnings and Ban again, for what? Making a polite remark "I am surprised"

Somebody please explain this guy the basics about a moderator status:

-a referee doesn't touch the ball
-a referee stays neutral in the differences between camps
-when the referee clearly isn't neutral, the remark "you are not neutral" doesn't lead to a ban of the guy that made the remark.
-a referee that clearly isn't neutral, and threatens to make abuse of his powers, has to get thrown out.
-when the referee wants to play football, he first ends his status and joins a team.

If you have a problem with the moderator then why not report it to Dave?

No one can be neutral. Everyone has an opinion. I'd rather someone be honest about not being neutral, rather than pretending to be unbiased.

[Kjelt]

I am an admin on another forum and I differentiate between moderation posts and personal posts.
So admin posts are in red and normal user posts are in black, perhaps an idea for the moderators here.
But admins are allowed to have a personal opinion and this can be biased, the role of admin is not of a referee, there is no match, it is keeping the forum readable and get rid of people that are not "nice".

[ez24]

No one can be neutral. Everyone has an opinion. I'd rather someone be honest about not being neutral, rather than pretending to be unbiased.

Unfortunately this is true.  Look at the US Supreme Court

[EEVblog]

I am an admin on another forum and I differentiate between moderation posts and personal posts.
So admin posts are in red and normal user posts are in black, perhaps an idea for the moderators here.
But admins are allowed to have a personal opinion and this can be biased, the role of admin is not of a referee, there is no match, it is keeping the forum readable and get rid of people that are not "nice".

I have not read the massive Brexit thread, but I agree that moderators have their own opinions on topics and are entitled to express it.
Don't forget that Simon is the 3rd highest poster on the forum, and the 2nd highest topic starter behind myself. Only a small percentage of that would be moderator comments. He got the job in the first place because he was one of the highest posters on the forum at the time.

[EEVblog]

I am an admin on another forum and I differentiate between moderation posts and personal posts.
So admin posts are in red and normal user posts are in black, perhaps an idea for the moderators here.

That's not a bad idea, and I actually do that occasionally so the moderation posts stands out.

[Macbeth]

What was second prize?

A poison chalice? You don't think one booby prize is enough?   

[Simon]

I agree, this forum deserves a higher class of moderator.

Moderator Simon is going wild again.

Falsely accusing others about "going Wild" in the Brexit tread, but read his own remarks and language use.
Threatening with Warnings and Ban again, for what? Making a polite remark "I am surprised"

Somebody please explain this guy the basics about a moderator status:

-a referee doesn't touch the ball
-a referee stays neutral in the differences between camps
-when the referee clearly isn't neutral, the remark "you are not neutral" doesn't lead to a ban of the guy that made the remark.
-a referee that clearly isn't neutral, and threatens to make abuse of his powers, has to get thrown out.
-when the referee wants to play football, he first ends his status and joins a team.

To put this into context I could have banned you months ago for racist posts. I should have done just that! I gave you a chance and you start again. I am not throwing my weight around, we are all enthusiastically debating. My posts hold no more weight that anyone elses and as i said in my "heavy post" you can say what you like about me but be careful, this in reference to your racist posts in the past.

So new policy as a moderator: you cross the line just once and your out! That way I get less greif from trouble makers!

[Simon]

Don't be a flipping idiot, you really believe the claim that the earth is heavier because water is now in the ground instead of the ocean. Just shut up or put up, or I'll put you up!

Moderators are called for civility.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/ieee-has-bought-into-solar-roadways/msg873199/#msg873199

Said to a user that does nothing but stir up trouble particularly in contentious threads, again thank you for making my life easier, in future, you make trouble you are banned because giving people a chance is just endorsing their behaviour. We would have had a lot less trouble from another user had it not been for the user I was replying to.

[tautech]

So one wonders if there will be any future moderate moderation?

That members can't/won't be advised their posts have stepped over some invisible line is a little disturbing. 

[Simon]

Well it's up to you. I can delete posts, warn members but if that means that dealing with those members in the future means that they make accusations then you tell me what should I do. I could have easily banned members for overstepping the mark but had not despite it being so bad it should have been clear to them what they were doing and that it was not acceptable. I have infact been generous enough to consider that maybe someone was under the influence while posting and waited to see if they continued on the trend.

If one member constantly taunts another member why should I/Dave allow him to stay ? i will not mention names I am sure we know who I mean, just mentioning his damn name can cause problems. Had i banned one member another member would not have been driven to the point that he started to threaten the existence of this forum (sorry details not available - it's history but not forgotten).

the idea of the moderation was to be a soft touch, not to curtail discussion and expression of opinions and to allow people to say what they want without offending others, but a lot of people have ignored this or played the fine line. We can do this either way. Trying to be fair all round is a lot more work than just banning someone the moment they overstep the mark badly or are found to be trying to pervert the smooth running of the forum over a period of time is easier, but it's not what we wanted to do. So apparently I need to keep a log now of what people say in order to protect myself later, unfortunately the moderator functions do not allow for much self organization and to catalog a users behaviour, although I admit I've not explored it much.

[ez24]

So new policy as a moderator: you cross the line just once and your out! That way I get less greif from trouble makers!

Really kinda scary     How about at least one warning first?   I was once warned (by Dave) and after that I kept my mouth shut. (it was because I got way off topic)

Sometimes it can be easy to cross the line, so at least one warning is due.  But a ban - ouch !

[Simon]

So new policy as a moderator: you cross the line just once and your out! That way I get less greif from trouble makers!

Really kinda scary     How about at least one warning first?   I was once warned (by Dave) and after that I kept my mouth shut. (it was because I got way off topic)

Sometimes it can be easy to cross the line, so at least one warning is due.  But a ban - ouch !

It's certainly not what I normally. Take an example that if my dodgy memory serves me is not far from fact. If someone makes a racist post with a slant to being far right wing extremist ? is that clear cut enough to just an because that person will just be a problem full stop or do I give them a chance ?

Of course I don't want to just ban people but as I said above I will keep a log of offending posts so that if we are in this situation again I can name and shame.

[tautech]

Well it's up to you. I can delete posts, warn members but if that means that dealing with those members in the future means that they make accusations then you tell me what should I do.

And I thank you for a slap on the wrist for a historical wrong doing of mine, I know what's acceptable now and don't want to add to your workload however IMO the loose topic of General Chat that seems to incite emotional POV's is a sub thread I mostly avoid and find something more constructive to do.

Does this part of the forum need better/stronger rules, should you refrain as a moderator from becoming involved unless on moderation business or do you need more help?
We haven't seen GeoffS for a while is he still around?

[ez24]

It's certainly not what I normally.

Thanks

While I have your attention how about this? :

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/moderation-reports/msg970948/#msg970948

[Simon]

It's certainly not what I normally.

Thanks

While I have your attention how about this? :

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/moderation-reports/msg970948/#msg970948

If you start the topic and bring it to my or Daves attention one of us can sticky it.

[jitter]

So new policy as a moderator: you cross the line just once and your out! That way I get less greif from trouble makers!

Really kinda scary     How about at least one warning first?   I was once warned (by Dave) and after that I kept my mouth shut. (it was because I got way off topic)

Sometimes it can be easy to cross the line, so at least one warning is due.  But a ban - ouch !

Agreed.
Since logs of offending posts have to be kept anyway, I would like to propose a three-strikes law:
Strike 1: warning;
Strike 2: temporary ban (say a week);
Strike 3: permanent ban.

This way no one can say that they didn't see it coming and proof of three strikes is present.

[Kilrah]

From experience moderating other forums... the type of guys who really deserve an instant ban will just re-register another username straight away (if they don't already have multiple accounts), keep quiet for a while then just start wit their BS again, repeat forever. So an instant ban with no warning doesn't change a thing for them.

[Simon]

Well it's up to you. I can delete posts, warn members but if that means that dealing with those members in the future means that they make accusations then you tell me what should I do.

And I thank you for a slap on the wrist for a historical wrong doing of mine, I know what's acceptable now and don't want to add to your workload however IMO the loose topic of General Chat that seems to incite emotional POV's is a sub thread I mostly avoid and find something more constructive to do.

Does this part of the forum need better/stronger rules, should you refrain as a moderator from becoming involved unless on moderation business or do you need more help?
We haven't seen GeoffS for a while is he still around?

GeoffS moved country and decided he wanted to stop. I am a forum user first of all. Moderation started as self moderation on a board with a few hundred members of which a few dozen were active and knew each other well. We then needed someone to get rid of the spam and be on hand to regulate small disputes and keep things in line. since then the forum has grown by orders of magnitude so it all gets more complex and people think they can hide. I am not happy to not get involved in topics. As I have already pointed out my so called over the top posts have been in response to members who have previously caused a problem (and probably been warned privately or publicly).

I like debating but I also have to keep an eye on how threads go, they will get out of hand either way. The problem is when people don't like an informal warning and seem to magically forget their past or someone else decides to bring it up in retrospect with no idea of the facts at the time. If it's deemed to be that much of a problem I can register a second account for use as a moderator but I can't see how that solves it. As Dave mentioned I also use red text from time to time. Although it should be clear when I speak as a moderator and when I am just a user. I clearly pointed out that a certain user could say what they like about me as i consider myself slightly fairer game being a moderator and would not want to be seen to be acting only in my interest but to be careful what he said - remembering the sort of stuff he/she has posted before and not wanting to get to the point where I have to take action and clear a shitstorm up. but instead it back fires and here we are.

[Simon]

From experience moderating other forums... the type of guys who really deserve an instant ban will just re-register another username straight away (if they don't already have multiple accounts), keep quiet for a while then just start wit their BS again, repeat forever. So an instant ban with no warning doesn't change a thing for them.

which is one of the reasons I prefer to warn them and delete the offending post and hope they learn, doesn't always work it seems. but ultimately a repeat offender needs dealing with and there is not a lot you can do but ban the repeat accounts until they tire of it.

[ez24]

If you start the topic and bring it to my or Daves attention one of us can sticky it.

thanks

[EEVblog]

As a long time moderator you can comment. Has the amount of moderation work diminished recently? Particularly since the "ignore topics" facility was enabled. Can you eeasily tell if it is a widely used facility? I know I use it for "those" threads. Sometimes for popular threads that just don't interest me as well.

Only stats available:

[Simon]

From experience moderating other forums... the type of guys who really deserve an instant ban will just re-register another username straight away (if they don't already have multiple accounts), keep quiet for a while then just start wit their BS again, repeat forever. So an instant ban with no warning doesn't change a thing for them.

which is one of the reasons I prefer to warn them and delete the offending post and hope they learn, doesn't always work it seems. but ultimately a repeat offender needs dealing with and there is not a lot you can do but ban the repeat accounts until they tire of it.

As a long time moderator you can comment. Has the amount of moderation work diminished recently? Particularly since the "ignore topics" facility was enabled. Can you eeasily tell if it is a widely used facility? I know I use it for "those" threads. Sometimes for popular threads that just don't interest me as well.

It's been pretty steady. No real change over time.

[ez24]

Particularly since the "ignore topics" facility was enabled.

Can someone tell me how to "ignore topics".   thanks

[edavid]

Particularly since the "ignore topics" facility was enabled.

Can someone tell me how to "ignore topics".   thanks

You have to enable it: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/forum-update-new-ignore-topics-feature/msg651768/#msg651768

[ez24]

Can someone tell me how to "ignore topics".   thanks

You have to enable it: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/forum-update-new-ignore-topics-feature/msg651768/#msg651768

Great - I do not think I would have ever found it.  Now no more BREXIT