What exactly is going on with other discussion boards - especially at A&ETV?

[wilma50]

I have become so entirely disillusioned with the A&ETV, so-called - "discussion board".
The 'lunatics' have not recently taken over the asylum ... they have been in control all along!
Forget the fact that an individual who goes by the 'name' Lizard Chaser, went completely ballistic last month, there is now a sanctimonious poster who has started a thread there that blames anyone who was on-line that night for not taking notes!
And heaven forbid it if you disagree with anything that the majority, ( also meaning the moderators), believe. Well, you are basically looking at , not just getting 'poofed', but also having difficulty just logging on.
Who would ever think that this A&ETV discussion board would be monitored by individuals who have forgotten the "RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH"?
I know, Nico, that you have posted there & know that I am being quite open & honest about the lunacy.
Have any other posters from this discussion board attempted to post at A&ETV?
What do you think?

[TinyStar]

Most forums are insane, I've found. They usually all start out alright but then one or two bad apples spoil the bunch and moderators go insane. The only forum I'm on that has kept the peace through the years is a Sims game forum. They don't allow discussion of religion, politics or other contraversial topics however, so perhaps that's why they are still as happy and peaceful as they are.
Other forums I've been on, after a while moderators get 'lock happy', wanting to keep the number of threads down or perhaps removing what they see as offending posts. And then someone gets pissed off by all of this and starts some huge flame wars.

[hokeshel]

I have seen this on many forums as well. In fact, I joined one that was supposed to be for religeous discussion. The first day I made one post that differs slightly from the moderators' view and they attacked me, tried to embarrass me and make me look stupid. I couldn't believe this was a christian forum. I told them that clearly the forum was not what I thought it was, and only there for people who shared their opinion. They were compeltely dishonest in their presentation fo the forum. I never went back tere.

[NicoMoon]

Who would ever think that this A&ETV discussion board would be monitored by individuals who have forgotten the "RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH"?
I know, Nico, that you have posted there & know that I am being quite open & honest about the lunacy.
Have any other posters from this discussion board attempted to post at A&ETV?
What do you think?


Hello Wilma! I understand your frustration, and I'm sorry that you're having such a difficult time enjoying the A&E boards.

We've run a few message boards over the years, and have learned that in order to host controversy we have to live with the fact that some folks toes will be stepped on. In my mind, the key is to offer the same freedom of speech on our message boards as we are afforded by our US Constitution, and then temper that with the fact that we're also a social gathering, so let's not forget our guiding light, Miss Manners!

No matter what we do, it is impossible to please all the people all the time. A lot of people equate being disagreed with or even questioned as being assaulted, so they respond in what they think is "kind" and within five minutes no one knows how the whole fiight got started!

No one has to pass a maturity test in order to post on the internet! :lol:

A message or discussion board really is only as good as the moderators, it's very true. Good, mature, equitable, responsible moderators are hard to come by. It's not a good paying job! In fact, the vast majority of moderators are volunteers, and sad to say, it's become standard wisdom among conscientious board admins to never take on anyone who volunteers, since those who do are quite likely to have their own agendas and abuse their power.

I was shocked to learn that Court TV boards are moderated by an unpaid volunteer, and boy does it show! Our longest threads here are the result of one of the many many attempts by CTV posters to make heads or tails out of the mess that place has become. And that's a corporate website like A&E, so go figure! I think it's a disgrace that these companies don't hire on trained moderators, but doesn't it speak volumes about how much they actually care about their visitors that they don't?

I could go on all night and day on this topic, you might have noticed!:eek:

At any rate, I sincerely hope that we succeed in allowing for an environment in which thoughtful people from all sides and perspectives can feel welcomed and encouraged to post their thoughts and even duke it out with "the other side". This is what Freedom is all about, the ability to speak and be heard, and to listen and respond.

The key word in what I just said is "thoughtful", IMO. This is where we draw the line and will ban posters or delete posts. We don't wish to host mindless drivel or gratuitous insults and strategies to shut other people up.

The fact that A&E doesn't moderate on that basis is the reason that their are so many really nasty types running around like a mob trashing and burning discussions at whim. All that says to me is that the moderators themselves don't have much in the way of social graces or wisdom, what can I say?

Stick around, Wilma! We've been very much absent from here in the past few months due to a host of issues, but the plan is for a roarin' New Year, so I hope you find Livewire.FM a more productive and pleasant place to hang out than A&E boards!

Please let us know how we're doing!:pals:

[NicoMoon]

Most forums are insane, I've found.

Likely because it takes a crazy person to host one!! :dork:

They don't allow discussion of religion, politics or other contraversial topics however, so perhaps that's why they are still as happy and peaceful as they are.

Yes, I'm a longterm member of a private site that follows the same guidelines. It's not only happy and peaceful, but populated by some of the most creative and lovely people I've ever encountered. But there's a hook there as well, there's a product we all want and will lose should we misbehave. :disbelief There is definitely an air of tyranny about the place that i'm sure most wouldn't tolerate were it not for the access we're getting to an otherwise unavailable product. I'm left thinking that possibly a benign dictatorship is not necessarily a bad thing under some circumstances! We're more into democracy here, so far anyway! :D



Other forums I've been on, after a while moderators get 'lock happy', wanting to keep the number of threads down or perhaps removing what they see as offending posts. And then someone gets pissed off by all of this and starts some huge flame wars.

I'll never understand this business about locking threads. It just doesn't make any sense to me. What a sure way to shut down a discussion! Let's face it, if the discussion isn't worth having, it never should be allowed to flourish in the first place. The way I see it is that if it's there, let it live to it's own natural conclusion, which may be never, but who cares? If it's so offensive or inappropriate that it needs to stop, that's because of poor moderation in the first place.

Oh well, so far things are pretty peaceful here, but then again, we the ones with the poof power haven't been around too much either! When we have been there's been controversy, so once again, I'm sure that it's impossible to please all the people all the time.

We do aim to please the wonderful posters we've been so lucky to have join us on this board, however, so once again, please do let us know how we're doing! :)

[LightHeart]

Sorry for going O/T, BUT I HAVE MISSED YOU MY FRIEND!!!!:wave2:

[NicoMoon]

Sorry for going O/T, BUT I HAVE MISSED YOU MY FRIEND!!!!:wave2:


And me you too, Dear Buddy!! I'll be off and on during the next few days, but back full time after the New Year!! :bubbly:

[NicoMoon]

I have seen this on many forums as well. In fact, I joined one that was supposed to be for religeous discussion. The first day I made one post that differs slightly from the moderators' view and they attacked me, tried to embarrass me and make me look stupid. I couldn't believe this was a christian forum. I told them that clearly the forum was not what I thought it was, and only there for people who shared their opinion. They were compeltely dishonest in their presentation fo the forum. I never went back tere.

I'm sorry you had that experience, hokeshel. From what I've experienced, the religious forums are the worst! I'm sorry to say it, but think that people who feel the urge to "share" their religious views are often really just arrogant people and control freaks looking for a free pass to "be right".

Let's face it, none of us can prove that our religious beliefs are true, so if we share them we have to be willing to have them questioned, debated, disputed, or even criticized, the same as we would expect if we posted we just found out that asparagus was planted here by Martians. We may believe things, but we can't respectfully demand to be agreed with or even praised because we do!

LOL..you just hit on another one of my frayed nerves, sorry for the rant!!

I think you did the right thing by leaving, unless you were wanting to learn about herd mentality by first hand observation! :throw:

[wilma50]

Just great.
I just posted something right here & it disappeared!

[NicoMoon]

Just great.
I just posted something right here & it disappeared!

I have no idea how that could happen, Wilma!

Did you actually see the post on the board, and then it just disappeared?

[wilma50]

Hello.
Actually I'm a bit embarrased. I must have clisked on the wrong spot or something.
After entering my post, I meant to click on the "advanced" selection, but must've hit something else, because everything, other than the actual discussion board, vanished.
I'm certain that it had to be my flub.

[NicoMoon]

No worries Wilma! We all have our moments with message board software! Technology is great........when it works!

I hope you're having a wonderful Holiday weekend!!! Have an eggnog on me and join the party!


http://www.livewire.fm/Nico/photos/merrychristmaswreaths.gif
http://www.livewire.fm/Nico/photos/candycanes.gif
http://www.livewire.fm/Nico/photos/candle21a.gifhttp://www.livewire.fm/Nico/photos/00000035_photo.gifhttp://www.livewire.fm/Nico/photos/00000024_photo.gifhttp://www.livewire.fm/Nico/photos/00000047_photo.gifhttp://www.livewire.fm/Nico/photos/00000050_photo.gifhttp://www.livewire.fm/Nico/photos/candle21a.gif



http://www.livewire.fm/Nico/photos/sparklytree.gif

[wilma50]

There is obviously something wrong with my system, as I have tried to post again, for the 3rd time in the last 24 hours.
Either that, or this is just a joke & I'm 'getting punked'.

[TinyStar]

Yes, I'm a longterm member of a private site that follows the same guidelines. It's not only happy and peaceful, but populated by some of the most creative and lovely people I've ever encountered. But there's a hook there as well, there's a product we all want and will lose should we misbehave. :disbelief There is definitely an air of tyranny about the place that i'm sure most wouldn't tolerate were it not for the access we're getting to an otherwise unavailable product. I'm left thinking that possibly a benign dictatorship is not necessarily a bad thing under some circumstances! We're more into democracy here, so far anyway! :D

I definetly enjoy that and understand what you say.
I'm not really as dedicated to the forum as I ought to be for someone who has been there for nigh on 6 years now. I don't know, it just seems I get ignored a lot of the time, so I don't really participate.
Forums kind of get 'cliches' and, over the years, if you're not part of the main cliche, be you newcomer or what have you, you're kind of left on the outside looking in.
This board is definetly alright though. People here are friendly, chatty and that's what matters most in a forum, if you ask me!


I'll never understand this business about locking threads. It just doesn't make any sense to me. What a sure way to shut down a discussion! Let's face it, if the discussion isn't worth having, it never should be allowed to flourish in the first place. The way I see it is that if it's there, let it live to it's own natural conclusion, which may be never, but who cares? If it's so offensive or inappropriate that it needs to stop, that's because of poor moderation in the first place.

I thoroughly agree. I've just see it befall SO many forums I've ventured into through the years. Moderators start making new rules and locking threads that don't follow those rules. Heck, it's a thing I've seen spread to Livejournal communities where they start out good, then for one reason or another they change rules and begin making folks into examples by deleting posts and whatnot.
I'm sure, as a moderator, there is a fine line between over-moderation and too little and between enforcing rules and dictating.

[NicoMoon]

I definetly enjoy that and understand what you say.
I'm not really as dedicated to the forum as I ought to be for someone who has been there for nigh on 6 years now. I don't know, it just seems I get ignored a lot of the time, so I don't really participate.
Forums kind of get 'cliches' and, over the years, if you're not part of the main cliche, be you newcomer or what have you, you're kind of left on the outside looking in.

I guess it's inevitable that cliques will form, it seems like a human tendency, I guess we're herd animals at the bottom of it all! :rolleyes:

But what I don't understand is when no one makes the effort to make new members welcomed in a public discussion. I do sometimes get the feeling that some of these groups kind of like the idea of ignoring people and creating a feeling of "insiders"/"outsiders". I also get the feeling that these aren't folks who make out too well socially in the "real world", if you know what I mean! :cool:



This board is definetly alright though. People here are friendly, chatty and that's what matters most in a forum, if you ask me!


That's nice to hear! We're still working on things here, so hopefully we'll continue to grow and to maintain the environment our currently active members are contributing to, as it's really a great one, IMO! :clapping:


I thoroughly agree. I've just see it befall SO many forums I've ventured into through the years. Moderators start making new rules and locking threads that don't follow those rules. Heck, it's a thing I've seen spread to Livejournal communities where they start out good, then for one reason or another they change rules and begin making folks into examples by deleting posts and whatnot.

We've seen it over and over again, I know what you're saying! It's our hope and dream to do a better job, but only time will tell!!



I'm sure, as a moderator, there is a fine line between over-moderation and too little and between enforcing rules and dictating.


Let's face it, no matter what a moderator does they're going to upset or alienate someone. But the way I look at it is that some people like to be upset and do all they can to alienate themselves, so one of the keys to being a good mod is to recognize that there are folks like that, and not take their complaints and accusations seriously. This is one scenario where it isn't necessarily a good thing to always grease the squeaky wheels! :rolleyes:

Our approach to things is to think of this forum as our own living room, so everyone here is an honored guest. If someone starts behaving or interacting in a way that I wouldn't allow in my home, out they go, it's that simple! Sometimes I think we put up with a lot of behavior on the net that we wouldn't dream of hosting or tolerating in 3D.

[medako]

Our approach to things is to think of this forum as our own living room, so everyone here is an honored guest. If someone starts behaving or interacting in a way that I wouldn't allow in my home, out they go, it's that simple! Sometimes I think we put up with a lot of behavior on the net that we wouldn't dream of hosting or tolerating in 3D.



That's a darn good approach to things. Now if some people (on other boards) would act as if they were a guest in someone's home and express themselves with respect, the happy lil www would be a much more pleasant place. They should all take lessons from here. :)

[NicoMoon]

That's a darn good approach to things. Now if some people (on other boards) would act as if they were a guest in someone's home and express themselves with respect, the happy lil www would be a much more pleasant place. They should all take lessons from here. :)

Yes, well, it's easy to moderate a nice group like we have posting here now! The test comes when things get testy. We had one siege of flamers show up early on in the "internet terrorism" threads as a result of someone complaining about the moderation techniques on the Court TV message boards. Mostly we ended up banishing professional instigators all day, but we also made moderators out of a few of those who claimed to be the most put-upon members on CTV. As it happened, the minute those folks got a little power they began to abuse it themselves. The whole thing was really an interesting exercise.

We had a lot of activity then, which is not to be ignored. It seems that controversy is much better for business than peace is. Although we had unprecedented activity during the few months after Hurricane Katrina, so that fact is quite heartening. We had no controversy here on that topic whatsoever! :clapping:

I think the problem lies in the fact that we Americans in general seem to have no common agreement about manners, no understanding of freedom of speech, and little to no ability to handle being disagreed with.

If we accomplish nothing else here at Livewire, it's our dearest hope to at least arrive at some kind of mutual agreements among our members that will allow for productive, compelling and stimulating discussion.

Maybe we should host a Constitutional Convention of our own, and create the internet's first Discussion Group Constitution! :pals:

Any volunteers or nominations?? Who knows, we might make history! :worthy:

[TinyStar]

Mostly we ended up banishing professional instigators all day, but we also made moderators out of a few of those who claimed to be the most put-upon members on CTV. As it happened, the minute those folks got a little power they began to abuse it themselves. The whole thing was really an interesting exercise.

Wow, I'd say it is! It makes total sense to - usually the first ones to complain are those folks with their own ideas of what the rules should and should not be. Or some are just jealous of the power moderators wield, sad enough to say.

[wilma50]

Wow, I'd say it is! It makes total sense to - usually the first ones to complain are those folks with their own ideas of what the rules should and should not be. Or some are just jealous of the power moderators wield, sad enough to say.

I have never been that sort of poster - jealous of anyone.
What does occur on A&ETV discussion boards, has become inane. I've posted there, and will here : The lunatics have taken over the asylum @ A&E.
Intelligent posts are actually poofed, simply because they do not agree with the majority of posters on the specific thread.
The thread that has the most inanity is on the Heather Rich murder.
There have been juvenile antics on a perpetual basis. There have been long respected posters on the A&ETV boards who have been insulted with cyber-bullying, and then had their posts 'poofed'.
You would have to visit the site for yourself to grasp the stupidity.
I may visit it once a week, as I am now a fulltime university student - at the age of 51, now, as of Christmas Eve 2006.
That is also why you folks haven't read from me.
Anyway, it is nice to post here as people are not treated badly at all ... we are respected.