Big Brother Quiffy ...

[Loki]

... decided to delete a post tonight. You were wrong. Wrong. I am amazed. Free speech goes out the window. Because, Barry decides.

I'm waiting. (I'll ignore the subject, let's go for the prinicple (sp?)

Coca Cola
Wonderbra

[Loki]

Hey guys! Is it just me ..?

Anyone else trying to post and not making it ..?

Am I the only barry b ..?

[Quiff Boy]

Hey guys! Is it just me ..?

Anyone else trying to post and not making it ..?

Am I the only barry b ..?

no idea what you mean

[Loki]

Bye

[Thea]

huh?

[Quiff Boy]

Free speech goes out the window. Because, Barry decides.

it certainly does.

sinny's 2 cents: clicky

and at risk of unearthing on of the few sensible posts by an ex-member, my own ha'penneth from back in the mists of time: clicky

i deleted your topic for the reasons outlined in the PM i sent you - it was a personal insult to a member of the forum, which i do not allow, and a slight upon a member of the moderating team, which i thought unwarranted. i asked if we could agree to differ on the matter and you declined, and then i come back to find this thread.

sorry for you feel hard done by and that i made a bad call, but unless you want to give me hand raising the 200 quid a year running costs i'm afraid i have to say the same thing to you as i will say to anyone else in the same situation - "like it or lump it"

twas ever thus.

[Quiff Boy]

f*ck it, i'm going to open the thread again as i'm interested in what people have to say on the matter of heartland moderating and censorship etc...

[Thea]

I think i musta missed summat - what's happened?
edit: read the thread properly... From what QB said, personal insults were made and AFAIC that's reason enough to remove a thread. *shrug*

[Dark Angel]

your site so run it as you see fit

I use another forum, not music based just inane dribble based, sometimes the abuse that goes on just gets way outta hand and personal

it f**ks me off having to wade through peoples insults to find out if anyone has posted anything worthwhile, although I think some people see it all as a form of entertainment

[Quiff Boy]

I think i musta missed summat - what's happened?

jb making a post that i thought inappropriate on a public forum - it was personal, insulting and pretty uncalled for as far as i can tell. i deleted it & asked that he take it up with the person in private, and to keep stuff like that off the board. he didnt like it, hence this lovely little thread.

its all way too surreal for this time of night. i knew i should have gone to bed earlier

[lazarus corporation]

since you're asking for opinions....

Firstly, moderating/censoring your own forum has got bugger all to do with infringing free speech. The forum is actually a bit of a hard-drive that QB pays out cash to fill with what he wants and have connected to the net. It's his bit of harddrive, and just like the hard-drive in his own PC at home, he can put whatever he wants on it, so long as it ain't illegal, and he can edit that stuff at a whim. If we come here to play in his virtual house, then we play by his rules. Same applies to any website or forum.

In my experience of forums, Heartland is very lightly moderated - something which seems to be due to a combination of a light touch from the mods, and a mature "play nice" attitude from the rest of the crowd.

[Quiff Boy]

Hey guys! Is it just me ..?

Anyone else trying to post and not making it ..?

Am I the only barry b ..?

no idea what you mean

just to clarify my post on this point - i have no idea what jb is referring to. sounds like he's had some posts go missing, other than the one i deleted, and thinks i'm exacting some form of personal vendetta against him?!?

ffs. i'm saddened (and a tad pissed off) that after nearly 3 years running this forum and being on the level, open and honest about stuff the whole time, someone would think me capable of something as childish as that. ah well. people will think whatever that want wont they? regardless of what you do or say. all you can do is be consistent and true to yourself. if anyone misinterprets that then its their loss.

right now i just need some sleep.

[Quiff Boy]

since you're asking for opinions....

Firstly, moderating/censoring your own forum has got bugger all to do with infringing free speech. The forum is actually a bit of a hard-drive that QB pays out cash to fill with what he wants and have connected to the net. It's his bit of harddrive, and just like the hard-drive in his own PC at home, he can put whatever he wants on it, so long as it ain't illegal, and he can edit that stuff at a whim. If we come here to play in his virtual house, then we play by his rules. Same applies to any website or forum.

In my experience of forums, Heartland is very lightly moderated - something which seems to be due to a combination of a light touch from the mods, and a mature "play nice" attitude from the rest of the crowd.

danke. my thoughts precisely.

[Thea]

I think i musta missed summat - what's happened?

jb making a post that i thought inappropriate on a public forum - it was personal, insulting and pretty uncalled for as far as i can tell. i deleted it & asked that he take it up with the person in private, and to keep stuff like that off the board. he didnt like it, hence this lovely little thread.

its all way too surreal for this time of night. i knew i should have gone to bed earlier

ahh...
I'd say that's fair enough then.
On the subject of mods, the cure messageboard I visit had the worst mod ever - let personal attacks and spam rain down for months at a time then came storming back in banning all the regulars to make it look like they were doing summat
While i might not agree with every descision by every moderator on every board, i know for a FACT it'll be better than no moderation at all.

[smiscandlon]

f*ck it, i'm going to open the thread again as i'm interested in what people have to say on the matter of heartland moderating and censorship etc...

Okay, I was there. I felt like I was watching a car crash.....

I don't have a problem with anyone I've come across on this forum so my opinion should be fairly impartial.

JB's post seemed unnecessary and, as Quiffy pointed out, insulting to another member.

I was actually very suprised at Herr Administrator's decision to delete the post and lock the thread but, on reflection, it was his entirely his decision to make - for the reasons outlined above, and in the 2 topics he has linked to.

I've visited other forums with little or no moderation, where insulting and deriding other members seems to be de rigueur. And that is exactly why I have only visited those forums, and not stuck around to join in the "fun".

I've been a member of this forum for around 10 months now. I enjoy coming here because, for the most part, it's a collection of relatively like-minded people sharing a common interest. Sure, people can make stupid comments and be complete arseholes from time to time, but in general the people here act like adults and not like squabbling six-year olds. And to some degree this is due to the way the site is moderated.

[CellThree]

I'd echo what Laz said, but without all the fancy words.

I hope JB rethinks his decision, regardless of his anamosity towards Quiff's decision. He has been a valued member of this board for a long time.

[smiscandlon]

I hope JB rethinks his decision, regardless of his anamosity towards Quiff's decision. He has been a valued member of this board for a long time.

True

[nodubmanshouts]

The moderators here do a great job IMHO.

[Dan]

I'm a moderator on a forum, so you have my sympathies Quiffy.

You can't win whatever you do.

You either let people say whatever they like and then people bitch at you that you're a cráp moderator for not moderating like your supposed to, or you do a tiny spot of moderating and get people calling you Hitler.




I post on several forums, and there's some where almost anything goes, and there's others where lots of people from other countries post, lots of people from places like Singapore and Japan for whom English isn't their first language, so when posting on these you have to be really careful how you phrase things so as not to unintentionally offend someone through the use of slang which they may not be familiar with or saying something which they may misinterpret, and it makes you think twice about just spewing a bunch of words onto a forum post. That said, I do my fair share of word-spewing.

[hallucienate]

I must've missed something between watching four hours of Surivior All Stars last night then dropping off to sleep and not reading the original post. Darn.

I've always held both QB and JB in high regard and can only say thanks to QB for the great work and I sincerely hope to see JB back here. Soon.

[Quiff Boy]

cheers guys. as far as jb goes, the door is always open.

as with real life, no one every said people had to agree with everything that happens here - if he disagrees with one decision i dont see why he should have to leave

hey ho.

[nigel d]

since you're asking for opinions....

Firstly, moderating/censoring your own forum has got bugger all to do with infringing free speech. The forum is actually a bit of a hard-drive that QB pays out cash to fill with what he wants and have connected to the net. It's his bit of harddrive, and just like the hard-drive in his own PC at home, he can put whatever he wants on it, so long as it ain't illegal, and he can edit that stuff at a whim. If we come here to play in his virtual house, then we play by his rules. Same applies to any website or forum.

In my experience of forums, Heartland is very lightly moderated - something which seems to be due to a combination of a light touch from the mods, and a mature "play nice" attitude from the rest of the crowd.

couldnt agree more .

[markfiend]

If we come here to play in his virtual house, then we play by his rules. Same applies to any website or forum.

In my experience of forums, Heartland is very lightly moderated - something which seems to be due to a combination of a light touch from the mods, and a mature "play nice" attitude from the rest of the crowd.

Agreed.

I've visited other forums with little or no moderation, where insulting and deriding other members seems to be de rigueur. And that is exactly why I have only visited those forums, and not stuck around to join in the "fun".

Agreed.

I've always held both QB and JB in high regard and can only say thanks to QB for the great work and I sincerely hope to see JB back here. Soon.

Agreed.

[Quiff Boy]

so c'mon richey, let's have your opinion - just to re-address the balance

otherwise i'll lock the thread to stop it becoming a circus/heartland appreciation society

[MrChris]

Well I've found moderating so unobstrusive on this site for the last year that I've never noticed it, which must be a good thing. That said, I'm a nice polite chap, and perhaps more importantly I post when I'm at work, sober and relatively sane, whereas I guess the posting that happens in the evening may be a little more free and loose. I'm surprised to hear of personal attacks because the people here seem to get along very maturely, and I'm also surprised by the idea that if you want to insult someone, you need to do it publicly. Insulting someone in a pm is anyone's right, especially if they feel they have a legitimate grievance. Is insulting someone in the public forum expressing a grievance, or trying to humiliate someone? Is it something that needs to be said to the world, or not? The moderator is the only person who can make this decision, and the most you can hope for is that they don't have personal axes to grind.

It becomes a question of trust, basically. As it happens, I trust Quiffy, and I think we're lucky to be allowed to play in his front room like this and touch ALMOST all of the ornaments.