Should the community make the rules?

[3 Horse Ranch]

I voted no but with the caveat that the discipline be even and open although if there was an open list some would try to see home many times they could get their name on it.

 

[RoyJackson]

No... the owner makes the rules
IMHO, TBN made a mistake with "Friendly Politics" (which turned unfriendly pretty quickly). I'd rather not see a repeat of that
I do agree with ranger danger (post #3). If there's an infraction, the poster should be notified as to what the infraction is...not so sure about doing it in public though. Depending on the infraction, it might be a judgement call on the mods' part

I hope some more senior members (10 year's membership) chime in...

 

[square1]

Do you think we should allow the TBN members make the rules by way of proposing and voting on rules?

I don't think it would solve a thing. Haters gonna hate regardless.
Are you, as owner, willing to accept the potential consequences of allowing any rule put in place by a clown posse to be enacted? I wouldn't if it were my circus

 

[Torvy]

Ultimately, a private forum is a benevolent dictatorship. If I had the skills, time and motivation to build a similar site, I would entertain suggestions from members and perhaps modify rules when there is consensus. I would not commit myself to a majority rules situation, though. Tyranny of the majority is as fearsome a situation as the tyranny of a ruthless autocrat.

For me, the problems seems to be more one of tone and politeness than of specific topics. Many problems in rural life and tractoring will be impacted by laws and regulations. By definition, these are political. Some of those political issues are local and non-partisan. Others are national and international and highly charged. If all political speech was removed from the site, it would be pretty bare of content. In general, I think when rules or laws try to be absolute, they fail. (exceptions exist).

I'm with those who would keep the forum as open to topics as is possible. First, give public warnings and then remove posts and/or threads and/or posters if unwanted content continues. Like most things, the market will decide.

 

[Jims1025R]

I am a member of several different on line forums, which I have chosen based upon their primary theme. I am not a member of any group discussing politics or anything related to covid. I enjoy the forums I have chosen exactly to get away from those realities in life for a while. Someone originated a forum about tractors, so I joined to discuss tractors. Tractor forum site owner sets the rules, and moderates in favour of courteous discussion about tractors - 'seems fine to me!

 

[Buppies]

This is a tractor site owned privately we only post and read here and that’s the way it should be. The poster if their post is removed should be informed why by management and what rules they have broken as to not repeat infraction again

 

[daugen]

until Unfriendly Politics was moved, we had a terrible time of folks bouncing out of there with their hair on fire, then coming into
regular discussions with an aggressive contentious mindset. I wish I could say we could self regulate this but I've watched this long enough to
know we can't. In Good Morning thread, we try to self police and keep the politics and snarky comments out. Most of us consider each other friends.
If you treat each other as friends, most things work out.

before you yank discussions of a whole topic, I think better to convince the problem members to calm down. That's what moderators are for.
But we all know politics and religion won't work in an open forum, mainly because there are so many folks who feel my way or the highway.

I come here to learn about tractors and equipment and spend time with old friends. If we all remember to be friendly in our posts, it would
accomplish a lot. Yes it's a small minority that spoils things and they need to leave and take their unhappiness elsewhere.

This is a successful site that brings much enjoyment to many of us. Let's not screw it up.
I'm ok just the way it is.

maybe once a year have an annual review of the rules

 

[RoyJackson]

This is a successful site that brings much enjoyment to many of us. Let's not screw it up.
I'm ok just the way it is.

maybe once a year have an annual review of the rules

Society, as a whole, seems to have gotten very uncivil...

 

[Diggin It]

The rules are fine, but the application need to be more timely and consistent. Even obviously Spam posts are regularly ignored and can remain for hours, days or in some cases longer.

I had a Mod 'reject' a report of a spam post until I pointed out why it was spam and the other four spam posts the spammer had made over the previous weeks.

Posts with a line or two of violating content should be edited rather than completely deleted and posts with too much violating content to edit should be deleted rather than whole threads.

Mods are not clearly identified under their names like on most boards. On this version, there isn't even a list of them under Staff. Only the Admins are listed there.

Mods complain they have lives and don't have time to edit posts. Get more Mods. Get people that don't have lives. Get objective, unbiased people.


Apply rules consistently, even to signatures.

 

[ddbackhoe]

While the forum is private, it is also public. Whoever is moderating may be overzealous with their power. I had one post removed (rightfully IMO) without a trace and I was told they didn’t know who did (Wanted to say thanks). I tried to post about current events in Canada (as a Wow, have you seen this), gone without a trace.

Maybe the mods should have guidelines imposed on them. Family oriented, G rated and discussing things doesnt have to come with an iron hand. Too many places are stripping away our individuality little by little.