Should the community make the rules?

[3Ts]

I voted no. I also believe that if someone breaks a rule they should definitely be told about it. I was on another forum where I asked a question about a vendor, apparently in a way that violated the rules. I was trying to provide all the information I had but it was perceived as advertising. I received a warning and my post was edited. I'm fine with that, it helps to clarify what is allowed and I've not made that mistake again.

I'm on a forum that is international, more so than this site. The primary subject is hunting, but it has a thread that was started by a member and is around 12,000 posts that is titled "Politics". That thread has nothing to do with hunting and is definitely comments on politics in the US. However, it does include both sides and everyone commenting is respectful of the other persons view and no one is bashing or belittling anyone. That, I think is the most important rule regardless of the subject - be respectful of each other. There is not a single solution to an issue. Each person has a set of experiences and an environment that has shaped their views and sharing that information is valuable (imo) even if I don't end up using it.

 

[LittleBill21]

Voted No. I ran forums for years, and have a 50k user facebook group, nothing as large as this,

if there is enough requests for something, then consider it.

for deleted posts, maybe do something like reddit does and give the mod's a drop down that has a break down of what rule was broken by the person. I agree that simply deleting a post tends to anger people, then if you provided an explanation.

also if you are looking for moderators. please let me know. I frequent this site quite often.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

I voted no. The Owner is ultimately responsible for the content of the site. Particularly since they monitor it. And, having left other forums due to extreme politicization, I am glad this site is monitored. And, not to speak for others, I think that all the members appreciate having a politics free zone.

You might want to set up a panel of active senior members, to advise the administrators, similar to proctors for exams. A proctor typically doesn’t have authority to seize your exam, but they do have the authority to inform you that they are concerned about something you have done or are doing, and inform the sponsor of the exam of the issue.

 

[tractortroof]

Give a place to everything, have a religion and politics section. Encourage people to not be petty when it gets into a tit for tat ramble.

Anything but chasing people around fretting about “political” or other subjective definitions of speech that is intolerable to a few.

Usually the concern is offending the sponsors, I think people could take that explanation better than the moral one. Like what’s wrong with debating COVID origins if you want to?

 

[toppop52]

I think this site is managed extremely well. This all came up over whole posts, and even whole threads being deleted without notice or explanation. I know parsing is time consuming, but a necessary part of the job. If you must delete whole entities try to at least explain why. Otherwise I’m all for administrative regulation vs mob rule.

 

[oldballs]

I voted ...... Owner make the rules. I don't know much about computers, the internet or what's in it for the owner. I enjoy this site for tractor info, and for life's issues. If I don't want to follow or discuss something .... I just don't go there.

The names of the members are an abstract person who I can respect or disregard based on their posts and my values. Their persona and identity is hard for me to appreciate otherwise. .. I ain't into the virtual world much....other than that we are all made by and for the same Creator....dare I say "God"....Whoops! In short, I just broke a rule and could be/should be warned if the owner/moderator thinks so. And I am OK with that.

Yet, our own personal convictions and beliefs do affect our comments. Well, Dah-h-h. Play nice guys/girls.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

Give a place to everything, have a religion and politics section. Encourage people to not be petty when it gets into a tit for tat ramble.

Anything but chasing people around fretting about “political” or other subjective definitions of speech that is intolerable to a few.

Usually the concern is offending the sponsors, I think people could take that explanation better than the moral one. Like what’s wrong with debating COVID origins if you want to?

Because most people don’t have enough of a knowledge base to ask intelligent questions regarding COVID, let alone “debate” the topic.

Such “debates” will always devolve into a screaming match, with several folks who only know what information their particular brand of politics has told them, and who haven’t had any more science than the mandatory biology class in high school, shouting the loudest.

My experience on other forums is, having separate areas doesn’t work, because the topics which are supposed to be limited to certain sections, bleed out into other topics. Which results in long time members with real knowledge about what the forum was supposedly set up to discuss being banned.. I’ve seen it in shooting, gunsmithing, and fly fishing forums.

And, I have seen forums which have very little administrative monitoring and no formal rules, other than treat each other with dignity honor and respect, have absolutely no problems with it. If a couple of guys get in a pissing match about something, other members tell them to PM each other and take it off the forum. If they don’t the Admins will come in and lock the thread.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

Unless they had a banner under their name that said banned on all their post after breaking the rules too many times. I am on another forum that does just that.

I too am on another forum that uses the "BANNED" banner under the user name. Some of the best content comes from 2 people on the forum that have been banned by the moderators, content by both of the banned individuals has been pinned to the top of the forum thread because the technical content is relevant and explained very well.

A recent member who did a self "ban" will be greatly missed.

I believe that the forum owner realizes this and is hoping for a better outcome in the future.
Needing your help to keep content relavant and within guidlines to make the forum a better experince going forward. This is a very tough task with a fine line.
Hence the thread here, "Should the community make the rules?" NO, Absolutely NO.

 

[Root Cause]

I have seen this fail both ways.

Create ONE area where anything goes.

We do build acquaintances if not friendships here and that is what drives us back as we have learned who we trust vs. who to ignore.

You guys have to deal with this. Consider adding a couple more moderators if it is overloading you, then trust your instincts and follow your own rules.
You will lose some traffic either way but being consistent and having a playground for other topics might help. Good luck and thanks for providing this forum.

 

[riptides]

Well silly me...I think I figured it out. Why this thread....

James left....

I do not spend much time here except for the Gun thread, so I missed his post about leaving. I got ticked off about getting banned for telling the truth and decided to not contribute much to the traffic on the site. My childish way to hurt the owner. But I love to shoot and help others in the sport so the gun thread is "home". Most gun owners are conservatives and I enjoy likeminded folks.

I read the other thread, 15 pages, this morning. Could not sleep so was in the tractor part of the forum "wasting time".

The owner is a liberal running a site that attracts a high percentage of conservatives. Not a good "fit". And let's face it, liberals are having a tough time. They got what they wished for, and it is not working out too well. Inflation, cost of energy, border crisis, Covid, shortages, unemployment, women's sports impacted by "its", CRT protests, mandates struck down by the SCOTUS, record crime etc.

BTW, the owner will tell us he is not a liberal, but it if walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...it ain't a beaver.

Frankly, I did not miss yet another thread on "what tractor should I buy" or "what snow weapon do I need". If I get banned for this post, "wokeness rules".

LOL.

Why do people insist on bringing their political views into everything?

Seriously.