I may find JBaroh annoying, I may find him unoriginal (worse offence), but he’s prompted me to ask myself this question:
If it was any of the older/established/known/liked posters posting the same stuff, would I look at it differently?
I don’t even have to point fingers at others, enough to say that I for one have posted a lot more stupid and unfunny stuff in the past, and it didn’t always get Temped, and certainly not locked.
So this brings me to these questions to Administrators and Moderators:
How do you decide when something is “excessive stupidity” and should therefore be locked (Maoman’s words)?
Do you apply the same standard to everyone?
NB: I know JBaroh is out for trolling. My question is not about his particular case. It was just inspired by his case. Please consider my questions in a more general context. Thanks
[quote]How do you decide when something is “excessive stupidity” and should therefore be locked (Maoman’s words)?
Do you apply the same standard to everyone? [/quote]
Personally, I don’t care much if something is stupid or not. Stupidity gets some of us through each and every dinosaur dragging its tail in the sand day. Trolling, and repeatedly trolling and spamming something asinine on the other hand, make me want to TEMPor FLAME it. I don’t normally lock threads. Not many mods do actually.
I’ve seen both posters and mods (inculding myself) blasted for saying something stupid, or crass.
Thing is Tash, most people get the message and recognize that what they said was inappropriate and don’t repeat it. Some do, and get repeatedly slammed for it.
It is not against the rules to post stupidity. But it is against the rules to spam the boards, stupid or not. As is trolling.
Do I think the same standard is applied to everyone?
No, I don’t believe all mods apply the same standard to everyone. It’s a club, and you gotta play by the rules of the club. Some posters take it seriously and reeeelly reeeelly want to be in this club. Some posters can take it or leave it.
JBaroh was trying to be funny. So many didn’t think it was too funny. I did. He was annoying yet funny, just trying to get a “Hahahah” out of anyone. Also, look at who has dual identities.
I see many examples of favoritism w/r/t moderating.
[quote]I may find JBaroh annoying, I may find him unoriginal (worse offence), but he’s prompted me to ask myself this question:
If it was any of the older/established/known/liked posters posting the same stuff, would I look at it differently? [/quote]
Here’s my view: I doubt it. I’ve read his crap and his accompanying “MOD COMPLAINT” threads. It’s abundantly clear that this user is here to do little else lately than defy rules in order to get reactions and then get more attention by creating threads attacking the mods.
I think there is a difference between what JBaroh is doing and the ocasional silliness/ borderline posts by regular members. JBaroh has had his posts removed several times (that I’ve seen), but posts exactly the same crap back in the same forums the originals were removed from in direct defiance of the mods. If a member in good standing changed from someone contributing mostly within the rules to somone who did nothing but broke them, I think they’d eventually get the same treatment. I actually think JBaroh has received more leniency than he deserves. He should have been banned last time, IMO.
JBaroh is great entertainment though… Hope he finds his wingman.
If he was trying to be funny, it was in an Andy Kaufman kind of joke where only he knows it was a joke. I say that because of his serious response to the criticism he was getting. His feedback threads indicated to me that he was serious, and quite honestly, I personally didn’t feel his “Who can help me fuck more women” posts were very funny. They were crass at best, and racist at worst.
I’m surprised you think they were humorous.
Go through the flamed forum and look at the stuff that was recently thrown in there dealing with sex. Seems pretty evenhaded to me.
We all have a different POV for sure, but favoritism? I do not believe so.
I find many things humorous, jdsmith. I also don’t find many things in the Mod Forums, IP Forums, nor things that married men who post about “things my wife does that is stupid but funny” humorous.
If JBaroh had more posts under his belt and actually knew some of the regular posters in real life, he would have been treated differently. That, I believe.
I posted a stupid ad for “Where Can I Find a Tent Mate?” which was left standing. Why? Because I’m a regular poster and I’ve met many of you.
There are many posters who post dumbassity, but they’re all still here! Why?
I thought that one was for real! Mr and Erhu had a bit of fun with that guy a few days ago. He seemed to take it fairly well. I too don’t really know why he was suspended, except for the bit about constantly reposting the same stuff that had previously been temped or flamed or whatever – that’s just irritating and creates more uneccessary work for the mods.
But you’re right 914, people ARE treated differently, just like in real life – like if I give you a big hug when I see you in a bar I’ll probably get nothing more serious than an elbow in the ribs, whereas if a total stranger did the same thing, you’d probably be a bit surprised at least and quite possibly really offended or angry. Like that.
The JBaroh character made it very clear that he wasn’t remotely interested in tailoring his replies in response to the complaints about him, and that’s a no-no. IMO. It’s all about “playing well with others.”
[quote=“914”]I find many things humorous, jdsmith. I also don’t find many things in the Mod Forums, IP Forums, nor things that married men who post about “things my wife does that is stupid but funny” humorous.
If JBaroh had more posts under his belt and actually knew some of the regular posters in real life, he would have been treated differently. That, I believe.
I posted a stupid ad for “Where Can I find a Tent Mate?” which was left standing. Why? Because I’m a regular poster and I’ve met many of you.
There are many posters who post dumbassity, but they’re all still here! Why?[/quote]
I too find many things said, particularly about wives and Taiwanese culture unfunny. But we’re not talking about what is and isn’t funny.
Again, because stupidity is not against the rules, is it?
Is the same standard applied to all posters? NO.
Are the mods bad? No.
Moderating ‘is an art,’ that is the final conclusion.
Mods apply the rules differently in different forums too.
Mr Smith was allowed to leave without any negative comments. I recall that was seen as preferential treatment.
My above posts weren’t directed at you specifically, jdsmith. Oh no, don’t get me wrong. I think this is a good thread where mods (AND regulars AND old-timers) can take a look at how some people are eager to be accepted into this oasis in the middle of the desert. When you put a new poster down, how are they supposed to react when they don’t “get the hang of it” here yet? So many times I really think this is a boys club and I should be “glad” I’m accepted and not attacked, even in jest.
I don’t want this to become a me versus you (or jdsmith) thread. So other mods and old timers, chime in.
Perhaps JBaroh was just having fun, but started out the “wrong” way, and got defensive. I would too, I think.
Btw, sandman, if someone else came up to hug me I’d hug back. Sometimes a person just needs a hug. Of course, I’ll look down to make sure their shoes are polished first.
Jdsmith, the tent mate was back in May of 2005. And the search was unsuccessful…sigh…
That was also a new mod settling into the job and being a bit over zealous in protecting Mr Smiths back when Mr Smith was probably quite happy to take a few shots.
A regular poster starts a silly thread about a slightly suggestive, silly topic. The post gets temped where people have fun with it and many laughs are shared. The poster then reposts the same post in it’s entirety once again and, again, it is removed by the forums moderators. The poster then reposts yet again and makes several complaints in the feeback forum as well as another silly post on a similar theme, demanding that these posts be kept. The user repeats this process a few times (on the same day) until admin calls a stop to it by suspending his account. The user then comes back and continues the same behaviour once the suspenson is lifted. Even if some of Forumosa’s finest started doing this, I think admin would have to react in the same way as they did with JBaroh.
[quote]Perhaps JBaroh was just having fun, but started out the “wrong” way, and got defensive. I would too, I think.
[/quote]
Perhaps. I did when I first got here, Get defensive that is.
I left that name and came back as myself.
Maybe I can clarify my post. People are definately treated differently here, but I do feel they are all moderated the same way, although, old timers may first be given an eyebrow if they say something completely out of character, before their opinion is rigorously questioned, or filleted. The result is usually the same, when moderating is concerned.
Toasty, I get your point. But it’s a missed point. Your point is about JBaroh. Can we have a discussion about ‘favoritism’ in general, please?
If you think there’s no ‘favoritism’ on f.com, then fine, that’s your opinion. But you can’t keep defending that opinion by just arguing what JBaroh did or didn’t do.
I think it is just simply how you start. If you are new to somewhere you usually start with more care and try to find out how it works first. Than, after a while when you are used to it and know the people you will behave different. Also because the others know and understand a bit how you are and how you mean it.
I made the other mistake and people complained at me that I am too nice. Sorry about that. I try to work on it, really. Got my personal trainer and I was told that I make good progress. So please don’t be offended by my post. And sorry…
I agree with tash and 914 - moderating is uneven and this is unfortunate. I don’t believe there is much more we can do right now to change this, except to start threads like this and remind ourselves that, while Forumosa is a club, it isn’t an exclusive club. The bigger the club, the larger the audience, the better the website is. That’s the math.
Personally, JBaroh’s exit was mighty quick for my liking. Suspending him may be the simplest solution, but I do not think it is a good one long-term. The sperm-spam post? Harmless, imo (and I wouldn’t have even moved them to the Temp forum – which may explain why I don’t moderate ANY forums! ) For the second straight day, I find myself thinking, “let it be… give’em enough rope to hang themselves with”. Most people are smart enough to sort through the wankers and those who really are worth reading. If JBaroh was guilty of anything in my book, it was spamming the forums, which means wasting moderator time. And for someone who just got to the website, exile seems mighty harsh.
) For the second straight day, I find myself thinking, “let it be… give’em enough rope to hang themselves with”. Most people are smart enough to sort through the wankers and those who really are worth reading. If JBaroh was guilty of anything in my book, it was spamming the forums, which means wasting moderator time. And for someone who just got to the website, exile seems mighty harsh.