Brian Ross wrote on Oct 20
th, 2013 at 12:41pm:
Freediver has refused to appoint a new moderator in this moderatorless forum. Why?
It is obvious he finds it convenient for there to be no moderator. Without a moderator to control the quality and direction of debate, the place has become a series of petty, squabbling , repetitive threads, in which he and others are allowed to post the most abusive and childish threads and personal attacks, to their heart's content.
I've suggested making me the moderator. Appears some of the Islamophobes fear that this will stifle their ability to abuse others. Some just fear that this prevent them being able to abuse each other.
If they are that frightened, then nominate someone else and we can discuss rules. If the moderator doesn't adhere to the rules, it is just as easy to have them replaced. The rules should be fair.
I would suggest at a minimum:
No trolling.
Don't make posts that are deliberately inflammatory just to get people riled up. Substance is the key to not being labelled a troll. Keep on topic.
No Ad hominem attacks
"Play the ball, not the man," As we say downunder. Criticise ideas, not people. Gentle "stirring" is acceptable, "Sledging" not so much. Endless resorting to ad hominem is not.
Restrict the use of excessive foul language.
Although we don't really care if people swear (um, we have been known to swear ourselves now and again), excessive foul language is likely to get moderated, if only because excessive foul language usually indicates that someone is utterly clueless.
Buy a thesaurus instead, and amaze and confound your friends with your new-found 'intellect'! We also require that you leave rough or offensive language out of the post or topic titles. A lot of people read at work, and while foul language "happens", let's try and keep it away from high-visibility areas.
No use of crayon.
We are adults, not in kindergarten. If you cannot emphasis your point without using coloured letters or making the text bigger to excess and continually, then don't bother posting it. Bold and italics are usually sufficient.
Those rules won't restrict real debate. They will though, prevent the useless personal attacks we see continuously. They will make the place more civilised.
I've put my hand up. Give me the guernsey for a month and then we'll see if I'm doing a good enough job. I'll even stop posting, if people would prefer a non-participatory moderator.
Now, Freediver, I've thrown down the gauntlet, will you accept the challenge? What have you got to lose, except your ability to endlessly abuse people?
Dear Brian,
Freediver is the boss - show a bit of respect.
It's his site & he'll do whatever he likes.
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