Just a friendly little reminder.

[Rillion]

Quote:
Me too! This is by far the most polite discussion forum I've seen.....sometimes I yearn to be told I'm wrong in a somewhat rude sort of way.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

What's interesting is everyone believes that "this is just the internet, get over it" until they feel like someone has personally offended them, then all reason often goes out the window. Were this not the case, we'd only need 1 moderator to occasionally reset passwords.

We have a lot of diversity and a lot of opinionated people on BYC. Heck, the BYC moderators are some of the most opinionated people I know, and I love them for it. The amazing thing is how well they handle their opinions... probably the reason why they are moderators.

Yup, if everyone was a bit kinder when posting and thicker skinned when reading we'd sure have a quiet moderator section of the forum... but I'm not holding my breath.

To all those that work hard to bite tongues and give peeps the benefit of the doubt when reading posts... we salute you!

 

[Rillion]

Quote:
Nope, I actually believe that people should be allowed to say what they want-- aside from spamming or illegal content-- whether it offends me or not. I've been a member of an almost completely unregulated forum for some years now, and offensive topics quickly lose their luster when there's nobody around saying "Oh my god!" about it. If someone becomes a pain, you can put them on ignore if you don't want to deal with them anymore. I'm not saying that is necessarily what this forum should be like, but just that it is actually possible to have an "adult" forum without everything going to chaos.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

I shouldn't have said "everyone". I meant that a surprisingly large group of members aren't able to not take things personally.

Being thick skinned, and allowing others to say what they want, when they want may work for you and a few others here, but we unfortunately have thousands of examples where people aren't able to handle it. Heck, the hundreds of "I'm offended" reports and PM's we get each week always validate to us that it won't work here (for a plethora of reasons).

I own, moderate, and work as a consultant for MANY different communities with very different topics and demographics. What works one place doesn't always work somewhere else. It doesn't make one form of rules / moderation right or wrong. It all depends on the goals of the site.

For BYC, our goals, rules, and moderation style / policies are perfectly aligned and have been polished over and over during the past 10 years.

What it comes down to is this: Members need to understand that nobody in the planet has as much experience with, and love for, this community as the BYC staff do, and we'll always do what is best for this community even if it isn't always the popular thing to do. That's how we roll.

 

[Rillion]

Quote:
And for that, you have my most sincere sympathies! You guys are doing a great job.

 

[backdoorchicken]

the age, religion, and general backgrounds of the members here are so different. it took me a little while to get that. most boards i post on people are closer to my age and interest. this is my first time on a chicken board. back yard chicken owners are special breed for sure. i can tell by the level of humor in a lot of the jokes that there are some sensitive posters here. i try my best to behave and please don't hesitate to call me out on if need be.

 

[backdoorchicken]

Quote:

And for that, you have my most sincere sympathies! You guys are doing a great job.

i agree. you guys are on your toes and you keep a clean board.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

It has been an interesting and often fun experience learning the different tones of the different forums. For example, my inkjet printer forum has a VERY different tone than BYC. Rarely do people come to chat and hang out. It is also mostly male and mostly techies. Moderation there is far and few between and is usually just related to spammers.

We're trying to be "less strict" on moderation at www.SufficientSelf.com and for the most part it has been working fine. The only problems have been when people over there bring with them their sensitivities and/or drama from here. We're letting the community shape that forum and really hope that we'll allow it to develop into a place for more open and respectful discussion. Time will tell.

 

[backdoorchicken]

wow www.SufficientSelf.com looks like something for me. i just checked it out and it in a lot about what i am into. thanks for doing this.

 

[1acrefarm]

I post a lot harsher on other forums than I do here myself. Even though I do take more care about what I post here sometimes I forget where I am at and hurt some feelings. I know I have given the mods more than my share of headaches because of it. This thread was sort of a reminder to myself just as much if not more than others. I definitely agree that what works on some sites will not work on others. A couple sites I am on we regularly get into topics on politics and religion and most of the time it stays pretty civil. We even have some name calling at times with little or no offense taken. Those people have some sure enough leather skin. Thats just how we roll on those sites. It would never work here and that is not necessarily a bad thing just different.