My views have changed ...

[advocatia]

I joined this forum in 2005. A handful of us came over from another forum largely due to a perception of heavy-handed moderation there and in support of this looney, good-natured bald guy from NZ. Long story.

I took a break from this forum for some time because I felt as though the same concerns about over-moderation which took us from the "other place" were being practiced here. I recently returned and have had a chance to examine, consider and look back.

All I can say is I have come to understand why firm/strict moderation of a forum such as this is essential. Unfortunate, but essential. Why? Because it seems as though human beings hiding behind this veil called the internet, cannot communicate without being combative, unpleasant, and downright rude.

A good thread was started today about some publicly made racist remarks by a professional golfer. The OP created the thread in a reasonable, careful and non-controversial manner simply to discuss a newsworthy item and clearly not to discuss race. It lasted about one hour until someone decided to defend the obvious racial slurs by putting them into some bizarre context. The thread was closed and a reasonable discussion about something topical was quashed, and rightly so at that point.

I suppose that in a forum with these many members this type of occurance is inevitable. This forum is huge in comparison to when it began and when only about a hundred of us were talking to ourselves. It just bums me out that the conduct of some folks prevents others from having good discusssions about interesting topics and that moderators are put in the position of intervening in what become silly pissing matches.

I have pretty much come to accept that firm forum moderation is a necessity to maintain civility because some folks do a pretty lousy job of self-moderation. My goodness, how brave and controversial some people can be while enjoying the anonymity and safety of their home or office. While I would love to participate in discussions about things I also enjoy such as firearms, politics, etc., I understand why those topic are ticking time bombs. Thanks for the rant.