Get Yer Ya-Yas Out [FR Moderating Gripe Thread]

[I Am Not A Mod]

LM here.

It's been a while since we had a thread along these lines.

I can tell from comments I am seeing in threads, on abuse reports, and in Freepmail that some people are unhappy with various policies and their implementations by the staff here.

I've seen allegations that certain factions are picked on. I've seen allegations that the moderators have killed activism. I've heard rumors that we killed Kenny, and even that we killed the radio star. I see certain personality conflicts acting up, and know that one (or both) sides in it feel that we aren't doing what we should.

So let's open this can of worms.

This thread is for making your grievances heard. If you think something stinks or is wrong, make your case here. Back it up with facts. Let the audience at large weigh in on your evidence.

I'll read the thread. Jim will too in all likelihood. So will the other moderators. Depending upon how well you make your point, and depending on if you can convince Jim, me, the other moderators, and/or the world, maybe you can change things. And if you don't, then it might make you feel better to have vented, so it won't make this thread a total loss.

I'm not going to reply to this thread for quite a while. Rather, I am going to sit back and watch to try and get a feel for the general tenor. I encourage those who are both happy and unhappy with things to particpate in this thread.

Let's rock.

[Sabertooth]

What is that a challange? LOL Well I am not one to shy away from that.

It's a suggestion that if you have a beef with people at LP, go to LP and take it to them.

Are you still a member and will you butt the hell out when I get there?

Why would you be worried about that?

As they say, "never say never," but there's nothing I urgently need to say to you there that I couldn't say here.

[Admin Moderator]

If it's a sourced article, I say it's news. Maybe it's News/Editorial, but sourced articles, for the most part, should be considered "news". Maybe not Front Page. Maybe not Extended. But definitely "news".

While technically correct, we've been swamped with 'Passion' threads. Every small fact about the movie has received its own thread and was beginning to overwhelm the news forum

We have begun to move some of the excess to chat and some to the Religion forum. Others, which present new ideas for discussion, we've left in news.

Keep in mind that the Chat forum has its own topic for 'tv/movies'. Stories related to box office info or Gibson's income should go there

[nopardons]

Okay, you talked me into it. I pardon you. :-)

[gatorbait]

What it boils down to is that neither Kerry nor Bush have viable policies to stimulate domestic business, industries and resultant domestic job creation.

And Buchanan or whichever third party loon du jour does?

[Texas2step]

While technically correct, we've been swamped with 'Passion' threads.

I can understand why you guys were doing what you were doing, but only 2-3 of those threads were widely discussed. Those were the ones getting moved to chat, and then "boom" the discussion dies.

Keep in mind that the Chat forum has its own topic for 'tv/movies'. Stories related to box office info or Gibson's income should go there

Agreed. But those weren't the only ones getting moved to chat.

My main point from this comment was to AppyPappy who made the statement that none of the Passion threads were "news".

[wattsmag2]

I misread this, I thought it said Get Yer Ta-Tas Out and thought maybe it was gonna be a Playboy type spread on The Girls of FreeRepublic. hehehehe

[Luis Gonzalez]

"I'll donate $1000 to FR if I can pick one festering pile of maure that is like a 4 year old vomit stain on this site oops...and have them banned."

You'd pay $1,000 to get yourself banned?

[Admin Moderator]

As Lead Moderator indicated a ways back, the pendulum may have swung a little too far, and we're recalibrating. If a thread gets moved that shouldn't have, let us know.

[TheLion]

First I would like to thank you all for the hard work you do and especially to Jim for making this site possible.

Thoughtful of you to allow this input and I hope it proves as helpful to you as it has been for me, just from reading it.

We need to be reminded from time to time of the mission here. Maybe state it at the top of threads or somewhere else that is seen frequently.

I was on the thread that was pulled and was disappointed but understand you have a more important task here than babysitting a bunch of babblers.

People need to back off a little or get out of the kitchen, if it gets too hot. Remember, it takes two to tango or tangle.

Apparently the abuse button is used too often....I don't know. Maybe one should have only a limited number of chances to point out abuse on a thread. Or a limited number of chances each month.

If someone is always hitting the abuse button, maybe they need to be talked to.

Anyway, I see a lot of needless bickering around here.....have probably engaged it it myself at times. Hopefully this will help some see the error of their ways.

Why not come on to a thread, ping them and tell them to knock it off or the thread will be pulled. You can then see very clearly who complies after that. At least they would have a warning and a chance to clean it up.

Or you could ban the offending posters from that thread.

Just ideas to bandy about...thanks again.

[Sidebar Moderator]

Let's go one step further...is there anyway to remove the abuse button from threads moved to the SBR? I thought that's why we have a SBR, was to allow flame wars to die natural deaths without burning everyone.

I don't see it happening. While the threshold of abuse is higher in SBR than elsewhere, we still need to squash certain kinds of posts, and eject trolls. Without the abuse button, there's no quick delivery of the needed heads-up.

[cyborg]

Okay fair enough.

[ovrtaxt]

I spent today mulling over this thread, which I discovered and commented on last night. I had a manifesto of sorts to publish today, but when I read your post, I realized that you said it much more succinctly than I could have.

I have often wondered why these people are allowed to stick around, and you're absolutely right, they are statists to one degree or another. Some of them, I can't quite tell what they are, because they just post chatty garbage or insults. Some of them I ignore, some of them I have grown used to, and some I still poke at with sharp sticks now and then.

But, it's not my website, and I don't contribute. This is the main reason. Good post.

[Quix]

I've enjoyed Monty at odd times . . .

but I'm far from carrying around his stuff in my head . . .

though I do like the Minister of funny walks idea/skit.

I've known several bureaucrats who were about that useless.

Actually, the Minister of Funny Walks was MORE useful than the gov types.

[Quix]

You seem to have a very, very, VERY

funny

definition of news.

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST and all the hoopla about it is one of the biggest social phenomenas to hit

TWO MAJOR areas,
TWO MAJOR institutions in our society

in a very long time:

1) MEDIA, INCLUDING FILM/MOVIE INDUSTRIES
2) CHRISTIANITY

It is in it's 3rd week and is STILL MAKING NEWS by any normal definition of NEWS most journalism courses might teach.

I realize that may not sit well with your biases.

But then your biases don't sit well with a number of the rest of us anyway.

[TheSpottedOwl]

Lol, Monty rules ;-)

[HairOfTheDog]

If everyone wouldn't object to anything being put in chat, there would be good stuff in chat.

There is nothing inherently insulting for news to be seperated between "political hard news" in News, and soft news like The Passion, or Caption threads, or Vanities, in Chat. As long as Chat is treated like a ghetto, it will remain one.

[nopardons]

I don't know why you saw what you did ( which is a great anecdote),but I have a form of dyslexia and sometimes words get switched around for me and I see something other than the word that was written. I know that sounds weird, maybe even a copout, but it's true and there isn't anything to be done about it.

That's okay,we've all posted too quickly, some time or other. No problem. :-)

[Rebelbase]

You can take it or leave it, I'm through with you for the time being.

[Quix]

Pride often deserves tons of irreverence.

[Kay Soze]