Aa
A queston for Medhelp
I have been reading this forum for many years and posting for two. I see a noticeable increase in deleted posts and the marked absence of many of the most helpful posters. I had disagreements with some of them, but their absence is my loss.
Why are you doing this? A forum can be moderated or not, but this forum seems in between and uses arbitrary rules.
Most of us take mind altering drugs; we need guidance sometimes when we are out of line, but threatening and banning are not helpful. This is a support forum for adults. Sometimes we are so overwhelmed by the drugs that we do not behave as adults, but that is rare.
If you apply arbitrary rules and let trolls post at will and you ban the people that complain about the trolls, you lose the respect of the forum members and you, medhelp, will lose in the end.
If you feel the forum has to be moderated, then supply a moderator that understands the forum and the problems of the participants.
Why are you doing this? A forum can be moderated or not, but this forum seems in between and uses arbitrary rules.
Most of us take mind altering drugs; we need guidance sometimes when we are out of line, but threatening and banning are not helpful. This is a support forum for adults. Sometimes we are so overwhelmed by the drugs that we do not behave as adults, but that is rare.
If you apply arbitrary rules and let trolls post at will and you ban the people that complain about the trolls, you lose the respect of the forum members and you, medhelp, will lose in the end.
If you feel the forum has to be moderated, then supply a moderator that understands the forum and the problems of the participants.
Seems jim is gone ??? what a loss if true. perhaps one of the biggest contributers on this forum. I see this forum going in the wrong direction with many of the long term members leaving. I could never understand why people like Jim would hang around here even after SVR. Some people just want to help others I guess.
Sigh.. that censor again...what I said, was something akin to "darn, another one of Trish's 90wpm run off at the keyboard posts again...
While I appreciate the understanding handed to those who are on treatment, I think it's going a little too far to allow that as an *excuse* to be nasty to other people. You can't get away from your family. But you CAN stay off the forum if your treatment is such that you can't control your moods and you become an abuser.
As for the trolls....man oh man. I've seen people attacked on here for being new and posting improperly and then called trolls because they posted numerous threads. I've seen a few individuals strong enough to stand up for themselves and explain the behaviour that people attacked. I never thought people properly apologized for the attacks made on those people branded as trolls who turned out not to be. And one person would start branding someone as a troll and the "pack" mentality would set in. People's motives questioned constantly and accused of all manner of things. (She says after having posted a blistering one to Rocker in another thread. Yeah....I've done my share of contributing to controversy around here too.) Yes, there were trolls but some people are far too trigger-happy pulling the "troll" gun and I'd like to see that tempered alot more.
Having said that....unless kids get too far out of control, kids are best left to learn how to sort out their own disagreements without their parents stepping in unless absolutely necessary. I think the same applies to adults all the more. Sometimes we need to be able to argue something inside and out, backwards and forwards. The ONLY time it should be a problem is when the debate gets personal and people start attacking WHO you are rather than the legitimacy of what you've said or the opinion you've expressed. When it gets personal, I'd like to see a warning issued publicly like Ricky suggested. Even then, I bet there will be opinions on the warning as well but hey, it's one of the best suggestions I've seen on here so far on how to cool tempers when they get flaring. A warning post to cool things down or that personal attacks will get a thread pulled will probably go a long ways. I think the discussions every which way are incredibly valuable as it airs out all sides of a debate.
It isn't always because we're treatment-drug-addled. It's because we're *passionate*. Passionate about a cure, passionate about people getting good information, passionate about people getting good medical attention and VERY passionate about people reaching SVR. It's always such a big celebration here when one more person makes it to SVR and particularly those who are more at risk and who have had to go through treatment more than once. We are passionate people here. And passionate discussions are what we have because so much is on the line and we care SO MUCH.
I really have to bite my tongue at some of the inane questions that get asked here but I keep reminding myself that it's better to bite my tongue and educate. The question may seem stupid but the answer doesn't have to be. Even though I don't always resist my smarta$$ tendencies. Mea culpa.
We ALL have weaknesses that have contributed here and oh man, do I have a massive mea culpa of my own on that one.
So how about we all do what we usually do after a big blowout. Learn from it, regroup and get back to doing what we do fantastically, awesomely well here. Continue to support, educate, link arms together in this common battle to fight and win against Hep C. I would not at all have done nearly as well without THIS place and I can't believe I was fortunate enough to find this forum. Everyone here owns a piece of my SVR. And I wish very much that everyone gets to their own SVR to share with the rest of us.
Can we get back to doing what we do best? And MedHelp...consider...just consider...that some people should be invited back here.
Trish
As for the trolls....man oh man. I've seen people attacked on here for being new and posting improperly and then called trolls because they posted numerous threads. I've seen a few individuals strong enough to stand up for themselves and explain the behaviour that people attacked. I never thought people properly apologized for the attacks made on those people branded as trolls who turned out not to be. And one person would start branding someone as a troll and the "pack" mentality would set in. People's motives questioned constantly and accused of all manner of things. (She says after having posted a blistering one to Rocker in another thread. Yeah....I've done my share of contributing to controversy around here too.) Yes, there were trolls but some people are far too trigger-happy pulling the "troll" gun and I'd like to see that tempered alot more.
Having said that....unless kids get too far out of control, kids are best left to learn how to sort out their own disagreements without their parents stepping in unless absolutely necessary. I think the same applies to adults all the more. Sometimes we need to be able to argue something inside and out, backwards and forwards. The ONLY time it should be a problem is when the debate gets personal and people start attacking WHO you are rather than the legitimacy of what you've said or the opinion you've expressed. When it gets personal, I'd like to see a warning issued publicly like Ricky suggested. Even then, I bet there will be opinions on the warning as well but hey, it's one of the best suggestions I've seen on here so far on how to cool tempers when they get flaring. A warning post to cool things down or that personal attacks will get a thread pulled will probably go a long ways. I think the discussions every which way are incredibly valuable as it airs out all sides of a debate.
It isn't always because we're treatment-drug-addled. It's because we're *passionate*. Passionate about a cure, passionate about people getting good information, passionate about people getting good medical attention and VERY passionate about people reaching SVR. It's always such a big celebration here when one more person makes it to SVR and particularly those who are more at risk and who have had to go through treatment more than once. We are passionate people here. And passionate discussions are what we have because so much is on the line and we care SO MUCH.
I really have to bite my tongue at some of the inane questions that get asked here but I keep reminding myself that it's better to bite my tongue and educate. The question may seem stupid but the answer doesn't have to be. Even though I don't always resist my smarta$$ tendencies. Mea culpa.
We ALL have weaknesses that have contributed here and oh man, do I have a massive mea culpa of my own on that one.
So how about we all do what we usually do after a big blowout. Learn from it, regroup and get back to doing what we do fantastically, awesomely well here. Continue to support, educate, link arms together in this common battle to fight and win against Hep C. I would not at all have done nearly as well without THIS place and I can't believe I was fortunate enough to find this forum. Everyone here owns a piece of my SVR. And I wish very much that everyone gets to their own SVR to share with the rest of us.
Can we get back to doing what we do best? And MedHelp...consider...just consider...that some people should be invited back here.
Trish
many thanks for the kind words, but, going back to the topic at hand, I'm still understanding the majority of this thread's comments as basically advocating more lax/tolerant moderating even at the cost of permitting more ruffled feathers.
Assume for a minute this *was* a participant-moderated forum - how should it work? Enabling anyone to delete a post/thread they found 'offensive' (if only because X posted it ) doesn't seem to work. Likewise lack of any moderation.
As Mike points out in the past moderation was much laxer - no doubt because of less staffing. The obnoxiousness level of some threads got out of hand yet people calmed down, often apologized, life went on, and I believe the forum remained more effective than in the presence of the 'chilling' effect that accompanies frequent/arbitrary censorship.
Assume for a minute this *was* a participant-moderated forum - how should it work? Enabling anyone to delete a post/thread they found 'offensive' (if only because X posted it ) doesn't seem to work. Likewise lack of any moderation.
As Mike points out in the past moderation was much laxer - no doubt because of less staffing. The obnoxiousness level of some threads got out of hand yet people calmed down, often apologized, life went on, and I believe the forum remained more effective than in the presence of the 'chilling' effect that accompanies frequent/arbitrary censorship.
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