General Cycling Discussion - Moderators or dictators?

Since when do discussion boards have to be rah rah, feel good, meeting places.

If I am a cycnical and sarcastic poster I feel that to be my right of expression. But every time that I express myself in this manner I am banned. Why is there this over-riding need to give pat on the back and say better luck next time, when what is really called for is a kick in the butt and a suck it up loser?

This is a board dedicated to a sport. And as in all sports there has to be a loser and sometimes that is all the motivation that is required to step it up. So just leave me the H*LL alone. I am just expressing myself.

Since when do discussion boards have to be rah rah, feel good, meeting places.

If I am a cycnical and sarcastic poster I feel that to be my right of expression. But every time that I express myself in this manner I am banned. Why is there this over-riding need to give pat on the back and say better luck next time, when what is really called for is a kick in the butt and a suck it up loser?

This is a board dedicated to a sport. And as in all sports there has to be a loser and sometimes that is all the motivation that is required to step it up. So just leave me the H*LL alone. I am just expressing myself.


I agree with you......but I am sorry you are now banned. LOL!!! just kidding.

Speak it as you see fit, provided you do not slander or disrespect others.

Welcome to the forum.

it's a privately owned and operated forum

free speech "rights" do not apply here.

every forum sets its own level of decorum, if you knowingly violate that...you will probably not be welcome anymore

if the moderation becomes stifling or is too overbearing, people will lose interest and go elsewhere

if you want to "voice" your opinion freely, spend your own money and start your own place.

it's a privately owned and operated forum

free speech "rights" do not apply here.

every forum sets its own level of decorum, if you knowingly violate that...you will probably not be welcome anymore

if the moderation becomes stifling or is too overbearing, people will lose interest and go elsewhere

if you want to "voice" your opinion freely, spend your own money and start your own place.


Ok....you are banned also!!

the forum guidelines are pretty clear about slander and being respectful. when you use these forums you are agreeing to abide by those rules, which i think are very fair. you have to look at yourself in the mirror and ask why you were banned in the first place. look deep into your eyes (some say they are the gateway to the soul) and try to determine what it is about you that makes people not want you around. there must be something. ;)

it's a privately owned and operated forum

free speech "rights" do not apply here.

every forum sets its own level of decorum, if you knowingly violate that...you will probably not be welcome anymore

if the moderation becomes stifling or is too overbearing, people will lose interest and go elsewhere

if you want to "voice" your opinion freely, spend your own money and start your own place.

WELL SAID, especially the last part.

the forum guidelines are pretty clear about slander and being respectful. when you use these forums you are agreeing to abide by those rules, which i think are very fair. you have to look at yourself in the mirror and ask why you were banned in the first place. look deep into your eyes (some say they are the gateway to the soul) and try to determine what it is about you that makes people not want you around. there must be something. ;)


I agree with the above statement, however, I have observed on other message boards, people being banned for just having a different opinion on a matter and they were not being slanderous or disresepectful. Sometimes the moderators do not follow their own guidelines as indicated above and will improperly ban people.

Since when do discussion boards have to be rah rah, feel good, meeting places.

If I am a cycnical and sarcastic poster I feel that to be my right of expression. But every time that I express myself in this manner I am banned. Why is there this over-riding need to give pat on the back and say better luck next time, when what is really called for is a kick in the butt and a suck it up loser?

This is a board dedicated to a sport. And as in all sports there has to be a loser and sometimes that is all the motivation that is required to step it up. So just leave me the H*LL alone. I am just expressing myself.

With an attitude like this it's no wonder you get banned,mate

Life's to short for all the hate & discontent you are spewing.

it's a privately owned and operated forum

free speech "rights" do not apply here.

every forum sets its own level of decorum, if you knowingly violate that...you will probably not be welcome anymore

if the moderation becomes stifling or is too overbearing, people will lose interest and go elsewhere

if you want to "voice" your opinion freely, spend your own money and start your own place.Well said.

I'm just glad they haven't banned my drunken self yet :)

This is a board dedicated to a sport. And as in all sports there has to be a loser

Well, then think of Joe as the writer of the rulebook and the moderators as referees. And since you were banned I don't know what that makes you, but it might rhyme with user :). I don't know why you were banned, but sometimes it's better to not say the thinks you want to say (maybe I should've done that this time..).

/Csson

Ewitz3 (soon to be Ewitz4?)

How many warnings were you given before you were banned?
were they for disagreeing with other members or for something
else (like vulgarity, harrasement, obscentity or the various other things
that prompt warnings?).

I've been on boards where a different point of view gets you banned. But, I feels it's there problem for being so pig-headed about it. This forum is pretty lax. It's probably the great people known as Cyclists that make it very civil. :)

Ewitz3 (soon to be Ewitz4?)

How many warnings were you given before you were banned?
were they for disagreeing with other members or for something
else (like vulgarity, harrasement, obscentity or the various other things
that prompt warnings?).
If this is the third incarnation.... I'd seriously consider an I.P. ban if he crosses the line again.

An equally important task of the moderator's is to move off topic posts to the areas they belong. I don't think this should be in the "General Cycling" area of the forum. "Foo" would be be a better place but that is giving it the benefit of the doubt.

Just change your political affiliation and you will be re-instated.

Just change your political affiliation and you will be re-instated.

Nah, I'm a Republican, evidently a small minority here, and I haven't been banned! :D

I have to agree with a lot of what has been said here. It is a private forum. There are set Guidelines and what's acceptable (http://www.bikeforums.net/faq.php?faq=forum_guidelines#faq_general_principles) that you agreed to when joining (that's pretty much a standard fare for any private forum). And because it's private, free speech doesn't apply. If the mods think that you have overstepped that magical line then they can toast you.

That said, no one is forcing you to go here. You don't like it, use the door and leave. There are a lot of bicycling oriented forums and newsgroups. And, as has been suggested, you can start your own (it's pretty easy and can be cheap with some of the options out there).

So suck it up and deal with it. :D

really, the key is to not develop too much of a negative rating. I've been in both restrictively moderated and practically unmoderated boards, and this one isnt bad at all....maybe a bit lock-happy sometimes, but often there's no doubt in what was about to break out...sometimes stopping it before the flamewars helps keep thngs in order.

For example, I know any board I go into, some folks will like me, some won't care, and some will put me on ignore. Really that doesn't bother me, I'm past worrying about that. The key is wording. If your going to be harsh let them know prior and to use a good selection of words.

If you think someone is an effing moron....why not just call him on his words and not resort to namecalling...a simple "umm, it doesnt work that way, you can't blah blah on part X, because blah blah" will suffice. And sometimes, an emoticon is all it takes to change the entire tone of a post. It's the little things that can totally skew a post....try it sometime.

If you wanted to see how bad an under moderated board gets, I participate in one, and it's pretty bad...I often make sure nobodies around when I go there for fear of offending hte entire human race...that board is like a train wreck....just cnat stop watching it happen...and really nothing ever gets done, just a bunch of e-penis-measuring contests, and the most antisocial behavior i have ever seen....people literally post there just to try to become the most offensive person there...be glad this board has mods that try to do as well as they can. Sometimes a person will get ran over that didnt need to, but that's why the warning system exists, to give them some chances.

Now for over moderated....one board I was to, the owner of it was also the owner of a company that made products realting to the hobby the board was around....he had a tendancy to ban anyone who was even the slightest bit critical of his product. a simple "this cable didnt fit my reciever" would get you a ban. If you were tearing into his product (and his products were in all truth pretty bad), he IP bans you and reports you to your ISP. He also banned anyone who tried to use science to compare audio products... THAT is a dictator. Big difference.

Whatever you got banned for, best hting you can do if your not IP banned yet is to learn why you got banned and try to not do it again. Your idea of blunt may not be blunt but just crude...You have to remember crude is in the eyes of the reader.

I've been very critical of other posts and some forum users, but I've never been censored. People have been equally critical of some of my posts. You must have really gone overboard to get banned. There have been a lot of free-wheeling discussions on this board, but I haven't seen any thread get closed until it degenerated into name-calling. Even then, the name calling remained on the forum. The thread was simply closed. The moderators even allow repeated threads criticizing their sponsors.

If you repeatedly crossed the line, this forum is better off without you. Go start your own web page and insult people to your heart's content.

[QUOTE=timmhaan] you have to look at yourself in the mirror and ask why you were banned in the first place. look deep into your eyes (some say they are the gateway to the soul) and try to determine what it is about ..QUOTE]


Deep thoughts..

If you take a look inside yourself,..deep,...way deeper than you've ever looked before..
You'll find,.. that from the inside out,...






























....the light from the room outside,..coming in from the hole in your butt,


...looks just like a star.


;)

Actually free speech rights do apply here, just as they apply everywhere you go. But one thing people all to often do not know, for what ever reason or simply do not care about is that free speech is not an absolute. It was never meant to be.

An example of that is this: I have the right to say I do not like a person, & the right to express my reasons behind my dislike or contempt of said person. And I can do so with out getting in to any kind of legal trouble over saying these things. But I do not have the right to say because I hate a perosn I am going to kill or harm that person & expect to get away with uttering such a threat with out getting in to some kind of trouble by the law.


it's a privately owned and operated forum

free speech "rights" do not apply here.

every forum sets its own level of decorum, if you knowingly violate that...you will probably not be welcome anymore

if the moderation becomes stifling or is too overbearing, people will lose interest and go elsewhere

if you want to "voice" your opinion freely, spend your own money and start your own place.

Nah, I'm a Republican, evidently a small minority here, and I haven't been banned! :D

There seem to be even fewer fiscally-libertarian social conservatives here. I'm getting by. :) :fight:

Actually free speech rights do apply here, just as they apply everywhere you go.

Dictonary.com: The right to express any opinion in public without censorship or restraint by the government. The first amendment protects you from the government, not from bikeforums.net moderators.

The first thing you read when registering is: The following six categories of online conduct are unacceptable at BikeForums and constitute a violation of our Community Standards which may result in warning, suspension or loss of membership.. In order to continue with the registration process, you must agree to our guidelines. In this case, I think what we did was fair, a user broke the guidelines, and we took the action that we said we would, as outlined in the guidelines.

Well said Mr. Gardner.
If you have a problem ewitz perhaps you should contact the mods and directly, I'm sure you'd have much better luck that way instead of igniting a flame war.

In the close to four years I've been coming to this board, I can't remember the number of new members who have arrived, given a big sigh of relief, and said how happy they were to get to a cycling board that was civil and informative. I may not remember, but it's a big number! That is the marketspace for this Forum: civil and informative. And jeez, how hard is it to be civil? If you can't bring yourself to act like you would in real life, just pretend that the other posters are in fist distance, how hard is that?

Having seen boards across the continuum, I put this forum in the lightly moderated camp. Dictators? Feh!

Civil and informative: I think Joe and company have done a great job.

It's simple.

If you don't like the rules, leave. If you can live with the rules, stay.

Same goes if you have a problem with the moderators.

. . . .The first thing you read when registering is: The following six categories of online conduct are unacceptable at BikeForums and constitute a violation of our Community Standards which may result in warning, suspension or loss of membership.. In order to continue with the registration process, you must agree to our guidelines. In this case, I think what we did was fair, a user broke the guidelines, and we took the action that we said we would, as outlined in the guidelines.
Where are the rules? I looked around the site and couldn't find them. When I did a search, I found this sticky (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=22263), but I can ONLY get it through a search. I can't get it by clicking through your homepage.

I appreciate the way you keep the forum clean while also allowing a full discussion, but could you make the rules easier to find?

I'm just glad they haven't banned my drunken self yet :)

LOL! I was just thinking the same thing! :D

Where are the rules? I looked around the site and couldn't find them. When I did a search, I found this sticky (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=22263), but I can ONLY get it through a search. I can't get it by clicking through your homepage.

I appreciate the way you keep the forum clean while also allowing a full discussion, but could you make the rules easier to find?

Rules are here (http://www.bikeforums.net/faq.php?), under FAQ or "Need Help?". I would humbly suggest to Joe that perhaps having a link to the rules -- or often referred to as Acceptable User Policy -- at the bottom of each page (as is often done at many sites). That makes it easier for each person. In addition, When you join you actually agree to an AUP for here, do you not? The question is how many actually read the AUP?

When it comes down to it, it's really a question of proper "netiquette" and courtesy to others. *MEH* I'm old fashioned Internet. :D :rolleyes:

Your Constitutional 1st Amendment right to free speech does not apply at private forums. Most such forums have you agree to their rules of conduct before you can post. I like to rant as much as the next psycho, but if you go off deal with being "banned". Or, try again under an assumed name...hee...hee...

My take:

This is a nice place. I've recently found it, and am enjoying it so far.

I think it could be better, though, with stricter enforcement of the rules, especially with respect to off-topic posts, and attacks/slams. I think the mods are doing a pretty good job, and seem to respond well when an offending post is reported, but perhaps there simply aren't enough of them. I offer my observations only as constructive input, not meant at all to be a critical.

If I am a cycnical and sarcastic poster I feel that to be my right of expression. But every time that I express myself in this manner I am banned. Why is there this over-riding need to give pat on the back and say better luck next time, when what is really called for is a kick in the butt and a suck it up loser?


Please send me a PM when you are allowed to post again so I can find another site to visit. This is one of the few sites I visit that a person can post a message and get civilized responses.

Your Constitutional 1st Amendment right to free speech does not apply at private forums.

More to the point, exactly how is it that having a post removed from one internet forum (or indeed being banned from one internet forum) is a violation of free speech? There are literally millions of discussion boards on the Internet, so I fail to see how being excluded from one really prevents anyone from expressing a point of view -- assuming childish insults constitute a point of view at all.

think of a message board or chat channel as a house. You dont go into someone's house and kick their dog, insult the guests, and poo on the kitchen counter....that will get you kicked out of a house, and possibly beaten up...on the internet all they can do is ban you, and report you to your ISP if your being very abusive.

Just remeber...kitchen counters are not to poo on...maybe a trash can if some punk is having sex in the bathroom and is taking too long....but not the counter bro.


BTW, this is all abstract...I'm bored out of my gourd right now, and being cryptic is about the only way i can keep myself from messing around with matches, mmkay ;)

More to the point, exactly how is it that having a post removed from one internet forum (or indeed being banned from one internet forum) is a violation of free speech? There are literally millions of discussion boards on the Internet, so I fail to see how being excluded from one really prevents anyone from expressing a point of view -- assuming childish insults constitute a point of view at all.

Or, put another way, you can say whatever you want, but there is no law requiring someone to publish it...

The thing that no one has mentioned.......is the "report" link.

Most actions taken by moderators are due to other members reporting someone is breaking the guidelines. I feel what makes these forums as wonderful as they are, is the fact that we "self police" and have respect for one another.

We (I'm a Mod) can't read/view every thread. When we see blatant misconduct we will delete/edit/remove and usually send a PM to the offending user. Usually, someone will report it and then we perform our duties. If the violation happens again and again then a warning is issued, after 3 warnings, you're otta here! We use banning as a last resort. Joe is great about allowing expression of different thoughts and ideas. Just be respectful to one another. That's it!

We (as Mods again) are pretty tolerable and lienient about many things and will let things fly. Debate is good, name-calling is bad!

I've seen other forums become so chaotic that it's a flame-war just by logging in. Joe and we mods do our best to keep things civil.

L8R

It's clear to me that BikeForums.net is a kakistocracy ;)

Me like being here. The bikers here are friendly, knowledgeable, and patient.

I didn't think it had Mods for several months.

I had one mod PM me asking for sexual favors, I don't think that's appropriate without dinner first.

Hey wait a minute, I mentioned burritos didn't I?