Important read - Admin and Forums

[Stu]

Guys,
This post mainly refers to the Political and Current Virus Issue Forums.

This may be a long post but please take the time to read it... thanks.

Over the last few weeks there seems to be a perception growing that Admin are siding with certain groups of members.

Whether you believe me or not, I would like to assure you this is not the case.

If you have had a post edited or deleted or you have had your account restricted in some way, rather than immediately blaming Admin please look at your own actions and our T&C's.

Here is the situation... If you make personal unfriendly comments and we become aware of it your post will be edited or removed and repeat offenders will have restrictions placed on their account.

Personal comments are not just those aimed at an individual but also include generalising a group of members. So saying something like xyz-user is an idiot or "here come the scaremonger posters again" will get your post removed.

Personally I do not get involved in the 'politics' or the 'current virus forum' other than to address breaches of our T&C's.

I couldn't give two hoots if you are pro or anti brexit, whether you agree or disagree with vaccines, whether your political agenda swings one way or the other, whether you are a glass half full or glass half empty person with regards the pandemic.

What I do give two hoots about is that this forum remains friendly and that personal attacks on individual or groups of members is not tolerated.

Example...
A little while ago I received a PM complaining that Admin was biased towards a certain member. The reason for this complaint was that the complainer had had their post removed.

The facts are that the post was removed as it was a personal attack on the other member, the original post wasn't personal and wasn't attacking so was left in the thread.

This is NOT being biased, it is simply applying our T&C's

Another example...

A member was given a 7 day restriction after an argument and personal attacks on another member. Admin was then accused of bias. In fact we actually applied the same restriction to both members but as we do not discuss the actions we have taken against other members, members are unaware of the actions we have taken.

Another example...
A debate in the Current Virus Issue forum recently resulted in a long thread with a great deal of speculation regarding Covid, after many pages we received a few reported posts about things starting to get nasty.

When we looked at the thread the reported post had unfriendly comments aimed at another member, by the time we got to look at the thread several more posts had been posted and those posts were either quoting or referring to the post that was reported.

We removed the offending post and all the posts that were quoting and referring to that post.

We were then again accused of being biased by those that had had their posts removed!

Again no such bias was in play by Admin, just purely applying our T&C's.

In conclusion...

If you do not want your posts edited or removed or risk your account being blocked from certain forums then please just abide by our T&C's. Especially the personal comments and keeping things friendly part.


Extra rambling...
for those that have managed to read though all this (thank you)

We do not allow members to discuss the posting habits of other members and in some ways this hinders Admin as often we would like to explain why something has happened but we can't without giving a specific example naming specific individuals which would not only be a breach of our own T&C's but would also be a privacy issue.

Forum dynamics is a curious thing that I have studied for a couple of decades now and it is a fascinating subject that I could write a book on.

I always remember quite a few years ago we had a group of members on the DIBB that were disgruntled at the way we moderated the DIBB, they thought their 'freedom of speech' was being stifled. With their constant disruption on the forums and disregard for out T&C's we eventually had to ban some of them.

There was a period of the banned users signing up as other users and causing more trouble, something else we had to deal with. Then eventually they set up their own web site. Their mantra was say what you want with no rules.

I was pleased that they now had their own site and could leave the DIBB alone. What I found interesting though and something that really validated the DIBB's T&C's was that after a vert short period of running their forum they had to start introducing rules. I can't remember the timescale but I think it was only a couple of months before their own rules very much mimicked the rules we had on the DIBB, the very rules they complained about here on the DIBB when they were members. I think the site didn't survive for very long.

Another thing I remember from a few years back was how Admin/Mods were being accused of targeting members, especially directed at one certain member. This member had a group of friends that would always stick together and support each other on controversial topics posted on the DIBB.

It turned out that this member was actually living in a fantasy world and would message others in their group saying they had had their posts removed, that they had been sent warnings from Admin, that they had been given a short ban from the DIBB. None of this was true.

We would then have to deal with the fallout on the forums from this persons group of friends. I don't know the full story but I do know that one of the main supporters of this member actually discovered the truth. We never did receive an apology but at least it did make that group question things.

Another thing I always find interesting is we often hear/see a reaction to us removing a post. Usually the person that has had their post removed immediately thinks we support the other user when more often than not we actually agreed with the removed post it was just removed because it broke our T&C's

As Admin we are not perfect and we do make mistakes. There will be times when inconsistency will creep in to some of our moderating. We are not immune to mis-reading the intention of the written message the same as other people are not immune.

I won't apologise for the way we moderate this forum and if you as an individual feel we are not being fair then there isn't really much we can do about that.

Since this pandemic has nearly become all consuming especially since the first lock down, it is understandable that tempers can get frayed and since we all come from different walks of life we all have different outlooks and different priorities it also understandable that there will be big differences of opinion.

It is ok to express different opinions
It is ok to challenge differing opinions
it is ok to post facts
it is also ok to have those facts countered

Please do the above in a calm friendly manner, if you feel yourself getting angry at what someone has posted then try not to reply until you can do so calmly.

[123]

Can I suggest you also link this into the "Issues" forum as well as a reminder?

Edit: Just been in there and seen you have already done just this

[Sandra & co]

Everyone does a fantastic job on here and thro Lockdowns it kept me sane so thank you everyone who helps run the dibb. Don’t ever close or I’m going to need therapy!

[Stu]

Originally Posted by 123

Can I suggest you also link this into the "Issues" forum as well as a reminder?

See more...

done...

[Colette-S]

Thank you for all you do, I wouldn’t want your job. Apologies for the times I step out of line. Sometimes my fingers type faster than my brain thinks...

[Bianca]

Originally Posted by Stu

...What I do give two hoots about is that this forum remains friendly and that personal attacks on individual or groups of members is not tolerated.

See more...

I think it's fair to say that the majority of us appreciate all you did to create and do to maintain one of the friendliest spots on the net.

[Mazbar]

Hi stu would it be possible for the last post on one page become the first on the next, the reason I ask is on a fast moving thread sometimes the last post on a page is missed by people who look at the last page.

[Scaramouche]

Very, very well said!

[munmun]

Thank you

[katebush95]

Absolutely right Stu! I love the Dibb and find out loads of useful information about everything, not just holidays, and it’s been a lifeline over the last year. It does make me sad when people are unpleasant to one another as life is genuinely too short, so let’s keep the Dibb our happy place until we can all go back to our other happy place 💕