new 'awards' suggestion

ive noticed another rise in certain board activities recently which do nothing good for ats and so i have an idea for some new board awards like wats.

how about some new ones like...

thread derailer
name caller
troll
shill
political bias
etc etc

so each time a member sees a thread being ruined by any of the above they just have to vote for the category the member fits into and when they receive x amount of votes, they win that weeks/months award.

like ye olde practice of putting people in the stocks, perhaps publicly naming and shaming some members for a short while may make them think twice before posting, and others will know to steer clear of them or not take their bait and respond to them.

how much nicer ats would be if we could stamp out all the above and get back to intelligent debate.

Positive rewards and praise have a much greater influence on human behaviour than punishments and criticism. Maybe you can come up with some ideas about how to encourage desirable contribution rather than admonish undesirable activities.

[edit on 2006-3-29 by wecomeinpeace]

sure i could, but what happens when a good thread made by a member gets ruined by any or all of the above? that happens TOO MANY times here and seems to be on the increase again.

so do you carry on giving a few warnings, deducting a few points, closing a thread, slapping a few wrists and keep allowing it to happen?

it doesnt matter how much you encourage or reward good posters, the bad ones are still out there and i for one get pretty tired of watching a thread get ruined.

Members meeting out "punishment" or "branding" on other members would never work, for obvious reasons. It'd be a "civil board war", without a doubt. Nuff said about that, I think.

If you're suggesting staff "brand" members, I believe that would do more harm than good. Someone who receives a quiet U2U behind the scenes may well see the error of their ways and alter their behaviour. But brand someone and make a spectacle out of them and you are asking for trouble and simply setting up an unhappy, negative environment. I think the little red warn flags are enough in this regard. Also, most of your categories are completely subjective => Define "political bias"..., and at exactly what point is a thread "derailed"?

That being said, I understand your pain to an extent, and I'd say you've been noticing a slight increase in what you perceive as objectionable activity because of this:

6000 Board Members by Monday

With a recent phenomenal influx of new members, there are a lot of folks around who haven't yet grown accustomed to the way we do things here at ATS. Be assured that the staff are primarily guiding and helping folks where we can, and secondarily curbing cantankerous behaviour where necessary. Matter of fact, with 13 shiny new mods grinning like madmen, stumbling around with the T & C in one hand, and new loaded bazookas in the other, some of the members have wondered what the hell hit them. So if you're implying that the staff are taking it easy on general trollery, then you're mistaken methinks.

The best way that we can improve the quality of submissions and debate is by improving the quality of our own, individual submissions and debate, thereby leading by example, and by rewarding in kind those who do the same.


[edit on 2006-3-29 by wecomeinpeace]

The best way to create drama, attract trolls and watch threads get derailed into a cat fight about a member's "Troll Tag" is to impliment what you have suggested here.

While I share your frustrations, believe me I do, the reason we added 12 new Moderators is to help handle these issues.

As WCIP mentioned, it's going to take a couple weeks for the new Mods to get up to speed. The huge influx of traffic and new registered Members will be sorted out as well. The new Members are learning the ropes and the BEST way to help a new Member is with positive reinforcement.

Someone who is here to learn and deny ignorance will respond to positive input, they will get turned off by rude "punishment" for something they didn't even realize wasn't cricket. Think about it.

Trolls are going to be trolls and they end up banned soon as we find 'em.

Springer...

Can one of you mods hook me up with a 'Hot, delicious, manly-man' brand?

I would consider that positive reinforcement.

Peace

Define each term and you'll see that each member has a different view of what each of those are. I've seen members called Troll's because they prooved someone wrong - that's a fantastic way to punish someone for "Deny Ignorance". This can be factored through to all of them, I've been called names and politically bias by pretty much the supporters of every major Western Political Party on this bored at one time or another, so which one am I bias towards?

Also, "name and shame" them for what? If they get warned, than we know they've done something wrong and we can see what they have done wrong. But, derailing a thread is laughable. Many of my threads have been attacked before and in fact derailed, the difference is instead of crying foul I [like many members], will continue to post on our own threads and allow the derailers to show themselves up.

These people, will be publically shamed by getting the warns and banned [if worst comes to worst], but us getting the choice? That's foolish and runs the risk of causing more drama than it is worth. This thread itself, could make you out to look like a Troll - or trying to cause Bored Drama [when you're not], but it all depends on how someone views that persons posts. If you see something "bad", speak to a Mod - there names are listed at the top of every thread now to make it easy for you. :-)

Take care,
Odium.

Hall Of Names

Originally posted by justyc
thread derailer
name caller
troll
shill
political bias
etc etc

These "awards" are handed out every day in various threads throughout ATS, but by the members, not the staff.

As is hopefully apparent, staff members tend to prefer a positive approach to encouraging members to get along with each other.

In the short run, it may not seem as effective as running around slapping warns on everyone for every little misdeed, but in the long run, I am very confident that the outcome will be much better.

After all, the idea is to share ideas candidly, talk about things most people don't talk about, challenge each other intellectually, examine mysteries honestly and perhaps even extend the boundaries of human imagination.

The more we all realize that good people can disagree on anything, that none of us is perfect, that everyone has a piece of the grand puzzle and that we're all more alike than different, the more unlimited our potential as a community.

It may not be the easiest road, but it's a goal worth shooting for.




[edit on 3/29/2006 by Majic]

Originally posted by Majic
In the short run, it may not seem as effective as running around slapping warns on everyone for every little misdeed, but in the long run, I am very confident that the outcome will be much better.

The "long run" has already proven this to be true. This site has been online for 9 years the last 3 years of which has seen it grow from a 3,000 members to 60,000 members and 35,000 unique visitors a month to nearly 2,000,000 unique visitors a month.

The proof is in the numbers (isn't it always?). These numbers tell us that the management style of this site, while ALWAYS open to improvement, is certainly working.

Springer...

new members who dont know the rules account for a lot of misbehaviour but ive also seen a lot coming from members who have been here long enough to know better.

im glad that there were new mods created and wish them well with their appointed roles. i know it isnt easy to keep an eye on everything thats going on all at once but i still see a lot of things that make me shake my head at how they were allowed to progress in such a way. im sure there are also some members who deliberately post things to put ats in a bad light.

and yes, while there are many different viewpoints on the board, sometimes there are posts that are deliberate examples of all of the above - especially the name-calling. i just think sometimes that if members are going to act like children then they should be treated like children, hence my suggestion to call them as such (cant really get them to stand in the corner counting the dots on the drainpipe for their sins :lol.

anyway, i do like the idea of putting the mods names at the top of each forum

Originally posted by Dr Love
Can one of you mods hook me up with a 'Hot, delicious, manly-man'...

I'm sorry, Dr Love, ATS does not currently provide a dating service. You will have to find your "Hot, delicious, manly-man" elsewhere.

Candles In The Darkness

Originally posted by justyc
im sure there are also some members who deliberately post things to put ats in a bad light.

Indeed, but every so often I see a member who started off bitter, suspicious and cynical of ATS suddenly have the lightbulb go off and realize "Oh! It's okay to disagree on ATS, and I can still respect people even if I think they're wrong."

I saw it as a member, as a Councilor, and now as a moderator. I've seen members I was sure would never figure it out, who started off badmouthing everyone and everything turn seemingly overnight into true ATSers: members passionately committed to denying ignorance.

They may have opinions on many subjects that I don't agree with, but they realize that it's okay, and respect others who disagree with them, even on emotional and difficult subjects. That it's okay to be different.

When I see that, it's the best feeling in the world, and it was the staff and membership of ATS who taught me to understand and appreciate it.

I've seen what ATS has done for so many of my fellow members, and what it has done for me, which is why I remain an incurable ATS fanboi.

Originally posted by wecomeinpeace

Originally posted by Dr Love
Can one of you mods hook me up with a 'Hot, delicious, manly-man'...

I'm sorry, Dr Love, ATS does not currently provide a dating service. You will have to find your "Hot, delicious, manly-man" elsewhere.

Hello, Dr Love.