Many ATS members should be banned!

Originally posted by whaaa
if you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch!

Excellent! Also - use ignore and/or hit the complain button.
Any suggestions/complaints I have had have been looked into and
taken care of, or answered, very quickly.

No, Df1, I'm not following you. I imagine most will be sorry to see you leave ATSNN.

I'm not picking on you here, but what you wrote made me think....

This is not reasonable to me as it makes threads difficult to follow and it surrenders the public debate on many topics to those that hijack threads and spew nonsense & propoganda.

REPLY: Being quick to put people on "ignore" is not the solution because, as you said, it makes following the thread difficult, for some. Do I have people in my "ignore"? Yes. There are those who, no matter what, will not accept the views of anyone who doesn't agree with their views/beliefs, no matter what info or sources you provide; Souljah is one who, at least to me, fits that profile.

Hijacking the threads is something that is also not good. Nonsense abounds in many threads, but it is something that is different for everyone. Propaganda, on the other hand are not always un-truths, and are considered by some to be that because it differs from their views.

".... hijacked by mindless partisan drivel that is repeated over & over and drowns out all meaningful discussion.

REPLY: That smacks of censorship and a dislike of the same thing you, and most everyone here wants to see and be involved with: meaningful discussion. Preaching to the choir can hardly be considered a "meaningful discussion."

Whaa, Thank you!!!

One thought...

There comes a time when each of us has to put our trust in another. I believe that many of us have placed that trust in Majic in the PTS forum and it has proven to be a great decision.
The MOD's do what they do out of simple care. They care about ATS, they care about you, they care about me, so they try their "darndest" to give as many of us as they can a busy, clean and polite place to voice our opinions.

Think about it. We come from all walks of life, from all over the planet; each with his or her own agenda, personality and intellect. We also bring our baggage, our hatreds and personal quirks. These are the particulars that Majic and the other MOD's have to concern themselves with.

I say place our trust in their abilities, don't let idiots bother you, report all serious infractions and most of al, keep on posting.

Semper

Originally posted by XyZeR
I have done that on numerous occasions, pointing out blatant racist and islamophobic post, as well as regular trolls, yet i have never ever seen anyone banned or even gotten a reply from a mod explaining me that such behaviour is allowed/ not allowed. I do understand that there are probably a LOT of posts to go trough, and the internet will always be full of trolls.

I'm glad you brought this particular point up, because this is something that needs to be elucidated every now and then:

Of the complaints that are acted on, most of the time only the subject of the complaint knows about it, unless the result is visible such as a warn tag or a moderator post in the thread in question. You might be surprised to know that handing out warns is something we do not enjoy and we avoid unless there is no other option. Much of moderating is done via U2U.

However, it's not often that we contact the complainer and tell them how the subject of the complaint was dealt with, because we get a LOT of complaints, and often don't have the time to explain the reasoning behind our decisions. Keep in mind that the vast majority of the time the appropriate action in response to a complaint is decided by consensus of a number of staff who happen to be online at the time, not by the decision of a sole moderator. But know that we do greatly appreciate members helping us to point out breaches of the T&C, because it's a big board and we can't be everywhere at once.

In regards to generalized insults, there are no solid guidelines for what's over the line and what isn't. Flat out racist comments and insults will be warned, no questions asked, but prejudice and mild bigotry are in that grey area somewhere between "strongly opinionated" and "total ass-hat". We might not like it, but cracking down on this type of thing can start to move dangerously close to suppressing opinions we disagree with. That is something we will never do. Hence, every case is reviewed on its individual merits, and borderline cases are usually dealt with via U2U, and as the complainer you won't be privy to that.

Lastly, we take direct insults against members more seriously than insults against public figures or groups. "Blair is an idiot" won't get you warned. "We should nuke Mecca and teach Islam a lesson" is in that grey, ass-hat area where the staff are gritting their teeth, but still likely won't get you warned. However, posting "Hey *member* you're an idiot" will get you a red card faster than head-butting an Italian football player.

As a disclaimer, I don't pretend here to speak for the rest of the staff. Again, most decisions are arrived at by consensus of numerous staff members who all have varying opinions and 'thresholds'.

Hope this has made things a little more transparent for you. I suggest you check out Majic's Moderator Monologues for a more in-depth discussion of this kind of thing.

Originally posted by zappafan1

".... hijacked by mindless partisan drivel that is repeated over & over and drowns out all meaningful discussion.

REPLY: That smacks of censorship and a dislike of the same thing you, and most everyone here wants to see and be involved with: meaningful discussion. Preaching to the choir can hardly be considered a "meaningful discussion."

No, that's jacking a thread, which is against the T&C, which EVERY member here has agreed to.

Originally posted by intrepid

Originally posted by zappafan1

".... hijacked by mindless partisan drivel that is repeated over & over and drowns out all meaningful discussion.

REPLY: That smacks of censorship and a dislike of the same thing you, and most everyone here wants to see and be involved with: meaningful discussion. Preaching to the choir can hardly be considered a "meaningful discussion."

No, that's jacking a thread, which is against the T&C, which EVERY member here has agreed to.

REPLY:I should have pointed out that I was specfically referring to the words "partisan drivel." I dislike jacking as much as anyone.

[edit on 16-7-2006 by zappafan1]

[edit on 16-7-2006 by zappafan1]

I'll admit, I'm new here and not very versed in much of the topics that this site covers. I found this is a great place to learn on many different topics. As for trolls, I seen a couple, but not many, and for one ones i did see, were more naysayers that anything else. Even I posted a response that could be considered naysayish(sp.) but I was presenting another point of view on a subject. I'll provide a link to the thread and you can see for yourself.

As a former moderator on other sites and chatrooms, I dont relish the job that these great folks are doing here. Especially, when I was moderating chatrooms, depending on the severity of the infraction meant the difference between getting a "slap on the wrist" to a full blown wrap of the iron fist. I been there myself, I know how these guys feel. You always try to work the the ones that want to make someone elses life difficult, some respond, some don't. And as they ladies and gentlemen also know, sometimes you can only do so much before you have to bring the hammer down hard. I thank them for thier work and hope they continue doing the great job that they have been doing.

Here is the link to my possibly questionable post. Eventho it was done in a polite manner.

The Thread I posted in

Edit: 7-16-06 Silly me left some words out LOL

[edit on 16-7-2006 by Skullcrusher]