What happened to the no baiting policy?

reply to post by OldDragger


I am afraid to say that I have been proven right when it comes thinking that canning the seperate AP board was a mistake . On the seperate AP board the little bit of extra freedom given to the members allowed for the best and the worst of political discussions to co exist in the wildness . Today we have also seen the end of the Conspiracy Masters concept which also provided a facility for high quality political discussions which rose above the worst of partisanship . Now the fact that the AP Show is but dead and buried further mechanics that helped to balance things out no longer exist .

I have empathy for those moderators who have to deal with this mess . If they enforced the T&C to the letter then US political discussions would go the way of topics that involve discussing the merits of decriminalize certain substances . I have never posted on ATS for recognition but to have endless complaining about partisan bricking after the AP board was closed , was mildly insulting when you consider how the high quality discussions were overlooked . I don't feel anything in the slightest for those who made the policy decisions that led us to this point . Instead of having the freedom of the wildness those of us who are interested in high quality political discussions with an American slant get thrown in the asylum with the rest of the lunatics .

Sure I acknowledge that the lunatics are the root cause of a lot of the problems but no motto is going to change there ways . So all you can do is accommodate those of us who are sane a lesson that has failed to sink in much to our peril .

Originally posted by neformore
Heres the deal as I see it.
If we leave things be, and let the members decide where to put their energies, we are, apparently - "idiots."

Well, I imagine from your ivory tower, this may be the case. Down here among the plebes - it's a different story.

Apparently Mr. Mod - SPRINGER - deletes the post where the mods are called out and labeled as idiots, dock the author 1k points, and in doing so - further proving my point.

You were labeled idiots by me for doing nothing productive to further a discussion - just as you have so eloquently have done here. Instead, you elect to turn a blind-eye to your own rules of conduct regarding decorum, and off-topic posts. What an example?

click me, godly moderator! The thread was started to talk about the manners of Teabaggers at a town hall. Instead, despite repeated notices asking for the OT postings to be removed, the mayhem is allowed to continue unabated and the thread goes off the rails. When I try to get it back on-topic, I GET PENALIZED

What label would you have me use? Idiot seems to fit....

id⋅i⋅ot
  /ˈɪdiət/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [id-ee-uht] Show IPA

–noun
1. an utterly foolish or senseless person.

Hrmmm... doesn't seem to be too much of a stretch and surely didn't warrant a slap on the wrist from your moderator's e-penis, but I guess you have thin skin.


[edit on 3-12-2009 by shrike071]

Hilariously, when I opened this thread there was a huge banner ad at the top was for Ann Coultier's new book.

ATS has become the wild wild west. I personally don't really care. It sucks that ATS is devolving into this but what the hell, it's an outlet for the insanity. Who cares? The majority of content has downgraded while there's been more and more advertisements throughout the site, but at least the administration and the mods are fair and interested in promoting discussion (no matter how crazy it is) without prejudice.

[edit on 4-12-2009 by CuriousSkeptic]

HEHEHEHEHE, I believe I must be one of the folks everyone here is talking about.

Of course, I hate DEMS and REPUBS alike.

As some have said, grow a skin.

I have taken it too far and have lost in the past 4 weeks probably about 4000 pts. So what.

GET YOUR POINTS ACROSS.

Hell, one thread was removed just after it reached the top new threads.
It was not a political thread, it was my call for all Global Warming threads to be called HOAXES.

When it was removed from the top it was at 35 flags and about 120 posts. I thought we were getting somewhere on it. People actually talked me into changing the name.

I alerted the mods that I wanted to change the name to Man Made Global Warming and that they could include a quote about me eating crow for not including Man Made in the title.

Poof, thread removed from the List, so sheet happens.

Move on and get your points out their. Use that alert button if need be.

Of course POOF may happen.

This whole thread seems to be more suited to the ATS Issues Thread .

reply to post by shrike071


Have you tried the ATS Suggestions /Complaints Form ?

In five years I have been the victim of over zealous moderating only once . Mind you I have seen members who became moderates who copped far more warns for T&C violations then I ever have . All of which proves that obeying the T&C has its own rewards .

Cheers xpert11 .





[edit on 4-12-2009 by xpert11]

Originally posted by shrike071
You were labeled idiots by me for doing nothing productive to further a discussion - just as you have so eloquently have done here. Instead, you elect to turn a blind-eye to your own rules of conduct regarding decorum, and off-topic posts. What an example?

If you choose to break the rules by being uncivil, and lets face it - you are on a roll because you are handing out the platitudes left right and centre, then hey - guess what - you're going to fall foul of the T&C.

If you can't restrain yourself and have to resort to breaking the T&C, then who's fault is that - exactly?

irresponsible

b : said or done with no sense of responsibility c : lacking a sense of responsibility

There is nothing actionable in the thread you linked to that someone with a thick skin in the political arena shouldn't be able to cope with - other than, I might add the insults you decided to post, which were removed.

There are contrary opinions to yours, but ATS is a discussion board, and on discussion boards people discuss, and contrary opinions on subjects tend to occur.

Its the nature of the beast.

reply to post by neformore


I, as usual, have the perfect solution for this!

Moderator "hugs" ... kind of like applause but they come with d-ego points (new point category to prominently displayed)

Sup-mods of course give super-hugs, and admin hands out group hugs.

Wouldn't you like a "hug" skittle? You know to fight all the folks who's feelings you haz hurt as a nefarious moderator?

reply to post by endisnighe


You give yourself far too much credit, you've only managed to actually get under my skin once.

The two of us see politics very differently, but I've learned to show patience here and even starred some of your posts.

I only bring up this example, because it should people that while we might at first appear very different from another, the point should be made in where we agree.

==========================================

Seriously though it seems politics in the states at least has become a lot about vitriol and baiting. Watch any msm program and you'll see the forums are no different here.

This says more about our society then it does about the boards.

The no-baiting rule is obviously not being enforced and never will. I wouldn't be able to see titles like ""Progressive" is just a friendly name for COMMUNIST!" show up in this section if it was. Outright name calling of a group of people within a thread subject is clear and blatant trolling.

reply to post by schrodingers dog


"HUG" SKITTLES!!!!

Definitely the only sensible answer, but we all know you're just hunting for the elusive Intrepid hug!

Admit it!


reply to post by OldDragger

As far as the no baiting rule goes; it's been somewhat relegated to this forum...

post by SkepticOverlord

Threads focused on divisive political rhetoric go in this new forum.

So now the left and right wing master baiters can play with each other, all day and night, while other members can simply choose to "Omit Political Madness" from the Recent Posts page.

[edit on 12/4/09 by redmage]

Originally posted by neformore

There is nothing actionable in the thread you linked to that someone with a thick skin in the political arena shouldn't be able to cope with - other than, I might add the insults you decided to post, which were removed.

So why bother having the 'off topic' removal process? Forgive me for getting confused... I thought it was for - you know - removing OFF TOPIC POSTS. Now that you've cleared that up, my expectations have been drastically lowered and I'll start posting random crap in threads that are related to one word of the original post.

Originally posted by neformore
There are contrary opinions to yours, but ATS is a discussion board,

Again, from your Ivory Tower, this may be how you choose to see things and I appreciate you taking this into a personal attack on me. However, those that actually read my posts and know of my usual subject matter will state that I'm a fairly open person to input and influence from both sides.

Unless, of course, you are referring to that thread where I tried (in vain) to teach the unteachable about the proper use of a word, and that teaching was based in academic, social and historical data. Then yes - I tend to stick to my guns.

Again - thanks for the personal attack.

(Cue the "OMG! You're being a hypocrite!" response in 3....2......1..... - and think beyond the obvious and you'll see that I am not...)

[edit on 4-12-2009 by shrike071]

reply to post by shrike071


Wow - so that's how you get banned....

Once again, hoaxes, or deliberate misinformation, is rampant.
what's the policy?
How many hoaxes are allowed per member.
I'm NOT trying to start anything, it just seems unclear to me.
thank you.