What Can And What Can't We Post ?

[mattx]

I've had a post removed about New Year Honours - ok it contained I think one dodgy comment [ in joke format ] but was meant to be a serious question about what other members think.

I've had my PM from the Edugeek Admin about it.

Now not wanting to start a flame war [ 'cos I can't stand those ] I was wondering what the point is of having a General chat part of the forum is ? I have also raised this question with the Admin who removed the post.

 

From what you think about Billy G to what you think about your favourite beer.

 

Is the subject matter isn't it ?

 

BTW - hope you are all having a nice Winter Break.

[SimpleSi]

I think the mods are just getting a bit jumpy on the lead up to BETT.

 

IMHO they would like this place to be portrayed as a professional forum for professionals to talk about weighty school technical matters whereas some (me included) treat it like a nice bar to hang out after work (especially over Christmas/New Year) and talk about every subject under the sun with other sad (sorry esteemed colleaques) geeks

 

regards

 

Simon

 

PS But its very very hard to detect subtle intentions/emotions via text chat!

[russdev]

Hi Matt

 

Again the subject is not problem it is way you express yourself subject was valid subject. Issue was langauge (more than one dodgy comment) and the fact the it was just attacking people. Talk about issue but having a subject that is just attacking people is pointless.

 

Remember you may not find some things offensive but others might and as Simon said hard to detect subtle intentions/emotions via text chat!

 

@simon

 

First we have this issue all time different members want different things some members want us to be a union, some lobbying body and some like yourself want us to be a forum.

 

Second nothing to do with bett it is the fact we are busy enough we out having to field pm/emails about language, racist, sexist remarks.

 

Odd swear word is fine in context but every other thread recent months has had some kind of bad language we have had to start editting. So yes we maybe clamping down bit more just to stop community going way of so many other communities have done.

 

Russell

[MkII]

Didn't see Mattx's post - but the point is loads af threads/ posts are degenerating into slanging matches about political correctness, or are just insulting and people are getting upset.

 

@SimpleSi - that's no one's idea of fun - well it might be to a very select few.

 

There is no limit on what we talk about, except a limit of common decency, that i'd think we could all easily respect.

 

Bring back the fun!

[PEO]

I second that!

 

Bring back the fun. I'm tired of people lowering the tone

[maniac]

I think the most important thing with any thread is keep it on topic! If someone asks a question, then answer the question and try and keep any comments relevant.

 

I refer to a recent thread which decended into a completely off topic slagging match, and was eventually locked thankfully.

 

I'm in full support of the way the admin team are trying to keep up standards on this site, I think its important to have a set of rules for the forum, and to uphold these where necessary otherwise it all gets out of control.

 

I've been members of forums where the mods have failed to keep in control, and the forum has ended up a complete mess, become very volatile and members started moving away in droves. Equally so I've been members of over moderated forums where almost everything posted was moderated in some way. This has a simelar effect. Edugeek admin team and moderators get it right most of the time, hats off to you all!

 

Mike.

[plexer]

I can see the mods point on the post even though I thought it was funny.

 

Ben

[Oops_my_bad]

I thought it was hilarious.

[SimpleSi]

- that's no one's idea of fun - well it might be to a very select few.

 

Which bits not fun?

 

Talking about weighty matters or using it as a bar?

 

regards

 

Simon

[GrumbleDook]

EduGeek has grown from a small group into a large community with the need for very little hand holding. Some forums needs strict guidelines from the outset, others *never* have any rules and anything goes. The latter tend to burn out fairly quickly.

 

For those that really want to have a look at are good suggestions about how to operate in online communities I would suggest looking at the following. Some apply to usenet, some to mailing lists, some to general internet communication.

 

Emily Postnews' Answers your questions

Nettiquette Guidelines

Rules and advice on how to behave on the Internet

An Excerpt from Netiquette By Virginia Shea ... a book that is a must for any mod or chanop.

 

It boils down to 3 things

 

Swearing and the use of strong language should only be done when truly appropriate. We have a 'rants' section called FFS ... it is not indexed by search engines, you have to be registered to read it and it is getting to the point where this will be the only place that strong language will be accepted.

 

There is a difference between strong language and abusive language. There has been too much abusive language used recently. This is the crux of the problem.

 

This site is free for members to use ... it was created by the glorious deity that is Dos_Box and is maintained by his good self and the admins with the able assistance of the Mods. We have yet to ban anyone other than spammers or trolls. We have yet to suspend any regular posters. There have been numerous reminders to certain people about their language or the context of their posts. Posts are not deleted or edited lightly but done in a measured manner and will involve discussion between mods and admins. If there have been recent threads about the use of strong or abusive language try a little common sense and don't post anything inflammatory ... this borders on trolling.

 

This has been a public information announcement. Abnormal service will resume shortly.

[Joedetic]

Something I feel I need to learn is a bit of restraint. Restrain myself from entering into any flame wars, because, by nature I'm rather defensive of something I think, believe or am.

 

I'm growing quite conscious of the fact that anything childish or out of line that I might do on the forums could affect badly on the other younger members' reputations and credibility if someone was to generalise their opinions to that particular group of people.

 

Although, I've been here since Jan 2006 (when I /was/ working in Educational IT) so, hopefully I'm not seen as too childish

[MkII]

- that's no one's idea of fun - well it might be to a very select few.

 

Which bits not fun?

 

Talking about weighty matters or using it as a bar?

 

regards

 

Simon

 

I was talking about my words prior to that SimpleSi - not yours

 

ie.: "posts that are slanging matches about political correctness, or are just insulting" = not fun

[witch]

It's really quite simple:

No rude words

No personal attacks

No deliberately offensive remarks designed to push others into responding (and PLEASE don't insult our intelligence by standing there and saying "who, me?" and trying to look innocent)

If you want to start a topic, fine

If it is something you are cross about, fine

However you do not need to use bad language or aggressiveness to get your point across, do you?

Thant's how I feel and I am tired of reading posts that are none of the above.

It's not clever or grown up to descend to abuse

[chrbb]

Can we have a list of rude words we can't use

 

Sorry only joking - agree some posts and posters get a little carried away.

 

P'haps we could have an area entitled ' The let off steam I've had a rubbish day, please disregard everything I say in here I really don't mean it I'm just stressed and tired, and wonder why I do this job!'

[Guest richard]

It's really quite simple:

No rude words

No personal attacks

No deliberately offensive remarks designed to push others into responding (and PLEASE don't insult our intelligence by standing there and saying "who, me?" and trying to look innocent)

If you want to start a topic, fine

If it is something you are cross about, fine

However you do not need to use bad language or aggressiveness to get your point across, do you?

Thant's how I feel and I am tired of reading posts that are none of the above.

It's not clever or grown up to descend to abuse

 

I agree with you wholeheartedly and would go further to say that it would be good to see a profanity filter added to the site.

[Ric_]

@richard: We have never added a profanity filter because we, the admins, felt our membership didn't warrant it. We are all professionals and should be able to use appropriate language on a forum that we all use in work. However, I have been thinking about this recently.

 

I think that it is also important to mention that EduGeek is provided free of charge for its membership. We are able to provide this service through links with our sponsors and through advertising. If potential supporters review the site and find profane and offensive comments they are unlikely to help us out and EduGeek will die out - supporters really are that fickle and one VERY large company has already been put off until we re-design the site's look!

[Dos_Box]

After spending a frantic 15 mins being PM-MSN'd and emailed by the admins and mods it about time we nipped this in the bud.

This is my house, my home. I created it, invited some nice people in and decorated it and created lots of rooms. I then opened the doors and gave an open invite to all and sundry to make themselves at home and obey a few rules. One of those rules was about spoiling it for the rest of us and being infantile. I don't have a problem with infantile myself, so I even created a room for it. The FFS room.

This past few days have seen some of our members abusing my hospitality, and ignoring the moderators and admins who I have entrusted with the running of the site whilst I'm not here. To this end one of our members is to be suspended for 1 week. It is not a decision I am taking lightly. As Simon hinted at earlier, yes, BETT is approaching, but if even half of you understood what it takes to keep this place going and just what goes on in the background you would understand why we are doing this.

Yes, it is an open forum, but it IS my house and there are rules. Swearing when done correctly can be highly effective to prove a point or as an aid to humour. When used simply because someone can't be bothered to look for alternative terms is lazy to the extreme.

An entire industry views this site highly critically and listens to what you say here. They will stop listening if you sound like a bunch of illiterate chavs.

[tech_guy]

Whoops, looks like mattx is caught in that bit between the post and the os splash screen......

[Dos_Box]

And F8 won't help a bit.

[webman]

Try a linux live cd, that's bound to work

[Joedetic]

I find kicking, whilst widely disregarded, is a valid method of repair. Especially on anything that's got whining noises coming from it (ie fan noise or irritating kids).

[tech_guy]

What about unplugging the power and leaving it for a while?

[Joedetic]

"Manual readjustment" is more fun

[tech_guy]

Perhaps some defragging and some extra RAM? Empty slots are always a waste I think.

[Andrew_C]

What about unplugging the power and leaving it for a while?

What? The kids?