Mods. Help. Please. The madness must stop

[top_tenz_finish]

There are a lot of non-trolls/legit posters who are just nasty in a forum. I think behaving oneself in the face of stupidity in real life means that the anonymous interwebs permit a venting of their suppressed anger and frustrations. whatever the cause, the internet is a nasty place at times, even for people who are serious in their contributions. This is just one star in a galaxy of nasty.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/19/charlie-brooker-offensive-facebook-groups


Your post reminds of this that I read last week...

 

[Race Radio]

Unfortunately BPC has bragged many times about being able to get a new IP address at will. He is an experienced and committed troll.

His goal is to disrupt the forum and he does so as often successful. By stirring conflict he not only insures that smooth conversation is not possible but also insures that the tone of the discussion is caustic.

Get rid of him and the forum will be a much better place to communicate.

 

[perico]

Considering that a bunch of things that are posted here could be found as offensive by a lot of people, I don't see the point.

Trolls are annoying, but what exactly defines a troll? I've seen some posters be called a troll when they have posted perfectly legit arguments. I may not agree with them, but I think that both sides should get an even say, as long as they don't cross a line.

Too much hate on both sides, if you asked me, because if you ban all the Armstrong fans, then does that make this site officially an anti-Lance only site? That wouldn't mesh with the front page, which seems to offer both sides of the story on a lot of differeing issues.

 

[Mr.DNA]

Unfortunately BPC has bragged many times about being able to get a new IP address at will.

Doh! That sucks.

 

[MacRoadie]

It wouldn't be difficult to make 15 nonsensical fannish posts. Look at acf94 for a template.

True, but requiring mod approval (which may not be immediate due to time differences, schedules, etc) coupled with flood filtering (limited # of posts allowed per day until minimum is reached) would prolong the sign-up process to the point where "quick attack then disappear" would become inconvenient and laborious for the perpetrator.

I think most of our mods are getting pretty good at seeing through the obfuscating, early non-confrontational, posts of our trolls.

If a new member takes exception to being moderated or to having posts declined, then they can follow a pre-defined appeal process.

If you're committed to contributing in a meaningful and long-term manner, then the threads will still be here when you are finally vetted.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Stupid question, but where does BPC stand for? can't recall

 

[usedtobefast]

Where have all the (for want of a better word) trolls come from?

Every thread is ruined by cynical cowards posting inflammatory rubbish.

There have always been a few, but now, it's just crazy.

Mods, I implore you, please stop them. This forum is ruined otherwise.

Anyone else agree?

i agree. i neither hate lance nor love lance. but to hear some folks on here, it just gets annoying from both ends. i just try to keep moving and not take things personally.

 

[Night Rider]

As it's in the open, here are some of the ideas being kicked around. Whether they come to fruition or not remains to be seen. I have NO votes in the decision as to what changes will be implemented:

1. E-mail verification required before registering. While someone like BPC would probably create new e-mail addresses just to post, most people wouldn't, and considering he's probably been banned over 100 times now, it would at least cut it down.

2. The first 10 posts or so from a new user would have to be verified by a mod before the person were allowed to post freely.

3. Members must use their actual name and contact information when registering, and that this information should be accessible by administrators only (not mods, and certainly not members).

Or

3b. Everyone must include their actual name in their profile, with certain individuals of fame, or in the business able to have this waived by administrators upon pro-approval, allowing them to post under a pseudonym.

That is a fantastic idea. That would stop most idiots bothering with troll accounts when their first posts were deleted for not complying with the forum rules.

 

[ThaiPanda]

It's a mess on both sides of the fence. If someone would admin me, I'd run a hatchet down each side.

Smartest post I have seen in some time. The non-critical thinking fanboys and haters are cut from the same cloth.

Now, we even have a mod that fits that bill posting in this thread.

Objectivity is fleeting, I think.

 

[ThaiPanda]

That is a fantastic idea. That would stop most idiots bothering with troll accounts when their first posts were deleted for not complying with the forum rules.

And the rules are? Maybe the first one should be "New posters must agree with RaceRadio, buckwheat, etal. or they will get banned."

That would solve the problem, no doubt.

 

[scribe]

And the rules are? Maybe the first one should be "New posters must agree with RaceRadio, buckwheat, etal. or they will get banned."

That would solve the problem, no doubt.

That would go a long way in ensuring your stay here will be met with less friction.

 

[sektor7]

Where have all the (for want of a better word) trolls come from?

Every thread is ruined by cynical cowards posting inflammatory rubbish.

There have always been a few, but now, it's just crazy.

Mods, I implore you, please stop them. This forum is ruined otherwise.

Anyone else agree?

I have to agree, ive for the most part avoided forums (in general) since the days of my youth due to the time consuming drama. In those days it was from forums about Raves and such so I though it might just be an age thing, but some of the drama on here blows my mind. I doubt mods can do anything though, regulating it im sure would just cause more of it. I think in general forums that have to do with hobbies or interests vs professional subjects (web design, photography) etc seem to attract drama in general. After all most people subconciously are addicted to it in some form or another.

 

[usedtobefast]

Stupid question, but where does BPC stand for? can't recall

BPC= Ban Pro Cycling

 

[scribe]

British Pro Cycling was in there somewhere. He pretending to reside in England, but was regularly posting on EST, US. lol

 

[oldschoolnik]

A suggestion I posted about a year ago..

A suggestion I posted about a year ago..

If there would be some way to capture all the screen names that other members have added to their ignore lists you could run a query every month or more and see who has is being ignored frequently and then ban them or warn them etc.. It would be similar to the way Google uses incoming links and the legitimacy of those links to determine a site ranking...

 

[Big GMaC]

Stupid question, but where does BPC stand for? can't recall

Ban Pro Cycling; but he was Arbiter before right? BPC was just the 3 letter code he used for about 10 names straight and it stuck

 

[MacRoadie]

That would go a long way in ensuring your stay here will be met with less friction.

It would also make his stay demonstrably shorter and more pleasant for the rest of us...

 

[scribe]

A suggestion I posted about a year ago..

If there would be some way to capture all the screen names that other members have added to their ignore lists you could run a query every month or more and see who has is being ignored frequently and then ban them or warn them etc.. It would be similar to the way Google uses incoming links and the legitimacy of those links to determine a site ranking...

Sorry. The forum has already been genetically modified toward a bias by board administration. That would only make it worse.

 

[ThaiPanda]

That would go a long way in ensuring your stay here will be met with less friction.

Yeah, and that is the gist of the issue isn't it?

This forum has a definite slant due to long time posters of a certain opinion, supported by equally slanted moderation as you have seen in this thread. It is possible that others think differently, and to hash things out on a public forum and agree to disagree, then see where the chips fall is the way it should be.

Instead, somebody questions the groupthink in here and they immediately get called troll and ridiculed. Called all sorts of names like I have posted in my signature at times. Then somebody gets their panties in a wad and starts a thread like this for some group commiseration. Are you guys really this pussified?

I will continue to question the status quo in here when hypocrisy rears its head (it happens alot). I probably won't be around long.

 

[ThaiPanda]

It would also make his stay demonstrably shorter and more pleasant for the rest of us...

[edited by mod] Good luck with that.

 

[shanefedon]

I completely agree. everyone should be required to use his/her own name, etc...

I have stopped reading the forums for the most part because this Forum is starting to become more of a waste of time almost as much as why i stopped looking and reading velonews forums. I'm not sure of the best way, but in general; forums are becoming a place where people hide behind ficticious personalities and ceate havoc for the simple sake of havoc.

Moderators need to start actually moderating (i.e. babysitting) every forum thread and ensure that bad posts are deleted before posted. That creates a lot of work for sure, but maybe eventually the "trolls" on both sides will simply stop and go elswhere so that real debate can happen.

Real debate is healthy, but it seems everyone who rides a bike and has a username seems to be a self-called expert and that's not what forums need.

let's just state opinions and facts clearly and go from there, not this attacking each other acting as if your opinion is the word. if we respect each others opinion but not attack them, try to find facts to base our own arguments off of and that's it, maybe others can then look at there own opinions, find holes in them change them and/or have opinions become strengthened by others validifing facts.

that's debate!!---sorry for my rant!

 

[MacRoadie]

Yes, because you either can't debate or are so weak mentally you can't stand to be challenged. Good luck with that.

That would be somewhat insulting, if I had any regard whatsoever for your opinion. Thankfully, I don't.

ETA: Tell you what. You come up with something, in any thread of your chosing, that remotely resembles an intelligent and well-reasoned thought, and you'll earn the right to be respectfully debated. As Lance would say, "I like my credibility".

 

[shanefedon]

Yes, because you either can't debate or are so weak mentally you can't stand to be challenged. Good luck with that.

This is a perfect example of poor debate and simply attacking people! ugh..this has gotta stop people!

 

[Race Radio]

And the rules are? Maybe the first one should be "New posters must agree with RaceRadio, buckwheat, etal. or they will get banned."

That would solve the problem, no doubt.

I do not think we agree on much but you have a point here. I will be the hatchet man.

There are plenty here that I do not agree with but I do not want them banned. I am not sure why you were banned the first time. I think it is important to have both sides, but trolls like BPC kill any discussion.

Free speech is important, otherwise you don't know who the idiots are.

 

[ThaiPanda]

That would be somewhat insulting, if I had any regard whatsoever for your opinion. Thankfully, I don't.

You play these games with yourself lol. Obviously you care about what I write because you took time out of your hectic day to respond to my post. And, I believe you have responded to my posts before. You will do so in the future. You need to come to grips with this and maybe you can move on.