Do you Favor Increasing the Topical Content of Threads? (Read OP 1st)

[Tilly]

Oh please Mr. Master Moderator! Coyote is funnying me!

And me!

 

[OldLady]

29 to 12 - game over.

Most likely. There is not much point to this is there?

I dont think some folks are interested in fixing anything. So I am not any longer.

Don't give up on us, Coyote. I wouldn't want to see us lose more people, even if they ARE right wingers. USMB is harder to shepherd than herding cats, but if both sides are bothered by trolls (it's either gotten somewhat better since I started or I've grown numb) I think you're all right to try to address the problem. Just be careful not to "fix" it with an inflexible rule that hampers the ability to post like humans. Not every zone should be the CDZ.

 

[flacaltenn]

Do you report them? I can’t recall seeing many reports from you.

You claim to be looking out for a list of transgressions.

I have reported before. Perhaps you weren't on duty.

In the past 3 years, you have made a grand total of 6 reports, all of which were handled by staff.

None of those involved posts in the Clean Debate Zone.

According to the CDZ rules, watching for trolling is on the list of moderator duties.

We can't review ALL the content daily. Not possible. Stuff happens in the Gardening forum for Pete's sake.

About 30% of the reports are passed as "no action" on THAT POST. Because the reporter is not taking into account what ZONE the post is in --- or --- because it's an opinion (often partisan) about a thread being a "conspiracy or fight thread".. So some folks get the impression we are NOT acting on reports.

But from from the context of the quotes that appear AROUND the reported post -- about 1/2 of that 30% "no action" reports POINT to other problems in that thread and ARE acted on.. And it's neccesary to POINT us to the trouble to evaluate. Might not be the EXACT post that was reported, but it helped.

We do CRUISE on our own. But it's a SAMPLING of various forums and "active topics"..

I think it's time to either close this experiment or get back to the question of whether the MEMBERS would prefer to discourage trolling by having us raise the standard we use for post TOPICAL CONTENT. That's the TOPIC of this thread. Not general mod whipping..

I doubt that the Gardening forum needs heavy moderation. The CDZ forum is supposedly "heavily moderated".

I guess you missed the Ruskie invasion and the massive "we hate Russians" flaming that was going on down there about 2 weeks ago in Gardening. Took several warnings and bans to restore Nature and good dirt as the principle topics. See all that you're missing? LOL...

CDZ does get priority attention. Very high of "thread banning" used in there. Unfortunately members see NONE of that effort unless it's referenced in a Mod Message.

 

[asaratis]

Honestly...Sassy, Tilly, and As running around tacking smilies on everything isn't stamping feet? It is pretty childish. What do you expect to accomplish with that?

My post in this thread....number 31. Is that you? Sit down please

Funny x 2
bodecea Coyote

Thank You! x 1
jon_berzerk

Winner x 1
miketx

And count your funnies Sassy? What is the tally? I am fully aware you are doing it to annoy and for no other reason so why? What does it accomplish Sassy?

You remind me of Stat when he would breeze back through just to troll after he left (the leftist rebellion).

Tagging a post with a "funny" is just a simple way to reply without posting....same "thank you", "agree", "funny and agree", "winner", "informative", and STFU.

No, funnies on a serious post are meant to demean the idea and insult the poster. No other reason.
It is misused so much, we should have a thumbs down button so people can stop with that mocking bullshit.
Sorry, that was off topic and would be DELETED with the new rules.

That equates to replying without posting.

 

[Montrovant]

29 to 12 - game over.

Most likely. There is not much point to this is there?

I dont think some folks are interested in fixing anything. So I am not any longer.

That seems like an unfair characterization. Just because members do not agree with the proposed change does not mean they are not interesting in fixing anything. It only means that members do not agree with that particular proposal.

The unfortunate reality, IMO, is that trolling is something that comes with having open discussion. Stricter rules might help mitigate trolling, but it will almost certainly also stifle real discussion to some extent.

Of course, while I sometimes get annoyed by trolling (among other things), it has never reached a level where I felt as if I could not enjoy coming to the site. I generally just try to avoid or skip over such posts, or move on to another thread if one seems to be taken over by trolling and wildly off-topic posting.

 

[Tilly]

Honestly...Sassy, Tilly, and As running around tacking smilies on everything isn't stamping feet? It is pretty childish. What do you expect to accomplish with that?

My post in this thread....number 31. Is that you? Sit down please

Funny x 2
bodecea Coyote

Thank You! x 1
jon_berzerk

Winner x 1
miketx

And count your funnies Sassy? What is the tally? I am fully aware you are doing it to annoy and for no other reason so why? What does it accomplish Sassy?

You remind me of Stat when he would breeze back through just to troll after he left (the leftist rebellion).

Tagging a post with a "funny" is just a simple way to reply without posting....same "thank you", "agree", "funny and agree", "winner", "informative", and STFU.

No, funnies on a serious post are meant to demean the idea and insult the poster. No other reason.
It is misused so much, we should have a thumbs down button so people can stop with that mocking bullshit.
Sorry, that was off topic and would be DELETED with the new rules.

Well the mods can’t mind too much since some of them do it too!

 

[flacaltenn]

Honestly...Sassy, Tilly, and As running around tacking smilies on everything isn't stamping feet? It is pretty childish. What do you expect to accomplish with that?

My post in this thread....number 31. Is that you? Sit down please

Funny x 2
bodecea Coyote

Thank You! x 1
jon_berzerk

Winner x 1
miketx

And count your funnies Sassy? What is the tally? I am fully aware you are doing it to annoy and for no other reason so why? What does it accomplish Sassy?

You remind me of Stat when he would breeze back through just to troll after he left (the leftist rebellion).

Tagging a post with a "funny" is just a simple way to reply without posting....same "thank you", "agree", "funny and agree", "winner", "informative", and STFU.

No, funnies on a serious post are meant to demean the idea and insult the poster. No other reason.
It is misused so much, we should have a thumbs down button so people can stop with that mocking bullshit.
Sorry, that was off topic and would be DELETED with the new rules.

That was GENUINE funny I gave there. Dont confuse it with a mocking/vicious funny. There's funny the poster is an idiot funnies, and then there's funny the poster is a comic genius funnies. It's complicated..

 

[SassyIrishLass]

Honestly...Sassy, Tilly, and As running around tacking smilies on everything isn't stamping feet? It is pretty childish. What do you expect to accomplish with that?

My post in this thread....number 31. Is that you? Sit down please

Funny x 2
bodecea Coyote

Thank You! x 1
jon_berzerk

Winner x 1
miketx

And count your funnies Sassy? What is the tally? I am fully aware you are doing it to annoy and for no other reason so why? What does it accomplish Sassy?

You remind me of Stat when he would breeze back through just to troll after he left (the leftist rebellion).

Tagging a post with a "funny" is just a simple way to reply without posting....same "thank you", "agree", "funny and agree", "winner", "informative", and STFU.

No, funnies on a serious post are meant to demean the idea and insult the poster. No other reason.
It is misused so much, we should have a thumbs down button so people can stop with that mocking bullshit.
Sorry, that was off topic and would be DELETED with the new rules.

Well the mods can’t mind too much since some of them do it too!

Evidently only when it happens to them

 

[OldLady]

Honestly...Sassy, Tilly, and As running around tacking smilies on everything isn't stamping feet? It is pretty childish. What do you expect to accomplish with that?

My post in this thread....number 31. Is that you? Sit down please

Funny x 2
bodecea Coyote

Thank You! x 1
jon_berzerk

Winner x 1
miketx

And count your funnies Sassy? What is the tally? I am fully aware you are doing it to annoy and for no other reason so why? What does it accomplish Sassy?

You remind me of Stat when he would breeze back through just to troll after he left (the leftist rebellion).

Tagging a post with a "funny" is just a simple way to reply without posting....same "thank you", "agree", "funny and agree", "winner", "informative", and STFU.

No, funnies on a serious post are meant to demean the idea and insult the poster. No other reason.
It is misused so much, we should have a thumbs down button so people can stop with that mocking bullshit.
Sorry, that was off topic and would be DELETED with the new rules.

That equates to replying without posting.

And that, dood, is trolling.

 

[miketx]

Honestly...Sassy, Tilly, and As running around tacking smilies on everything isn't stamping feet? It is pretty childish. What do you expect to accomplish with that?

My post in this thread....number 31. Is that you? Sit down please

Funny x 2
bodecea Coyote

Thank You! x 1
jon_berzerk

Winner x 1
miketx

And count your funnies Sassy? What is the tally? I am fully aware you are doing it to annoy and for no other reason so why? What does it accomplish Sassy?

You remind me of Stat when he would breeze back through just to troll after he left (the leftist rebellion).

Tagging a post with a "funny" is just a simple way to reply without posting....same "thank you", "agree", "funny and agree", "winner", "informative", and STFU.

No, funnies on a serious post are meant to demean the idea and insult the poster. No other reason.
It is misused so much, we should have a thumbs down button so people can stop with that mocking bullshit.
Sorry, that was off topic and would be DELETED with the new rules.

That was GENUINE funny I gave there. Dont confuse it with a mocking/vicious funny. There's funny the poster is an idiot funnies, and then there's funny the poster is a comic genius funnies. It's complicated..

If you really want her to understand use pictographs. All of the rest of us knew what you meant: It's either funny haha or funny queer.

 

[Tilly]

My post in this thread....number 31. Is that you? Sit down please

Funny x 2
bodecea Coyote

Thank You! x 1
jon_berzerk

Winner x 1
miketx

And count your funnies Sassy? What is the tally? I am fully aware you are doing it to annoy and for no other reason so why? What does it accomplish Sassy?

You remind me of Stat when he would breeze back through just to troll after he left (the leftist rebellion).

Tagging a post with a "funny" is just a simple way to reply without posting....same "thank you", "agree", "funny and agree", "winner", "informative", and STFU.

No, funnies on a serious post are meant to demean the idea and insult the poster. No other reason.
It is misused so much, we should have a thumbs down button so people can stop with that mocking bullshit.
Sorry, that was off topic and would be DELETED with the new rules.

That equates to replying without posting.

And that, dood, is trolling.

So the mods who do so are trolls?

 

[asaratis]

You claim to be looking out for a list of transgressions.

I have reported before. Perhaps you weren't on duty.

In the past 3 years, you have made a grand total of 6 reports, all of which were handled by staff.

None of those involved posts in the Clean Debate Zone.

According to the CDZ rules, watching for trolling is on the list of moderator duties.

We can't review ALL the content daily. Not possible. Stuff happens in the Gardening forum for Pete's sake.

About 30% of the reports are passed as "no action" on THAT POST. Because the reporter is not taking into account what ZONE the post is in --- or --- because it's an opinion (often partisan) about a thread being a "conspiracy or fight thread".. So some folks get the impression we are NOT acting on reports.

But from from the context of the quotes that appear AROUND the reported post -- about 1/2 of that 30% "no action" reports POINT to other problems in that thread and ARE acted on.. And it's neccesary to POINT us to the trouble to evaluate. Might not be the EXACT post that was reported, but it helped.

We do CRUISE on our own. But it's a SAMPLING of various forums and "active topics"..

I think it's time to either close this experiment or get back to the question of whether the MEMBERS would prefer to discourage trolling by having us raise the standard we use for post TOPICAL CONTENT. That's the TOPIC of this thread. Not general mod whipping..

I doubt that the Gardening forum needs heavy moderation. The CDZ forum is supposedly "heavily moderated".

I guess you missed the Ruskie invasion and the massive "we hate Russians" flaming that was going on down there about 2 weeks ago in Gardening. Took several warnings and bans to restore Nature and good dirt as the principle topics. See all that you're missing? LOL...

CDZ does get priority attention. Very high of "thread banning" used in there. Unfortunately members see NONE of that effort unless it's referenced in a Mod Message.

I should visit Gardening more often. There are many forums that I seldom visit. I thank USMB for the wide variety of forums. I also recognize that reading every post on USMB is impossible by a limited staff of moderators.

However, the CDZ was started as a heavily moderated forum.

Perhaps a published list of bannings and reasons for same would reduce the number of sins. It might be effective even if the names of the banned members were not included. The tag would show up under their avatar anyway.

 

[Montrovant]

Honestly...Sassy, Tilly, and As running around tacking smilies on everything isn't stamping feet? It is pretty childish. What do you expect to accomplish with that?

My post in this thread....number 31. Is that you? Sit down please

Funny x 2
bodecea Coyote

Thank You! x 1
jon_berzerk

Winner x 1
miketx

And count your funnies Sassy? What is the tally? I am fully aware you are doing it to annoy and for no other reason so why? What does it accomplish Sassy?

You remind me of Stat when he would breeze back through just to troll after he left (the leftist rebellion).

Tagging a post with a "funny" is just a simple way to reply without posting....same "thank you", "agree", "funny and agree", "winner", "informative", and STFU.

No, funnies on a serious post are meant to demean the idea and insult the poster. No other reason.
It is misused so much, we should have a thumbs down button so people can stop with that mocking bullshit.
Sorry, that was off topic and would be DELETED with the new rules.

That was GENUINE funny I gave there. Dont confuse it with a mocking/vicious funny. There's funny the poster is an idiot funnies, and then there's funny the poster is a comic genius funnies. It's complicated..

I have that problem sometimes, worrying that a poster will assume a funny I give is meant as an insult rather than simply saying the post was humorous. Maybe a thumbs down rating is a good idea. And hey, maybe it would help with lazy trolls; they might be tempted to just click thumbs down a lot in situations they would otherwise make a troll post?

 

[flacaltenn]

29 to 12 - game over.

Mike's got it right. And I've gotten the results I was looking for. No action at ALL is planned on changing the rules. Never was. It was MY curiosity. And soliciting general opinion. And there's a genuine statistically valid statement that's been made.

Thanks.

PS -- a big to the HONEST FIVE trolls on USMB who vote "No Way".. Should have made the poll names visible..