infraction system

[Optimus_Prime]

Originally posted by Drew U
I've been banned before here & don't need it again, bud. Seriously. I'm trying to repair burned bridges these days.....

if you only knew....

Sorry to have let things get so "heated" too, man.

What in the world did you do to get banned? I only know of a few people who got banned out of 40,000+ members. Did you post child pr0n or something?

[Drew U]

Argued & cussed I think.

[netracer]

Some people spam the forums with their sites for publicity, others may not comply with rules like in the "hot deals" forum. There is one member from a while ago (shall remain nameless) that caused a general aggrivation in the community, but he was not banned to my knowledge, just respectfully requested to stop posting at this site- then again, he may have been banned.

Either way, I've been here about 9 months and have only seen a handful of people banned.

[notdrugged]

The timeframe of infractions are likely a highly considerable variable. I've had my share, I'm sure. If you add up even the number of times I've butted heads with moderators, with that alone.... Of course, then, I am only pushing the 4000 milestone. I try to take a hint. A situation is serious if a moderator addresses you personally on an infraction.

More than likely, persistence is the key to reviewal of membership.
I'm obviously not one to outline policy, here, however. Everything is at the discretion of the representatives here.
Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em. It's been a learning experience for me. Anyhow, I would hate to be banned.
Most other places don't jump as much as this one.

The in-length threads like these are occasionally a crossroads for one or more people. The reason being is that the moderators are naturally on pins and needles, just like many members reading these posts. Sometimes things get ugly. Sometimes members back down and chill out. I've never met anyone I didn't like, and I think the moderators feel the same way. But they do have a job to do, and it is imperative that it is respected regardless of anyone's alusion to the Constitution or whatever. AMDMB.COM obviously isn't a governmental body, it's a place where GUESTS can chill, a place to learn, a place to share.

If the bartender doesn't like your actions, don't push your luck.
The bouncers of the general forum are listed at the top of the page. They're quite skilled at locking the door permanently. Realize that the General Forum under today's circumstances are under a microscope of a higher power. Conduct yourselves accordingly, now, and in the future is my simple advice.

[Fluff n Stuff]

Originally posted by notdrugged
I've never met anyone I didn't like, and I think the moderators feel the same way.

Want to know something funny? And I probably should not be saying this, but...

At my job, I once held the position of Dispatcher. It was my job to assign trips to various drivers, and there is a little discretion available... but I never used it to help my buddies.

In fact, some of my favorite buddies who were drivers were some of the slowest and least skilled; I could not assign them the 'good' ($) runs, as they could not do them either properly, or in time. There was one driver in particular who I frankly could not stand. When he got fired, I said Thank You God. He was just such an unattractive personality, I would do almost anything to avoid being around him.

Yet I filled his van with people, gave him great $ trips back-to-back-to-back... because the one thing he did fantastically well, was his job. The man could just take everybody I gave him, and be ready for more, never got lost, never ran too late, never upset a guest.

Rambling? No. The same thing is happening here, in a way. I try my best to keep my personal opinions out of the debate threads; I really do, it's a point of honor for me to allow those with whom I strongly disagree to speak uninhibited. There are members here who are angry at me for my Moderating actions, and I love to see them post; I agree with like 90% of what they say. And the guys who love me, are some of the ones that just make me shake my head and worry for humanity. I have steady PM conversations with about a DOZEN of you guys, some who post often, some who just lurk and bit....um... complain. If you think you know who I'm talking about, good. Because you are probably wrong.

My point, such as it is, is that as a Moderator, it is not my job to like you. In some cases, I don't like what you post. But it isn't my job to like what you post either, is it? No. It's my job to TRY to allow you to speak your piece, and to not be abused by others.

To tell you the truth, I think we are failing at that. Too many of you are being insulted, and too many are swearing, although at least THAT part is diminishing greatly, I agree wholeheartedly.

I'm working on a tutorial about how to debate, and how to NOT debate in here. I've asked, in this thread for your ideas. Lacking those, I'm going to start a request that you PM me with your complaints. Some of them I already know, as I said a dozen of you aren't shy already. The rest need to speak up. Please send complaints to my PM, but put your ideas here in public so they can be expanded upon.

Heh... almost 3000 characters myself... I've asked a couple of times to keep the threads shorter, and I admit that there are times when a full accounting is required. I was referring to some of the point by point rebuttals which, in essence, only said "no it's not!!!". THOSE still make the threads easier to dismiss, and that's a shame... I'm learning a LOT of good info from these threads, as well as polishing my ideas on debates; it's coming in handy in the Real World, where I LOVE to get down and dirty in political, religious and personality discussions.

Toughest part about being a Moderator in these threads is to shut up. In THIS post, at least, I have failed utterly, eh?

[jimzinsocal]

Not at all. And its good to see were all alive and well. JimZ

[notdrugged]

Fluff, I hope you're still working on a debate tutorial.

I've finally reached that point of absolute disgust from it. Imagine if the US does eventually invade.

Anyway, there's too many emotion-based opinions. I'm finally completely sick of it. I can no longer say that not reading posts is enough. They keep popping out of the woodwork. It's not how it affects me. I really don't care about anyone's opinion, except that I keep seeing how people reply.

For the tutorial, things to consider are how to recognize an emotional outburst and steps people can take to avoid further inflammation. A good rule of thumb will be to ignore posts that do not follow rules. Posts not following rules should be edited with no more than three periods, or a "read the rules" whatever.

If there was a seperate forum topic for political debate, there needs to be at least three moderators. Zero tolerance. Any thread starting out as emotional finger-pointing, locked, pending deletion.

Any overgeneralization of people or direct insults should be reviewed pending a mark from the infraction system. Three + or - infractions allowed per 48 hours depending on the level of abuse. Also, there should be a second warning sticky at the top that repeated infractions could suspend or permenantly end membership.

Any political threads started in the General Forum should be forwarded to the "Debate" forum.

I've frickin' had it. I'm sick of it, and I know that all the mods are completely fed up. Lots of forum members are sick of it, even the ones who have participated in them before, which is actually a notable amount of members, and a couple moderators.

I'll post back with some ideas later, if none of this makes sense.

[Optimus_Prime]

I say we have a political forum with no rules....free for all!! Swearing, Flaming, whatever.

[notdrugged]

Originally posted by Optimus_Prime
I say we have a political forum with no rules....free for all!! Swearing, Flaming, whatever.

Well, you know, I've always wanted that, too. Just unleashing. I love to take out my daily frustration. :most evil smily you've ever seen:

There's a few forums for that. Like Off-topic for example. just not here. if someone wants to find an obscure forum to just let it all out, then great. I personally choose to beat my wife.
Just kidding. sheesh, I'd never. she'd probably stab me New York style.

But you do realize that the debate forum has to follow all the same rules and even more strict ones because of the nature of the debate topic at hand.

Reason: overspill.

[-=Tawcan=-]

We're working on that. And no OP, that's not going to happen. In fact if a forum like that was to created, the rules would be tighter than what it is already.

[netracer]

Simple rules- they aren't that hard to follow. I think that it is ok to unleash your opinions about political threads, but simultaneously you must be cautious to respect everyone. There is a fine line between debating and arguing/flaming, but we're all intelligent people and should be able to distinguish. After all, no need to insult or swear, etc- is that honestly going to change anything? No, it just gets everyone else even more ticked off. Now that I have blabbed and sound like a parent let's just keep it under control, right?

-netracer

[Fluff n Stuff]

My goal would be to see that all voices and viewpoints could be heard, painful facts can be acknowledged, and instead of telling somebody you disagree with they are wrong, you will try to understand why they think the way they do.

Once you understand why they think they way they do, you can help them to explain why they are wrong. Without calling them names, or taking offense.

[Andrew LB]

Speaking of moderation, this thread is full of people whose signatures are just a tad too long.