Mod Squad Update for the week ending August 4

Sometimes, I'll click a link to a thread that I don't think will be very good, and it'll end up being pretty entertaining. We all were new here at one time or another. If I don't know whether or not a thread will be very good, or if I've never heard of the person who posted it, I'll give it a chance. You never know when the next great thread-poster will come along.

 

Thanks for the update! looking good! gongrats to all promoted!

 

I really think that the JCC is pretty good the way it is. (the list I posted in the mod squad is just ways it could be "improved"). What's "wrong" with the JC is nothing that wasn't around before and won't be around for a long time. When I came to the JCC, I thought nothing of starting a thread or two a day. How many were locked? 2 or 3, and I got told off for starting so many threads by the members. Spam has been around for a while and I don't see how much of it is hurting anyone. The bad spam, spam that we all agree is spam, is locked. While I don't think spam could ever be called "good", at least it's harmless. Say a thread is called "Monster Mash Mashes Man - More Maniacs, More Munchies!" and the text was "made you look!", I'd close that thread. If, on the other hand, there was a thread called "Fabreeze Doesn't Work On My Dog!1!" and the inside was a nonsensical complaint about Fabreeze, but it was humorous and getting a good response, I wouldn't close it.


Now, let's move on to "I'm leaving" threads. Here's what I posted in the mod squad: 1) I'm leaving threads - in good taste. If you're a two-month old newbie, don't bother. If you've been here for three years and are pretty well known, why not? . That's what I think and I'm sticking to it. Like someone said before, some times there's a purpose to them and some times no one has any idea who the originator is.


Some of you are bringing up content in the JC and lack of real discussion. What doesn't seem to be understood here is that the more you take out of the JCC is the less that belongs in the JCC. The way I see it, the JCC has ben broken into four distinctive parts:
1) Census - for polls
2) Senate - for serious discussion
3) Amphitheater - for serious discussion that doesn't belong in the Senate
4) JCC - for everything else, i.e., non-serious, nonsensical discussion. Spam and worthless threads, with some real stuff. That seems to be what a lot of you want, since you guys asked for the Amphitheater and the Senate. Why complain now about how there's nothing in the JCC but spam since that's just about the only thing left to be in there?


But that's pessimistic. I look over the first 5 pages of the JCC and I see discussion. I see users getting to know each other. I see humor threads. I see locked threads. I see spam. But I don't see any degeneration going on. I just see a forum that's a hell lot slower than it was last year around this time.



Any points I missed will be edited in later so I will appear to have made the perfect post that encompasses all the discussion so far.

 

Liz could you bring up my concept for a game in YJCC with the mods & users so I don't have to retype it?

¤Night

 

"If, on the other hand, there was a thread called "Fabreeze Doesn't Work On My Dog!1!" and the inside was a nonsensical complaint about Fabreeze, but it was humorous and getting a good response, I wouldn't close it."

But other mods might lock it, which I think is a problem. There was a nonsensical complaint thread made about a week or two ago (sadly I don't remember who posted it or what it was about) and it was closed. I'm not going to get into who closed it, because that's not the point. The problem is some mods will close some threads that other mods won't. It'd be a lot easier for everyone involved if all mods were on the same page.

Amazing.

 

just a thought. sometimes, thread hijacking improves the thread quality to be more intelligible with some substance instead of none...

 

No, you risk it because you started a thread that was locked. Take it up with the moderator who locked the thread in question instead of starting a new one.

 

CA said: Padme Bra as admin? Excellent! This will give the Drama mongers and Refuge bashers an excuse to obsess and whine again.

It would, I am sure, if it wasn't so, well, expected...

 

Instead, leave it to the Community at large to police these sorts of threads

No. Thats no good. If you do that, you invoke your slippery slope ideology, whereby the community itself will slide into worse and worse posting habits.

We need people to be strongly encouraged to post better. This will not happen if people in their cliques are allowed to dictate what goes on in there.

Policy should be set by, and enforced by mods. They are the ones (barring a few glaring exceptions) that have set the best standards for posting.

We should be encouraging people to be better posters, not worse. By your ideas, people would get worse. The standards would drop.

A few sharp words from other users may help to refine posting styles and contents.

On the contrary. A few sharp words are more likely to cause offence and a flame war.

But that's pessimistic. I look over the first 5 pages of the JCC and I see discussion. I see users getting to know each other. I see humor threads. I see locked threads. I see spam. But I don't see any degeneration going on.

Funny, I hardly see any locked threads. Those I do see are either wrong forum type of threads, or the ruling is inconsistent...the exact same rules could be used to shut any number of other threads.

Liz, you dont see degeneration because its the sort of posting you yourself love to do. You go for the more social aspect of the posting, the nonsensical discussion. The posting without much of a point. Good for you. Stick up for it.

But that doesnt mean that you, or the mods, or everyone else, shouldnt be doing your damndest to make the JCC better.

The existance of the Senate floor, or the Amphitheatre shouldnt really take away that much from the JCC. The JCC is now about light hearted discussion. It should not be about discussion without a point. Or redundancy. Or posting that would be better off in an AIM chat.

Its the attitude that the presence of the other Forums means that the JCC cannot be any good that is causing the problems. Lets have an attitude to make the JCC better, and not just maintain the denerating standards.

 

"It should not be about discussion without a point. Or redundancy."

I thought people liked my thread

Redundancy - likes the YJCC forum
King of Everything Redundant

 

I like you Redundancy, just not in the 3SA.

 

2) Senate - for serious discussion
3) Amphitheater - for serious discussion
that doesn't belong in the Senate

Umm, that's a little vague, wouldn't you say?

Let's try this on for size:

Senate is a forum to discuss political, social, and moral issues.

Amphitheatre is a forum to discuss the fine arts - movies, music, literature, and the like.

 

Is anyone really at all shocked that Aybabtu would suggest public ridicule as a means of curing the JCC problems? Lord knows I'm not.

 

Neither am I. AYBABTU has always been a source of good ideas.

 

Yeah, I think that last comment sort of speaks for itself. I don't think I really need to say anything.

Tan

 

I agree with Griff . AYBABTU has always been one of the most intelligent posters on the JC. He doesn't post idly, and when he does post, his opinions are not spur of the moment, but well-thought out. The JC is lucky to have someone with some brains in their head, and an honest desire to try to help improve the board. If more users here were like AYBABTU, then this problem would be moot.

 

Self-policing by the members in Community is of course a good idea, but not a workable solution to any problems. If it was, there would be no need for mods in the first place. There has to be somebody with the authority and the will to step in and make decisions.

Personally, I don't have a problem with much of what's in Community right now, but there are several threads that read like random thoughts put to words and posted for everyone to see. Or rather, any excuse to post a topic.

A recent thread about school schedules is an example of this. How is my personal knowledge of my fellow JCers improved by knowing that Member X has Chemistry class two periods after lunch?

Admittedly this a humongous gray area, but as can be seen in this and other threads, the Community forum has become the butt of jokes labelling it as nothing but a gigantic spam forum. Personally, Community is probably my favorite forum because it allows me the opportunity to learn more about my fellow posters than any other single forum. It bothers me to see the forum become the subject of jabs by members as well as current and former mods.

 

Thanks for the update.

Regarding the proposed A JC Election, based on American politics, I don't think this would be a good idea. For one, JCers come from many countries all over the world and to make this a scenario based on American politics would only serve to alienate many people. Furthermore, this may create more rifts between different groups or may serve to split the JCC up into groups supporting different people. Also, this is very likely to turn into a popularity contest, nothing more. Therefore, I really don't think that it's a good idea.

About the Forum Search, I noticed that some of the links have either an "|" or "]" after them (is this a typo or something?). I think that it would be good to remove it so that it looks aesthetically better.

 

Glad to see you are going to appoint a new British Isles mod.
I would like to recomend that this mod be:

a) Resident in the Brittish Isles / Citizen of...
b) A part of the Fan Force, ie, a part of the community.

 

You know, I'm really amazed that more of you aren't willing to state precisely what the problem is with Community -- too many people there are self-centered, self-absorbed, and self-important, and they all want to see their names on the front page.

The problem is not that there are ten threads about trying to get a girlfriend on the first few pages of Community. The problem is that five or six of them are by the same guy.

The problem is not that there are a ton of movie threads. The problem is that people often simply use some random movie topic as a crutch when they can't think of any viable discussion, but they absolutely must start a new thread.

The occasional "vs" thread is not a problem. The problem is that, in an attempt at humor gone horribly awry, the names are often seemingly drawn at random, and the thread is not funny.

A "goodbye" thread here or there isn't so bad. The problem is when someone starts one to let us know that he's going to his grandparents for the weekend so he won't be posting.

"I'm back" threads aren't the bane of anyone's existence. They only become ridiculous when someone starts one after only being gone for eight days.

In all the above examples, simply being considerate would have prevented those threads from ever being started. Everyone in Community should adhere to this simply policy -- The JC ain't all about you. That would eliminate the vast majority of the issues that so many seem to see in Community.

There is no need to further regulate who can post what when. The simple fact is that nothing will change until people stop being such self-absorbed attention hounds.

And who the heck is Tan-elKoth?

Ehhh... on second thought, who cares?

AYBABTU?

 

Threads like this are also a problem. I'm not denying that it could be a cool thread and all, but the second part of the title says it all...

"The Official Star Blazers Fan Club....I do not see one, so lets make one. "

 

---

[color=blue]The simple fact is that nothing will change until people stop being such self-absorbed attention hounds.[hr][/color][/blockquote] And this is the nature of the beast. No amount of moderating or 'discussion' or preaching to the choir will change any of that... that's just the type of person that is attracted to that forum.

Vertical

 

My favorite lead in is "This has probably been done before, but I can't be bothered to find it."

Sorry, but those people deserve public ridicule.

AYBABTU?

 

This has probably been done before, but I....


..Ah forget it, it's a lame joke anyway.

UKS

 

As with TC, I'm glad you'll be sorting the problem of a new mod for the FF-UK. Its been a bad time over there
And TC I would think they'd appoint someone from the British Isles.

Anyway good update.