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Can we talk about talking about politics?

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Versatile, Aug 16, 2012.

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  1. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    Look, I have a pretty full plate today and can't weigh in at length. So let me quick-hit here: We WANT to make this work. Mizzou's idea has some merit, as do some others. We're really not a-holes to the level we're made out to be. The suggestion about banning a certain few, at least from politics talk, has some merit but surprises always seem to come out of the woodwork. You ever play whack-a-mole at the arcade? The more you hit, the more pop up.

    I do know there are PLENTY of places to talk politics on the Internet for those who just have to do it. We're not robbing anyone of that chance. Will this be one of them? We'll see.
     
  2. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    That isn't how it happened. It went for 14 pages with reasonable, but at times passionate, discussion. People stepped away when they felt they were getting into it. Everything was fine for a good long time.

    Then Boom came with some bullshit unrelated link that he had been concern-trolling with for a week, and Starman took the bait, and the whole thing came crashing to a halt. So, there. I named names. And that would be my suggestion on how to handle it: Say up front that Boom or Starman or old_tony (or if the case may arise, LongTimeListener) is on a 48-hour ban. It will establish a line for everybody.
     
  3. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    I don't think any of you are a-holes at all. And I'd bet the great majority agree with me. You guys are kind of in a no-win situation. I don't envy you.

    Years ago, we had a separate board for politics. I'd suggest re-opening that with one caveat: The one thing that gets you banned is complaining to a moderator. Let it all hang out in there and if people can't handle it, it's up to them to leave. But going to a moderator and complaining about something there? Ban them. People know what they're getting into. Let them deal with it on their own.
     
  4. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Sorry for that. You don't know how much time as a moderating group we spent on this.

    We tried the single board. We have tried to limit topics to single threads (for example, Obama during the 2008 election). It worked for a while. Then all of the vitriol between posters started to creep from the single thread or the isolated board into other areas of the board.

    I don't mean to be overly negative. We have tried really had to have politics on here. It is VERY difficult because it brings out the worst in a lot of people. We WANT to have it. And as I said, if we do bring it back (and I can't guaranteed that yet), it is going to be with a quick trigger finger that is going to make some people who don't think they are the problem (but really are) very unhappy, because we are just going to start removing posters from the board. We're not sure we really want to be in that position.
     
  5. Gehrig

    Gehrig Active Member

    Agree 100% with this. I've been a moderator for the last six years on a forum that has over one million posts. At one point we said that we had enough with a group of people in the Politics section. We banned them from the Politics section for three days. Some of them tried to create new accounts, but we were able to catch most of them via IP address.
     
  6. Bubbler

    Bubbler Well-Known Member

    These are the kinds of comments that rub me wrong way.

    Don't get me wrong, I am certain that the level of bullshit you deal with would blow my mind. I don't mean to sound insensitive. I don't mean to sound unappreciative of the work you guys do.

    But two things hit me when I read something like that ...

    1) You're mods. You chose to be mods. You chose to deal with bullshit. I would think that it's part of the responsibility of being a moderator. Hell, it might be the primary responsibility of being a moderator.

    Moddy (rightly) likes to tell us that we're free to post about politics elsewhere. Well, by the same token, no one is forcing anyone to be a moderator, right? I can understand how it could get totally frustrating, but to lash out at the board about it doesn't serve any purpose nor change anything.

    Though they may (wrongly) stir resentment, mods are kind of the rock stars of this place. They've reached a level of respect here some of us will never have. But when I see the complaining, it reminds me of listening to Pink Floyd whine about being rock stars on The Wall. It's human nature, but those without responsibility don't want to hear about the problems of those that do, especially those who chose to have that responsibility by choice.

    In my real job, I chose to deal with occasionally idiotic readers and employees. But I have to do so with professionalism and grace. I'm not suggesting SJ should have the same standard of professionalism, I wouldn't want SJ to be that stuffy, but if the mods are the ones who are charged with dictating a certain standard, than not only do they have to hold themselves to that standard, but a higher one.

    That's why the editorial comments hit me sideways.

    2) Norrin Radd had an opinion on a board matter. It's very possible he's wrong, though even I must admit, as someone who makes pains to see both sides of things, I have the impression at times that some members are treated more harshly/lightly than others. Am I right? Probably not.

    Anyway, my point is that the first response to what Norrin wrote shouldn't be ... "this is the kind of bullshit we deal with." How about telling him that he's wrong in his assumption, but do so in a way that explains why without interjecting frustration/opinion into it?

    Norrin seems like a really bright dude. I'm sure if he was interacted with man-to-man in a civil manner, you wouldn't have people spouting conspiracy theories on who SJ's favorite sons are, etc.

    And maybe that gets at the heart of the matter. Perhaps if we knew a little bit more about who/why someone was disciplined, we'd all be more informed and better members for it.

    As journalists, we seek to shed light on the truth. It would be nice if some light was shed here once in a while to put to rest the conspiracy theories and butthurt-ness over alleged favoritism here.

    If someone is guilty of being a chronic asshole or for outing someone, we ought to know about it.

    Edit: Misread the quoted box. Thought it was Az who had the opinion I was talking about ... it was actually Norrin Radd. Apologies.
     
  7. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I'm not sure we need to be telling the moderators how to do their jobs. I just thank them for doing it...

    They don't need the grief. No politics limits the grief. I don't blame them for a second. One thread would limit the grief considerably. They have better things to do than have to police the board. I'm guessing they have better things to do than decide who gets a 48-hour ban and who gets a longer ban.
     
  8. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    I would also say that re the "you can talk politics elsewhere" point ... I like coming here. Most of the posters, well more than 95 percent, add to the discussion. This is also one of the best aggregation sites out there because we have newshounds who are constantly reading from all kinds of obscure places across the political spectrum and on a lot of other topics too. I am far less informed on politics when we are on our bans, because this is my #1 place to go to follow links.

    This board was just bought, right? There's a business going out of it? The mods, the bosses, whoever we're talking about ... they should want that kind of traffic and repeat business.
     
  9. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    I totally get that modding can be a chore, even if you volunteered for it. It's amazing how fast something fun can become work when it becomes an obligation.
     
  10. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    SportsJournalists.com should be called SJ.sitcom.

    Someone will post a passive-aggressive politics thread. A few people will have something to say, mostly piffle. Then Boom or Starman will pop in like Norm or Kramer, exactly at the moment you expect them to, write something insane, and everyone will go nuts. Then old_tony or Yankee Fan or Azrael will show up like Barney or Charlie Harper and throw out a few patented one liners just like in last week's episode.

    Then a moderator will show up and threaten to turn the car around, and everyone dares him to because that's what the script calls for, and soon enough the thread is locked and everyone's stuck like at the end of every Gilligan's Island episode.

    SJ.sitcom is one of my favorite shows.
     
  11. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Bubs, Yup. I choose to be a moderator. And I am sorry I am coming off as whiny on this thread. I'm guessing it is because politics has been something we have not been able to figure out. We really have spent some time discussing this privately and trying to figure out a way.

    As for rubbing you wrong. ... when someone weighs in with a quick hit post that suggests that the moderators on here play favorites and only "discipline" people they dislike, but give a free pass to some amorphous group of people who are favored by us, I will still call it bullshit and get annoyed at the suggestion. Particularly, because that is ALL we hear from some people on here. Since this thread started, I not only got that, I got a message from someone I have NEVER communicated with complaining about their persecution and telling me I have a vendetta against them.

    Is that whining? Maybe. But we get so much of it.

    I'm sorry my post rubbed you the wrong way. But being a moderator doesn't mean being a robot. When someone makes vague assertions like that, and you know you have spent your time as a moderator doing your best to be fair to everyone. ... well, I responded.

    As for the Rock Star thing. ... Seriously? What about my posting history on here makes me anything near a rock star. I have always felt as if half the people on here like me. Some more than others. And another half absolutely despise me.

    I know very few people's identities from here, and certainly nobody's identify who never told me who they are. But I know some people who don't like me on here (because of my posts) and have stalked me off the board. I guess rock stars get stalked. But I am assuming you meant rock star in the "girls throwing their panties at you" way. That hasn't happened yet.
     
  12. doctorquant

    doctorquant Well-Known Member

    "It's like being married to a nymphomaniac ... the first week or so is fun."
     
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