The Hate, Harassment and Insults

[Moby]

Smurf, Bill and I have all agreed that there’s been a huge increase in insults and personal attacks lately. We may guilty as well.

We just don’t see what someone’s sexual orientation, personal wealth, family situation, looks, weight, profession or anything else has to do with discussing politics, religion, current affairs, courts or corruption. Yes, posting a YouTube videos or pics for the sole purpose of insulting someone or making fun of them will be considered a personal attack as well.

We will spend the next week pointing out what we consider personal attacks. We will PM you. We may end up deleting your posts. At the end of a week everyone should understand what we consider a personal attack that has nothing to do with the purpose of this board. At that time we’ll consider short bans as reminders. I have no intentions of banning people 10 times before making it permanent.

[Scottbrown2012]

Smurf, Bill and I have all agreed that there’s been a huge increase in insults and personal attacks lately. We may guilty as well.

We just don’t see what someone’s sexual orientation, personal wealth, family situation, looks, weight, profession or anything else has to do with discussing politics, religion, current affairs, courts or corruption. Yes, posting a YouTube videos or pics for the sole purpose of insulting someone or making fun of them will be considered a personal attack as well.

We will spend the next week pointing out what we consider personal attacks. We will PM you. We may end up deleting your posts. At the end of a week everyone should understand what we consider a personal attack that has nothing to do with the purpose of this board. At that time we’ll consider short bans as reminders. I have no intentions of banning people 10 times before making it permanent.

I will stay on for this week and see how it goes, I genuinely like this forum and most of the people on it. I did not mean to come off as whinny or anything like that, just after seeing what some on both sides have been turning this board into the last week or so has disgusted me,with legit debate worthy topics being ignored and turned into insult fests.

[Trinnity]

Good. As long as people are treated fairly.
If moderation favors those with the same political persuation over those with the opposite, this site will implode into a boring circle jerk of like-minded individuals. I've seen it happen before.
It's a death sentence, especially for a small site like this.

[Pat]

Pat, if you lie on the board about what you post in PMs you might be called out with the facts. Grow up and get over it.

Personal attack or not?

[Smurf-Herder]

Personal attack or not?

No, it has to be something more substantial.

[Pat]

No, it has to be something more substantial.

I meant,

Pat, if you lie on the board about what you post in PMs you might be called out with the facts. Grow up and get over it.

Calling me a liar and citing a PM is a personal attack in my opinion.
But that's just me.

[John Galt]

For me, less is more. If you guys want to toss people for colorful language, you'll end up sitting alone a la PG. This place grew geometrically as a result of one board overmoderating itself out of existence.

Most recently, the flaming started after Wayers referred to all hispanics in Arizona as 'termites'.

I'd hate to see you guys limiting language in threads...and I'm not calling for a ban on derogatory terms about race, sex, etc.

I know there are rules in place already, and you typically allow people to cross the line for a given number of posts.

Racial slurs are ok, but abusive language as a result isn't?



I still say you should have a padded room, where people can beat the crap out of each other.

[MarkMiller]

I meant,


Calling me a liar and citing a PM is a personal attack in my opinion.
But that's just me.

Before I read the rest of this I wanted to weigh in on this.

As I see it this is not a personal attack for the following reasons. No personal information was given. Calling out a person over PMs and calling them a liar. Is not a personal attack. It's not the coolest thing to do, but it's not personal if the claim is you said something in private and then said something different online. That's just an accusation. One we can never know details about because it was a private message. But...and this is where it becomes important. As long as no information is given about what was said in private, the accusation is fair. No one should be protected against PMing someone and then saying anything different on the boards. Although it does make it unfair to argue online about things that can't be divulged.

But no. It doesn't appear to be a personal attack at all. Calling someone a Fascist in response to something you perceive as fascist.....is a personal attack. Saying that you feel that comes close to fascist ideals or ideology may seem like a grey area, but is not a personal attack on the person but on the post. Attack the post not the poster. (Where have I heard that before...LOL!) I am guilty of personal attacks as are most here. Defensive personal attacks are still personal attacks and makes the guilty party as bad as what they defend themselves from.

[Susie Chutzpah]

If moderation favors those with the same political persuation over those with the opposite, this site will implode into a boring circle jerk of like-minded individuals. I've seen it happen before.

I don't see moderators playing favorites being a problem because they all seem to be even-handed. More rules and micro-moderation would ruin it. The lack of over-moderation and freedom of speech is what makes the site attractive in the first place.

Usually, things have a way of working themselves out without intervention. Politics is a controversial subject. Anyone with skin so thin they have "to PM a mod" about an insult probably shouldn't be on a political message board to begin with. A board about non-controversial subjects like gardening or pets or a political echo chamber would be a better fit for those unable to tolerate opposing opinions and who need everyone on the site to agree with them. IMO.

[Bill Cosby]

I don't see moderators playing favorites being a problem because they all seem to be even-handed. More rules and micro-moderation would ruin it. The lack of over-moderation and freedom of speech is what makes the site attractive in the first place.

Usually, things have a way of working themselves out without intervention. Politics is a controversial subject. Anyone with skin so thin they have "to PM a mod" about an insult probably shouldn't be on a political message board to begin with. A board about non-controversial subjects like gardening or pets or a political echo chamber would be a better fit for those unable to tolerate opposing opinions and who need everyone on the site to agree with them. IMO.

Some most excellent points........