i agree - i don't think forum members should be mods - however useful it would be at times to be able to lock a thread, it's just going to lead to trouble in the long run.

I thought forum mods was an ok idea until recently. The people who are on most often are not the ones who most people would like as a mod. People also have very different ideas as to what is fun and what is not.

i know, and it would be pointless giving 'mod status' to people who aren't on that often. it would probably also cause a riot with some members having more authority over others :s and then they'd get ganged up on and the whole community would fall apart. safer as it is with unbiased and fair mods.

I tried using the Ignore User function, and I had the same problem, and I was tempted to read what the 'ignored' person said.

Car Expert

hehe! i know, i haven't used it but it would just kill me not to be able to read what they've said! but then again i don't tend to take everything on here too seriously so it doesn't really upset me

I haven't really thought about it like that. If I choose 'Igore User' it's because I want to do just that. When I want to ignore someone - I don't give a monkeys what they're on about, so curiosity doesn't get the better of me.

I totally agree. Well said Jo. Please, please, please can we all just adopt an "I'm OK, You're OK" attitude.

Amber
x

I haven't read all the contributions,but from what I can gather people are not too hot on the idea of having certain members as Mods.

The reason I thought this would be a good idea is a certain number of forums I visit...the latest being this one,which is very busy ( like ours ) and it has a very pleasant atmosphere ( although some posts can be very sad to read ) is Martin Lewis has allocated certain members restrictive powers like allowing them to move certain topics to different forums and the such like.

My concern is not handing over "power" to members here,but having them here to exercise a certain control would help when the AB staff are not here and topics are appearing to get out of hand.That would be the only purpose of them being a Mod.Obviously,the AB would be in charge of selecting the few needed.

If members would be interested enough to have a quick look at this Forum I would appreciate their thoughts.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/

On another forum I am on, some members there are mods, but that is so big that one or two people complaining about such a such being a mod makes no difference. No-one on here is ever going to agree on the same people who could do it.

But the AB would decide on who would be the Mods,not us. Therefore there would be no case on agreeing.

No, but I can see a lot of people objecting and it wouldn't work.

Who would object and why wouldn't it work?

I'm not going into details, there is no point.

Why is there no point,Nat? Ultimately it would be the AB's decision,so it would have nothing to do with the members. It is just the same regarding the Forum Rules.

They won't do it. What's the point? If the forums get too much for them, they will pull them. Why should they have to put up with the hassle?

Exactly....and the more probs we have here the more likely we are to lose everything. It is forst and foremost a marketing tool set up by the AB....not a favour to us. If the probs start outweighing the benefits then commercially it will have to go.

maybe the ability to temporarily lock posts that we have created would be useful - then if people don't agree with the locking, they can PM mods who can always reopen it at a later date. for example, katyjay wanted people to stop replying on her 'decision' thread, so if she'd had the ability to lock it, that would have been better for her. only problem is when people want to continue discussion they're just going to go somewhere else to do it and there could be lots of identical threads. and if we could do that mrb would have closed cisd and then all the chat from there would now be spread all over the boards :s its a hard one, im not sure. i do think that we should all be capable of being polite to each other though. if you can type, you can think & if you can think you can hopefully respect other people. and then the only problem is when the jokes get out of hand :s



at the moment i would object - from what i've seen of the ideas it means giving authority to some members of the forum. from a thread i remember long ago (don't ask me which one, i haven't a clue) i remember a forum member having a go at someone trying to calm down an argument and saying they were all perfect and goodygoody and stuff like that - i could just see similar things happening if people were given mod status. but then again, if the AB want to do it, fine by me.

It would increase the AB workload somewhat. It isn't just an AB appointment - the members selected would have to approve and commit themselves to a schedule. As already pointed out, these forums are so many things to so many people, interests would conflict. Once members started complaining about member-moderators and decisions get reversed, these demi-mods may simply give up. Who wants the hassle of giving up evenings at a time for what could be a thankless task?
Do the AB mods want the additional trouble of sorting out the problems?
The AB mods will soon spot that it's easier to close the forums when they aren't around.

exactly. i think we're better off as we are at the moment. maybe forum members trying to politely remind others of the rules and to be polite to each other might be an idea to start with - it's us lot that make up the community - what it becomes is down to us.

I will not be posting for a while.........I have had enough for the time being and like Cyrilla, have been on the receiving end. I have found it difficult to remain restrained during the past few days but have felt it in the best interests of the forums to do so.

I will say though that I sincerely hope that certain individuals will take a good look at themselves and, that the distinct lack of maturity that has shone through recently in some people's posts will now go missing.

deleted

Scott, just leave it for goodness sake.

deleted

That could have been said in a PM. Also, if your PM's from HK were anything like the ones I've been getting then I think you're being a little harsh and going over the top.

just leave me alone please. i blimen deleted the posts and ur still havin a go at me.

You deleted them after I posted and you know that too well.

I am not having a go at anyone. Just trying to get everything to just be left.

I get moaned at for everything, can I do anything right? Obviously not.

just lets forget it its not worth it.

Ha, quite amusing you saying that.

why is that?

im just trying not to get involved in another argument.

Not trying to get involved???

Then you should not have posted your first message.

yes i realised thats why i deleted.


nat, just leave it now.

To the OP:

Please don't be disheartened. This happens on internet communities - all the time. It's easy to say things online that you just wouldn't say to someone's face, and it's also very easy for people's writing to be misinterpreted. Consequently, conflict on webboards is inevitable. There seems to be an intensification of hostility that builds and builds, it all boils over, a few people get huffy and leave forever (some genuinely forever, most generally drifting back within a few days or weeks).It'll come and go in waves.

The important thing is probably to ride the storm, and if you possibly can, resist fanning the flames by getting involved in the nasty threads. Hold on to the positive stuff that keeps you coming to the board, and let the children who want to throw toys get on with it.

Jane