Forum moderation is much softer these days and that is greatly appreciated by many of us. This allows a more natural and relaxed exchange between posters without the fear that our favourite mod is breathing down our neck and will take exception to some innocent remark. But it seems to me that the trade off has been that more and more people are posting any old rubbish and passing it off as fact and that several posters are now openly abusive.

 

Trying to achieve the right balance between moderation and poster behaviour is a trade off and really difficult, both parties have to act sensibly and reasonably. I’ve seen the forum many years ago when it was very strict, to be honest, there are times now when I think that was almost better in some ways. At least in those days, you could easily see the difference between fact and fiction and open abuse was not acceptable. The problem is that posters are taking increasing liberties and pushing the limits of what is acceptable. Few people want to hit the report button because of a fear that might lead to a more strict moderation.

 

I think that if the new relaxed forum moves much further in the same direction, there is a serious risk that people will stop coming here for factual information. People place a premium on fact and the truth. There is no premium on abusive behaviour, abusive language and misinformation yet some posters roam the site and pass of all manner of nonsense as fact and engage in name calling. What the site will become, used to be down to the owners, now it’s down to posters and how well they can moderate their own behaviour.

9 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

I think that if the new relaxed forum moves much further in the same direction, there is a serious risk that people will stop coming here for factual information.

How many people expect factual information on this site?

Ok, in a few sub-forums like DIY or something there might be a useful answer. But mostly I have no high expectations from this forum.

Sometimes it's fun entertainment. And that's it.

1 minute ago, OneMoreFarang said:

How many people expect factual information on this site?

Ok, in a few sub-forums like DIY or something there might be a useful answer. But mostly I have no high expectations from this forum.

Sometimes it's fun entertainment. And that's it.

Is it? I think most people expect that discussions on serious topics will contain fact, otherwise what's the point of discussing them.

Good morning Mike.

You will remember the good old days when we all used to post photos of our kids graduations, birthdays, parties.....

Even the mods would join in.

Now it's just misspelled one liners by anonymous warriors.

The forum has lost its personality.

2 minutes ago, sipi said:

Good morning Mike.

You will remember the good old days when we all used to post photos of our kids graduations, birthdays, parties.....

Even the mods would join in.

Now it's just misspelled one liners by anonymous warriors.

The forum has lost its personality.

I don't mind the anonymous warriors too much, I can always dance around them. What I think is not good is when somebody comes along who wants a serious answer to a serious question and all manner of people start to offer up what they think the answer might be according to their logic. And when you try to correct things, it's abuse city. It's almost as though we need two play pens, one for serious topics and one for play time, it's clear that too many people can't distinguish between the two.

Just now, Mike Lister said:

I don't mind the anonymous warriors too much, I can always dance around them. What I think is not good is when somebody comes along who wants a serious answer to a serious question and all manner of people start to offer up what they think the answer might be according to their logic. And when you try to correct things, it's abuse city. It's almost as though we need two play pens, one for serious topics and one for play time, it's clear that too many people can't distinguish between the two.

Too many people think they have the answer and just can't help themselves.

Just now, sipi said:

Too many people think they have the answer and just can't help themselves.

Which is why I think there should be a requirement in serious topics to provide links or proof to support any answer, proof from a reliable accepted source.

11 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

Which is why I think there should be a requirement in serious topics to provide links or proof to support any answer, proof from a reliable accepted source.

There is and it's clearly stated in the rules.

 

18. Social media content is acceptable in most forums. However in factual areas such as but not limited to news, current affairs and health topics, social media cannot be used unless it is from a credible news media source or a government agency, and must include a link to the original source. In some circumstances a moderator may relax this rule and this will be determined on a case by case basis. If this rule is relaxed a moderator will post a public notice explaining the limit and scope of the relaxation.

 

 

I also think its fair to say that the factual aspect is true across all media these days.The introduction of the phrase "fake news" is now commonplace. .In the Pub of course that's not required.It depends entirely on the forum and to an extent the topic.

 

We cannot and do not police everything, members can choose to do their own verification or choose to believe etc just as with any media

1 minute ago, CharlieH said:

There is and it's clearly stated in the rules.

 

18. Social media content is acceptable in most forums. However in factual areas such as but not limited to news, current affairs and health topics, social media cannot be used unless it is from a credible news media source or a government agency, and must include a link to the original source. In some circumstances a moderator may relax this rule and this will be determined on a case by case basis. If this rule is relaxed a moderator will post a public notice explaining the limit and scope of the relaxation.

 

 

I also think its fair to say that the factual aspect is true across all media these days.The introduction of the phrase "fake news" is now commonplace. .In the Pub of course that's not required.It depends entirely on the forum and to an extent the topic.

 

We cannot and do not police everything, members can choose to do their own verification or choose to believe etc just as with any media

Hmmm, I must be looking at the wrong set of rules, the only ones I have read is the set comprising about 10 rules....and I did look again this morning. Can you point me at them please?

Sure, 

https://aseannow.com/forum_rules/

 

The ones you refer to are a simplified basic version so members are not confronted with a wall of text. At the bottom of that simplified version is a "learn more" that gives the full detailed version.

24 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

Sure, 

https://aseannow.com/forum_rules/

 

The ones you refer to are a simplified basic version so members are not confronted with a wall of text. At the bottom of that simplified version is a "learn more" that gives the full detailed version.

Thanks. Maybe that's part of the problem, dunno, I didn't spot that there's a more lengthy set of rules, behind the set of 10 that I first saw, I wonder how many other posters did the same.

15 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

Thanks. Maybe that's part of the problem, dunno, I didn't spot that there's a more lengthy set of rules, behind the set of 10 that I first saw, I wonder how many other posters did the same.

No, the problem is that very few give a damn about the rules until they fall foul of them.

 

In the present format, people are generally more likely to read a basic 10, as you did, than they are a wall of 43 paragraphs, thats why that format was chosen.

1 hour ago, Mike Lister said:

I don't mind the anonymous warriors too much, I can always dance around them. What I think is not good is when somebody comes along who wants a serious answer to a serious question and all manner of people start to offer up what they think the answer might be according to their logic. And when you try to correct things, it's abuse city. It's almost as though we need two play pens, one for serious topics and one for play time, it's clear that too many people can't distinguish between the two.

I don't mind any post as long as there's no abuse against me or other posters in it.

And this forum has pretty much succeeded in that.

Well done George and the team!

25 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

Thanks. Maybe that's part of the problem, dunno, I didn't spot that there's a more lengthy set of rules, behind the set of 10 that I first saw, I wonder how many other posters did the same.

Yeah i did the same thing before, when using a mobile browser you only see 10 initially, easy to miss the note at the bottom

Art mimics life. The posters who are pleasant on the forum are pleasant in real life.

I'm sure the other end of the spectrum is the same 

2 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

Is it? I think most people expect that discussions on serious topics will contain fact, otherwise what's the point of discussing them.

I hope for facts.

But I expect there will be lots of sometime funny and not so accurate comments. 

7 minutes ago, sipi said:

Art mimics life. The posters who are pleasant on the forum are pleasant in real life.

I'm sure the other end of the spectrum is the same 

How true.

1 minute ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I hope for facts.

But I expect there will be lots of sometime funny and not so accurate comments. 

My Physics teacher in school frequently  used to inject humour into his teachings, most of which were pretty boring and he admitted that, he reckoned it helped us to learn and it did because we always enjoyed going to his classes. But too much one way or the other isn't helpful, it's all about balance I think. As for not so accurate comments, well, OK, nobody is right 100% of the time, we all have  to learn. But taking an entrenched position, without supportive evidence and in the face of substantial commentary to the contrary, isn't helpful to anyone. It's like, put up or shut up and don't get abusive, just because you weren't right.

1 hour ago, Mike Lister said:

But taking an entrenched position, without supportive evidence and in the face of substantial commentary to the contrary, isn't helpful to anyone.

I agree. But unfortunately that is happening more and more on the internet and in real world.

Many people stay within their echo chamber and just "know" certain things, because nobody in their echo chamber contradicts them.

It's sad. But somehow I think it will get worse before it might get better.

There's a lot of tin foil hats out there. Every conspiracy theory under the flat sun.

More pop-up advertisements would be  helpful ;-)

9 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

Forum moderation is much softer these days and that is greatly appreciated by many of us. This allows a more natural and relaxed exchange between posters without the fear that our favourite mod is breathing down our neck and will take exception to some innocent remark. But it seems to me that the trade off has been that more and more people are posting any old rubbish and passing it off as fact and that several posters are now openly abusive.

 

Trying to achieve the right balance between moderation and poster behaviour is a trade off and really difficult, both parties have to act sensibly and reasonably. I’ve seen the forum many years ago when it was very strict, to be honest, there are times now when I think that was almost better in some ways. At least in those days, you could easily see the difference between fact and fiction and open abuse was not acceptable. The problem is that posters are taking increasing liberties and pushing the limits of what is acceptable. Few people want to hit the report button because of a fear that might lead to a more strict moderation.

 

I think that if the new relaxed forum moves much further in the same direction, there is a serious risk that people will stop coming here for factual information. People place a premium on fact and the truth. There is no premium on abusive behaviour, abusive language and misinformation yet some posters roam the site and pass of all manner of nonsense as fact and engage in name calling. What the site will become, used to be down to the owners, now it’s down to posters and how well they can moderate their own behaviour.

I am having a problem trying to find decent topics to read and respond to nowadays.

On 12/2/2023 at 11:30 AM, Mike Lister said:

Is it? I think most people expect that discussions on serious topics will contain fact, otherwise what's the point of discussing them.

Such as? I've been on here a very long time and don't remember when there were more serious topics to discuss. There certainly were more interesting topics on such as women and life in LOS.

When I started the moderation wasn't very severe at all, with a few exceptions, and it only changed after November in 2016. It became less of a friendly place for reasons i am not permitted to discuss, and too many nasties came to the fore with many threads taken over by them. I certainly was suspended more after that than ever before, and it wasn't enjoyable posting back then.

I don't think the forum has ever recovered to be the friendly place it used to be- it was more like a community pre 2016.

 

On 12/2/2023 at 1:09 PM, BritManToo said:

I don't mind any post as long as there's no abuse against me or other posters in it.

And this forum has pretty much succeeded in that.

Well done George and the team!

You obviously don't post on the "war in Gaza" subforum! I had to put so many on ignore because of the personal abuse.

On 12/2/2023 at 12:01 PM, sipi said:

Good morning Mike.

You will remember the good old days when we all used to post photos of our kids graduations, birthdays, parties.....

Even the mods would join in.

Now it's just misspelled one liners by anonymous warriors.

The forum has lost its personality.

I agree, and I could tell you why, but it's a banned subject.

19 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

 

You obviously don't post on the "war in Gaza" subforum! I had to put so many on ignore because of the personal abuse.

Just report them.

Just now, BritManToo said:

Just report them.

I'd be reporting them all the time then. It's easier to put them on ignore.

On 12/2/2023 at 9:33 AM, OneMoreFarang said:

I agree. But unfortunately that is happening more and more on the internet and in real world.

Many people stay within their echo chamber and just "know" certain things, because nobody in their echo chamber contradicts them.

It's sad. But somehow I think it will get worse before it might get better.

One person's facts is another person's misinformation.

On 12/2/2023 at 5:26 AM, OneMoreFarang said:

How many people expect factual information on this site?

Ok, in a few sub-forums like DIY or something there might be a useful

Pretty weedy outside of the help forums.

 

On 12/2/2023 at 5:26 AM, OneMoreFarang said:

Sometimes it's fun entertainment. And that's it.

It should be approached in that manner and not let anything have a personal effect, I know it’s difficult for the ultra sensitive individuals.

4 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

 

You obviously don't post on the "war in Gaza" subforum! I had to put so many on ignore because of the personal abuse.

I haven't even bothered to look at that sub-forum because I supported, and still do, the Palestinian people but not Hamas. I am a supporter of oppressed people everywhere, and not a supporter of terrorism which is what several posters accused me of.

 

I don't even try to argue or fight ignorance and bias anymore. Those posters are not worth wasting my time on.