Deceased Personalities.

Moderators on all websites and forums have a difficult job to do. It can take a lot of time, and it’s not as if you are getting
paid to do it. I was asked to help moderate a forum several years ago, but declined the offer as I didn’t have the time.
It was something I didn’t fancy doing anyway, as you are only going to get negative criticism, and people telling you
what you should be doing.

Thread closure should only be a last resort though. If unfounded defamatory remarks are being made, or posts are
becoming libellous. Not because they offend you or your beliefs personally.

I have never been offended by remarks made against me on any forums, no matter how inaccurate they may be.

This often quoted phrase comes to mind:
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”

I hear and accept everything you say.
BUT a particular moderator complaining about having to read the threads and not liking what he reads is going a bit too personal – you cannot like everything that is posted and there are bound to be threads/posts which are not your cup of tea. No, I am not complaining about this particular moderator since I can understand that some of these threads will be dull, tedious or inflamatory but as long as they don’t break the rules as set out (and there is nothing about not being boring, nothing about not contradicting the prevailing political view, nothing about not calling out poorly thought out points of view, etc) then all that is being done is an attempt at suppression of views on a forum which has been present and on going for 15-odd years (?): without wanting to push for or against that moderator then if he doesn’t want to do the job then give it up!

Yes, mods are voluntary, mods are doing a job that needs to be done because the webmaster cannot be present 24 hours a day 365/6 days a year, mods are (usually) posters on the forum too – BUT that doesn’t give them carte blanche to decide that a thread needs to be closed/deleted just because they decide it; surely if they don’t want to moderate a particular thread/forum then they can appeal to fellow mods (after all, this certain mod is not on his own when it comes to doing the job) to assist/make a ruling based on being a moderator unfamiliar to GD and therefore seen as being (hopefully) unbiased. Have there been complaints about said thread or was it just on that thread alone? Was there sufficient insult-flinging to warrant something happening or would a public calling out have (possibly) embarrassed the two sides into silence?

(I have not named the moderator simple because he is the moderator, not the poster under which name he also moderates. Like I said, nothing personal)

Oh, forgot to mention in my last post but it occurred to me that whilst these forum declare themselves to be The Aviation Forum they are hosted on keypublishing.com – not a particular site dedicated ONLY to aviation by name. Therefore a Britain At War forum should, surely, be possible even if not linked into the aviation specific area.
Of course, if the will is not there from the management…?

Bruce, I can assure you that it is not in my mind – it used to be, as you know, and I have in the past railed against excessive use of the ‘blue pencil’.

I still think that there is, on occasion, too much ‘knife edge’ sensitivity exhibited by the moderators and my plea is, that if you have to bring a halt to proceedings that it should be done as emolliently as possible.

Only in your mind John. In truth we moderate very little these days.

Could the perception of ‘over zealous moderation’ be the cause of forum decline ?

Thanks Linc, the brown envelope is in the post.

I think the problem would be that if we were paid it would restrict our unfettered right to post anything we want under our own signatures. We get enough “How dare a moderator ….” as it is.

Moggy

snafu has amply demonstrated that these forums are in a steady decline. ModMil used to be a hotbed of trouble for the moderation team, but no longer. Historic used to have three or four pages of topics posted a day – not just one!

This forum seems to attract more than its fair share of extreme or unpleasant views – which is why Moggy is so keen to close it. As Alan points out above, we spend more time than we really should monitoring these forums, even when we don’t have to moderate as such. Moggy is much more active on GD than the rest of us.

With regard to Facebook, and specifically regarding Historic Aviation, there is a huge amount of information on there – but you need to look for it. Once you have ‘Liked’ a specific page, it is relatively easy to go there and read through a whole saga on a specific project, or engage with others on pages which are more of a discussion group. Its also much easier to share pictures. I readily accept however that it isn’t for everyone.

With all the Money that Key Publications makes do you think that Moderators like Moggy should be paid, even a small amount to recompence them for the huge amount of time they have to spend trawling through everything that’s on here?. Don’t forget, they too have a life to live just like the rest of us.and they do it for sod all.
Jim
Lincoln .7

I’ve noticed that many use the death news items as a way to tell everyone how good their entertainment tastes are.

The passing of a popular film star or show business personality will be met, usually within minutes, by a chorus of posters saying…”I NEVER watch such stuff..”

Ignore the moderator. If he wants to bring the iron fist to bare on the other forums as threads are posted that are not quite on topic, and hunt down queries within others threads then, as you can imagine, that is up to him. But compared to some of the other forum GD is alive and well.

Moderators on all websites and forums have a difficult job to do. It can take a lot of time, and it’s not as if you are getting
paid to do it. I was asked to help moderate a forum several years ago, but declined the offer as I didn’t have the time.
It was something I didn’t fancy doing anyway, as you are only going to get negative criticism, and people telling you
what you should be doing.

Thread closure should only be a last resort though. If unfounded defamatory remarks are being made, or posts are
becoming libellous. Not because they offend you or your beliefs personally.

I have never been offended by remarks made against me on any forums, no matter how inaccurate they may be.

This often quoted phrase comes to mind:
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”

It is strange to think that these forums contain more insight into my thoughts and personality than anything else on the planet, apart from those people that know me…

…had these forums existed in the past I wish I could read what my ancestors would have written.

Yuk Faceache the worst thing ever invented for storing and finding information, leave it for the inane teenage chatter which what it is only useful for.

If ever large numbers of contributors post on GD rather than the current handful then I’ll change my mind quite happily.

Ignore the moderator. If he wants to bring the iron fist to bare on the other forums as threads are posted that are not quite on topic, and hunt down queries within others threads then, as you can imagine, that is up to him. But compared to some of the other forum GD is alive and well.

Look at Commercial: at the moment the oldest thread on the front page dates back to 9/12 and there has only been one thread made this month (I know since I made it, just now) and six during last month.
Look at Commercial Trip Reports: last thread 6/9 and oldest thread on the front page was replied to 17/11/2010.
Look at Commercial Civil Aircraft Images: one thread made this year and one other replied to this year, with the oldest thread on the front page being dated 27/4.
Look at General Aviation: no threads, no posts this month, so far. Eight threads last month, and the oldest thread on the front page was answered on 16/11.
Look at Photographic Tutorial: last post answered on 2/1 – over a month ago!
Look at Photographic Airshow Photos: three threads posted on for just one made last month, and the oldest thread/post on the front page is dated 24/9. (Yes, I am conscious that this forum relies on airshows to take place and pictures from these to be taken)
Look at Flight Simulation: one thread made and one other, older, thread posted on this year with the oldest thread on the front page dating back to 13/1/2014.
Look at Flight Simulation Screenshots: it appears the last thread made was a Christmas greeting made in December 2014 that no one replied to until 27/1 this year, with the same reply-ee leaving his mark on a 2013 thread. The oldest thread on the front page went unreplied since 25/5/2008.
Look at RC and Models: one thread answered this year and the oldest thread on the front page is from 23/10/2014.
Look at Modern Military Aviation: three threads this month but lots of posts, although the oldest reply on the front page goes back to the end of last month.
Look at Modern Military Aviation Missiles and Munitions: one thread made and four replied to this year with the oldest on the front page being from 1/8/2015.
Look at Modern Military Aviation Naval Aviation: one thread made and nine replied to this year with the oldest on the front page dated 18/4/2015.
And Historic? Why bother – it is alive and well and usually the front page contains less than 24 hours worth of threads.

General Discussion, for comparison has four threads started this month with the front page going back as far as…25/1.

So. The moderator present wants to close this forum for an easy life and because so few contributors post on it? Maybe there are other forums that have not only fewer contributors but fewer threads and little interest to the membership.

A question which I was going to ask. My impression is that there are far fewer threads, far fewer contributors and far fewer observers than a year or so ago. Do the statistics support the impression?

Go and have a look at (at the moment) page 14. My guess is that it is roughly the same, but don’t take my word for it. If you go back to page 33 you can see two years ago with, again, little great difference I believe.

Haha! But really it requires no expertise at all and that’s from a real oldie!!:D

There is little to understand about its use as it is so simple.

So what are you trying to say ? 🙂

Never found any need for Facebook but follow a very limited number of individuals and organisations including a couple of news feeds on Twitter and the information which interests me is updated continuously. I almost never post a tweet because I just use it as a source of information.

There is little to understand about its use as it is so simple.

Perhaps it’s an age thing. I agree with Alan. Facebook and Twitter are not for me; not that I know much about them – if anything at all.

I’m a member of Pprune and they seem pretty vigorous and pretty vicious from time to time. They are no more or less opinionated there than they are here.

But, I do admit that you are right. I haven’t long been a member here but over that time I’ve seen a perceptible decline.

One point has always interested me: What percentage of forum members actually buy Key products ?

I have said before, that Facebook is taking over from forums – it is much easier to filter out those who you dont agree with, and much easier to get the news you want.

Twitter is also in decline – its an ever changing world out there.

Bruce

I must be doing something wrong?
I find Facebook to be generally pretty awful. Something gets posted, you look at it once then it disappears into the Abyss,
never to be seen again.
I also have a Twitter account, but don’t have a clue as to how it works.

No John, Online fora are a dying breed. This forum, once the most visited source for news on Historic Aviation has been in a steady decline for some time, and it isnt just because certain contributors get pi$$ed off with others. Sure, that happens, but it isnt all of it.

I have said before, that Facebook is taking over from forums – it is much easier to filter out those who you dont agree with, and much easier to get the news you want.

Twitter is also in decline – its an ever changing world out there.

I have enjoyed our various political discussions on GD over the years, but wouldnt miss it if it wasnt there.

Bruce

“ain’t what it used to be “

Yes, but, why?

People on holiday/January sales/embargoed by the wife/dog run over/lot of gardening/boredom/ the heavy hand of moderation ?

None of these ? Perhaps Moggy, who is no ‘pussy cat’ is right. GD has lost its Mojo. Then we need to re-invigorate it!
Or, for some, is that too much like hard work and far from the desired result ?

Brugg – good grief!!:stupid: But guilty as charged, but then it used to be such fun here!!:eek: But check the posts in the last few months – I have better or perhaps I should say more pressing matters to take up my time!!

JG – why? An interesting question to which I have no answer. But a contributory factor might be as I have already implied in my earlier posts. GD ain’t what it used to be….:confused: