Boards need moderators and rules. Can people be banned?

No he is right. It will happen if we get human moderators here. I am sure there are users from imdb who can write a code like that in imdb with automated moderation here too....

I moderated a very large American Idol board with about 2000+ posts a day in it's prime. At one point, I was screening mods for the site.

www.idolforums.com

We watched how people post and how they reacted to problems and how helpful they were. We then approached that person and see if they would like become a Mod. The system worked quite well.

I hate to tell you this, but you MUST have Moderators if you don't want the board to descend into chaos and or be completely spammed out to it's almost useless. It's a given. One of the biggest complaints we had on IDF was how many threads that started off doing well, then got derailed.

I was one of the few mods that actually handled member problems. I was dealing with a mix of preteen/teens and some rather unstable/immature adults. It was an absolute madhouse at times.

crown, see what I mean? You prove exactly what I say. I haven't said anything against you or against anyone here on a personal level, and already you're taking a hostile personal position against my words and me, and you are declaring on your own that I'm "bitching" around. Most likely you speak that way because you didn't like something I said; therefore you try to attack me. Now imagine you had "moderating" powers here. Where would this gradually go to? Your reply is a clear example of the existence of exactly THIS right here right now. Deletion of posts doesn't happen here yet because there are (basically) no moderators on board, and because the board is so new. Wait till 'the gang' crowds up against any 'voice of dissent'. I've seen it all before.

Now let me ask you this, would you feel offended, for example, if I said that based on your response to me it seems you're like an impulsive lackwit of sorts? (Keep in mind I'm not saying it; I'm just asking). Now breathe a little and give me a clear answer about it: Would you feel offended by it Yes or No? Then you can take your answer as the answer to your top question.

Cheers.


Here's the thing J2, this type of post brings the entire board down. A lot of the posters on the IDF board complained that when I closed a thread, or deleted a post, they thought their "free speech/first amendment rights" were being violated, which was BS. They could post or say anything they wanted, but the rules of the board forbade bashing other members. It was about keeping the peace and making other posters feel welcome. For every bad poster, there's usually three more good posters waiting in the wings. And by the way, in my main forum, we had it to the point to where famous kids (kids that were on TV shows) felt comfortable, which was a big accomplishment.

And  there were posters that I absolutely despised. However, I always treated them equally. They usually ended up digging their own grave.

From definition and experience (set by internet examples with human interaction), for example, I'm a 'troublemaker' here already, because I'm speaking contrary to this very post itself and I'm facing the 'all-powerful' administrator himself in a direct way. I'm going against the crowd with my opinion.

So in other words this ctown guy gets hostile with me already and I'm the one in the wrong. How's that for 'equality'? Gotta laugh. Anyway suit yourselves. I've said EXACTLY what I think and I could care less if I keep posting here or not. I never cared on imdb either and I never had a problem of any sort, personal or otherwise, since 2002 and until today when I had the PLEASURE to tell the imdb owners exactly what I think of them right to their face.

This kind of post brings down a board only if people like you bring it down or close it down. Example: imdb.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

Regarding impartiality, I believe it's true that we all have natural, unavoidable biases, but I was referring to the ability to not let those biases affect what amounts to a simple responsibility. For instance, as already mentioned, posting child pornography is clearly against the rules, so it must be removed if posted regardless of how a moderator may feel about it.

In my opinion, speaking exactly what you think should not only be allowed, but encouraged. There will always be arguments and heated discussions, and people will get upset, especially considering the nature of some topics such as politics and religion. We are a passionate species, and that's generally a virtue as far as I'm concerned. However, if it becomes clear that someone's sole purpose is to cause trouble for no reason other than causing trouble, there should probably be some discussion as to whether or not said person should be allowed to continue doing so.

Having said that, we've all seen troublemakers, and I'm not seeing any in this thread.

sure you wouldn't.