OT Forum

Patience has been tested and exceeded
 
To explain it a little further. Some of the threads and comments in the OT were offensive. Specifically the racial slurs and tone were not appropriate nor a fit for this site. Some of the conversations were no longer debates but rather just plain old arguments and personal attacks. I felt some people were posting to create a problem.

There were many other people posting comments and threads they were fine like the topics on sports and music. The political and topically issues that seem to be blanketing us from the media also seemed to be smothering us in the OT. I saw all sides contributing to the problem.

I feel like I gave some pretty clear messages to people in the OT to dial it back. It quickly continued without missing a beat and have decided to review a little more closely what is being said, how the forum is being used and thinking about how it fits into the overall value it provides to Paflyfish.

This is a regional fly fishing site first and foremost.
 
My comment above was a general response and to acesedgley and a few others that asked. I removed those posts to focus on the topic. Just wanted to be up front about that.

I'll open this back up for any comments or questions to me.
 
I understand where your coming from Dave. Kind of like managing a classroom of kids. I think you were clear on dialing it back. Like the kids the who follow the rules shouldn't be punished because of the ones that don't. Myself included. GG

If it was my last post that got the topic shut down, I apologize to one and all.
 
Understand what you're doing Dave. Hope I never crossed the line with any of my comments. It's your site and your decision on how you want to run it. Thanks for giving all of us a "place out of the water" to hang out.

 
Art,

I just need to examine this more. Not my vision of the OT Forum for people to engage in that kind of dialog. My concern is that due to the current climate we live in I'm not sure how possible it is for this site to find a fit for those kinds of debates. Everyone thinks they are right and the other guy is wrong. No winners and not a platform I can sustain.

Plenty of great conversations going on here about fly fishing.
 
Pretty sure I didn't post anything offensive (to normal sensibilities) (other than having a difference of viewpoint to MANY on that OT forum)..... I was careful especially after the warning was given. (I missed a lot of the posts after the warning was given so don't know where things went from there...) I can definitely see where you are coming from though.
 
Kinda figured that's what happened dave....
Thanks for trying to keep things civil and available at the same time.
Looking forward to next grand opening of the OT forum if it happens...if not..so b it!!
 
I was always wondering how much of the un-appreciated comments would it take to get a forum shut down.
 
I stopped posting in the OT because all it did was make people hate each other, me specifically. When I meet people in person I never bring up race, religion or politics but I found it to be easy to voice an opinion in the OT forum. Should have known better but I didn't and was taught a valuable lesson. I'm for losing it all together but maybe have a sports forum and other sub forums that does not include current events, politics, race, or religion.
 
I stopped reading it a while ago. Love the site, just not the ot. That being said it makes no difference to me if it stays or goes. I am sure others would be upset if it went away which I understand. Just wanted to let you know there are folks like me who aren't bothered by whats written there and value the other parts of the forum.
 
I have a suggestion.

Yesterday was only the second time I logged on in about 4 weeks. Had nothing to do with the site though. Was just very busy.

I agree that the racial stuff was getting way out of hand, but it takes at least two to tango.

Oh yea, the suggestion. Dave, about your warning that you posted in the OT. I didn't see it right away. In fact I didn't see it until hours later on a subsequent visit to the site. Here is the problem. Like most people, I start at the top and work my way down. I sometimes do review an entire thread before responding to it, but I don't review every thread before responding to the first one. By the time I logged on, the warning had moved down the page. Even Jacks "Slippery Jack" thread and Maurice's "slippery pete" response were above that and BTW posted an hour or so after the warning. ... for example.

So I simply didn't see the warning right away, and of course the ugly threads were at the top. I suspect others didn't see it either which might explain people ignoring the warning.

Fortunately for me, I was still behaving myself since the last time Maurice slapped my Suillus luteus.;-)

Two things.

1. Is there any way that you can post warnings like that at the top of the page for a day or two, so it is the first thread everyone looks at and no excuse for missing it.

2. Another thing that might work is post a warning at the end of an offending thread and then lock that thread so nobody else can respond. I've seen that on other sites and it seemed to work.

OK, here is another suggestion. If you are planning to ban anyone because you feel they ignored your warning, please take into consideration that they might not have seen it either.

I'm not interested in being a moderator. That job seems to really suck.
 
How about this we're all supposed to be fly fisherman and communicate on a friendly basis. Anyone not communicating nice, be banned. I saw the posted warning and I only went on the OT to see if there was a post about the Championship of PA game.
Hopefully I never offend anyone.
 
perhaps the solution is simple: keep this a FF site and remove the OT forum. I suspect, but don't know, conflicts arising from the topics there carry over into the other forums and affect the tone
 
Chaz wrote:
How about this we're all supposed to be fly fisherman and communicate on a friendly basis. Anyone not communicating nice, be banned.
Click to expand...

Ain't nobody got time for that.

One man's nice is another man's naughty.

This said, the question is why enable a forum that only seems to draw strife?
 
nymphingmaniac wrote:
perhaps the solution is simple: keep this a FF site and remove the OT forum. I suspect, but don't know, conflicts arising from the topics there carry over into the other forums and affect the tone
Click to expand...

OT was founded to push the tendencies of posters to get off topic, specifically on those controversial topics such as religion, politics and sex, into a segregated forum. Those without the desire to see and read such topics, never were required to visit.
 
Jack I will miss our discussions on the harmonization between James and Paul ;-)
 
Chaz wrote:
Hopefully I never offend anyone.
Click to expand...

I feel like that's not possible and why would you want to go through life worrying about what others find offensive. I think Jack put it perfectly:
Those without the desire to see and read such topics, never were required to visit.
 
Glad to hear people have ideas and are sharing their interest in topic.

Moderating is interesting work. There is is no playbook to reference. When someone posts something very clearly like: "Hey Dave you ideas stink and you are an T%$I9!" That's easy here.

When people starting posting in code and using links to other stuff it is hard to see the intent. They don't even realize they are being offensive. Look they didn't say it somebody else made the statement, all they did was just link to it say? What’s the problem?

I let it go to long. For the vast majority of the threads and posts in the OT they were fine. I didn't like a lot of the conversation and stayed out of it the best I could. By staying out I didn't see what was being said. I take responsibility for letting it go too long like I said. Sorry about this.

It was suggested that people should be able conduct themselves properly. One would think, but it has been proven to me that left unchecked we would resort to all acting out the Lord of the Flies on the Internet.

Also suggested we come up with some sort warning process. It took less than 12 hours for more junk to show up after I raised the flag. There are offenders on both sides of the issues. I feel like it is the civil war sometimes. Somehow everyone thinks it is the other guys fault and don't understand their role or involvement.

Which is why I really don't believe there is room for certain kinds of discussions on this site. Pretty clear to me politics, religion and other sensitive topics that involve politically charged issues are recipes for disaster. You lefties and righties can't get along right now. See how easy it was for me to get your dander up. Both sides in one sentence!

So where do we go from here? Working on it. I have several ideas. See some things that don’t work and leaning towards ones that have potential. Listening too.

We still have fly fishing forums.
 
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