"Köi-Lö" wrote in message
...
wrote in message
ups.com...
[snip]
I personally would like to see anyone free to post on the moderated
group. Content is the best basis for moderation.
That doesn't always happen in the real world. What happens if posts are
on-topic but the moderator disagrees (look at the fish food issue) with
the poster's stand? To my great sorrow I listened to a poster here,
switched to an outrageously expensive koi food and now have hundreds of
undersized koi I will be stuck with in the spring. The new spring fry
will need the space these undersized fish will be taking. I sorely regret
switching foods but they wont want anyone to know that! I have no idea
now what I'm going to do with these undersized koi come spring - that is
if they survive the winter.
:-( Am I not supposed to voice my opinion and share my experience?
How to handle differences of opinion should be addressed in the RFD. I.e.,
how will moderators handle submissions they might personally disagree with?
How that is handled should be discussed when the RFD is posted.
I think, as ponders, we can both agree that some assertions should be viewed
with the great deal of suspicion. Suppose someone posts that it's ok to use
water straight from the tap to fill a pond without any dechlor or
dechloramine? Do the moderators reject that "advice" (fish are likely to
die!), or let it go through and hope someone else posts an alternate view of
water preparation? Or should the moderators themselves post a cautionary
note? Perhaps with links to useful websites?
If you have good ideas about how to deal with these critical issues, it
would be helpful if you would post them, especially once the RFD is posted.
We all need to contribute to the discussion.
I see a problem,
however, with that. It is volume. The moderators would have a lot of
reviewing to do. It seems to me that some basic filtering/moderating
rules would be good...like crossposted messages, certain words and,
yes, suspending or banning members who persist in conflict rather than
pond messages.
This is a good part of the answer. Just stopping the mindless
cross-posting, personal attacks and sniping at others will about cure the
problem here.
I agree with that. However, we have to be careful to allow reasonable
disagreements. I.e., I can disagree with something you said, but at the
same time I should avoid attacking you personally.
Re cross-posting: I only read a few other "fish hobby" newsgroups. I would
guess that some relevant cross-posting would be permitted. That's another
point that should be discussed when the RFD is posted.
Pond groups simply are not intended to be places of
personal non-pond conflict. They are not intended to be one of 10
groups where a personal hostility is being launched.
Effective moderation would help members prone to conflictual messages
to exercise self-control.
And get rid of 100% of the cross-posted trash and assorted trolls, on a
"mission" or not. :-) And no one has to hide for awhile then try and
sneak back with another persona in hopes the trolls wont recognize them -
a poor idea from the start.
As I understand it, the intention is to assess submitted posts only on
content, whether it's on topic or reasonable off topic, whether language is
reasonable or abusive, and not on *who* writes the post.
Although it's more work for the moderators, I don't agree with "banning"
anyone based on past history or, for that matter, based on their submissions
to rec.ponds.moderated (RPM). I'm aware that some forums do that, but those
are a different breed than USENET.
We began enjoying rec.ponds in 2002. It helped us with our pond. It
built a wonderful friendship network for us. We would love to see
conflict go away and the group one again about ponds. That does not
seem likely in the forseeable future if conflict is not somehow abated.
Moderating seems to be the best bet.
It's the ONLY bet at this point.
For what they are worth, those are our thoughts. They are launched in
a spirit of friendship and intended to be without rancor.
Jim
I also expressed my thoughts in the spirit of friendship,without rancor
and a 10 year history here.
--
KL....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö ~~~~ }((((({*
Gail
rec.ponder since April 2003