Okay guys, I got a new one this week but I haven't got a clue as how to word it without upsetting a few or getting myself banned!! I'll let my fingers go and see how it comes out. (As I said to the missus...)
This one is for the MODS!! (We are the Mods, we are the Mods, we are, we are, we are the Mods!
)
Guys, guys, one thing!
When you read this, imagine me sitting here with a big grin on my face playing Devils Advocate. I'm not sitting here, "Having a go" or trying to insult anyone, having a "rant", jumping up and down
or anything like that........cough, cough!!
Now, every discussion board on the internet has moderators and before anyone leaps down my throat, I think they are a good thing or we would just end up with people calling each other names and the strongest personality just bullying their view across, making others feel their points are not valid or discouraging them from posting at all and so in effect, Mods are a necessary evil and fall into the arena of "censors."
(Ohh, here we go...!!)
I presume that you have a list of laws or guidelines that if a poster crosses over, then they will be reprimanded or banned?
Are these laws set in stone? What are they?
Or is it "Left up to the Mods own values and morals within a framework?" by which I mean is it as woolly and vague as our BBFC friends guidelines?
For example, if I wrote something that say, Demdike thought was out of order but Nos thought it was on the line and Biz Eye believed harmless, what would be the outcome?
If one Mod thought that I'd gone too far does he have the authority on his own to reprimand or ban me or would there be a meeting of the Mods? (On Brighton Beach!!)
Apart from being a bully or intimidating others what other criteria would suffice a Mods intervention?
What happens if a Mod takes a particular dislike to someone for reasons of their own and then is "sensitive" to posts from that person....?
We are all human and are susceptible to our own values and morals but that does not mean our own values and morals are the right ones.
So, "King Mod" bans me for writing something he feels is unacceptable on the forum. Do I have an appeal? Can I put forward mitigation as to why I wrote what I did and have a discussion about it sensibly, like adults, or is that it....banned with no recourse or justification except King Mods judgement in the ultimate Ferman-esque way?
What would happen if a lowly poster like me put in a complaint about a Mod? If I said that on most of my posts King Mod made comments that disagree with what I write and now I feel too intimidated to post more...would the same rules apply to the Mod as those the Mod would dish out? Who would decide, the Mods friend, another Mod, the Mod himself??
We have gone through, albeit briefly, the dumbing down of the population and the insidious PC brainwashing that goes on in Western society and have shown that people are all too ready to "decide" that things "offend" them in order to show the rest of us that they are a more enlightened human being than the rest of us Neanderthals, whether the comment was offensive or not. (Blackboard, Baa baa black sheep, that bridge has a slope on it, etc, etc!)
So I write about, say, the legality of zoophillia and MTDS (Ha!) decides that he is "offended" by my musings and complains to King Mod.
The subject is "Censorship" but are some subjects censored?
For example are bestiality, paedophilia, coprophillia, necrophilia, growing illegal substances, bomb making from B&Q 101, etc, just NO-GO area's? Surely on the subject of Censorship everything that is censored is a viable subject to be explored and discussed in a valid manner? (Woah, woah, there Sunny Boy, I'm not advocating anything in the last two questions, okay?)
I have noticed that when people don't like the questions sometimes asked on different forums across the internet, they will pick on one sentence, like the above, and then try and accuse whoever stated it as "Proof Incarnate" that the poster is now advocating such practices and a vile human being. Really? Grow the
up!!
Swearing. Now I don't want to put words into anyone's mouths here but in my experience, everyone uses "bad" language. I do, far too much in my normal conversations - it shows a poor vocabulary - but at times a good old swear word can convey so much more than just profanity. Personally, don't know about you, I also feel it can be cathartic and justified in context but if I write the word **** here, it will change when I post it to something else or will have stars and asterisks obliterating it, losing most of its impact in the process. Why censor a word we all use every day? I could understand if this forum had an age limit of 16 but most of us here have seen Scarface and no one thinks it's a crap film because of the profanity.
At the end of the day I believe we all share the unpalatable truth that censorship is a double edged sword. It IS needed but is then twisted and bent out of all recognition by those that wield it to suit their own vision of what is or isn't acceptable. I'm not suggesting for one minute the Mods on here act like that at all, in fact although I occasionally "rant" (I prefer, "express myself with conviction!"
) I have never had a Mod on here talk to me about my conduct or contributions in an adverse way.....yet. (The day is not done!)
Although I'm interested in how the Mods see their own role in the form of censors, what do the rest of you think.......or are you all worried the Wrath of King Mod will come down on your heads?
Right, gotta dig a foxhole now and hunker down......
