A call for mod action and user restraint

[MicHughV]

whoops....forgot the splash of sriracha sauce....my bad...

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

how 'bout sum oysters on a cracker, I do a mean oyster cracker....a dash of onion, a hint of caviar, some horseradish.....wash it down with your white merlot....yum.....

glad to be of service here.....my pleasure

Would I need to wear a blazer, and shoes and socks ? Sounds way out of my social boat scum level.

[theDangerz]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Would I need to wear a blazer, and shoes and socks ? Sounds way out of my social boat scum level.

You lost me at shoes and socks...

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by theDangerz

You lost me at shoes and socks...

So you are good for blazer

I fall further down the boat scum ladder

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by hpeer

While I generally agree there is one class of incident where I do wish for some further moderation. The example that comes to mind is climate change. When tuis topic comes up there is a small cadre of folks that overwhelm it with negative comments. This then crew ip the topic for those that do want to have a sensible conversation.

So i would like to see someplace here where we could have those conversations without all the negative noise. And I would also support a place for the “antis” to congregate and voice their opinion. Perhaps another example would be “mono vs cat”, I don't know.

So I would vote for someplace for some “protected” conversation because there are those who just want to **** on others topics, and then just leaving the thread empowers that bad behavior.

I am not certain how to do this kind of moderation. And of course it would only work if some mod(s) agreed to the effort.

2¢.

Sadly, I concur. For some odd reason, CF seems to harbour a disproportionate number of rather fervent opponents to the mere notion of anthropocentric climate change. It's why I now stay away from most such discussions here.

I note the same vociferousness does not occur on SN, which is the other forum you and I participate in. So it is possible to have reasonable and rational discussions on this topic. Just not here.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Off Trail

I know I'm just a newbie here, but the epiphany for me was to hit "ignore" on the ENTIRE Covid forum.

Night and day difference in the forum experience [emoji3]

Dan

Exactly .

Offense requires two active parties; one to give offense and one to take it. As the old wisdom says: You can't change others. You can only change yourself. So if you can't restrain yourself from reading threads that offend you, or hearing from people who annoy you, then use the "ignore" option. They work great.

[theDangerz]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

So you are good for blazer

I fall further down the boat scum ladder

Um... also a hard no.
Unless maybe it's replacing the shorts/trunks

We should probably just stick with the current dress code... No shoes (or socks), no shirt (or blazer) - no problems!

[Eclectic Always]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Yes

I like cheap wines, Beringer White Merlot
Just orginal Ritz cracklers are fine and perfered
Cheese - chedder, jack, swiss etc. are good. As long as not the smelly foot cheese it is good

Thanks for doing this.

White Merlot? Is that actually a thing?

Makes my cheap swill sound better.

Don’t knock my Roquefort, though. That stinky stuff is delicious.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Would I need to wear a blazer, and shoes and socks ? Sounds way out of my social boat scum level.

Naah.. your hanging out with crackers, casual is fine..
Now cucumber sandwiches...

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by hpeer

While I generally agree there is one class of incident where I do wish for some further moderation. The example that comes to mind is climate change. When tuis topic comes up there is a small cadre of folks that overwhelm it with negative comments. This then crew ip the topic for those that do want to have a sensible conversation.

So i would like to see someplace here where we could have those conversations without all the negative noise. And I would also support a place for the “antis” to congregate and voice their opinion. Perhaps another example would be “mono vs cat”, I don't know.

So I would vote for someplace for some “protected” conversation because there are those who just want to **** on others topics, and then just leaving the thread empowers that bad behavior.

I dunno about this idea. CF is a cruising forum, not Facebook. So I don't see the point of encouraging further off-topic posting, especially where you're proposing that dissent be suppressed. Plenty of places other than CF for topics with zero connection to cruising.

Re your mention of climate change as a recurring donnybrook, maybe such discussions could theoretically proceed if all the posts had a scientific point, but the issue itself is so poisoned that it's impossible to have that when one side asserts that the science is corrupt and wrong? Do you toss every comment that doesn't have a paper behind it?

Originally Posted by valhalla360

The ironic thing is...I would estimate upwards of 50% of the political drift with comments on the US system is from non-US posters. Many have only a sketchy idea of what is happening or only see it thru their point of view. Some I'm sure are just trying to poke a nerve and sometimes they do hit one.

From the perspective of one such non-American, I sometimes jump in when the opinions here are very US-centric and mostly from one perspective... becoming just another US political echo chamber. That's as much of a problem, in a global forum.

American politics has always been rough and tumble...

... which further highlights that maybe CF isn't the proper venue for US-style politicking? A bit more UN on CF, a bit less MAGA?

Remaining thought - trolls. Basically the people who are showing up in a discussion simply to get a rise out of somebody, with no genuine point to make. There's been an uptick in them finding CF, over maybe the last two years? How about... CF punishes trolling (aka provocation that doesn't inform but simply annoys, often with an obvious and previously discredited falsehood), leaving only the people who genuinely want to have an honest discussion or debate?

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Eclectic Always

White Merlot? Is that actually a thing?

White merlot is not actually a white wine. It's a style of blush wine made from black-skinned merlot grapes that undergo a short period of skin contact before the grape skins are removed from the juice, yielding a light pink wine.


Not to be confused with Merlot Blanc which is a white grape, a hybrid of Merlot and Folle blanche

[MicHughV]

a "blazer" ???...what's dat ??? Is it a boat part....???

an' all dis udder stuff you mention..."shoes"..."socks" ??? what's dat ??...never heard of dese things....

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

...but the issue itself is so poisoned that it's impossible to have that when one side asserts that the science is corrupt and wrong? Do you toss every comment that doesn't have a paper behind it?

...I sometimes jump in when the opinions here are very US-centric and mostly from one perspective... becoming just another US political echo chamber. That's as much of a problem, in a global forum.

...Remaining thought - trolls. Basically the people who are showing up in a discussion simply to get a rise out of somebody, with no genuine point to make. There's been an uptick in them finding CF, over maybe the last two years? How about... CF punishes trolling (aka provocation that doesn't inform but simply annoys, often with an obvious and previously discredited falsehood), leaving only the people who genuinely want to have an honest discussion or debate?

I think there's a lot of truth in the above.

My only concern is that we self-censor to avoid rants from one-sided political bigots. One way to win an argument is to throw a tantrum every time someone brings up a subject about which you know you're going to lose in a reasoned debate.

[Group9]

I have this little wheel on the top on my mouse that I can move with my finger, and go right past comments or posters, that I don't I feel like reading.

If only there was one for real life that worked like that!

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

...Remaining thought - trolls. Basically the people who are showing up in a discussion simply to get a rise out of somebody, with no genuine point to make. There's been an uptick in them finding CF, over maybe the last two years? How about... CF punishes trolling (aka provocation that doesn't inform but simply annoys, often with an obvious and previously discredited falsehood), leaving only the people who genuinely want to have an honest discussion or debate?

I agree with your assessment that there's been an uptick in trolling here. It's a bit of a giveaway when a new member who has very few posts suddenly start bombarding threads with abrasive comments.

That said, who defines what a "troll" is? I'm certain many of us have posts which would fall into any generalization of this category. And one person's trolling comment might be another person's insightful jab. To use a rather extreme example, Jonathan Swift's "modest proposal" would certainly have qualified as a trolling comment. Should Swift have been punished? (actually, I think he was...).

To rely on the mods to decide who is worthy, and who is not, places an unfair (and untenable) burden on this small group of people. My preference is allow the community to manage itself.

Functioning communities have always managed "trolls." Through ostracization, or simply ignoring them, these folks usually get the message. When others stop playing their games, these folks usually scuttle away.

So I think the answer is not to invoke the mod police every time one of these trolls shows up. It adds to the mods already heavy work load. The better solution is for everyone to ignore them (the trolls, not the mods ).

BTW, if you are being harassed, or feel threatened, then I'm all for calling the mod-squad. And I have no qualms flagging overtly insulting comments. People who cannot at least maintain the veneer of civility need not be tolerated. That's what the little "Report Post" icon is for.

(Although, I have never used it for that).