Midnight wrote:takyoji wrote:[*]Creating a more stable and inviting social environment (such as getting rid of members that are irritating everyone
I'd prefer that one was phrased "encouraging members who are irritating everyone to start contributing usefully".
Otherwise I've already got a couple of suggestions of people who might be able to help: PariahPoet and Howlitzer. (I know Howlz is a bit busy at the moment though.)
Thanks for the nomination, Midnight.
I am a bit busy at this time, but I'd try to put in whatever time I can.
In terms of this whole moderator choice thing...I agree. We need more moderators who are willing to do the job (or at least have a good idea as to what needs to be done), and we need to "encourage members who are irritating everyone to start contributing usefully" as Midnight re-phrased there.
Flat-out trying to get rid of irritating members might satisfy some people in the short term, but it's not going to make any friends in the long term...and it probably will make things worse in the long term. Like enemies...which are bad when they have minions.
Personally though, I'm fed up with the result of influxes of irritating members (and I shall name no names, this is a general complaint for any forum I'm at)....particularly those who are oblivious (or seemingly so) to how irritating they actually are. This makes things awkward for more other serious members, particularly ones who have been here longer....and it makes them want to leave. Making other serious members want to leave is exactly the OPPOSITE of contributing usefully. It makes serious members leave, and leaves irritating, immature members behind. Eventually the forum only has a minor semblance of order and stability, and most of the serious members aren't there anymore....just the ones who spew randomness. That kills forums.
This is not the way it should work.
The worst part about it is, these types of people don't necessarily directly attack or insult members, and thus it's dubious at best as to what people should actually DO about their level of disruption in the forum, since they aren't always really breaking any serious rules. But the fact remains that they DO cause problems.
If you, for example:
- Cannot distinguish between an RPG thread and a thread for serious conversation, and insert RPG randomness into a serious conversation.
- Show no regard for the actual topic at hand... as in, you didn't even read any posts in the thread before posting.
- Show little or no effort in the grammatical accuracy of your post.
- Show little or no effort in how much sense your post ACTUALLY MAKES.
- Can't post above the quality and intelligence level of the average YouTube video comment.
- Derail serious threads with needless levels of angst....particularly pre-adolescent angst.
- Post anything in the category "ZOMG I'M A REAL WEREWOLF WHAT SHOULD I DOOOO?!?!?!?!1!shift+one!!"
- Have pointless myspace conversations in random areas of the forum...seriously guys, IM, Email, and Myspace are for this...not this forum.
It makes serious members do this:
- O.o
- ...
- *headpalms*
- *sighs*
- Erm...ok then.
- *awkwardly stares at random post, then doesn't reply*
And thus these members impede the likelihood that a serious member will continue to contribute usefully. Over time, people just leave if it's too annoying or awkward.
If you do this...you should learn to NOT do this if you want to stay here. If you don't, then there should be consequences.
If you are the type to cite free-speech as an excuse as to why we "can't tell you what to do"....then you quite certainly shouldn't be here. People who cite free speech as a mere excuse to be annoying without any consequences to themselves are, by definition, assholes.
Free speech is a good thing....people who take advantage of it for pointlessly irritating purposes make free speech look like a bad thing though. If you fall into this category you need to do some thinking and solve some personal problems before you post here.
I'm not for just kicking people out simply because they've been annoying and I don't like them, but I am for getting rid of people who over time show a complete unwillingness to NOT be like the types of disruptive members I've described above. I'd like it to be brutally clear what level of respect and consideration (beyond the usual written rules) people should learn to have in order to be here. Respect and consideration is not a bad thing, nor should it be an enormous inconvenience for anybody to learn to utilize.
