Open message to Tikay/Ironside.

[Colchester Kev]

Chaps, im not sure whether this is gonna go down well, but im a little concerned at the way threads/posts are being ammended/deleted.

To delete a thread is one thing, to change someones words to suit you is quite another, when Redsimon posted in the "Kids" thread he didnt mean to type BRATS, it wasnt a spelling mistake, he meant to type what he actually typed.

If you are going to censor someone, can you do it with **** rather than change the wording completely, as you did in the billy hills thread with Diceman and Ariston.

What really worries me is the fact that people are getting the impression that this forum is becoming a "CLIQUE" and i have been told that by quite a few people both in online and off net discussions.

We have a fantastic place here, and I am very proud of it, I like to tell people about it and "big it up" to people every chance i get. I know its difficult to police and Im not having a pop at anyone, just voicing my concern that we keep things in the spirit that the forum was intended to stand for, and dont discriminate in who/what we find offensive.

 

[Ironside]

kev i altered the wording as the thread was getting a little bit heated and by changing the wording i could take the heat out of the thread without changing the nature of the post, if i had put **** as in the william hills thread i feel that the heats wouldnt have gone down so quickly

i had thought about the post for 10 minutes before deciding what to do as well as listening to others points of view
i dont feel redsimon meant to cause the offence that using that particular word caused and i may be wrong but feel he would be happy with the word brat being used as a subsitute

[RED-DOG]

Ironside, you know I have the greatest respect for you and your integrity, but Im with Kev, up to a point, I think you should remove anything you deem to be offensive, its a horrible job but someone has to do it

I just think that changing someones words means we have your opinion of what they meant to say, and I for one would object to it

Please please take this post in the spirit that was intended

[Ironside]

no problem

i made the alteration as the post i didnt feel was meant to be offensive as it could have been read

i also felt that his view was a valid view (and one that my parents hold and i disagree with)

i could have left the post intact and the thread could of disintergrated into something you would find on other forum

if i had deleted the thread it would be classed as censorship

if redsimon feels i have alter the meaning of his post by altering that word i can go back and delete the post if that is what is prefered by blondites but personally i feel changing the word allowed redsimon to get  his point accross without it seeming so offensive

[snoopy1239]

I believe there is too much fear about having a heated debate.

IMHO it should be kept simple.

-- If someone is abusive, the post is removed.

[redsimon]

When alls said and done this is a moderated forum so the moderators have the right to change posts..maybe ***** would have been better...Thats my last word on the matter

[Ironside]

I believe there is too much fear about having a heated debate.

IMHO it should be kept simple.

-- If someone is abusive, the post is removed.

i dont fear debate but i fear debate turning into pointless fighting

and unless i am asked otherwise i will try and keep debates as debates

giving everyone a chance to air there view without any fighting

[Trace]

For what it's worth, and I'm NOT joking - I am HIGHLY offended about what we were called.

And I also thank those Blondites that jumped to my defence.

[Ironside]

When alls said and done this is a moderated forum so the moderators have the right to change posts..maybe ***** would have been better...Thats my last word on the matter

putting in ***** would still leave the person ivolved feeling insulted and i feel that changing the word didnt lessen your point but it was less insulting

if you feel it changed your message as to have not gotten your point accross just let me know

[Trace]

Ironside hun, leave it be, he made his point perfectly clear.

You know me well enough to know by now that if that had been said anywhere but here, all hell would be breaking loose right now.  I respect this site and it's players, I will try to say nothing more about his disgusting insult, but it WON'T be forgotten.

[Ironside]

Ironside hun, leave it be, he made his point perfectly clear.

You know me well enough to know by now that if that had been said anywhere but here, all hell would be breaking loose right now.  I respect this site and it's players, I will try to say nothing more about his disgusting insult, but it WON'T be forgotten.

trace i changed the word t**t to brat as i felt this was less offensive but if redsimon feels i have alter the meaning of his post by this i will have to remedy this as i am not here to put words into peoples mouths

[RED-DOG]

Well I dont agree, I would not mind at all if one of my posts was deemed to be offensive and removed, in fact I would remove it myself and apologise if asked

But if my words were changed I would be very annoyed, how can someone else know what I want to say?

But kudos again to Ironside for listening to my criticism and putting his side of the argument in a reasonable way

That is proper debate

Your a big man Iron, I might not always agree with you, but I would never doubt your good intentions

[snoopy1239]

Your a big man Iron, I might not always agree with you, but I would never doubt your good intentions

Same here.

With the ever-increasing number of members, such a situation is bound to crop up again. Therefore I feel it is vital that the matter is cleared up asap and everything made crystal clear.

[Ironside]

when i first read simons post i laughed as he sounded like my mum (apart from my mum would never say t**t when tracet reacted i reread simons posts and thought about it then a few other blondites reacted and i got a couple of pm's i understood where both sides of this debate was coming from and i felt that simon didnt intentionaly post with the intention of causing offence, by changing the word to **** left it open to a choice of alot of words including some that were much more offensive by deleting the post i felt i would be deleting a view that has the right to be aired and as i felt it was set out to be offensive i had to edit it in a way as to bring accross the intended meaning without offending, if i had felt the post was meant as an out and out attack then of course i would have deleted the post.

to err is human but to really fouls things up it takes an ironside, i have contacted tikay for advice on this matter but he is in the middle of the sheffiled festival he was of the view that the word wasnt in the keeping of blonde and he also feels that simon isnt the sort to offended for the sake of it he will contact me during the break and i will go into more detail and express your views

[Heid]

Coming from someone who works in online communities for a living, one of the things I stamp firmly into the minds of the moderators I manage, is that posters should attack the posting and NEVER the poster.

Whilst healthy debate is good, once it degrades into insults, then posts should be deleted and education about what is and what isn't acceptable should be imparted to all.

It's easy to forget that all those little names on the sides of postings aren't people, with emotions, but they are, and just because you are only looking at letters on a screen, it doesn't mean that those letters can't hurt.

You shouldn't say anything to someone on a forum you wouldn't be prepared to say to their face in a pub, that's how I live my online life

Ironside, it's never easy being a moderator, you are always going to upset someone if you have to remove something - but if what you do makes 20 odd people happy and one person upset then to quote Star Trek (Heid = uber geek) "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one".

I for one don't feel this forum is cliquey at all - it's very vibrant, lots of fun, and informative, and I felt very welcomed  into it's bosom.

Probs haven't helped, but if I can be of use, PM me, even if it is just someone to talk to about stuff

Heid
xx