Some of us have been around long enough to remember the kerfuffles that erupted on the old BBC site many many years ago. Ah, the old Solicitors letter posting.
I think I know who you're talking about, although I've not been here long, so I may be wrong. I'm a mod (unpaid) on another forum. It basically consists of an hour or so a week deleting spam and the occasional PM to ask for specific language or terms to be changed - often it's done without malice and the poster will self edit after a quiet word. You do get the odd incident with someone trolling but it's a much quieter forum than this, so it's not happened lately. In my experience, the big problems are more often the subject rather than the posters, when people feel very strongly about a subject and will not let it go when someone disagrees, and that escalates into all out war. The one occasion I know about where a forum was shut down, it was that sort of issue, not just one wrong 'un or lost soul trying to get attention
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
If someone sent me an offensive PM, I would copy and post it immediately.
Oh so would I @ B3! But these folk were part of a little group, friends of someone who saw themself as their ‘leader’ … and they went along with it until one of them realised it was wrong …
Anyway, those days are gone … let’s move on 😊
I remember some trouble and 'Ms Bargain hunt'. She sent me a nasty PM prior to the big eruption. I probably should have reported it but didn't. I never really found out what happened, missed all the fireworks.
Based in Sussex, I garden to encourage as many birds to my garden as possible.
I have seen recently what's been going on and choose to ignore it can't be doing with all the drama or the childish behaviour, I come here to talk about plants with like minded people not to have slanging match over a keyboard, the majority of people wouldn't say half the thing they say over the internet than in person.
I am more curious and which past forum members were sending nasty PM , fortunately I've not been on the receiving end of any PM's.
It wasn’t quite like that though Perki. We would have people asking about plants and she was giving the wrong information. If you had very chalky alkaline soil and some recommended that you plant rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas , you’d be very disappointed with your results. giving out wrong information is worse than giving none.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
It wasn’t quite like that though Perki. We would have people asking about plants and she was giving the wrong information. If you had very chalky alkaline soil and some recommended that you plant rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas , you’d be very disappointed with your results. giving out wrong information is worse than giving none.
I were referring to the slanging match after the person was corrected / refused to be corrected.
The forum does seem much more peaceful in the last few years. I admin local groups and had to shut one down for good, a few years ago, as it got so nasty and personal - all the more viscious as they were neighbours. There was talk of law suits and some people actually moved house to get away from some deeply unpleasant people who made threats. There is so much history with families who have lived in the neighbourhood for many generations - ongoing feuds over decades, racial politics, vendettas that I had no idea about. Just horrible.
Courtesy has to be the bottom line - without it a group can't really function. I think mods have to be neutral people outside the forum, else things can feel too cliquey and too personal.
There are lots of forums which have mods who are contributors to the forum itself. It works very well, as far as I know.
I think some people are commenting on this recent 'problem' without realising the entirety of it, despite people consistently stating otherwise - over and over again.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I think mods have to be neutral people outside the forum, else things can feel too cliquey and too personal.
I agree. I belong to a number of different forums (fora?) based a wide range of interests & topics and have noticed a number of trends or observations. Neutral mods with clear & strong moderation is essential. GWF is IMHO too weakly moderated and would be a better place with stronger moderation. Mods who are also long term contributors, often results in upset & accusations of bias & bullying - it happens. Cliques will happen - in almost all forums. Forums that stick to the topic in hand are (generally) more harmonious. Off topic subjects that are subject to strong polarised views cause the most arguments - politics, climate debate, religion etc. Forums will attract very good but equally very bad advice ...as in forums, as in life - being able to discriminate should be fairly easy. Forums will also attract a wide variety of people from vastly different backgrounds - we're not all going to get on. Almost all are nothing more than usernames - I don't know who or what anybody on most of the forums I inhabit are really like. A lot no doubt are nothing like their online persona. I do enjoy forums but I'm not the kind of person for whom they form an important part of my life - even remotely to be brutally frank, but I fully appreciate for some it is - even a lifeline - so my perspective is probably slightly different in that most 'argy bargy' on a forum I can very easily ignore.
Posts
And I just stumbled on here to ask a few, simple questions about growing mi fruit and veg
I never realised what a hotbed of nastiness lurked underneath!
In my experience, the big problems are more often the subject rather than the posters, when people feel very strongly about a subject and will not let it go when someone disagrees, and that escalates into all out war. The one occasion I know about where a forum was shut down, it was that sort of issue, not just one wrong 'un or lost soul trying to get attention
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I am more curious and which past forum members were sending nasty PM , fortunately I've not been on the receiving end of any PM's.
If you had very chalky alkaline soil and some recommended that you plant rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas , you’d be very disappointed with your results.
giving out wrong information is worse than giving none.
I think some people are commenting on this recent 'problem' without realising the entirety of it, despite people consistently stating otherwise - over and over again.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I belong to a number of different forums (fora?) based a wide range of interests & topics and have noticed a number of trends or observations.
Neutral mods with clear & strong moderation is essential. GWF is IMHO too weakly moderated and would be a better place with stronger moderation.
Mods who are also long term contributors, often results in upset & accusations of bias & bullying - it happens.
Cliques will happen - in almost all forums.
Forums that stick to the topic in hand are (generally) more harmonious.
Off topic subjects that are subject to strong polarised views cause the most arguments - politics, climate debate, religion etc.
Forums will attract very good but equally very bad advice ...as in forums, as in life - being able to discriminate should be fairly easy.
Forums will also attract a wide variety of people from vastly different backgrounds - we're not all going to get on. Almost all are nothing more than usernames - I don't know who or what anybody on most of the forums I inhabit are really like. A lot no doubt are nothing like their online persona.
I do enjoy forums but I'm not the kind of person for whom they form an important part of my life - even remotely to be brutally frank, but I fully appreciate for some it is - even a lifeline - so my perspective is probably slightly different in that most 'argy bargy' on a forum I can very easily ignore.