Discussion of the "new guidelines"
12-21-2008, 11:08 AM
#1
Lifetime Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Discussion of the "new guidelines"
I thought it would be good to discuss the so-called ‘new’ posting guidelines here. Each forum has it’s own personality, so it seems appropriate to have some of this discussion in this forum. Discussions about which key is best are just not appropriate in this section but fine in some of the model specific forums. Some forums may have the personality to be 100% technical but this one has always had a moderate amount of OT stuff and is part of the personality (note MODERATE amount).
To start, these guidelines are not really new – they are pretty much what each and every one of us agreed to when we signed up for Rennlist. If you have been here for less than 2-3 years, then it may seem like a change, but the fact is that things have gotten somewhat out of control and the Admins and Moderators are going to work to move this site back to what it has been for more than 10 years. I respect the opinions of those who have been here a couple of years, but the fact is that you do not know the longer history and long term personality of Rennlist. Rennlist has been a community with great technical content and the ability to have some fun. We simply do not want to be a forum where the loudest voice wins, regardless of whether they are technically correct or not.
Let me start with what some feel is a huge change and a big brother concept – demerits. Folks, we have a choice – either we come down hard on each and every violation, resulting in immediate vacations or banning, or we give people a chance. After all, we all have bad days and we all will interpret certain guidelines somewhat differently. There has always been such a system, but it was not formal. Rather, moderators would informally keep track of repeated violations and come down harder when certain behaviors were not corrected after warnings. Rennlist has grown beyond where such a system works anymore so we have decided to use a feature in the software that will track infractions. If you don’t like the concept of notification and warnings, I am sure we would be happy to just outright ban you if you cross the line the first time.
This also raises another aspect – the gray area of behavior. There are many things you can do once or twice, but if you keep it up over and over and over, it becomes a problem. As an example, think about a kid dropping a plate – maybe it was an accident and maybe it was from being mad. It happens once and some minor action is appropriate. But the same kid starts breaking a plate each and every day – it is clear this is not an accident and it is a much bigger problem than doing this one time. The same is true here – you keep up with behaviors that are not acceptable, over and over and over, and action will be taken. Examples would be repeatedly taking threads off topic – it is fine to have some fun and drift off topic sometimes. But if you insist on doing this to almost every thread you participate in, then I suggest you take you posts to the OT forum, where the rules are different. Another example is mild insults – you may venture into the gray area and not get warned, but keep doing it over and over and you will get a warning or other. Doing something 20 times will not be compared to someone else doing the same thing only once – this is a community and there is a lot of gray area to make sure this is the place it should be.
History – Rennlist started many years ago as an email list. John started it, ran it and moderated it. It grew to a web board with multiple sections. John got help to moderate it. Some years ago, we switched to a new web format and it has grown. The concept of one or even two moderators on a section with John handling most of the issues is long gone. IB is the owner and John participates but has other interests as well. The activity level has skyrocketed and one moderator cannot always keep up with a board as we all have lives and businesses to take care of. Like most here, we are active some times and gone sometimes. In the past, moderators of one area tried to stay away from moderating other sections. We can see that this often does not work as Rennlist has grown and will continue to grow. So we are not having all moderators help with any and all sections, as needed. The infraction system will help us be fair and not over-react to a single issue but also respond to repeated problems.
Finally, please make sure you read the posting guidelines referenced at the top of the forum. Then, please try to abide by them.
I hope this helps everyone better understand what we are doing, trying to do and want to do with Rennlist. It has become a much nastier place than it used to be and that is not what we want.
To start, these guidelines are not really new – they are pretty much what each and every one of us agreed to when we signed up for Rennlist. If you have been here for less than 2-3 years, then it may seem like a change, but the fact is that things have gotten somewhat out of control and the Admins and Moderators are going to work to move this site back to what it has been for more than 10 years. I respect the opinions of those who have been here a couple of years, but the fact is that you do not know the longer history and long term personality of Rennlist. Rennlist has been a community with great technical content and the ability to have some fun. We simply do not want to be a forum where the loudest voice wins, regardless of whether they are technically correct or not.
Let me start with what some feel is a huge change and a big brother concept – demerits. Folks, we have a choice – either we come down hard on each and every violation, resulting in immediate vacations or banning, or we give people a chance. After all, we all have bad days and we all will interpret certain guidelines somewhat differently. There has always been such a system, but it was not formal. Rather, moderators would informally keep track of repeated violations and come down harder when certain behaviors were not corrected after warnings. Rennlist has grown beyond where such a system works anymore so we have decided to use a feature in the software that will track infractions. If you don’t like the concept of notification and warnings, I am sure we would be happy to just outright ban you if you cross the line the first time.
This also raises another aspect – the gray area of behavior. There are many things you can do once or twice, but if you keep it up over and over and over, it becomes a problem. As an example, think about a kid dropping a plate – maybe it was an accident and maybe it was from being mad. It happens once and some minor action is appropriate. But the same kid starts breaking a plate each and every day – it is clear this is not an accident and it is a much bigger problem than doing this one time. The same is true here – you keep up with behaviors that are not acceptable, over and over and over, and action will be taken. Examples would be repeatedly taking threads off topic – it is fine to have some fun and drift off topic sometimes. But if you insist on doing this to almost every thread you participate in, then I suggest you take you posts to the OT forum, where the rules are different. Another example is mild insults – you may venture into the gray area and not get warned, but keep doing it over and over and you will get a warning or other. Doing something 20 times will not be compared to someone else doing the same thing only once – this is a community and there is a lot of gray area to make sure this is the place it should be.
History – Rennlist started many years ago as an email list. John started it, ran it and moderated it. It grew to a web board with multiple sections. John got help to moderate it. Some years ago, we switched to a new web format and it has grown. The concept of one or even two moderators on a section with John handling most of the issues is long gone. IB is the owner and John participates but has other interests as well. The activity level has skyrocketed and one moderator cannot always keep up with a board as we all have lives and businesses to take care of. Like most here, we are active some times and gone sometimes. In the past, moderators of one area tried to stay away from moderating other sections. We can see that this often does not work as Rennlist has grown and will continue to grow. So we are not having all moderators help with any and all sections, as needed. The infraction system will help us be fair and not over-react to a single issue but also respond to repeated problems.
Finally, please make sure you read the posting guidelines referenced at the top of the forum. Then, please try to abide by them.
I hope this helps everyone better understand what we are doing, trying to do and want to do with Rennlist. It has become a much nastier place than it used to be and that is not what we want.
