Quote:
Originally Posted by Winnipesaukee
Those of you who "own" forums and complain of the work... It wouldn't be so much work if you did not insist on policing everything that your users said. Let them say what they want to say. If it is not politically correct, and it is censored, then that shows that Webmaster is prejudiced--for whatever reason--toward those with aggressive opinions--in other words, people that are not like himself.
I realize that this is the InterWeb. There will be people who anonymously insult and criticize me. Fortunately, my skin is thicker than wax paper.
The policy should be something like:
"The purpose of this message board is to provide a forum for the free exchange of ideas. Views may not necessarily represent that of the owner ("Webmaster")." That way he doesn't look bad.
Or, we can take the money approach. If I posted a thread bashing Bizer in the boating forum (look at the top of this page), would he let it stick? Even if true, I'm sure nobody would here my view.
What if Webmaster accidently hopped on the summer bandwagon and sunk his boat? I think it would be too easy or him to pre-censor anything we have to say about his situation.
...
There is a reason our American laws give us so much freedom of speech. I am not trying to legally apply the 1A here, just the principle of it. And that is for hundreds of years, and still now in every country in the world except this one, millions are silenced of their beliefs and opinions by only a handful of people.
Webmaster is trying to be in that handful.
Sure, legally he can do it. He "owns" this forum. And by signing up, we agree to blindly agree to whatever he decides to do with it.
But in this user's opinion, he should stick to mirroring the levels of freedom guaranteed by those much more brilliant than himself (people like our Founding Fathers and SCOTUS justices). Maybe if somebody is really causing a problem, he can ban that user.
XCR, thanks for being a fellow non-sheep.  We're not bad guys, no matter what the Bad Guys say!! |
Since I'm the only poster who stated that they also ran forums, I'd like to address a couple of things about your post...
First - I don't complain when I say it's a lot of work; it's a fact. Raising children is also a lot of work; I don't complain. Keeping a garden is a lot of work; I don't complain.... It's my choice to do the work. It's mostly rewarding and I have no regrets.
Second - It's not about being "politically correct". I will be the first to fight for your right to voice your opinion. If you think the new law in AZ is a bunch of crap or if you embrace it - that is your opinion and you are entitled to it. Ditto for any other issue of the day.
But if you pick a fight with another poster, start name-calling, etc., then you have crossed the lines of reasonable communication, wouldn't you agree?
Some people feel they're bad to the bone when they get behind a keyboard, for some reason. You've read some outrageous posts here in cyberspace (not necessarily winni.com) I'm sure... They hide behind a monitor and a handle while throwing insults; they're really cowards. They say things on the internet they would never say to someone face-to-face.
However... You yourself mention banning a poster who is out of line... We've had folks here on winni.com who were banned for some reason or another, but you've offered the idea here in the same breath while accusing Don of censorship. Sorry, but what's the difference? (Sincere question...)
In a nutshell - slander, hate-speech, harassment, speech provoking people to a fight, including any kind of threat or violence, obscenities (child porn, for example),
are not protected forms of speech. I don't think our Founding Fathers would have argued for folks to have the "right" to use those as freedom of speech.
I don't know about you but I come here because I love the sense of community, love for the lake and the Lakes Region, and (guess what?!) the hot topics of the day. I've never told anyone how they should think; but I have tried to show another side - another point of view - about a situation. I get where Don is coming from - it's not an easy position to be in and implementing a moderation policy can make the forum more difficult to manage but will make people "think twice" before they post.
I'd imagine that if Don kept stats on how many posts he's had to edit or delete after implementing his change in policy, I'd wager it's far less than he had to edit or delete because someone posted something inappropriate.
I'm sure you'll agree that we want this place to be "family friendly" and attract others with similar interests. I don't want to have to hide a screen when my kids walk by because someone has used a "bad word" or posted an inappropriate pic. I can get that junk off Craig's List, if I want that schmutz on my computer (no, thank you).
I don't think anyone came here or signed up for this forum
"blindly" - the rules were on the screen when I signed in. They're no different than most forums I'm a part of, really. I believe we can agree to disagree without name calling or personal attacks - why would you want those things to be OK in the first place? (again, a sincere question...)
Now, if you'll excuse me... I have kids to chase and weeds to pull...