Policy discussion

[The_Traveler]

Come on, guys.
Cut it out.
This constant 'you're wrong, I'm right' is really tiresome and insulting to the OP.
It's like having guests fight at your party.

 

[pixmedic]

MOD EDIT - this thread is split off from the following thread:
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/people-photography/339715-practising-portraits-1-a.html

to allow the previous thread to keep with its main topic, whilst allowing this thread to discuss the separate issue of specific policy - note sorry about the slight confusion as two mods acted upon the same thread at the same time (its rare and most of the time this happens we just end up deleting the same spam post).


well now... isn't this familiar.
since methods of moderation have come into question lately, I would like to take this opportunity to toss out a few options and see which one you guys think would provide the best solution for a thread on the verge of getting locked. Really, i am serious. what would best bring this thread under control with the least hassle?

I could simply issue a warning here. *warning* thread will get locked if fighting continues. (or infractions given out)
I could delete offending and off topic comments and just let the thread continue, possibly in junction with the above warning.
I could issue infractions to the offending parties, possibly in conjunction with the above warning and post deletions.
I could issue a temp ban to offending parties, possibly in conjunction with the post deletions.

now, I realize I probably sound like an ass right about now...but fights break out, threads get locked, and people complain that the thread got locked.
infractions get handed out, and people complain about getting one. someone gets a temp ban for fighting, and suddenly mods are jack booted forum thugs.
i am not really a fan of locking threads. I think it is usually a disservice to the forum community, and i don't really want to spend a bunch of time combing through pages of comments trying to hand pick which comments need to be deleted, and who quoted the offending stuff, and have the thread full of comments that dont make sense because the previous ones were deleted.

so...can this thread get by with just a warning and have everything continue smoothly without further snide remarks? please?
because if it cant, someone will most certainly come along and be more than happy to lock it down. and nobody wants that to happen, do they?
I appreciate everyone's cooperation in this matter.

EDIT: oops, sorry...Overread stepped in while i was posting.

 

[The_Traveler]

eye contact is key for a portrait to work.

Thank You - Will try and work on the eye contact next time.

Have been reading and it says that no white space on top and bottom of eyelid and make sure pupil is dilated JUST enough to get a good eye. ---- IS THIS CORRECT???

Try not to worry about the 'RULES'

Concentrate on making photos that are pleasing to you and others and you will come to understand what works best.

 

[Gavjenks]

I could delete offending and off topic comments and just let the thread continue, possibly in junction with the above warning.

This is not a great idea, for the reason that I now am not really sure at all what you're even referring to if you delete stuff.

For instance, Derrel and I? (which seems not particularly dirty fighting, and fairly relevant to the OP, but perhaps you disagree)

Or are you talking about whatever this mystery content was that was deleted? In which case it's pretty hard to comment on policy without knowing what the policy is about.

 

[pixmedic]

I could delete offending and off topic comments and just let the thread continue, possibly in junction with the above warning.

This is not a great idea, for the reason that I now am not really sure at all what you're even referring to if you delete stuff.

For instance, Derrel and I? (which seems not particularly dirty fighting, and fairly relevant to the OP, but perhaps you disagree)

Or are you talking about whatever this mystery content was that was deleted? In which case it's pretty hard to comment on policy without knowing what the policy is about.

well, I didn't delete any comments so...not sure why you are referring that one to me.
as for "mystery content" and "not being able to refer to deleted content", I actually mentioned that exact thing as a possible issue in my first post.
I was just throwing it out there as a possible solution rather than locking the thread.
as for policy...thats all in the forums FAQ's. Photography Forum & Digital Photography Forum FAQ

I cant speak for other Mods....but I would rather NOT lock any thread. so, to avoid that, there has to be some other form of moderation tactic used.
im just trying to figure out which one would work the best. Not necessarily for this thread in particular, but in general for threads that start circling the drain.
ideally, the solution is for people to simply not hit the reply button when they are propagating an argument, or otherwise have something not nice to say.

 

[Ilovemycam]

Come on, guys.
Cut it out.
This constant 'you're wrong, I'm right' is really tiresome and insulting to the OP.
It's like having guests fight at your party.

That is how it is with public forums Traveler. People have much more courage when anonymous. Some forums are better than others.

 

[kathyt]

I think the constant thread locking is super annoying. Survival of the fittest.

 

[manicmike]

Infractions for everybody!

But seriously, start handing those out and tell people to knock it off. I would think individual infractions would go farther than a whole thread getting locked.

 

[tirediron]

I think the constant thread locking is super annoying. Survival of the fittest.

I think "constant" might be just a little bit of an overstatement Kathy; I've been involved in a lot of forums, and in my experience, this one has a very low incidence of "lockage". Without actually doing the math, I'm guessing on average we lock 1-2 threads a week. Compare that with the number of new threads... unless someone deliberately starts a 'hot-button' topic (guns, digital/film, religion, etc) the chances of any one thread getting locked are pretty small.

 

[tirediron]

Infractions for everybody!

But seriously, start handing those out and tell people to knock it off. I would think individual infractions would go farther than a whole thread getting locked.

Bear in mind that infractions are only seen by those who receive them (and the moderators/admins). There are quite a few infractions and 'short-term vacations' handed out. We work very hard to keep threads on track and deal with members who push the rules. You can bet that if a thread has been locked, that is almost never the only action that took place; it's the only one you may see, but there's lots of action in the background!

 

[kathyt]

I think the constant thread locking is super annoying. Survival of the fittest.

I think "constant" might be just a little bit of an overstatement Kathy; I've been involved in a lot of forums, and in my experience, this one has a very low incidence of "lockage". Without actually doing the math, I'm guessing on average we lock 1-2 threads a week. Compare that with the number of new threads... unless someone deliberately starts a 'hot-button' topic (guns, digital/film, religion, etc) the chances of any one thread getting locked are pretty small.

I would beg to differ.

 

[tirediron]

Beg away!

 

[pixmedic]

I think the constant thread locking is super annoying. Survival of the fittest.

I think "constant" might be just a little bit of an overstatement Kathy; I've been involved in a lot of forums, and in my experience, this one has a very low incidence of "lockage". Without actually doing the math, I'm guessing on average we lock 1-2 threads a week. Compare that with the number of new threads... unless someone deliberately starts a 'hot-button' topic (guns, digital/film, religion, etc) the chances of any one thread getting locked are pretty small.

I would beg to differ.

i guess my math skills must not be very good, because im not really seeing a "lot" of locked threads. heck, i would say that at least half of our locked threads are spam or duplicate threads, not at all related to actual member actions.
since you obviously have already run the numbers Kathy, could you please enlighten us as to the number of locked threads versus non locked threads?
you can use whatever time frame you used for your initial statement.

 

[tirediron]

Well... looking at almost 200 of the most recent threads, the only one I see locked was one in the Buy & Sell forum where the item was sold and locked at the seller's request. Not really sure that counts.... YMMV.

 

[pixmedic]

Well... looking at almost 200 of the most recent threads, the only one I see locked was one in the Buy & Sell forum where the item was sold and locked at the seller's request. Not really sure that counts.... YMMV.

OMG! out of control mods!