Why members leave TPF

[kundalini]

...but then that would be 2 days before the thread was made?

Anticipation, my man, anticipation.


Sorry, fat fingers on the keyboard today. It should've been three days.... Thread started Sunday morning (my time). :blushing:

 

[itznfb]

or was that quantum leap?

Great show. I still think Sliders was better.

 

[MrRamonG]

Yeah, Chiller left, so did Joemc, BigTwinky,

all gone....

Why did BigTwinky leave?

 

[bigtwinky]

Is there any point in moderating a poop flinging contest?

Not a knock on you Mike or anyone in particular, but isn't the point of moderating that you should not be allowing the flinging and taking action on the poop flinging should it happen to ensure that it is not flung too far?

EDIT

Why did BigTwinky leave?

Sent you a PM, dont want to rehash here.

 

[Big Mike]

Not a knock on you Mike or anyone in particular, but isn't the point of moderating that you should not be allowing the flinging and taking action on the poop flinging should it happen to ensure that it is not flung too far?

In essence, yes. And that's mostly how it used to happen, but on a forum this size, it's going to happen anyway.
It used to be a lot easier to identify the main poop flingers and it was easier to just send them on their way. Now, we have plenty of members who contribute a lot of positive stuff to the forum, but also like to toss some poo now and then. Part of that issue is that even the poo flingers have friends and followers, so any action by the authorities can result in a fair amount of backlash. Not that we are afraid of that, but we are generally smart enough to know that it's smart to pick your battles.

Personally, I'm not all that concerned about these poop flinging type threads & discussions. They always seem to involve the same people, or at least the same type of people. Some of these people are going to fling poop, whether we moderate them or not. Some will get mad when we do intervene, others will get mad when we don't.
In short, you can't please all of the people, all of the time. And after all, this is an internet forum. Nobody is here because they are being forced to be here.

This forum has changed...A LOT, over the years. It's gone though all sorts of growing pains and it has evolved and devolved here and there. Rather than enlist 20 moderators, we have largely let the members drive the general direction of the ship.

Looking at the big picture, the forum gets a lot of new members every day....most of then are new to photography. This has resulted in an overall forum that is much closer to the beginner's level, than than it is to the top....and as such, many members eventually find that they have little to learn around here. Some of us like to teach, and help out those who are new a full of questions...and that, I think, has been the main focus/purpose of this forum. The poop flinging in the back room, falls lower on the priority list.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Just wondering, but what would you class as "moderation" in this instance? Thread lock? Consign to the Trash Can? Or somehow try to play peacemaker in between a number of people who don't seem to hold each other in particularly high regard?

The original topic was on the subject of even handedness. It's a point I fully understand and can only seek to improve on should that be something I'm perceived to be guilty of - not that anyone has said anything specific about the way I moderate in that regard.

For the most part, the rest of this thread has been about letting off steam as far as I can see. I still can't quite see how even-handedness relates to people leaving, though plenty of what follows I can. Interspersed, with that we've had a whole bunch of stuff that's even further off-topic. The only saving grace for me in all this is that a) it's in the feedback section, and b) it seems to have kept most of the friction out of other threads for a while.

So what next then? Is it back to the original topic or do we just shut it off here and wait until the next flare up occurs?

 

[itznfb]

I think the mods should just start banning everyone that complains about how crappy this forum is. Just leave. You don't need to announce your leaving, or announce that other people have left. Just leave.

Just my smiling opinion

 

[kundalini]

Sorry, fat fingers on the keyboard today. It should've been three days.... Thread started Sunday morning (my time). :blushing:

..... AND COULD I BORROW SOMEBODY'S CALCULATOR & CALENDAR AS WELL?

 

[Rekd]

we have plenty of members who contribute a lot of positive stuff to the forum, but also like to toss some poo now and then.

And all this time I thought I was transparent about this. Guess it's more obvious than I thought.

On a side note, I'm an admin for a forum that has over 142,000 members. We've got the usual suspects, but we keep things locked down pretty tight. The mods are at it all the time, and I must say, it's much more boring that this forum can get. I admit to getting out of hand once or twice here, and will gladly tone it down when instructed to. But if there was no leeway relating to a spirited conversation it would get boring quick.

I think the mods here are just about as active as they need to be. It's not easy knowing when to say when, but these guys do a great job, all things considered.

I think the mods should just start banning everyone that complains ...
Just my smiling opinion

:twak: Some people shouldn't be allowed to think for themselves.

 

[DennyCrane]

Personally, I've found the mod's best action in threads like those is to delete the posts that have personal attacks, and post a reminder to attack the points of discussion, and not the other members. And of course a tactical PM behind the scenes, too, works.

Edit: And mentioning Shatner and Shatner characters enhances any difficult situation.

 

[manaheim]

Not a knock on you Mike or anyone in particular, but isn't the point of moderating that you should not be allowing the flinging and taking action on the poop flinging should it happen to ensure that it is not flung too far?

In essence, yes. And that's mostly how it used to happen, but on a forum this size, it's going to happen anyway.
It used to be a lot easier to identify the main poop flingers and it was easier to just send them on their way. Now, we have plenty of members who contribute a lot of positive stuff to the forum, but also like to toss some poo now and then. Part of that issue is that even the poo flingers have friends and followers, so any action by the authorities can result in a fair amount of backlash. Not that we are afraid of that, but we are generally smart enough to know that it's smart to pick your battles.

Personally, I'm not all that concerned about these poop flinging type threads & discussions. They always seem to involve the same people, or at least the same type of people. Some of these people are going to fling poop, whether we moderate them or not. Some will get mad when we do intervene, others will get mad when we don't.
In short, you can't please all of the people, all of the time. And after all, this is an internet forum. Nobody is here because they are being forced to be here.

This forum has changed...A LOT, over the years. It's gone though all sorts of growing pains and it has evolved and devolved here and there. Rather than enlist 20 moderators, we have largely let the members drive the general direction of the ship.

Looking at the big picture, the forum gets a lot of new members every day....most of then are new to photography. This has resulted in an overall forum that is much closer to the beginner's level, than than it is to the top....and as such, many members eventually find that they have little to learn around here. Some of us like to teach, and help out those who are new a full of questions...and that, I think, has been the main focus/purpose of this forum. The poop flinging in the back room, falls lower on the priority list.

I think this is the most nicely written assessment of the situation here on TPF that I have seen to date. :thumbup: