Forum editing overkill

Chip = a small piece of wood.

Chip = Chester Brown

I will not drop this until I get my autograph!

You know, I noticed an odd moderator edit, yesterday. A certain forum member, who appears within this very thread, posted something about wanting to pool tsunami relief funds with other SL groups involved in fundraising. The moderator's edit stated that the post was edited for a personal attack. What in the world? I obviously didn't see the original post, but given the context of that particular post, it struck me as odd that it was edited at all.

Generally speaking, I am opposed to censorship. Is it unreasonable to expect that we can take care of ourselves, thank you very much? Using the little forum reporting icon, IMO, should be a last resort when personal attempts at squelching griefing-like behavior have gone un-heeded.

I concede that forum moderation is neither a fun or easy task. However, for it to be considered a help vs. a hindrance, there must be clear standards and processes that are applied evenly regardless of the who or the what.

no no, it's "very small rock," and yes, I am actually a witch. Get it right Devlin

Paolo, if it was one of Jauani's posts the edited tag is bogus and is on all his posts.

Doh! I am so unobservant LOL.

I agree with Cris here. First of all, the illusion that the forums are PG is a farce and I for one finally gave up and treat them as they really are, mature themed conversation between ADULTS. If there REALLY aren’t kids in SL we can say fuck, shit, damn, hell as often as we want without offending anyone.

From my experience the censorship, that’s what it is so why call it anything else i.e. editing, doesn’t make a lot of sense. Someone can be edited for calling someone a nut but it is perfectly fine to tell someone to fuck off. That causes more problems than it solves.

I contend that in a forum full of consenting adults, don’t read a post if you don’t consent to wanting to know what someone has to say, there is absolutely no valid reason for censorship at all. We are all big boys and girls here and can take care of ourselves. Wouldn’t it save SL a bunch of headaches if they dropped censorship altogether and focused on things that really matter like keeping SL up and running?

Selective censorship does nothing positive for the community and I contend that as evidence of their track record it is too big a job anyway. Why do it at all, drop the whole damn thing and let Jeska do something more interesting with her time than moderating a bunch of cat fights. That’s my .02 worth.

Here Here, now pass me the popcorn Billy as I wanna see what they come up with against that while Im eating. Oh and don't bogart the beer either just cause your setting on the cooler doesnt mean I cant have one....


((yes, Cris I know its Billy Grace and not the "Other" Billy...LOL))

I feel so, so, left out. I wasn't in that thread. And I didn't get a warning about TOS violations -- I never have in my life, and I'm beginning to think I never will. And I don't even know what the fuck is up.

I do want to take this opportunity however to say that the name "Billy Grace" is hellaciously cool and hot, and the title "Land Market Facilitator," well...I wish I'd thought of it, what can I say....

I think an equally if not more appropriate thread might be "forum complaining overkill."

Interesting thread. The problems with this board revolve around the inconsistent moderation. The so-called eight year olds get away with what they will because the Linden moderators are selectively enforcing their own rules. Like most kids, someone here acting like a baby will push and push and push as long as they can get away with it.

What puzzles me is not the amount of time to get the troublemakers but how the Lindens occasionally grow a spine and pick a random target to make an example out of. I don't quite understand the methodology there. I know they want to protect their most valuable customers and follow their posts around making sure they are safe. It is this random selection that is troublesome. That points to bad management and organization.

Oh well, I've learned in my short time here that if you don't swear you are generally OK. If you do swear you may or may not have issues, and that if you are politically incorrect you are screwed. In a thread where bodily harm was threatened and people were calling each other every name in the book, the post that was edited was because someone used the word 'handicapped.'

Oh also, don't use words related to female genitalia. They seem to be OK with throwing out whatever you want to refer to males but seem to be really uncomfortable with female anatomy.

Now damnit Billy, I promised Trinity I would be nice to you, and now you made it easy for me lol. I agree with you 100% - great post.

*passes the popcorn, lots of butter and just the right amount of salt*

um... errr... sorry about that. Just tell me when ya are thirsty.
*pops an ice cold Sam Adams Double Bach and gives it to Shadow*

There is another Billy?
*looks around*

WOO HOOO!!! A fan!!!

*blushes*

Thanks Prokofy. I would say something nice about your name but I have to admit that I have no earthly idea what it means... hehe Let me give it a try anyways.

The name Prokofy is prokewl!!! There, that wasn't so hard after all.

Do I REALLY have to start liking you again Cris? Rats, that's no fun.

Dismissive posts or not from you about it, many people do not like this form of erratic censorship. I find it interesting that someone who is so much a champion of individual freedoms personally and in SL is not only unbothered by random, overreaching censorship, but seems to condone it. The editing has gone so far as to change words before, not just to remove them - or to take out a sentence and change the context of a post. This type of stuff has a chilling effect, and in a community of adults, there is no reason for it.

Hey, blame it on Trinity, the woman is persuasive, and she pinched me.

Oh nooooooo... not the pinching trick... nooooooo!!!
*ruffles Cris's hair*

Do ya hear that Trinity baby... it's YOUR fault... it's all YOUR fault. Just look at what you have done? Next thing ya know and he will be back on my X-mas card list. Shux.

Cris, the flip side of individual freedoms is the ability for LL to moderate their boards as they see fit. You appear to be placing greater weight on the side that supports your arguement. They own the box, they make the rules.

I do agree with you and your overall concerns re. these boards but you appear to have substantial knowledge about their actions (or what you are presenting to us as their actions) and yet you remain in an environment with this chilling effect.

The situation could be better but it's not that bad.

I wasn't meaning this thread in particular, Cristiano. I was commenting on the overwhelmingly negative and vitriolic tone of the whole forum in general these days. It's really starting to grate on my nerves. I don't mean to dismiss anyone's point of view, but minor changes and quibbles aside I still think SL is the coolest thing going and I'm starting to hit negative post overload.

Chip, I agree with you by and large - I have been on overload myself. SL is definitely the coolest thing going - I guess that is why watching them chase after errant posts like hall monitors instead of dealing with some of the more pressing issues we do have in SL is frustrating. Jeska's time could be much better spent than playing bad cop in the forums, honestly. The infrastructure of SL literally and figuratively is bulging at the seams and showing signs of cracking, and that concerns the hell out of me as someone who has invested 2 years of my life into something that I am passionate about.

Editing posts into oblivion is not going to take away the underlying discontent that people have - it goes in cycles, and we are in a lull with new features in SL, with some fundamental things still pretty broken in some ways. People need a place to blow off steam about things that they are bothered by, that concern them, that upset them - that is often what forums are for. There are an incredible amount of positive threads, this forum and off topic (and occasionally, fan sites lol) tends to get the brunt of the negative ones. I just wish they would leave them alone - we are grown ups and can handle each other without someone coming along with a red pen and editing up everything and scolding us. It's insulting and pointless.

Bruno, you are right, they do make the rules. I have dramatically cut back my involvement in the forums as the censorship has ratcheted up, even though I have very rarely had my posts edited and have not received any warnings. For quite awhile, there was a fairly good balance - I don't know what has happened recently - but I do hope it stops - it has swung way too far in the opposite direction. Yes, it could be worse, they could suppress any dissent whatsoever, and be like the Stratics forums for TSO. I just think an environment that is about so much freedom and creativity does not need to sanitize their forums, and it gets very frustrating to see.

I am not certain what you mean about "substantial knowledge about their actions". Over the past 2 years, the Lindens in various ways have very clearly stated their goals with the forums - and at times have gone too far in moderating them. Jeska states her intent every time she edits. I am not projecting what I think onto them, just expressing my opinion about what has been occurring.

I agree Cris.

Personally, I think people focus on and give way to much consideration and value to negative posts/threads.

The clear majority of threads and posts are neutral or positive.

Chip, wasn't it you who said in another thread in the off-topic section just a few days ago, that if one didn't care for certain types of posts or their respective contents that all one needs to do is to pass them over?

The funny thing about letting someone spew wild personal attacks and hateful rants towards others is that it tends to say more about them than the people they are insulting in terms of things like character and composure. And once they cross certain boundaries, BAM! SMACKDOWN!

In other words, it leaves the deer in the headlights but the jerks are clearly in sight.

And a Linden is never far away.

Yep, that was me... but I'd like to have a few posts left to read! Actually though, I must do a pretty good job of following my own advice because I rarely ever notice the forum moderation... hence my personal point of view that it's not a big deal and has yet to ever annoy me.

Sorry, I should have been clearer. I'm trying to cut back on my long-windedness for Lent

My point was that you mentioned having learned of examples of this "censorship" yet decide to hang in there even though you found their censorship chilling. That is why I said that I thought it could be better but wasn't that bad. No biggie, don't need to beat that part of the discussion into the ground.

As mentioned, I do agree with the gist of your comments and would like to see more consistent moderation here.