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Post by John Ponting on Jul 26, 2007 16:47:57 GMT
I've been out all afternoon and returned to this. Much as I like DCM and count him as a friend, I am glad that his comments about Andie were removed. They were exactly the type of comments that had the other thread deleted.
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Post by Davidt6dcm on Jul 26, 2007 17:09:21 GMT
I've been out all afternoon and returned to this. Much as I like DCM and count him as a friend, I am glad that his comments about Andie were removed. They were exactly the type of comments that had the other thread deleted. Your quite right JP, i should not have dropped down to that level,i should have pm'd her my comments instead.
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Post by markleonard on Jul 26, 2007 18:11:59 GMT
Here's my FWIW...
If you don't register you should not be able to post!......simple
If you need any proof of why, just look at Dave L's MG/MX post over on the BBS and see the long list of stupid reply's from 'Trolls' none of which had anything whatsoever to do with Dave's perfectly fair and honest question....
Sadly some people can't sensor their own posts and as Moderators can't watch these boards 24/7 then at least registration makes people think twice before pressing the 'post Reply' key...
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Post by Rick Earle on Jul 26, 2007 18:54:31 GMT
Patrick and Andie, I have already stated the reasons for removing the post over and over. Im not going to repeat them again, James and I have worked our backsides off to get the forum back on track after the last couple of days worth of posting. Patrick you have a PM regarding the content of your post. Andie "I made the last post on the thread before it was 'moved' from the public's gaze, Patrick, and I am pretty sure there were NO racist comments, just a few people - myself included - who were very upset about previous posts re what 4x4 drivers 'supposedly' did to Billing... " There were Racist comments on the thread if you wish to know what they were then ask politely via PM and i'll tell you. All, It is up to the Committiee to keep the forum a nice place and please stop ridiculing us for DOING OUR JOB!!! A very dissapointed Rick
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Post by charless on Jul 27, 2007 20:49:30 GMT
Rick and James, what a difficult job to do, you may have made the right call and I support your judgement without knowing, or needing to know the details. (Are we able to access them later? ) MarkLeonard makes a good point about a recent thread on the BBS where a pigmy intelligence fails to spot that F owners might still read criticism of their vehicles in an MG magazine - which actually opens itself to criticism by comparison with a faintly similar, but modern car. Which idiot of us thinks our cars are flawless! The critic fears to stand up for his perceived unpopularity (translated as 'snide responses' to his hopelessly generalised allegations) because he sets out with the article's inevitable conclusion. But we might have enjoyed examining his workings without anticipating an unlikely win. Good and bad - I am grateful that you do it. we mostly benefit from your efforts, and even retired people have'nt the time and energy to police a free-for-all.
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Post by Rob Bell on Jul 28, 2007 12:07:51 GMT
Thanks to everyone posting - as always, members making their views known is very important - and is EXACTLY why we set up this forum in the first place I guess there are several issues being raised here: 1. Disabling of non-registered postings.This was always an option from the start, right from the very first days of this forum. We didn't do it after much debate. Why not? Because we know that registering first is often a 'put-off' for first time users. We want to be inclusive as possible, and the hope is that un-registered members of the forum will take the time to register, and if not already a member of the MGCC, perhaps see what we offer and consider joining this great club of ours. Now I haven't read anything in what James has said that could be interpreted as a permanent disablement of non-registered member contributions. However, as James has explained, someone has come on and has posted racist and personally offensive material anonymously. This is not acceptable behaviour on any forum - and I believe that what James has done is unfortunately a necessary step. I do however anticipate the return of this facility in due course! 2. Censorship of Free SpeechForums are by their very nature somewhat anarchic - and that is the appeal to many it seems! ;D However, as a club, we are responsible for material that appears in our forum. This applies to all forums including the MG BBS. As a result, we do have to monitor the content of our forum - and if racially or personally offensive material appears - or material that is libelous for that matter - it becomes necessary to delete posts... and I am afraid on occasion, whole threads. This even occurs on the MG BBS - that famously un-moderated forum that many of us love so much. In the case of the Fest thread, again, I believe that Rick really had little choice. The thread has been sin-binned. The Sin Bin has been around for a while - and you may not ever have noticed it because it is so rarely used. In the case of the Fest thread, having read it for the first time (unfortunately with the many individual postings deleted, so I've been denied it's full horror!), it now makes very little sense... Which is a terrific shame, as there is some very useful information in there regarding the event and the necessary changes that have been forced upon us to ensure that MGFest is the success we all want it to be. Hopefully the sin-binned thread can be edited and returned without the offensive material AND still make sense? This is the pragmatic solution in this case, but believe me, no one takes the decision to remove any content from these forums lightly - and hopefully a look through the archives here reinforces this view point. 3. What kind of forum do we, as the MGF Register, want?There are two schools of thought here. I confess that I am in the free-speech camp - as anyone who knows me will know! But there is also the school of thought that we as a Register should always show our best face for the world to see. Certain other clubs for other vehicles I am sure do do this - and I can certainly understand why. We are the ' marque of friendship' though - and to date, this forum has needed very little in the way of 'moderation' (or 'censorship' as some might put it... mentioning no names Patrick ) - but the future is very much with you all - the MGF Community. Express your views. What should the MGF Register Forum look and feel like? Over to you! Cheers Rob
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Post by andrew on Jul 28, 2007 12:47:00 GMT
I often get on my high horse and let fly without engaging the brain fully. I think censorship is a huge NO NO, but when things are racially offensive or personally offensive plus being in the public domain a certain amount of discretion should be used. So far I think the moderators have been well chosen and are just keeping this site within the bounds of decency and not interested in controlling what we think. Continue the good work but to organizers of events ignore the trouble makers and listen to the positive feed back. I wish I could spend more time in the UK and enjoy some of the many events, over the years positive feedback has far exceeded the odd negative response. Some people can only see the negative in everything such as my in laws Doom and Gloom alas Gloom passed away not long ago so I'm left with Doom!!!. Thank goodness for my F!.
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Post by Rick Earle on Jul 28, 2007 13:30:19 GMT
All,
I also have no problem with freedom of speech on the forum, it is a good thing. I just wish that people would engage their brains before posting and refrain from taking personal vendettas out on others in full view of the rest of the community solely for embarrassment purposes.
I am a firm believer that if you have a problem with someone or something at least attempt to make contact with that person first before getting on your high horse!!
The two sides of the Guest Posting as I see it are
A - It encourages new members before registration - try before you buy theory.... B - On the other hand people will register if they have something valid to say, it takes minutes. It also stops 'trolls' and abusive posts being un-accountable ie we have no way of tracing who a 'guest' actually is!!!
B, for me, outweighs the benefits of A.
Rick
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Post by Chris Tideswell on Jul 28, 2007 14:44:00 GMT
As I have said before I believe guest posting is a very bad thing, it may have been OK in the innocent days of Web 0.5 but today no way, I have even disabled it on my local MG clubs forum. Freedom of speech is nothing without accountability.
Some people like moderation and some don’t like it at all, I think with this forum being relatively small and the members being who they are that moderation can be as light as possible. I personally (this view was held long before I became a mod on .ORG) is that I wouldn’t want to see no real moderation at all in the case of the BBS, that’s why I stopped visiting back in 1999 and my view was only reinforced by the damage a few threads have done to the Midget & Sprit Club at the beginning of this year.
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Post by Geoff F on Jul 28, 2007 21:40:07 GMT
Thanks Rob, you put a good perspective on an unnececcary handling of a good thread. Our MG history and Camping go back well before many of the contributors were a smile on their father's faces. Sorry John, perhaps not before your goodself. Guest Postings. These are required for those (who are probably Registered) but use the office computer whereby IT Regs do not allow 'Registration'. Why change what has been completely acceptable until last week?? Simply just ignore any morons. MGFest Camping. Camping etiquette says that you do not take vehicles onto the camping area grass in unsuitable conditions. It appears that LR did, I hope that MGFest will not. The Natter/Italian Job. I totally agree with Bob's comments. I expected an update at the AGM 'This Years Events', but it was only MGFest. It was obvious the IJ was dead but we were not told until May which caused several to replan at an inconvenience and cost. The IJ had not been cancelled, it was still a MGCarclub Italia Meet, albeit the Register had walked away. There was no mention that the offerings of the Turin Hotel, Fiat building Run, Saturday Party, Bormio and the Stelvio Pass were still available together with a nice Tour for those who would like it and contacted MGCC I. Geoff F.
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Post by Neil Sutton on Jul 28, 2007 21:59:10 GMT
I believe one of the guest poster's on the FEST Thread was formally a registered user but got so fed up he deleted himself from the forum (is this how they could have shown as guest postings?).
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Post by Chris Mills on Jul 28, 2007 22:23:33 GMT
Geoff,
Any user who is registered could sign in at any pc (including the office pc) as long as the firewall allows them access to the forum in the first place. They would not need to register from the office PC to post from there, just sign in with their existing username and password. I know that is how the .org works (I am a moderator over there) and I have found this forum to be the same. Therefore someone could post as themself from the office computer.
Personally I think the move to stop guest postings is a good one, it is something we have never allowed on .org and we have a huge membership over there (many of whom post from work)
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Post by Geoff F on Jul 28, 2007 22:41:32 GMT
Chris, I agree <any user can sign in from any PC> however many Company's IT Regulations do not permit it. The BBS permits it and this Register did until last week. I believe that it should be left open and if the posting is not acceptable from somebody who is a Guest, then just ignore it. The worst action is to respond to it and get all upset. Geoff F.
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