C
chuck.drake
How does a forum maintain a balance between allowing people to speak freely about their ideas and yet find the wisdom to ban a user whose posts provide more noise than signal?
Oftentimes the expectation is that there will be a clear set of guidelines that can be diligently followed for user bans and suspensions. I have often argued that the overall quality of a forum depends more on moderators who display both wisdom and power. They must know the direction of the forum and wield the sword wisely and well.
Moderation is subjective. We should admit that. Someone needs to make decisions on what voices add to the conversation and what voices merely add noise.
There is a difference between opposing views that are well thought out, no matter how vehemently they attack the "proponent" worldview, whatever that is and users who slash and burn threads, making quips and adding absolutely no value. Those users should be banner sooner rather than later.
Oftentimes the expectation is that there will be a clear set of guidelines that can be diligently followed for user bans and suspensions. I have often argued that the overall quality of a forum depends more on moderators who display both wisdom and power. They must know the direction of the forum and wield the sword wisely and well.
Moderation is subjective. We should admit that. Someone needs to make decisions on what voices add to the conversation and what voices merely add noise.
There is a difference between opposing views that are well thought out, no matter how vehemently they attack the "proponent" worldview, whatever that is and users who slash and burn threads, making quips and adding absolutely no value. Those users should be banner sooner rather than later.