They had to crack the whip, too, looks like...

http://www.defyunlearn.co...hp?tid=301

What's interesting about the link is that nobody complained about the increased moderation. Instead, several people posted messages of support.

For some reason, the members of prince.org seem to be, on the whole, less accepting of moderation. For instance, I've never seen any complaints about moderation at miataforum.com. At clubxm.com, there was a dispute that ran for a bit, but eventually the dissenting parties left the site and set up their own, xmfans.com. (Both forums seem to be doing well.) On some other forums that I've read, there have been a few minor disputes here and there, but they've all ended quickly.

prince.org seems unique in that some folks here insist upon having public discussion of how well the moderators do their jobs, and being able to conduct public disputes with the moderators. I'm not sure that's a bad thing, it's just... unusual. On most sites, moderators can use the "It's our site and you need to respect our rules" card, and people are understanding. Yet a significant portion of the prince.org community reacts very negatively to it.

ive seen the moderation discussions at rottentomatoes...actually, its worse then here...


i dont think anyone here has ever questioned Bens statements...However, when you and Ian get on your soapboxes (dont mean that in a bad way or anything), i think your style of statement making leads to peoples annoyance so they end up getting their panties in a bunch and arguing with you...Then, you two have a habit of *having* to have the last word so we all get to witness these big long drawn out arguements over moderation...

two sides to every coin..cha know?

To be honest, I've had mostly good comments from Orgers about the new moderation. In fact, almost entirely good feedback so far. As always though, a handful of individuals can take up 99% of a moderator's time and be the most vocal in their complaints.

Also let's not forget that the old Org was a bit of a flame pit - it really wasn't for the faint of heart, and the free-for-all approach did scare a lot of people away. The old-school Orgers were used to that sort of forum... it'll take a while to get used to the new forum rules.

Anyway my point is - don't let the vocal obnoxious minority ruin the site for the rest of us. A quick glance at General Discussion forum... yes there are a lot more locked threads than there used to be but on the whole it looks like a far more fun and more pleasant forum than the old one. I think so anyway.

SkletonKee said:

Actually, I believe that you have. Remember the discussion about the "no appeals of moderator decisions" rule? You posted, "wow, just noticed this rule. hey ben, why was this rule included? while i understand this is your site, i dont think i would have agreed to this rule and agreed to post things here if i knew this... "



Well, since I've gotten back from vacation, I've been making an effort to phrase my "moderator statements" in a way that's... assertive but not aggressive, for lack of a better description. Whether it's made a difference, I don't know... people only seem to give us feedback when they're unhappy (which is human nature).



I somewhat disagree with this. Yes, I do like to argue (maybe that's why I went to law school!)... I remember one time when, during my college days, my supervisor accidently cc'ed me on a email where he wrote something like, "Matt tends to intellectualize everything"... come to think of it, he reminds me of you. But I digress...

Even I recognize that some criticisms don't warrant a response. For example, in my recent disputes with Aaron, he's pretty much gotten to the point of spinning his wheels, so I tend to give up and let him have the last word.

But maybe I'm just trying to have the last word in this conversation with you.

matt said:

okay..you win..

matt said:

With any bulletin board, forum, whatever, theres obviously times when moderation is needed. But Its gotten completely erratic and ridiculous on here recently. Legitimate conversations between a few members are continuously getting cut short and locked. If you don't like the conversation or think its irrelevant, big deal, move on. Whats the point of butting into everyones discussions and constantly clocking them? Its a message board, people talk. We're not posting recipies for bombs, death threats, and other extreme subject matter. We're just talking, Sometimes whimsical, sometimes serious.

Its like having someone follow you around and telling you to "shut up" every time your trying to discuss something with a few other members.
[This message was edited Wed Sep 11 12:09:54 PDT 2002 by Tom]

matt said:

That's because Prince fans are a bunch of whiney little bitches Matt!!!

CarrieLee said:

Finally, someone tells it like it is

I post on several forums and people bitch and moan about the moderators on all of them. They just sometimes do it in different ways.

I sorta see it this way. At Prince.org, we are all here because we are all Prince fans. We talk about other stuff besides Prince, but basically we're all here for the same reason. It's the same way at the incubus boards I visit.

But, at DefyUnlearn, the site is about all different kinds of music, not just one artist. It's just a really different environment there than on forums set up for one artist.

The mods at DefyUnlearn have set rules and they let us know they expect us to abide by them, but the environment there is much less restrictive than the environment on the .org.

I enjoy being a member of the .org, but I really wish I did not feel so much like I am suffocating when I post here.