Posted by SLS on November 24, 2010, at 16:30:19
In reply to Re: This place is dying. » SLS, posted by Solstice on November 24, 2010, at 8:05:41
Hi Solstice.
> > > Because so many are blocked?
> > Sort of.
> >
> > I get the feeling that too great a proportion of the activity on Psycho-Babble has become focused on the definition and enforcement of civility rather than on its presumed focus on mental illness. I think we spend too much time and effort being forced to play the role of student to the administrator's roles of teacher and enforcer of the rules he formulated to govern speech.> I don't want what you say here to be true, but it is. Your observations are always So astute, Scott.
Thank you so much for the affirmation. It comes at a time when I need to here things like that.
> What would you envision as a way to address the genuine need for some kind of forum management, yet avoid the trap you describe above?
I was thinking that it might be informative to take a look at how other Internet forums are moderated.
I think the control of speech here is rigid and too mechanical. Sanctions are triggered at a threshold of incivility that is too low. The evaluation of speech is compartmentalized and reduced to exercises in the strict application of grammar and diction. The length of blocks escalates too rapidly. Advisories are ubiquitous. The learning curve for the prescribed rules of civility is too steep. Some people are here for a week and then blocked from posting. The verbiage of the FAQ is too burdensome to read for new people to digest in order to post without being blocked. The posting system here is alien to most people who participate in forums elsewhere on the Internet. I believe that some people can feel completely stifled in their efforts to communicate. I have not encountered any other websites for which linguistics are scrutinized so closely that sentence structure takes priority over the intended conveyance of the message.
I feel like I am being treated like a child.
- ScottSome see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.
poster:SLS
thread:971091
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20101014/msgs/971228.html