That, ahem, being said... It's clearly a moderation failure to some great degree. There are plenty of higher traffic forums than this that maintain a much higher S/N ratio. You can think laissez faire works great for economics, but it's a clear proven failure for forums.
HERESY! (just joking)
A little moderation goes a long way, there has to be a broken window theory type process going on here where people see mayhem and shit S/N and decide to contribute to it because obviously nobody cares about the forums very much.
I mean really, there are obvious trolls (no offense imperi), pyramid schemes, rehashed flame wars and hucksters all over the main subforums. Spend a few days with a real editorial policy and suddenly there'd be a lot less of that going on to have to moderate. It seems the main problem is that the moderators are mostly just checked out, maybe nobody's really in charge or they've moved on to greener pastures.
I mean really, there are obvious trolls (no offense imperi), pyramid schemes, rehashed flame wars and hucksters all over the main subforums. Spend a few days with a real editorial policy and suddenly there'd be a lot less of that going on to have to moderate. It seems the main problem is that the moderators are mostly just checked out, maybe nobody's really in charge or they've moved on to greener pastures.
Yeah, this is a real clisterfick of a forum. When I first visited here, I saw plenty of user handles with "Moderator" underneath - many of them with posts in the "Newbies" section - so I assumed that there were some reasonable posting rules here that were actively enforced. Turns out, the only rule I subsequently found was this posted by Atlas: "Rule #1: Use best judgment in all situations. There will be no additional rules." Since then, sirius posted a Forum Moderation Policy that has been met with considerable resistance. It's inexplicable, given the current sorry state of affairs.
To be fair, this forum probably needed very little moderation in the past (I wish I was here then), and the recent tsunami of new users here might've caught the admins/moderators off-guard. They appear to be addressing the situation, so I'll be taking a wait & see approach.
Or maybe, they are proponents of free speech and not censorship.
It's a matter of priorities. Seems to me if your primary goal is to promote bitcoin by providing a forum where interested parties can exchange useful ideas and solutions, then "free speech" takes a back seat to that goal. (at least to some extent) There has always been tension between Quality Information/Free Speech, and the mayhem observable on this forum confirms that. Member JohnDoe pretty much covers it in two sentences.
There are a few trolls who need to be brought under control, but other than that, I see no need for extra moderation.
Well, I see a lot more than just "a few" trolls here, but I won't argue that with you on that. But I would ask how do you propose the trolls be brought under control? Warnings from a moderator? And if a troll refuses to heed the warning, what are you left with? The only other remaining options are suspension or ban - i.e., censorship. Is there another option I'm unaware of?
I'm kinda glad you chimed in on this thread, Sgt. You're the proprietor of the forum in your sig, right? I visited bitcoinforums.net earlier today, and (if I read correctly) you seem to be in the process of working out a posting policy. Right now, you've listed the following rules:
Quote
Remember to follow the forum rules and expectations listed below:
- Be polite and respectful of other forum users
- Try to search for an answer to your question before asking it - it's very possible your question has already been asked.
- We expect a certain level of poster intelligence. Use of proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation is encouraged.
- Do not advertise illegal items for sale in the forums. If it is legal in the country you reside in, that is fine, but you may only sell to people whom it is legal to sell it to.
- Do not spam the same text/statements/advertisements in multiple threads.
- Be polite and respectful of other forum users
- Try to search for an answer to your question before asking it - it's very possible your question has already been asked.
- We expect a certain level of poster intelligence. Use of proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation is encouraged.
- Do not advertise illegal items for sale in the forums. If it is legal in the country you reside in, that is fine, but you may only sell to people whom it is legal to sell it to.
- Do not spam the same text/statements/advertisements in multiple threads.
Seems reasonable to me. But your list begs the question: what are the consequences for violating these rules? Damn near every forum worth its salt that I've ever visited enumerates the penalties for violators. If they don't, you may as well assume that there are no consequences - and therefore no meaningful rules either.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not picking on you, your site, or your rules and expectations. Quite the opposite in fact, I applaud you for setting out some reasonable rules at your site's inception (which is more than can be said for this place).