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:
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.
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).
I suppose I was being inappropriately sarcastic regarding my free speech comment. Being that this forum is a second stop for many people interested in finding out more about what bitcoins are all about, we do need to be at least somewhat careful with what is posted. Make a good first impression and all of that.
How to deal with trolls here? If it were me, I'd give a warning for each instance of obvious trolling. 3 warnings = a ban. They can write up a ban appeal to possibly get unbanned if they want, and the moderators would review it and vote on whether they believe the person would correct their behavior and should be given a second chance.
Thanks for pointing out that I need more information for my own forum's procedures for dealing with rule breakers. That should definitely be specified, at least to some extent. I imagine the procedure will end up similarly to what I just stated above.