Oh, to be a Moderator!

B*gger - will I have to change mine? :mrgreen:

Gets my vote for proper names.

I have always used my own name on Internet forums; whilst it might restrict me (slightly) in some ways about uttering home truths, it sure as heck makes sure that you think through what you are going to post to ensure validity, accuracy & general politeness. I also think it can enhance your credibility as a “known” person.

I would like to add something that’s bugged me. Whilst I have no problem with the way the boards are moderated in any way, I feel that one or two mods come across as unnecessarily aggressive and rude in their posts.

As much as I really dislike SS’s username and most of what he says, I don’t think his actions today were quite the trigger event for a ban. Have we missed something? It just seems a bit unfair that he gets banned and RacingStick’s first has nothing. Not that this is a personal attack on RacingStick or a request that he be banned, just seems that objectively you should treat like cases alike, and if his post is the right side of the line, then SS’s were too.

For the record, SVS’s ban didn’t come from his posts in this thread

So how long does a ban last for?
Probably another topic altogether but worth knowing.

I feel somewhat obliged to stick up for the mods a bit. They do have a tough and thankless job in trying to keep the boards in check with the rules and in the main, from what I’ve seen, do a good job.

This forum is meant as a place of open debate, where we all can come together and help others with the organisation, freely give our opinions and not worry (too much) that we are going to upset the apple cart in real life.

However in recent week it seams that the quality of the board has deteriorated from what it once was. I was genuinely shocked to see a notice at the top of the forum, reminding everyone not to swear. This is basic behaviour and one that as adults we should be able to comply with. The thread I started on the RAF recruits and marching was intended to be more about what the implication were for cadets than about society at large. However by post 13 there was a complaint about sexist language and then the topic declined from there. It was only at post 33 that a warning was given about behaviour - a point when it was seriously off topic. This is not an example of an over zealous moderation team.

Debate with facts and if stating an opinion then say it is. Just try and leave the emotions out of it. If you are getting stressed out and upset by the comments of some anonymous random person on a webforum then you have greater problems to deal with.

One of the advantages of the site is that we can use it to rant about some of the stress and issues put upon us by the ACO. It allows us to put words to those feelings that if released at unit would cause problems & upset for all those involved and cause the cadets to lose out. It also allows us to seek advice from areas of the ACO that we wouldn’t normally be able to access.

However the mods are not substitute punch bags for the Sqn CO / WO who has annoyed you and told you no. We are not going to agree with every one of their decisions but that doesn’t mean we should throw teddies out of the pram when we are - there is enough of that at unit level!!

The mods are there to act similar to the Commons Speaker - avoiding un-parliamentry language, keeping the debate relevant and stopping George Galloway from hijacking everything. We should keep this in mind and if our posts do need editing then prehaps the mods could give the opportunity for the individual to edit or withdraw rather than jump straight in and change things.

Regarding the idea of posting under our own name this is a little non-sensical as unless the mods cross-reference everyones identity then you can quite easily make up a pen name. I think it would also kill some of the debates as people maybe more wary of posting and react differently to some of the personalties on here. The fact that all ranks can give their opinion without it being used against them is massive bonus. It also reduces the possibility of debates spilling over in to the real world.

It is now Monday, and a lot of us have work followed by prepping stuff for Cadets. Lets all take a deep breath, move on from this for a bit and go forward. Lets leave all the irritants and petty grievances on units and try and chill out rather than creating another area of our lives containing conflict and stress. We are nearly at Xmas and the well earned break from cadets that that gives us so we just need to keep going, not let the small stuff get to us and keep our sense of humour. We had a load of cadets take part in a debate in the House of Lords last week. Considering how well they debated and argued, perhaps we should take note of their example for our topics and discussions.

Best Regards

Chief Tech