Why do we moderate ........

[Beachbum]

Well guys n gals....here's is my humble position on this subject.

4/5 years ago a great man decided to re-start THINK BIKE.

At that point there were merely a handful of members most of whom were BIKERS, not MOTORCYCLISTS and it was their contribution along with a few major supporters that kept TB going. If only Bucc could see us now.

Well here we are 2009, we now have 800 plus registered members and 4000+ online members, comprising BIKERS and MOTORCYCLISTS.

So what now.

We are at the point where we either rest on our laurels, and say that's that, we did what we can, and slowly watch as TB sinks into another failed campaign. I say that because without the big money, the corporate sponsors, those that play with the big BATS, we are going to stop growing and just exist. When we start to exist and stop growing, peeps will loose interest, the money flow will cease, and in due course, TB will be another failed campaign.

We need to avail ourselves to being what we have come to be.
We are not a wanna-be safety campaign.

We are the foremost Bike Safety Campaign in the country.
We are represented in almost all of the provinces.
We are attracting the interest of major industry players.
There is a potential money pipeline that boggles the mind.

All of these potentials will at some time or another log on to this forum.
When they do, what do you want them to see.
What do you want them to read.
If it was you trying to prise money from there coffers, what would you want them to read on this forum.

At the same time we have you, our 4000 odd supporters who make TB what it is, a great big family who watch out for each other and have one thing in common, to make sure we and all our like minded friends stay alive on the roads.

We have to juggle a fine line between freedom of speech, and forum abuse.
This is a public forum, and so is frequented by all members of the public, from 15 to 70, with a little bit of space on either side.

We never know who is reading what, or who is posting what....we sort of expect that peeps who post here will do so with the campaign in mind...but that is not always the case.

So i ask you please...when making a post, think about it first.
If this is your passion, you will do the right thing.
If not the moderators will have that conscience for you, that's their job.

Thanks all
Beachbum.

[DaCat]

Thanks for the reminder Beachbum, well written and I agree. You left this thread unlock, so I assume it is okay to comment.

I agree that some form of babysitting, aka moderation is required, most important of all, to ensure that the values of Think Bike are upheld. No argument there.

However, I can tell you that the sponsors and potential sponsors don't care what I look like, what type of language I use, how I dress, my political affiliations and my beliefs. What they do care about is trying to lure me to purchase their products and support their company.

The questions I have are:
Does my forum handle affect this?
Does my choice to use profanity in my vocabulary really make a potential sponsors choose not to get involved with TB?

Lots more questions, but I will leave it at that for now.

Personally, I believe that yesterday's issue with a forum handle of a new member was way over moderated. The reasoning behind this is beyond comprehension and so it makes me wonder many things... I'll keep wondering for a while longer...

[Unchained]

Apart from DC's points, moderation should also be applied consistently per forum board / thread.

[747]

Thanks, BB and DC,
Is there space for a "public" portal - a kind of entry point board with road safety and campaign info only. Then the open forum could be slightly more distanced from the banter fora, like the pub. Just a thought.

I don't have any issues with avatars or nick's, and neither do I think the nick that was removed was particularly offensive. It was fun and playful, but I don't think it could be offensive. I accept that Mods have a legitimate role to play.
Anyhow, my 2c.

[Fox]

Personally, I believe that yesterday's issue with a forum handle of a new member was way over moderated. The reasoning behind this is beyond comprehension and so it makes me wonder many things... I'll keep wondering for a while longer...

kindly note the opinion of an experienced and intellectual human being ona bike

[Fox]

kindly note the opinion of an experienced and intellectual human being ona bike

BTW BB, thanks for stepping to the plate RESPECT

[DaCat]

kindly note the opinion of an experienced and intellectual human being ona bike

Was there some sarcasm in that comment that I perhaps misinterpreted?

[Fox]

Was there some sarcasm in that comment that I perhaps misinterpreted?

none

[DaCat]

none

[Beachbum]

Guys, i do hear you wrt moderation.
Also understand that we have newly appointed moderators, who are finding their feet....

What you need to understand, is that some of our big corporate sponsors have absolutely nothing to do with bikes or the biking world.
They are huge corporates.

Now if you were Joe Soap working for Magaindustry as a senior staff member who held the purse strings regarding sponsor and donation moneys. Now you have R50 000 which you can allocate somewhere.
Do i give it to CHOC, CANSA, SPCA, THINKBIKE,the list goes on and on...
So Joe does a little research, and goes onto all the websites to check out what these NPO's are all about.
When he gets to TB, he sees all this kark being bantered about and he might think to himself....these guys are just a bunch of crazy bikers....why should i donate R50 000 to them, they will probably **** it against the wall.
Ill give it to someone who really needs it.

And so we loose a massive cash injection because we condoned the use of slightly porno style avatars and sexually orientated banter.

Do you think its worth it..???
Are we to allow this so as to keep the forum entertaining, and in the process slit TB"S throat......??

[Unchained]

And so we loose a massive cash injection because we condoned the use of slightly porno style avatars and sexually orientated banter.

Do you think its worth it..???
Are we to allow this so as to keep the forum entertaining, and in the process slit TB"S throat......??

I'm not really arguing with the principles, but please keep it consistent. Or is this the ultimate animal farm? (And how can I become more equal too? Not that I really want to be a pig )

[Mig]

i guess it is too late for me to ask wat was the nic used?
Posted via Mobile Device

[Richardvz]

i guess it is too late for me to ask wat was the nic used?
Posted via Mobile Device

Nice Avatar. I love those MiGs soo much...

[Mig]

ok i got a little more details... I got to say i agree more wit da cat and the chainless one... I have seen threads created wit that same heading. I have seen member's with nic's that implicate more meaning than that... Moderating is not an easy task and i respect all that do that difficult task, but over policing causes cu de ta's (how ever it is spelt) my 2c
Posted via Mobile Device

[Scobs]

i guess it is too late for me to ask wat was the nic used?
Posted via Mobile Device

Im also curious

[Mig]

Nice Avatar. I love those MiGs soo much...

Beautiful piece of aviation history! Thanks for the compliment. Richardvs... Oh and biker and motorcyclist i think its more a personal opinion of each person i dont really see any difference... I heard its got something to do with hair butt or something lol...

Posted via Mobile Device

[Brendon]

but please keep it consistent.

Unchained said this twice now ...

+10 000 000

And this is my point exactly...

Also a Q? The CoC says that the Moderators, via some sort of committee\mutual dicussion\agreement, make decisions to Warn\Ban (whatever) members... does this happen in ALL cases? How do we, as contributing members KNOW this... there is no transparency, and many Mods take criticism personally, instead as seeing the potential benefit which can be gained by listening to the gripes that the Members currently have...

I understand that being a Committee Member, Mod or Admin isn't easy, and is often a thankless job... but ultimately, the campaign isn't made up of Mods\Admins\Committee... you guys are there to represent the interests of the Members... who are the campaign...

It appears of late, that there are more and more instances where members get irritated with unilateral actions by Mods (whether perceived or real)... and indeed, a PM I sent yesterday to various individuals WRT the above, has to date not been answered... ???

Some food for thought ?

TB is a GREAT initiative, but could quite easily be ruined by the "Us and Them" image being propogated... only together, with global communication, transparency, and a culture of accepting new idea's, can the Campaign really grow...

[EyeCandi]

[QUOTE=Beachbum;520270]
So Joe does a little research, and goes onto all the websites to check out what these NPO's are all about.
When he gets to TB, he sees all this kark being bantered about and he might think to himself....these guys are just a bunch of crazy bikers....why should i donate R50 000 to them, they will probably **** it against the wall.
Ill give it to someone who really needs it.

QUOTE]

Has this really happened? Did Mr Soap send a letter to TB to say "I was going to give you R50K but I didn't like this Avatar and that name, so I'll donate to someone else"
Personally, I think Mr Soap is not going to spend hours scanning threads for misdemeanors looking for reasons not to donate. They land on the front page and a decision is made within 4 seconds based on the impression the front page made. How many people actually go scanning through an entire magazine/book/website to make sure they are not offended before purchasing/reading it?
Granted, some people don't know how to behave in public/forums/chat rooms, and even FB and have been dealt with accordingly.
Like I said in a thread that was probably deleted, new brooms sweep clean. The new mods take their responsibility seriously and a bit of slack must be cut for them too - that is, until the novelty wears off and by then we will have new mods again and so the process goes on and on.....

[Nocturnity]

And so we loose a massive cash injection because we condoned the use of slightly porno style avatars and sexually orientated banter.

Do you think its worth it..???
Are we to allow this so as to keep the forum entertaining, and in the process slit TB"S throat......??

Although I agree with the heart of your argument, I believe there is another side to this coin. We are bikers/motorcyclist/whatever and as such, there is a certain expectation for us to be the ruffians we are. We are human and we have personalities and we are visually stimulated and we swear. Nobody expects a bunch of people who ride bikes to be civilized little angels who poop glitter. We have morals and values, just like everyone else, but we play on the outskirts of society. We look rough, have beards and moustaches, wear leather. Should I trade my leathers for a pair of chinos and a golf shirt rather?

I'm not attacking anyone here. I'm merely trying to show that we should not be forced to hide our heads in shame because of who we are. I'm a rough, hairy, swearing, drinking, farting biker who smells funny after a few hours riding in the sun but I also have a loving family who means everything to me and I do everything I can to take care of them. Don't try to take away our lifestyle or our personalities. Read the little heading under the big banner at the top of this page: "THINK BIKE community and it's supporters". We are those supporters and we make up this community.

If you choose to start moderating things that could be deemed "explicit", you'll have to start moderating everything on the boards. Hellrazor's dayjol with strippers and topless barladies and the banter about that? Has to go. Even the TB bikini wash can be seen as explicit by some. Where do you draw the line?

P.S. I'm not *****ing about the Hellrazor's jol (I'm right in front when the clothes start flying! Just using it as an example...)

[Beachbum]

Having been in the corporate world for 15 years, i have a pretty good idea about how companies throw around large sums of donation money.

They do not make a decision in 4 sec...more like 4 weeks.
The amount of due diligence that is put in to Social Responsibility is astounding.

We have never received a letter telling us why we never got a sponsor.
Do you think it would be wise to chance it.??

We have announced new Mods, they are settling into their role, and will stay mods for as long as they are willing to continue to perform their duties.
We also increased the no of Mods so as to allow for any natural attrition.

Hope this helps.