Censorship over-reach ?

[Marker]

This is a good forum for its stated purpose. I get a lot of good information from like-minded people.

This was the first forum I joined, before that I thought I was some odd-ball getting up at 4AM to walk through a coyote/tick infested forest and climb up a tree (back then it was only 10ft) and wait for hours freezing and hoping that some fury animal would walk close enough to me that I could shoot it with a sharp pointy stick and drag it back home like a Neanderthall cave man. After joining this forum I have realized that's not changed, just I am not the only one like that.

[Sharon]

LOL LOL

[Gilroy]

The restaurant depends on customers for its income. This forum does not depend on members for its revenue. A better comparison might be house guests. Should a guest in my home make comments I regard as offensive they will be warned and should they continue told to leave.

Well I think you have this dead wrong. The forum is NOTHING without its members and their input, unless you like reading all moderator started threads. Nobody is going to pay to advertise on a forum board if nobody is accessing the forum.

[Gilroy]

In the interest of transparency. Most members should know that not only do the moderators tend to discuss things in our own sidebar before actioning anything. But by and large we tend to avoid waiting into some topics simply because they'll need to be moderated. I personally have received warnings as a moderator for some of my posts, and I have accepted the criticism presented by my fellow mods, it's not just members who get flagged.

One overwhelming message which I have been trying to convey over the past few months, as I was part of the "crackdown", was that while we have an active participant level, of good-minded outdoors folk, these forums are not closed to the public. We have to remember that this is not somebody's living room and we're having a closed conversation. Members of the general public can Wade in and see what's being discussed and we do not want to contribute any ammunition, or any perceptions that the members on here are anything but respectful, and decent outdoors men and outdoors women.

My $0.02 FWIW.

As an aside, I actually pushed to have the off topic section completely removed.

Just as this forum is not closed of to members of the public so also is a show like Anglers and Hunters. What exactly are OTHER members of the public thinking about the OOD folks when they watch a show on a Saturday morning in the year 2022 where only a single image of a none white person appears for two seconds and the rest of the show is all white. Hence the initial thread and guess what its being discussed again.

I really do not care if it was closed as my intention was to notify the authors of the show they may appear to out of touch with the demographic changes in society. Pretty sure I achieved my goal.

[greatwhite]

OMG I cannot believe Gilroy and I agree on something again. I was thinking the same same.
I must be getting old and going senile.

But Gilroy is correct the forum and the site is nothing with out the forum members and as I have said, so many were chased away that the site is almost dead.

Many left the forum during Covid as they were fed up (they were not kicked off) and some of these people were big contributors.

How many new threads were started yesterday? How many Christmas threads were there, heck 3 years ago there would be at least 4 running into several pages each. This year just one.

Well I think you have this dead wrong. The forum is NOTHING without its members and their input, unless you like reading all moderator started threads. Nobody is going to pay to advertise on a forum board if nobody is accessing the forum.

[gbk]

T. Social media sites have taken over forums we are used to.


.

No offence and no challenge Sharon-but i belive this is just an easy Cop Out .Not for You personally-please do not take offence.
The Social Media threat was here for years -but he Forum Nosedived just at and around the Crackdown.Less then a year!
We have lost MANY members,and many were not the disrespectful/manipulative/annoying PITA ones.

Plus-we somehow always protect the "image"of the forum and the" image" of the hunters-yet(as far i know)the Off Topics section is not accessible to the Public.
And there is where most of the squabble happened.
Hard not to "read"into all the happenings as NOT being a censorship-NOT being the protection of authority at "any "cost -and NOT to "shake off" of some members.

[Birdbuff]

We have lost MANY members,and many were not the disrespectful/manipulative/annoying PITA ones.

Open to interpretation I guess. Lol!

[Sharon]

No offence and no challenge Sharon-but i belive this is just an easy Cop Out .Not for You personally-please do not take offence.
The Social Media threat was here for years -but he Forum Nosedived just at and around the Crackdown.Less then a year!
We have lost MANY members,and many were not the disrespectful/manipulative/annoying PITA ones.

Plus-we somehow always protect the "image"of the forum and the" image" of the hunters-yet(as far i know)the Off Topics section is not accessible to the Public.
And there is where most of the squabble happened.
Hard not to "read"into all the happenings as NOT being a censorship-NOT being the protection of authority at "any "cost -and NOT to "shake off" of some members.

.................................................. ...

I hear you; no offence taken. It is complicated.

All I can say is members should read the rules. Click on the small words at the top of this page that say
"community". Under that click on "rules" and read to the bottom. Those are the rules that members agree to when they join.

When moderators sign on , they agree to enforce the rules no matter how unpleasant that may be and no matter if friends may be lost. That's the hardest thing for me as I have been on here a very long time and have many friends or did have.

Of course the interpretation of the rules can vary with each mod. That why any possible warning or infraction is discussed with all 4 mods and often the admin. Then a decision is made as it applies to the rules. No , we don't always get it right.
I'm a mod on another gundog forum. We have only had to remove one member in 8 years. I've never had to give a warning or infraction there. The difference? .... We have no "Off Topic/ politics section". As BBD said, I also don't think we should have an off topic/politics section. There are all kinds of social media sites where those not hunting nor fishing topics can be discussed.

When moderating is done that you don't agree with, contact a mod to discuss it, but don't call them a $%^&* and expect to get an answer.

[trimmer21]

I was just browsing the Off Topic section. I notice there isn't a lot of action there anymore,either.......sure nothing like there used to be. If you go back even just to posts listed in 2020,there's a very marked difference between then and now with the greatest drop off in the last year. Covid......maybe? The Great Crackdown......more than likely? Who knows,it's definitely open to interpretation,but,one thing's for sure. Whatever has changed hasn't been for the better.....not by a long shot.

[finsfurfeathers]

I was just browsing the Off Topic section. I notice there isn't a lot of action there anymore,either.......sure nothing like there used to be. If you go back even just to posts listed in 2020,there's a very marked difference between then and now with the greatest drop off in the last year. Covid......maybe? The Great Crackdown......more than likely? Who knows,it's definitely open to interpretation,but,one thing's for sure. Whatever has changed hasn't been for the better.....not by a long shot.

Well have to agree with your signature.
"It's better to walk alone than with a crowd going in the wrong direction."