Suggestion Should we ban religious / LGBT / political threads?

[MadMageKefka]

This started as a status message, but it sparked some interesting discussion, so at the advice of someone on my status, I made a thread to see what everyone else thinks.

Now, its not my place to decide the rules of this site, nor am I the kind of person to usually censor what people talk about. However, I am seeing more and more of these threads every day, and its getting out of hand. They always, without fail, devolve into bigotry and arguing. With this being a video game website, and these sorts of threads causing so much drama, maybe it would be for the best?

An example I would like to give is the thread from the other day about the Afghanistan bombing. After several pages it devolved into several people saying how gays should be executed. The thread was deleted shortly after. My question is, why aren't those people being punished and having their comments deleted? Why was the entire thread removed? Some of that conversation was legit discussion. I have a feeling the staff here is tired of the crap too (please correct me if I am wrong).

So what do you all think? I don't wanna censor people really, but at the same time I think it would make the site a more friendly, enjoyable experience for everyone. Maybe another option would be to create a separate forum for this stuff, so at least it doesn't appear on the front page? Please, let me know how you all feel too.

EDIT: At this point, after discussing this for so many hours, my opinion on the matter is that outright banning this sort of thing is not the answer. I do, however, feel that off-topic discussions of this nature don't belong on the front page of a gaming / hacking forum. A lot of people are tired of seeing it and it just plain makes us looks bad as a community when 4 out of the 10 topics on the front page are off-topic shit shows of bigotry and hate. This is obviously not too often the case, but it does seem to be happening more frequently.

 

[MadMageKefka]

Really banning them doesn't fix the issue. Does this mean I think we need these kinds of thread? Hell no, they bring out the worst in people, but I don't see how outright banning them fixes the problem. Given the idea of banning religious threads, this would also include threads like Christmas threads. Christmas is inherently religious and not practiced by all members, this including members like myself (of course I don't flaming these threads because a sensible person.) Thus it would only make sense to not allow that thread as well. I hope you understand my point, which is that it's shortsighted to just outright ban something without thinking about the future reproductions.
Honestly I would go back to my previous suggestion to bring back the Moderator Group. We need a bigger staff to handle our growing membership. The staff is overworked and threads end up devolving into these kinds of messes.

This is why I would like to discuss the idea, then people can point out things as you just did. I like your suggestion. It feels like the staff could use some help with all this.

 

[Dionicio3]

As long as no one tags me, I'm fine

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Also, 69 people watching

 

[Stephano]

Recruit more moderators. There's no shortage of people here willing to do the work.

How much work is it to be a Mod of websites like this? I've never really thought about it.

 

[Dr.Hacknik]

Also, 69 people watching

Do I look good senpai?

 

[Dionicio3]

Do I look good senpai?

What?

 

[evandixon]

Its a trust thing, rather than numbers.

Look for members whose post history implies they're sane. And in case something goes wrong, permissions can be set so that any damage done can be undone. That's how I set it up on my forums (although no one seems interested in joining the staff ATM).

How much work is it to be a Mod of websites like this? I've never really thought about it.

Check the forums regularly, taking care of reports and moderated posts.

Of course, GBAtemp's whole "if you ask, you're ineligible" policy for recruitment has the disadvantage of filtering out go-getters willing to put in the work. Moderating is a job after all, one that doesn't come with pay.

 

[the_randomizer]

Yes, because censorship is totally the answer, right?

 

[Dr.Hacknik]

What?

Hahah, that's great. Don't mind me, just being sarcastic.

I'm personally not a fan of banning these subjects. Interesting discussions COULD come from it. However, many members have shown that they're not mature enough to discuss these quite heavy subjects. Shitposting, memes, spiderman, and all out flame wars... it's getting annoying.

But I'm all for giving our members a chance to behave and discuss, and stop it when they've gone too far.

I'd have to agree (mostly) with this, but most of the quote on quote "members" are just kids, or young immature adults that have no logical way to backup their beliefs or statements.

 

[Stephano]

Of course, GBAtemp's whole "if you ask, you're ineligible" policy for recruitment has the disadvantage of filtering out go-getters willing to put in the work. Moderating is a job after all, one that doesn't come with pay.

What about NDS-card and the adds? What do they provide for the sight. I'm assuming its keep the website domain up and running.

 

[Wolfvak]

What off topic topics are allowed on this sight? I'm not the biggest recluse in the world, but I don't talk to many people. I have no social media except here (if you would call it that). In some circumstances, it is fun to discuss certain topics.

What I mean by offtopic is just abandoning the current topic and straight up try to insult the other person. I've seen a bunch of them, ranging from the good old "lol you're retarded" all the way through "your religion/political stance is responsible for the death of many people, and you should be ashamed of it".
That's what I call "off-topic".

Really banning them doesn't fix the issue. Does this mean I think we need these kinds of thread? Hell no, they bring out the worst in people, but I don't see how outright banning them fixes the problem. Given the idea of banning religious threads, this would also include threads like Christmas threads. Christmas is inherently religious and not practiced by all members, this including members like myself (of course I don't flaming these threads because a sensible person.) Thus it would only make sense to not allow that thread as well. I hope you understand my point, which is that it's shortsighted to just outright ban something without thinking about the future reproductions.
Honestly I would go back to my previous suggestion to bring back the Moderator Group. We need a bigger staff to handle our growing membership. The staff is overworked and threads end up devolving into these kinds of messes.

I most definitely do understand your point, but what also has to be understood is that there's people here who do noting but what I mentioned above - they try to convince the other "party" through the shoddiest arguments I've ever seen, and when they don't work they flat out refuse to acknowledge they're wrong and instead start offending them. That's called a "fallacy".

Personally, I'd issue warnings to these members (they're well known within these threads, and it's always the same people) and if they become "repeated offenders" (all of them are), I'd ban them.

That's all I have to say. May peace return to the temp.

 

[cvskid]

Maybe setup a way so that while you are logged in, you can filter out threads that have those kind of topics so you don't see them.

 

[MadMageKefka]

Yes, because censorship is totally the answer, right?

No need to be sarcastic, I said I didn't want to censor people and also agreed with Tom's idea of limiting it to blogs.

 

[Stephano]

Yes, because censorship is totally the answer, right?

Never. Free speech is free speech.

 

[the_randomizer]

No need to be sarcastic, I said I didn't want to censor people and also agreed with Tom's idea of limiting it to blogs.

Sorry, long-ass day *sigh* blogs are fine, I have no objection to that.

 

[Kioku]

Look for members whose post history implies they're sane. And in case something goes wrong, permissions can be set so that any damage done can be undone. That's how I set it up on my forums (although no one seems interested in joining the staff ATM).

Check the forums regularly, taking care of reports and moderated posts.

Of course, GBAtemp's whole "if you ask, you're ineligible" policy for recruitment has the disadvantage of filtering out go-getters willing to put in the work. Moderating is a job after all, one that doesn't come with pay.

Eh. I feel it takes more than post history and "good behavior" (note the quotes) to be considered for a mod role. An active, contributing member will fit the role better than someone who posts in good favor.

 

[Stephano]

What I mean by offtopic is just abandoning the current topic and straight up try to insult the other person. I've seen a bunch of them, ranging from the good old "lol you're retarded" all the way through "your religion/political stance is responsible for the death of many people, and you should be ashamed of it".
That's what I call "off-topic".

Makes sense to me.

 

[Dr.Hacknik]

Maybe setup a way so that while you are logged in, you can filter out threads that have those kind of topics so you don't see them.

I actually like that idea~ This needs to be a thing.

 

[The Catboy]

This is why I would like to discuss the idea, then people can point out things as you just did. I like your suggestion. It feels like the staff could use some help with all this.

Like I said, I don't think these kinds of threads have a place here. It's a gaming/hacking site after all, even if there are sub areas and ads like this


But there's always going to be that underlining issue with censorship and that's knowing the limits. Once one starts censoring all willy-nilly, you start running into issues.

What I mean by offtopic is just abandoning the current topic and straight up try to insult the other person. I've seen a bunch of them, ranging from the good old "lol you're retarded" all the way through "your religion/political stance is responsible for the death of many people, and you should be ashamed of it".
That's what I call "off-topic".



I most definitely do understand your point, but what also has to be understood is that there's people here who do noting but what I mentioned above - they try to convince the other "party" through the shoddiest arguments I've ever seen, and when they don't work they flat out refuse to acknowledge they're wrong and instead start offending them. That's called a "fallacy".

Personally, I'd issue warnings to these members (they're well known within these threads, and it's always the same people) and if they become "repeated offenders" (all of them are), I'd ban them.

That's all I have to say. May peace return to the temp.

And that's why I always suggest more staff. If a member is just going out of their way to derail/flame/harass/so on, then it's that member that needs to be dealt with, not the topic. If that member can't handle themselves around the topic, then they need to be warned. We can't buckle because a few people can't handle themselves or a few people loose their cool. We need actual moderation in the threads to keep them on topic and keep the flames at a low level.

 

[evandixon]

What about NDS-card and the adds? What do they provide for the sight. I'm assuming its keep the website domain up and running.

AFAIK the money they give helps pay for the server. I don't know what GBAtemp is hosted with, but a standard OVH server can be $70 per month.

Eh. I feel it takes more than post history and "good behavior" (note the quotes) to be considered for a mod role. An active, contributing member will fit the role better than someone who posts in good favor.

While an active, contributing member will likely make a good moderator, moderating is a different skill than contributing posts.

 

[MadMageKefka]

I actually like that idea~ This needs to be a thing.

This is why I agreed with @Tom Bombadildo if we limit it to blogs, we can filter out blogs on the recent threads section of the front page.