Administrative Actions - April 2014

[MacGyver]

Today, the staff of TGO did something that we very rarely do.  We banned a handful of members - and by an handful, I mean five members plus one special case.

 

While one can certainly read into the changes to the forum structure this week and David's admonition to "be nice or be gone", I thought I would share our reasoning with you guys in some detail so that no one is left guessing and out intentions will be clear.

 

In short, this community is something that we're very passionate about protecting. And, community is a delicate thing sometimes.  We like to believe that TGO is a place where we can discuss big topics, and I honestly believe that it is.  We ask our members to abide by the Code of Conduct we've put forth, and for the large part everyone complies.  I have to commend our members, because you guys actually do such a phenomenal job policing the board that moderators rarely have to get involved at all.  If you've been involved in more than one or two forums over the years, you probably realize what a rarity that is.

 

But, of late we've sensed a change.  We've had a few members who have just had the effect of turning threads sour.  Many of you are probably like me and are quite capable of reading viewpoints you don't agree with and simply dismissing them.  You need some pretty thick skin on the internet, and we've got some fairly mature personalities on TGO.  Yet, when a person keeps being presented with negative arguments, while you may be able to dismiss them, you find yourself distancing yourself from the source.  We realized as a staff this week, that TGO was becoming a place that weren't enjoying hanging out as much.  That's when we realized that we needed to take some action.

 

I expected that we would end up booting a few dozen people.  When you grow from a few thousand people where we were a few years ago to over 21,000 people today, you're going to have some bad apples get mixed in.  I was wrong in my expectation.  I was actually quite surprised to see how few voices it takes to turn something completely sour. 

 

I want to be very clear that this isn't an exercise as some have opined, in political correctness.  Those of you who know David or I personally know that we're about the farthest thing you'll get from politically correct.  This isn't a case about tolerance; rather it's one of over indulgence.  A few members have taken advantage of the graces of this forum, and we're not going to sit idly by and let that happen.

 

We made the changes to the way the political forum shows up so that you actually have to go and seek it out to participate.  We welcome the conversations, but it was becoming overpowering.  At one point a couple of weeks ago out of 20 threads on the "new content" page, 18 were political in nature.

 

If you hit the "New Content" button now, you might notice that it actually looks like we're running a gun forum again.  I welcome the change.

 

Several of you sent either David or I notes this week following David's call for guilty consciences.  I want to thank each of you who did that, and let you each know that not a one of you we're on our list of people who were abusing the forum.  I would ask that each of you consider your tone in posting.  There's a time for hyperbole.  There's a time for strong rhetoric.  Consider those times carefully.

 

I would ask each of our members to be mindful of your tone.  In this modern time of zero sum politics where what's good for one party must necessarily be bad for the other party, it's easy to become polarized ourselves.  But, I'd ask you to consider guns as a bit of a special case.  With over 300,000,000 guns in this country, guns aren't a republican/democrat thing.  They're an American thing. With 20,000 members, I expect we've got people of at least slightly different flavors of politic.  But, each of them joined this forum because they like guns.  Please watch your voices and consider your rhetoric.  Let's not make enemies where we don't have to.

 

We are going to be watching things carefully in the coming months.  Please help us out, as the staff doesn't see every thread that's posted.

 

We really do value our membership here and the community that has formed.  Many of you, if you're like me have made new and lasting friends as a part of this board.  I look forward to meeting more of our members and will seek to do so in the coming months.

 

Thanks for all of your help!

 

Mac

 

 

[TripleDigitRide]

The changes to the political forum was an amazing idea. Thank you.

[TGO David]

Excellent post describing it far better than I could have.  Thanks, Mac.

[Daniel]

21,000 people today

Wow! Last I looked we were at like 7k. I recall mentioning to the lady and man from TFA beside us in court during the carry in restaurants case that we had 5000 and she seemed amazed.

[nightrunner]

Very glad to see the emphasis on guns brought back. I too was getting tired of all the political posts.

[gregintenn]

I'm sure happy to see I made the cut. I would have sent you a message, but I didn't see this until now.

[enfield]

Whew!  Spared again!

 

By the way, you did pretty good.  You got 2 of the 6 on my ignore list.

Edited April 12, 2014 by enfield

[MacGyver]

Whew! Spared again!

I almost brought you out of retirement to do the dirty work.

[Grunt67]

 Good job, David & Mac, thanks. Glad I made the cut also.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I didn't throw myself on the mercy of the court having a "what will be, will be" attitude, but am gossipy enough to be inordinately curious about who got the boot. :)

[Chucktshoes]

I didn't throw myself on the mercy of the court having a "what will be, will be" attitude, but am gossipy enough to be inordinately curious about who got the boot. :)

Go look in the Hive of Scum & Villiany and you will figure it out easily enough.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Go look in the Hive of Scum & Villiany and you will figure it out easily enough.

 

Yep, saw three in the hive easily enough. Got the impression there were a few more than three, but can't find a number at the moment, maybe it was my feeble mind misremembering.

[No_0ne]

Yep, saw three in the hive easily enough. Got the impression there were a few more than three, but can't find a number at the moment, maybe it was my feeble mind misremembering.

 

Cool! Sounds like an opportunity for a new TGO contest, i.e. be the first to ID the banned guys.  I know of 4 so far, wonder what the prize will be ...

[TrickyNicky]

I haven't put it all together but the ones I've seen that are gone made me say good riddance. Except one. I don't totally 100% agree with that call, but I can see how maybe it had to be made.

I was a bit concerned, enough to reach out to the staff, but that had much less to do with me thinking I'd been out of line and more to do with me just wanting to be 100% sure.

[Dolomite_supafly]

I haven't put it all together but the ones I've seen that are gone made me say good riddance. Except one. I don't totally 100% agree with that call, but I can see how maybe it had to be made.

I was a bit concerned, enough to reach out to the staff, but that had much less to do with me thinking I'd been out of line and more to do with me just wanting to be 100% sure.

You had nothing to worry about. I actually chuckled when you contacted us.

 

With that being said you had better not be overly nice anymore, we can't have that :)

[Ted S.]

I didn't know whether to contact anyone. I have been taking the dharma route on most thing for awhile now.

I do hope things don't sour at such the rate as has been shown recently.

Stay classy TGO. Edited April 12, 2014 by Ted S.

[bigun]

I started to contact you to see if I was on the list, but decided to do it like the paper and check the obits to see if I was still alive.

[Chazmr]

Well done guys!  While I enjoy a good political discussion, I come here to read about and discuss firearms and related tops.  It was getting to where I was skipping more and more posts.

Thanks for keeping things in line.

[RichardR]

Meh, the administration of forums like this isn't easy, especially when folks are constantly discussing topics in which emotions can sometimes get in the way of reason.

It is a fine line to walk, if the moderation is heavy-handed folks will be reluctant to engage in discussions, prehaps stiffling important discussions that need to be discussed.

If there is little to no moderation the discussions become more arguementitive, some folks may even become abusive towards other folks for not sharing their opinion(s) also causing reluctance to engage in discussions, prehaps even stiffling important discussions that need to be discussed.

I certainly wouldn't volunteer to baby-sit this bunch of misfits :)

[TrickyNicky]

You had nothing to worry about. I actually chuckled when you contacted us.
 
With that being said you had better not be overly nice anymore, we can't have that :)

Yes sir! I think I can oblige.

[bersaguy]

I will admit I contacted the an administrator and got a reply back of Nope and a smiley face so felt a big weight lifted off e cause I love this place............... :love: :love:  and think it's :no1:

[Dolomite_supafly]

I will admit I contacted the an administrator and got a reply back of Nope and a smiley face so felt a big weight lifted off e cause I love this place............... :love: :love:  and think it's :no1:

 

You forgot your "jmho" at the end.

[bersaguy]

You forgot your "jmho" at the end.

Ok Just for you......................jmho................ :rock: :rock:

[wareagle]

Wow.  I had no idea member count was so high.  I have a new appreciation for management of this forum.    Hats off to you all!

[mikegideon]

I almost brought you out of retirement to do the dirty work.

 

He's the best there ever was :)