ToS and politics.

[richardda1st (Richard)]

As the Terms of Service states.

Avoid topics about race, politics or religion. These can be very sensitive topics and it can be very easy to take things the wrong way, creating arguments.

As I hate having interesting threads ruined by Politics.
I wish the above Terms of Service were strictly followed.

Yes I agree I did go to far that time in my clumsy effort to get the nasty political innuendos to stop. It seems to have worked on that particular thread, but at my expense.

The ToS regarding politics is clear to me, but not to everyone. Is the word ‘Avoid’ open to misinterpretation?

Cheers
Richard

[rat156]

Hi Richard,

Yes, the posting of inappropriate comments in threads in order to get them closed is something I've taken up with Mike. In a (quite lengthy) email I sent to him I expressed that, even though it is probably not the case, there is a perception of unevenness in the application of the ToS to posts. This unevenness seems to be user specific.

I just wish that, instead of closing an interesting thread, where the majority of contributors are behaving like adults, they delete the inappropriate posts. Some people on these fora will deliberately post something controversial in a thread merely because there are opinions expressed in it that are at odds with their own personal beliefs (be they political, moral or religious). The mods step in and close an otherwise vigorous thread.

I also said to Mike that this behaviour is bullying, and has caused people to stop contributing directly to the forum. I stopped posting in January, this is my second post since, the first was met with a tirade from one of the bullies.

Cheers
Stuart

[casstony]

Since moderators use their own free time I don't think there's much room for complaints unless you're prepared offer your own time to do the job, especially if the thread being closed is not directly related to astronomy.

[rat156]

I don't think any offer by me for mod duties would be accepted!

But is you're argument is that if you donate time you can't be critisied? I thought there was only one Pope at a time, nobody is infallible. For the most part the mods do a great job, we see very little of the junk that probably pervades the forum. Most people are controlled and it's a pleasant place to be, mostly.

Cheers
Stuart

[casstony]

Put yourself in the shoes of the moderator - would you waste a lot of time debating whether or not to close a questionable thread, or would you try to be fair without getting stressed about your decisions.

The moderator is always going to be in conflict with someone - give'em a break - there are so many more important things to worry about.

I would only even consider questioning a decision on an astronomy related thread since it's an astronomy forum - the rest is minutiae (mostly).

[richardda1st (Richard)]

I wasn't surprised that my post was removed, but I was surprised that the numerous other posts (one sided) with political derogatory statements all before I got involved were not.

I am more than happy to never mention or read anything political on IceInSpace, but find it galling when a certain few deliberately do so, just to stir the pot.

I do regard politics as important but there are lots of other places to discuss it, if you want to.

Lets leave it at that.

Cheers
Richard

ps
Still pleased to be a member

[casstony]

Richard, you can always use the 'report post' button to ask to have posts deleted that you consider inappropriate. Maybe someone reported your post and that's why it was the only one deleted. Still, it's easier to just ignore the thread.