In addition to what Dwight has said, I would point out that each post can be voted up and down (green/red arrows) which gives clear feedback to a poster about how their contribution is viewed by the wider community. Perhaps, we should start using this tool more frequently, rather than relying solely on moderation? It could then help a moderator take subsequent decisions about any further action if necessary.
FWIW I participate in a number of forums and Joel's comments would be unacceptable in all of them. "Straight" talking does not require personal abuse. On Wednesday, 4 March 2015 17:02:14 UTC, Dwight Arthur wrote: > > Hi, Jimbo. There are moderators on this forum. I’m not one, though I’ve > moderated elsewhere. I’ve seen these moderators deal with flame wars in the > past and I know that they would really prefer to keep the discussions free > and open, and will not get into censoring or blocking a member’s posts > unless it becomes seriously necessary. When I moderate, it’s okay to > vigorously criticize ideas that you disagree with as long as you don’t > start to attack the people who disagree with you. When a thread takes on a > feel of *argumentum ad hominem* I think it’s best to point out that it’s > getting uncomfortable, and usually everybody will settle down, maybe after > taking one last shot. It’s important to give everyone an opportunity to > cool off, which means that sometimes you have to let a comment pass with no > retort even if you disagree or it annoys you. I’m kind of breaking my own > rule by posting this comment, so I am going to shut up now and do my best > not to post here again. At least not until there is news about the > MLO/Android.v2 release. > > -Dwight > > > > *On:* Wednesday, March 04, 2015 9:47 AM, JimboDimbo wrote: > > Is there a moderator for this forum? > > I find the previous posts from Joel offensive and do not contribute > anything positive. > > It's not free speech, it's just plain vulgar. I'd question allowing this > sort of post to bring down the whole tone of this essentially collaborative > forum. It forced Daniel into an extended defence which is unnecessary. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MyLifeOrganized" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/mylifeorganized. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mylifeorganized/e594cb91-f6a5-4dfc-a2db-9d488d7d6c9a%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
