Recent changes made this board worse than ever.

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Recent changes made this board worse than ever.

Postby JackRiddler » Sat May 12, 2018 12:43 pm

It was well-intentioned, but the recent attempts to limit the flooding and thread proliferation activities of one user have inadvertantly made the situation much worse. Said user posts extremely long copy-pastes of daily corporate media material easily found on Google News or the like, requiring constant scrolling through every discussion. Said user starts several threads daily on "Russiagate" story from an MSNBC-type angle. Said user floods every thread that isn't already about "Russiagate" with the same material from an MSNBC-type angle. This is seemingly at random, often in threads that are not related to the "Russiagate" story.

The recent creation of a "Current Events" board was meant to give said user a separate playground and perhaps mitigate the situation on "General Discussion." However, what has happened instead is that "Current Events" is being hit with every single new "Russiagate" propaganda item as a new thread in real time. The effect is to render "Active Topics" completely useless as a feature. "Active Topics" may as well be the Google News feed about "Russiagate." Said user is also continuing the prior flooding and thread proliferation on "General Discussion."

Also, "Current Events" for some reason has now been placed at the top of the forum Board Index, thus becoming the go-to forum for all original visitors. As a specialty area for containing one user's abuses, I think it could stand to be a few rungs lower.

So if there will not be a direct dealing with this user's behavior, as there was once in the case of RI v. Manatee -- very similar really as no one was allowed to hold a discussion on any topic without sudden appearance of Key Word Hijacking (KWH) claims -- PLEASE CONSIDER these suggestions for more stopgap measures that may or may not improve the situation:

1. Admin adds a hide thread feature, so that at least users can clear the flooding off of "Active Topics."

2. On the Board Index, move "Current Events" below "Lounge."

3. Is it possible to prevent "Current Events" from displaying in "Active Topics"? (And preferably then limit this user to posting only in "Current Events"?)

4. Zero tolerance for the practice of repeating ready-made copy-paste of more than one screen in multiple threads (which happens every time one of this user's
"Russiagate" related trigger-words is employed, or when this user thinks that has happened).

Said user generally reacts poorly, feeling that objections to the board blight are matters of "policing" some god given right to keep blighting.

Of course, this user could finally decide to listen to reason and just stop engaging in the abusive activity, stick related new matters in existing threads, stop cross-posting ultra-long copy-pastes that are already posted elsewhere (one can link instead), not add every new "Russiagate" headline as it breaks on CNN, etc. etc. (Basically two threads could cover this thoroughly: One for legit Trump-related investigations, preferably with links to a second wherein the long copy pastes are stored.)

.
Last edited by JackRiddler on Sat May 12, 2018 12:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Recent changes made this board worse than ever.

Postby Burnt Hill » Sat May 12, 2018 12:53 pm

Dust hasn't even settled from the new construction.
In fact construction is not complete, we just have some new tools and new foundation to build on.
As always, it is up to us to make it work.
As is rhetoric, all communications are possible when there is a sense of camaraderie.
Without it we will fail.
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Re: Recent changes made this board worse than ever.

Postby peartreed » Sat May 12, 2018 2:37 pm

The most recent cruel diatribe by MacCruiskeen about SLAD on the original Skripal thread, followed by JackRiddler’s slightly less personalized critique on the new thread about board changes but also about SLAD’s posting patterns, illustrate a continuing intolerance and resentment towards the RI forum’s most prolific participant. Neither acknowledge SLAD’s sincere and unselfish enthusiasm to share news here. Nor do her attacking antagonists allow that she has for years invested her time informing the members.

All of us have individually unique idiosyncrasies in our style and form of participation, as well as our selected topics to present here, some of them more annoying and others more engaging – depending on the reader’s reactions, personal interests and preferences and reasons for being here. Myself included.

The main reason I appreciate and value SLAD’s plenitude of posts is because I connect from outside the mass media markets and normal reach of news coverage, unless I surf all over the net in a search for the subject matter that we have a predetermined common interest in discussing here, like conspiracy etc. The alternative for me would be more annoying and time consuming in chasing news of shared focus. I also enjoy SLAD's unique personality.

In terms of the forum format, section threads and rules, the moderators are on it again, as is admin, appropriately responding to use issues and problems as they arise in an ongoing idea exchange and testing of intended improvements. Those have included influencing and modifying behavior here. That is still a work in progress and likely will forever be, given the variety of personalities in the membership.

But the atmosphere here is a key determinant of joining in – or even reading – the news and views on RI. The much-discussed bullying, tag team tormenting and personalized acrimony against SLAD is the schoolyard kind of juvenile jousting that drops the otherwise intellectual level of RI interaction to zero.
I fully support gathering input to upgrade this place but let’s not deteriorate into chauvinistic, unchivalrous, crude and caustic misogyny in the process – by attacking our most prolific member.
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Re: Recent changes made this board worse than ever.

Postby MacCruiskeen » Sat May 12, 2018 3:00 pm

peartreed » Sat May 12, 2018 1:37 pm wrote:The most recent cruel diatribe by MacCruiskeen about SLAD on the original Skripal thread,


That is a plain, deliberate and calculating lie. I challenge you to post the evidence, "peartreed". You cannot and you will not, because no such evidence exists, as you very well know. You are a liar.

Anyone who visits that thread can easily see that I never once said anything even remotely cruel to slad or to anyone, that there is only one post there that deserves to be called a diatribe, and that it was not written by me but by her:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=40882&p=657803#p657803

Lies do not become truths through repetition. They just become repeated lies. I have put in a complaint to the mods. I am so sick and tired of liars lying about me with impunity. Were I to lie so shamelessly about you, "peartreed", I would incur an immediate suspension of at least seven days, and by christ I would deserve it.
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Re: Recent changes made this board worse than ever.

Postby liminalOyster » Sat May 12, 2018 3:36 pm

peartreed » Sat May 12, 2018 2:37 pm wrote:The most recent cruel diatribe by MacCruiskeen about SLAD on the original Skripal thread, followed by JackRiddler’s slightly less personalized critique on the new thread about board changes but also about SLAD’s posting patterns, illustrate a continuing intolerance and resentment towards the RI forum’s most prolific participant. Neither acknowledge SLAD’s sincere and unselfish enthusiasm to share news here. Nor do her attacking antagonists allow that she has for years invested her time informing the members.

All of us have individually unique idiosyncrasies in our style and form of participation, as well as our selected topics to present here, some of them more annoying and others more engaging – depending on the reader’s reactions, personal interests and preferences and reasons for being here. Myself included.

The main reason I appreciate and value SLAD’s plenitude of posts is because I connect from outside the mass media markets and normal reach of news coverage, unless I surf all over the net in a search for the subject matter that we have a predetermined common interest in discussing here, like conspiracy etc. The alternative for me would be more annoying and time consuming in chasing news of shared focus. I also enjoy SLAD's unique personality.

In terms of the forum format, section threads and rules, the moderators are on it again, as is admin, appropriately responding to use issues and problems as they arise in an ongoing idea exchange and testing of intended improvements. Those have included influencing and modifying behavior here. That is still a work in progress and likely will forever be, given the variety of personalities in the membership.

But the atmosphere here is a key determinant of joining in – or even reading – the news and views on RI. The much-discussed bullying, tag team tormenting and personalized acrimony against SLAD is the schoolyard kind of juvenile jousting that drops the otherwise intellectual level of RI interaction to zero.
I fully support gathering input to upgrade this place but let’s not deteriorate into chauvinistic, unchivalrous, crude and caustic misogyny in the process – by attacking our most prolific member.



Said poster's use of the board is completely anomalous and very extreme. IIRC, it currently accounts for about 5% of this site's material over more than a decade.

There may or may not be anything wrong with that, but it is, at very least, an extreme deviation from the norm.

And so it feel quite disingenuous that people keep claiming that, when such an extreme use of the board draws multiple critics, it follows that this is nefarious, bullying, or misogynist. There are a limited number of recurring criticisms and they are not based in irrational hatred but things that are pretty much empirically undeniable: 1) volume, 2) sourcing (MSM), 3) bias, 4) non-engagement.

Point 1 is indisputably a legitimate topic of discussion and/or criticism - said poster posts a shit ton of material. Far far far more than anyone else.

Point 2 certainly *feels* legitimate as I frequently notice said poster's MSM sources, but that could be my own confirmation bias so someone would have to run some numbers to approach obejctivity.

Point 3 is perhaps trickier. Said poster is very very very clear where they stand and what their mission is - they refer to it periodically and their sig line usually includes the most current statement thereof.

Point 4 is the one that I am the most sympathetic to seeing as a response to attacks and causticity. Poster does take a lot of shit. Sometimes that shit is cruel. But on the flip side, IMO it is not best practice to flood any board, forum, sub, etc with so much material unless you are really going to own it, which, IMO, means engaging in far more open discussion than said poster does. For instance, I don't buy, fundamentally, that Russiagate is the same thing that said poster does. But I'm certainly open to that possibility. Hence there is not much space for the kind of discussion that interests me, with said poster.

Yet let's get real - is there anyone here at all who reads even a majority of what said poster posts? How many words per average post? How many hours or minutes on average per day would it take to get through this stuff. Point being that said poster appears to be functioning more like a news aggregator than anything else. That's a noble goal maybe but coupled with the commitment to a relatively singular viewpoint, I at least wonder why said poster's energy continues being directed to parts of this site designed for conversation rather than the data dump, reddit, a new blog, etc.

The kicker is, all that said, I like SLAD. I think she can be really funny. I think her sometimes sunny nature shines through. And I like picturing her out on her fishing boat taking a break from posting. My personal suspiciong is that she'd enjoy starting a subreddit for posting all this stuff. But, at the same, it's not particularly a great deal of skin off my back. I just put her on the poorly named "foe" list - she's definitely not an enemy - so that I was able to navigate the rest of the board but I find I still at least skim a fair number of her posts.
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Re: Recent changes made this board worse than ever.

Postby stillrobertpaulsen » Sat May 12, 2018 6:01 pm

First of all, Jack, I just reviewed the Current Events forum. Your claim that, ""Current Events" is being hit with every single new "Russiagate" propaganda item as a new thread in real time" is demonstrably false. There are currently 27 threads in that forum started by multiple users including myself. Only 6 of the 27 threads deal with "Russiagate" and as I write this, there isn't one "Russiagate" thread in the top 8 there. So this is a false claim without merit.

Second, starting a thread calling out another RI member is instant flamebait, even if you cleverly disguise out the member by referring to them as "said user." Do not do this again, Jack.

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