Archive through June 16, 2001

The ClubHouse: General Archives: June - July Archives: Acknowledgement to the Moderators: Archive through June 16, 2001

Merlin

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 01:43 pm Click here to edit this post
I have been reading this board since August 2000. I do not recall there being very many posts that were moderated until very recently. In the last two or three months, it appears to me that there have been many posts that have been moderated.

Why is there a difference in the number of posts that have been moderated in relation to what was moderated six months ago? Are there more members who are stepping over the boundaries of what is allowed? Are the moderators in a contest to see who can moderate the most posts? Does the first arriving moderator who gets to a flaming post earn a salary bonus on payday? Do any of the TVCH members think the moderators are handling this in the manner best suited for the survival of this board? Are the moderators becoming our BIG BROTHER and censoring what we can say?

I approve of what I see the moderators currently doing. When a member steps outside of the boundaries of what we all agreed to when we became members here, it is being dealt with quickly. I do not see what the moderators are doing as censoring. I do see them as doing a lot to keep the peace. For any group of people living together, there has to be rules in order to maintain a civility.

I would like to extend my thanks to the moderators for what it is they are doing and the decisions they are making. I approve of what it is I see happening. I think it will continue to strengthen this community.

I hope you do get a paycheck one day.

Moderator

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 01:49 pm Click here to edit this post
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Merlin! :)

We are learning as we go here and I guess we're just getting better and better and making judgements and trusting them.

We don't get paid except by receiving thanks like yours and seeing the board flourish with happy posters.

(c)

Juju2bigdog

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 02:33 pm Click here to edit this post
Funny you should bring that up, Merlin. I just sent a private thank you note today to a moderator thanking him/her for the fine job and encouraging him/the group to keep up the good work.

Keeping a happy face.

Bijoux

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 02:38 pm Click here to edit this post
I'm very happy with the way the moderators are maintaining the board. While the vast majority of posters have moved up from events two months ago, some haven't, so I'm not surprised that more moderating is being done now. Thank you moderators. I'm sure that most of you have better things to do with your life than delete inflammatory posts, so I really appreciate what you're doing here.

Moondance

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 03:08 pm Click here to edit this post
Thank you Moderators for your time, patience and judgment but most of all thank you for doing an under-appreciated and underpaid (no pay) job:)

Egbok

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 03:42 pm Click here to edit this post
I appreciate all that the Moderators do for this board, which makes it a decent and fun place to participate. Not only do they have the task to moderate this board, but on top of that they are there to help out whenever called upon . . .and all on their own time, without pay!! What's not to love and appreciate??
Thank you Moderators!!

Gail

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 03:44 pm Click here to edit this post
Thanks! This is definitely a group effort here with all of us pitching in. At times, it is very time consuming.

For the most part, we make every effort to discuss questionable posts if possible. Or give each other a heads up if a thread is getting out of control. Sometimes, there isn't a second person around to answer right away and this cause a problem because if one of us removes a post that was over the line, it is okay but god help you if you edit a post or remove it because you know the potential for it escalating pretty quick. In some cases, you get thanked, in other cases, you get accused of being undeserving of a position of power and respect.

Merlin, in answer to your post. Around January, we were down to about 180 people here, now we are up to about 400. Between January and April, I was approving 1 - 2 new accounts a week. The past month or so, it is more like 15 - 20 a week. Last year when BB ended, we were about 3500 members. I am seeing a lot of last years usernames coming back.

No, there are no contests, no bonuses except T Shirts. :) and Neil's undying gratitude.

As we get closer and closer to Big Brother starting up, there are a few new message boards out there too. I have not been to any other boards because pretty much the people I want to hang with are right here. But, I know from last year, there were a few boards that were not moderated that were downright scary. Any of you AOL'ers know what I mean. You couldn't go to the chat rooms, it was 20 people per room and half of them were just spamming. Same with the boards.

I was searching for a board the second week of BB when Will and Jordan were up for banishment and I couldn't believe the hate and profanity that people were posting. I can cuss with the best of them but I didn't feel like reading it in the posts. What attracted me to this board was the niceness of it. Neil was between jobs and running this place and wanted it to be a place to talk about Big Brother with friends. No hate comments, no cussing (or at least not a lot).

His motto for the board: Where all your friends are hanging out. For me, that is pretty much a true statement.

It is not our intent to censor however, it is our intent to try to keep the personal attacks to a minumim and keep them from escalating. When one poster attacks another, it seems to heat up pretty quickly becomes a moderators nightmare. In some cases, we try to delete a few offending posts, in others, we will move a thread off the board to cool it off and get it cleaned up in an effort to save it.

Lately, it seems like we have a lot more posts where someone is directly accusing someone of lying, etc. Those are not even questionable. It also seems lately there is a lot of baiting.

All I can say is we do our best. We are not going to please everybody but we do try.

Faerygdds

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 04:06 pm Click here to edit this post
Well, I for one think you all do a fantastic job! Like Gail said... I really thoroughly enjoy coming here. Without all the name calling and well, let's face it, crap that you see on unmoderated boards you end up with a community of generally thinking caring individuals who carry on thought provoking and insightful discussions.

Gotta love it! I think I said really early on in my BBFC experience last year that I thought this board was on a "different level" than the other BB boards I had seen.

And it only keeps getting better :)


Thanks for all the moderators hard work and dedication!

Lancecrossfire

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 04:36 pm Click here to edit this post
Merlin, et al

Thanks for the thoughts. I think Merlin raises questions that others wonder about themselves.

It can indeed be a fine line between what seems like censorship--especially if it's your post that is edited or deleted. I also think it will be done differently this year because of the leaning process Moderator (HGs) refers to. A litter tighter reins might be a good description, in terms of what's said about BB itself. The HGs, the crew--last year mane calling was a part of what we did. Saying George was stupid happened a lot. I'll be changing those posts this year. A person can do something stupid and not be a stupid person. A person can do something that might hurt their chances in the game. It's in Neil's rules to attack a post (or issue), and not a poster or other person.

It's impossible to have everyone think the same exact level of moderation is the right line. So instead of worrying about what people are thinking the line should be, using Neil's guidelines and rules will be my focus.

It's also a tough call when there is a post that looks like it might cause an escalation. The idea is to get rid of them before the escalation occurs. It's a bigger mess once it does. For the folks who can do a little jousting, then quickly drop it and move on, I give a little more latitude (unless it's flaming). That is showing respect for each other, respect for others, and a general approach of being here to have a good time.

It's ok to disagree with someone or something--it's how the disagreement is handled that we keep a watch on.

Merlin

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 05:01 pm Click here to edit this post
Part of the reason I started this thread is because I could see where the moderators may wonder how their tough calls were being perceived by the board members. I think your resonsibilites are being handled in the best manner. Until someone shows up here and says otherwise, it appears this is the general consensus of the members. Congratulations.

Highlander

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 05:58 pm Click here to edit this post
Lance, I just want to be clear you are saying we cant call someone on the show an idiot? So for example if I was talking about Survivor I wouldnt be able to say that Jerri was a bi*ch and Roger was a fool? Can I say Dubya is a moron? Or is all that type of talk out?

I have to tell you I hear lyrics coming to the fore "The Hills are alive with the Sounds of Music"

Lancecrossfire

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 06:04 pm Click here to edit this post
You are welcome to say they are doing moronic things, that someone might be acting like the b word and that someone is doing something foolish.

One of the things with BB especially is the passion and intensity people seem to develop for the game, the players, and those who root against and for the person you are rooting for. Expect to see tighter reins on the name calling (one of the rules Neil has--no name calling).

At least this is the approach I'll take unless I hear from Neil saying otherwise.

If I understand the other moderators are looking at the same kind of stuff.

Moderators, did I step out of line here???

Grod

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 06:05 pm Click here to edit this post
Now I am lost and scared. Can I call myself stupid? To be perfectly honest - sometimes I am stupid!
(laughing at my stupidity as I type this post)

Highlander

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 06:09 pm Click here to edit this post
Alright Lance, it should be interesting. I feel like I am in a time warp and this is going to be the online version of Gidget.

Highlander

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 06:11 pm Click here to edit this post
I guess you can call yourself that Grod, but I sure cant. ROFL

Grooch

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 06:19 pm Click here to edit this post
HL, that is going to be a classic! ROFLM(own)AF!

Spygirl

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 06:39 pm Click here to edit this post
I really don't know what the moderators are thinking on this, but I do want to state a couple of things.

I think that Lance's point of saying "someone IS something negative" versus "someone is ACTING LIKE or DOING something negative" is well taken. During BB1, I chatted in AOL rooms (yes, before I became enlightened , and it was intolerable because people kept name calling the houseguests and bashing and tearing them apart -- in vulgar and disgusting ways.

While I have MANY thoughts on Eddie (for example) that aren't positive, I attempted to phrase my opinions like , "he seems like", "he acts like", "I don't agree with...", "I can't stand it when...", "it makes me mad when", whereas people on other boards would say "Eddie IS an *ss", "Eddie is a ____(pick something negative)", for example.

That stuff gets out of hand quickly, and it is hurtful to the houseguests (if they were to ever read our site) and to their families and friends). They ARE real people -- not fictional characters. Besides that, it leads to poster-to-poster fights when someone disresptfully attacks another poster for not seeing how terrible that houseguest is, etc.

Anyway, I don't believe in censorship, but I do believe in a respectful environment. I plan to post MANY opinions about BB2, and I will be even more critical than normal (becuase I'm bitter they didn't pick ME -- ), but I won't resort to name calling and obscene or vulgar character descriptions.

It is pretty well-known that I left another board because of un-moderator, personal attacks, and I chose to be a part of TVCH because the moderators provide the sort of environment that is more what I'm looking for, and I hope that they continue. I know that some people may not be comfortable, and that is the beauty of freedom -- there are other outlets for expression.

Thank you to the moderators. Your hard work is appreciated.

-SpyGirl

Highlander

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 07:02 pm Click here to edit this post
Spy I agree about being respectful to board members but I think it is a little over the top to say you cant call a houseguest an idiot. Understanding that they have families and they may by some remote chance come to this board to read what was said, they put themselves in the position by volunteering to go in front of 200 million people. They know what is expected of them. The fact is that there was much criticism about BB because people were too nice. Fact is the networks want conflict, want the viewers to get heated over the participants, and the participants understand this.

I agree there is no need for profanity however, I respectfully disagree and have to say I will probably call some HG at some point in the series an idiot.

Tess

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 07:29 pm Click here to edit this post
I appreciate all the moderators and their collective efforts (those seen and unseen). I know the long hours you put in in addition to your paying jobs and family responsibilities. I lurked around last fall and winter but always came back to lurking at TVCH because of the calliber of the people here, which of course would include Neil and the moderators. When I finally decided to give myself a voice (and now pictures!) I chose TVCH for the very same reason. It can be an ugly world out there, but it doesn't need to be in here. Thank you, Moderators and Neil. I hope you are willing to continue your excellent work through BB2 and way beyond!

Highlander

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 07:38 pm Click here to edit this post
I think the moderators do a great job as well and have jumped through hoops trying to be fair to all and ensure that there isnt any baiting and harmful posts. I however respectfully disagree with taking it to the extremes that Lance spoke about and I am curious to see it enforced once the series heats up.

Gail

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 07:47 pm Click here to edit this post
I would like to interject a thought about houseguests. One thing to keep in mind when posting about houseguests is that all of them have families and friends who might be surfing boards around the internet.

I always tried to keep that in mind when posting. There were some terrible things said about a lot of the houseguests last year. What we were having to do was "clean up the board" after someone got voted out so that if they found the board it wouldn't hurt them so bad.

There are such things as calling someone on bad behavior - such as Karen kind of freaking out about George or George doing the shirt with the bullet holes and the other weird things. People totally freaked out about Jamie and her lipgloss. All of those were behavior things and things that could be debated or talked about (sometimes very heated discussions. That is perfectly acceptable.

What isn't acceptable are things like name calling or really slamming someone for a physical feature - remember this name from the internet: Wh0rdan? OR how people felt like they had to make a big deal about Jamie's chin or Karen's teeth? Those are things that a person can't help and it isn't right to criticize for that. It would be no different if someone here posted a picture of themself and someone came out and said something really shitty about it. That would not be acceptable.

One of the things Neil wanted was a place where even the houseguests would feel okay about if they found us.

You're right Highlander, they should expect some crap - but there has to be a line between posting for a good heated debate/issue/etc or posting things to be viscious or downright hateful and mean. Me, I absolutely will not tolerate any thing that even hints of being racist, degrades people based on sex or religion or sexual preferences or handicaps. There are plenty of other places on the internet that do tolerate that - if people want they can go there.

We had to constantly delete posts last summer that said George murdered his best friend in cold blook. There was a guy last summer who each week started up the same thread where he said he just heard George murdered his best friend, etc and we would have to delete it. There was a guy who created a bunch of fake accounts using regular posters names - almost - I think Ocean remembers . .. there was one that was Ocean_Island without the s at the end.

Alot of this is a gut instinct and some of it is a sense of humor and judgement calls. Some of us don't sleep much either

Highlander

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 07:54 pm Click here to edit this post
Agree Gail with what you said. It is all about judgement calls. Of course there is no calling for being vicious or hateful and if Moderators have a sense of humor all will be well.

Faerygdds

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 08:05 pm Click here to edit this post
Might I add Gail that I found you all to be really good at looking at the overall intent behind the post.

If you are ranting and venting and saying something like...

Did you see that infomercial??? What an IDIOT!!!
or even a
OMG! If my dad did that in the house I would be SO embarrassed.

Those are slams, but they are meant in good natured fun. things that would NOT be tolerated would be to say that someone should do something to hurt or harm the HG like "someone should throw rocks at them" or something like that.

The moderators here are very good about telling the difference between harmless bantering and comic relief and downright abuse...

Don't worry about it too much.. just post and if you get a warning you get a warning... then you know...

While George was in the house we had some pretty heated discussions, but the difference was they were heated discussions and never degraded to personal attacks on HG and each other and THAT I think is the goal of the moderators.

again.. great job guys!

Ryn

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 08:08 pm Click here to edit this post
Hi, just chiming in here...

I think you can call anyone an 'idiot' and get away with it Highlander, there is just that imaginary line betwen what is a general comment and what becomes an outright attack.

Gails post was excellent and I agree with most, if not all that she said.

If you "hate" a certain HG thats fine, if you make it your mission to constantly badmouth them, create threads every day designed to discredit them, attact other posters who might have that particular HG as their fav, then that is not ok.

No matter what we do all of the above WILL happen, we all know it. And the people responsible will most likely be new posters who will never have seen this discussion, and probably would not read it if asked to. But thats the cost of a fairly open forum and thats not going to change.

Thanks all for your positive comments, its always nice to get a few slaps on the back from time to time. its one of the things that makes this worth doing :)

Nancy

Saturday, June 16, 2001 - 08:10 pm Click here to edit this post
one thing I learned as a newbee about 1 month after the show started--is NOT to call a fellow poster a liar..(i.e. if you did't see what they saw don't assume they made it up--rather ask if someone else saw it instead...i called someone a liar(they didnt i just didnt see the same thing and assumed they'd lied because to me 'curtis" wouldnt say that(well he did jokingly)..