A lack of mutual respect on these forums?

stevenen

Does China Daily want to make just another trashy English language forum about China? There are already other examples of this. I believe that CD can make a forum where there is a real sense of community and mutual respect.

I know that being a moderator is a hard job. In my experience the best forums that I have visited are ones where the moderators are very active. They can help to set the tone to the forum by explaining why certain comments are unacceptable. As for the "unruly members". It is obvious to everyone who they are. Just ban them straight away. If they re-register under a different name, ban them again. The moderator should not have to wait for them to be reported. The forum becomes an extension of their personality, and the values that they think are important.

Do you think the comments on this forum reflect the personality of the moderator? It may be that China Daily does not allow their moderators this freedom. Perhaps the moderators need more power?

stevenen

Forums can be like drinks parties. There are two types;

(a) You meet interesting people. You have adult civilised conversations. You are able to exchange views and opinions freely. You come away from it maybe having made some new friends and having learned something new. Maybe you have a better understanding of the world. You feel good because you know that people from different cultures and backgrounds can be friends and treat each other with mutual respect.

(b) There are a lot of loud drunk guys making lewd comments and sexual innuendo. They are noisy and quickly turn on someone who complains. Even though there are some nice people there, the atmousphere is set by the noisy minority. You leave the party depressed about humanity, and ashamed that the you are from the same race or culture as the rude foreigners.

I would like to see China Daily differentiate itself from forums like the Beijinger, which certainly falls into the (b) category. The only way to achieve this is for the moderators to have the power to eject offensive people very quickly.

What kind of forum would you like (a) or (b)?

greatlady

stevenen Post time: 2012-1-2 22:36
Does China Daily want to make just another trashy English language forum about China? There are alre ...

In my experience the best forums that I have visited are ones where the moderators are very active. They can help to set the tone to the forum by explaining why certain comments are unacceptable. As for the "unruly members".

where the best forums have you ever visited so far?
since you are full of experiences .
you sould like that.

good suggestions were welcomed , have you read that thread from mods?

You can post there.

stevenen

greatlady Post time: 2012-1-2 23:10
In my experience the best forums that I have visited are ones where the moderators are very active ...

To be honest, you do not have to visit a lot of forums to know which is good and which is bad. You only need to visit 2. One good one, and one bad one, and compare the differences.

Which forums have I visited? Wow.. I started visiting forums from the 1980's. The first one was Compuserve. There have been so many since then, since I have always worked with computers. I am not such a young guy.

It seems that you are happy with the forum. That is fine. It just means that we are looking for different things. I am just giving my honest first impressions. I hope that this does not offend.

snappysammy

St_George Post time: 2012-1-2 22:16
We dont want dictator mods do we ?

You do have a Rat...AND there's a new very Double Standard......RATS RULE.....until they get trapped....

1584austin

snappysammy Post time: 2012-1-2 23:50
You do have a Rat...AND there's a new very Double Standard......RATS RULE.....until they get trapp ...

Oh what type of rat, and where does it come from

snappysammy

I think you know.....{:soso_e153:}