NBR moderation

I removed some more posts from the last couple of weeks that contained personal attacks, disrespectful language, obvious trolling, off-topic content, or responses to any of the above. We don't really moderate the forum much and unfortunately it shows in NBR :(

I'll try to check in from time to time but don't want to waste too much spare time on it. It would be great if you could all take a moment before you hit that Submit button and count to 3, then re-read your post to make sure it will contribute to keeping this place civilized.

Going forward I may retract privileges to post in NBR without approval. Right now everyone gets the benefit of the doubt. Once you require approval, your posts may sit in the queue for days and will need to be exemplary to be approved so try not to get to that point.

Reminder of the forum rules: https://nsmb.com/forum/forum/nbr-not-biking-related-9/topic/terms-of-use-and-rules-for-the-nsmb-bulletin-boards-62459/

Thank you

Reminder to keep it friendly and respectful and stick to the rules.

It was going pretty well since I last asked but some of you couldn't help yourself in one particular thread so those posts were deleted and that thread locked. I deleted personal attacks, disrespectful language (even when using euphemisms), obvious trolling, link dumping without providing any context, and responses to any of the above. If you had a post deleted, it's safe to assume that you now have a mark next to your name and I suggest you consider very carefully your next posts.

The good news is that we are going to have some help moderating the forum soon! However, it's still much better (and less embarrassing for yourself) if you could all do your best to self-moderate before submitting your post.

A short update from your moderators.

Since the last post in this thread, we've tried to monitor NBR a bit more actively and we retracted posting privileges in NBR from 4 members who were consistently stirring up arguments and controversy and generally negatively impacting the atmosphere in the forums.

To be clear, these members are still welcome to post in any of the bike-related subforums and demonstrate that they can make meaningful contributions to the forum. So far, none of the affected members have and one member opted to close their account.

NSMB is primarily a website about mountain biking. Forum members are welcome to share their opinions even if they disagree with our content, have negative experiences with our advertisers, etc. The NBR subforum is provided for members to blow off some steam and discuss off topic stuff in a casual manner but it's not intended as a free-for-all for posting contentious content and stirring up arguments and controversy. We moderate the forums very lightly and mostly rely on members to self-moderate. In general we think that's working very well. When it doesn't, we may resort to taking away posting privileges from individual members. We don't do this because of someone's opinion, we do this because of how someone behaves in the forums.

If you have questions about moderation, please feel free to respond in this thread or send a message to Vik or me. Please keep in mind that forum moderation is not an exact science, we do this in our spare time, and we are not perfect.

Thanks for supporting NSMB and for keeping the forums alive!

Fwiw I think some of the moderation around here has a bit heavy handed or excessive as of late. At least compared to what's been the norm for quite some time. I've noticed posts go missing that didn't really need any moderation.

Also fwiw shogun made a fair piint questioning how an 18yr old kid got money to purchase the firearms he did.  Yes I know shogun is prone to conspiracy type talk and out there ideas, but his quest8was fairly address6and that should have been that. 

I know the crowd here tends to be left leaning, and even tho we're not a bunxh of commies the moderation in this instance seems to go against good principles of free speech. I don't see it as a good thing to step out onto an authoritarian bridge.

I viewed A Shogun named Marcus as just expressing his opinions, not trying to sir up trouble. IMO, the mods should be careful not to delete posts or ban members just because they or some left leaning members may disagree with their viewpoints / opinions. That being said, I'd like to thank the mods for what they do. You can't keep everyone happy all the time.

Posted by: Stuminator

I viewed A Shogun named Marcus as just expressing his opinions, not trying to sir up trouble. IMO, the mods should be careful not to delete posts or ban members just because they or some left leaning members may disagree with their viewpoints / opinions. That being said, I'd like to thank the mods for what they do. You can't keep everyone happy all the time.

How is it “left leaning” to think someone is being an asshole when they start up with false flag innuendos about a massacre of children?

Maybe if the forum software allowed us to downvote someone into mute territory, we could auto-police.  But it doesn’t, so it is what it is.  Free speech here is free, but it is not without consequences.

Thank you for your moderation efforts. I fully support having some standards of behavior/decency here, to not do so I believe results in a forum I wouldn’t be proud to host/own.

Posted by: Stuminator

I viewed A Shogun named Marcus as just expressing his opinions, not trying to sir up trouble. IMO, the mods should be careful not to delete posts or ban members just because they or some left leaning members may disagree with their viewpoints / opinions. That being said, I'd like to thank the mods for what they do. You can't keep everyone happy all the time.

seriuosly ?

Shogun is always trying to stir up trouble, its not about political leanings its about acting like an asshole (as opposed to actualy being an asshole )

and then i have watched some campers constantly trying to take points off each other for literaly decades

but whatever man ... i encourage moderators to  moderate this group of children to their  hearts content

Hi folks. I got some Mod privileges around mid-Feb so that's ~2 months now. Excluding banning spammers every few days I've moderated threads/posts 3 or 4 times. I feel pretty sure that each case was sufficiently over the line of what we can accept for forum behaviour. I've chatted via PM to the affected people most of the time and folks seem to agree the Mod action was reasonable even if they may not have liked it 100%. I'm certainly always open to discussing moderation and I am open to changing course based on those discussions. However, at some point a decision has to be made and I can understand that not everyone will agree with any given Mod action.

With NBR in particular my person opinion [nothing to do with NSMB management] is that contentious political discussions are fair game for tighter moderation on a mountain bike forum. We are here to talk about bikes not argue about COVID. It's not like there aren't many other places to do so online if that's really how you want to spend your free time. I would also add that if I look at a NBR poster's history and they haven't made a bike related contribution in months and are seemingly only interested in stirring the pot in NBR several times a day then I'm not inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt when deciding on Mod action. And let's be honest if the only real restriction being imposed on a member of a mountain bike forum is that they have to post something related to bikes if they want to post....well I just don't see that as being overly harsh or restrictive.

Posted by: Vikb
 I would also add that if I look at a NBR poster's history and they haven't made a bike related contribution in months and are seemingly only interested in stirring the pot in NBR several times a day then I'm not inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt when deciding on Mod action. And let's be honest if the only real restriction being imposed on a member of a mountain bike forum is that they have to post something related to bikes if they want to post....well I just don't see that as being overly harsh or restrictive.

this ^^ exactly,  altho when i asked him shogun did claim to own a bicycle or some fucking thing

I get that this is a mountain biking site. I mountain biked when I first joined this forum in 1999. I haven't mountain biked since 2003 but I would be a little sad to get booted from the first online community I ever joined because I don't ride anymore.

There's too much bullshit and misinformation being spread around and it is not healthy.  Not calling it out makes you complicit.

Posted by: Fast-Orange

I get that this is a mountain biking site. I mountain biked when I first joined this forum in 1999. I haven't mountain biked since 2003 but I would be a little sad to get booted from the first online community I ever joined because I don't ride anymore.

This  except I haven't biked mountains since like 2011

Riding a mountain bike is not a requirement for NSMB forum participation. So no worries in that regard.