i totally agree with you mike, i think the moderating has been blown into a whole new dimension. sadly i wasn't around in the younger years of funky snooker so i don't know how great it was

The main problem? Too many kids. We don't care if your friend has the sniffles, get over it.

Alot of the problem is people are posting for the sake of posting rather than in relation to the topic of the thread.

Unfortunately for adam, he proved the point perfectly. Their is numerous other regular posters that are good examples. I was probably one of them in the past, not to the same extent though, thankfully.

On the banter issue, sometimes people misinterpret banter for a personal attack. That is the drawback to printed words. However, i do feel Mike was correct in saying moderating has become more PC in all aspects now. Rules are being enforced to the exact letter instead of some common sense being applied to the situation.

The forums are, I am afraid the sum of the people who post. If you post on the forums you have to be prepared for people to disagree with your point of view. I, like others get annoyed when a thread is capped because of few silly posts - maybe the Mods should be more active and remove the offending posts, although that doesn't fit with those who think the mods are being over zealous.
I do think that threads should be in the right section, however is it really necessary to ridicule people over a spelling mistake or bad grammar ? We have people on here of different ages, educational abilities and people whose first language is not English, so maybe a bit more tolerance could be afforded ?
I don't think that moderating has changed that much, I just think people's memories fade
As Dec says it is often hard to spot humour in text format, something you think is funny when you write it might not come across as funny to someone else (I have fallen foul of this )

Basically, if we try and use smileys and read them as well it would help to detect if humour was meant

Whilst I do accept that there does seem to have been quite a few non-productive threads recently I feel it is a bit condescending to just say "It's because they are kids" I know quite a few young people who are able to construct well written and thoughtful posts.

My philosophy is:-

It's nice to be important BUT it is important to be nice !

I think everyone is guilty to some extent with the way the forums have turned out of late. Over-moderating perhaps, spamming to get posts up, needless correction of spelling and grammar, members 'playing moderator', members becoming increasingly defensive and the biggie...in my opinion, most take this site way too seriously. Maybe i'm just getting old, but I'll admit that i used to find this site a lot more fun than it is now

I think it's unfair to pin it all on moderators though. You funky's of old have to admit, the majority of members these days are a lot less relaxed and are more 'punchy' and aggressive now than they were say 2 or 3 years ago?

I do think funky is becoming a bit more PC. But lets be honest, everything is becoming increasingly PC. Not just funky. I think it's only natural that this has an effect on the site.

What really pulls my pig on the forums is :
"pointless post" , "pointless thread, needs capping" (especially when the member is clearly new to the forums).
I'm fine with members helping/pointing out problems, but posts like that always end up in arguments! If you don't like it, don't post. We'll cap it if it's necessary.
Generally, it's nice to see a bit of banter on the forums. But 80% of the time, it goes too far and someone gets offended. As deco pointed out, its hard to get sarcasm across a computer screen which sometimes makes it hard for us to see where the banter ends, and the abuse begins. I also think that some people forget the age of the person they are having a 'banter' with. There are some very young members on the forums that take everything to heart, so a bit of thought and leniency is needed there i think.
I guess a thread like this was needed for people to air their views. This is mine
Onwards and upwards?

The thing with banter is that you must remember that it will be read by anyone and everyone, and you have to be sure it can't be misinterpeted.

It is undeniable that the average age of forum posters has lowered considerably, which can raise issues when youngsters are simply unaware of how offensive some terms etc really are.

As for spamming, in all my time on both funkysites, realy spamming is really pretty rare.

I firmly believe there is no such thing as a pointless post, unless it is empty! Sure, it may be a view only shared by one person, it may be something that only makes sense to that one person, but sometimes all it takes for a major improvement to the game, for example, is one good idea.

My advice to new moderators has always been to remember that : "One mans spam is another mans steak" - perhaps it would be nice if members thought of things that way too from time to time

Very true spinner ... and it is a very fine line between spamming and a lack of understanding of the Edit button.

Some forums try to get round the problem by concatenating posts that are posted within a certain time threshold ... effectively turning them into edits (and therefore not increasing the post count which some people seem to be obsessed by - both the person doing it and those that feel the need to comment on it). This also tidies up the forum a bit by not having multiple posts due to bounce.

All in all, the forums don't seem to have taken a turn for the worse, as Grae said earlier people's memories my be fading, because there have been some ding dong battles in the past as well (for very similar reasons and with similar outcomes).

Its all about common sense and that is an objective concept, one mod can see banter another sees abuse.

I remember having a 'debate' with a moderator because I said 'get a room' in jest to something happening at the time, and it was deleted and I was warned. My argument was valid in my opinion, it seemed a case of a moderator knowing the rules, but not using their common sense in their judgement. Anybody can read the rules, but it is understanding the point of the rule, the reason it is their that is important.

Can honestly say that after this, I never really posted since, it leaves a bitterness, a sense of disappointment, it was a completely over the top reaction to a minute comment to which nobody had voiced any concern, or disquiet.

People do not like to be patronised, moderators would do well to recognise that in the grand scheme of things, that although they have a role, they are one of the least important aspects of this game.

The ordinary member is most important, and by preaching to US we grow weary, we are not stupid, we are not in need of constant moderation.

Dare I say this, but I think that it is possible we have to many moderators on this site, it is not being nasty to say this, just my opinion. Its become like the Labour Party, to big, and trying to have to big an impact on the ordinary member.

We are not stupid.

Im here at funkysnooker for almost a year now.
The forum had an higher standard in the beginning...mainly caused by some people who lately start posting for posting in stead of contributing to a topic. The worldcup 2010 topic is a good example but also some (probably young) newbies in other topics...no need for mentioning names....

The little abuse during the games is still the strong point in funkysnooker i think.

That's hit the nail on the head there Mike, the patronising is what really gets my gears grinding. Sometimes its better to step back and assess the situation rather than jumping in like a bull in a china shop.

Take all things in moderation, including moderation I think the quote goes.

I have seen an increase in the number of silly threads being made, I even posted on one asking why! So the part pointed out by Mike is a valid and true case of silly posting. I personally don't get worried or wound up about it. But it might make the forums look better if mods just removed comments and not capping threads.

It is nice to read and be part of healthy and joyful debates on here. Could the number of threads being generated even if they are pointless in some cases just be in line with the popularity of this site! I mean the number of users here now is the highest ever if im not wrong.!!

I was thinking about another way to make the forums look neater. If you write a message and it contains blocked words then you can't post. How about having the same system if someone was to post words that are not in the English dictionary! Or if someone was to post in text speak which we all know is not aloud on the forums!

yh man i ttlly agree wth u thr, the psts in txt spk r well annyin

Haha

Edited by forum moderator spinner, at 19:17 Thu 17/06/10 (BST)

This is a good point! im sick of seeing new threads made because so and so caught a bad cold and went into a serious fit of sneezing and had to lie down immediately..

But i wasn't around when the snooker site started im not brand spanking to this game but im not that old, a year or so, but the Untouchables thread is a perfect example of people having a laugh and is one of the main reasons i joined them..

It annoys me when a post is funny and meant to make people laugh especially the person its aimed at... and after sometime it gets removed, then this happens repeatedly and probably would lead to someone having their posting rights removed or even banned.

yous sud all be public speakers

WOW

loving the way my post gets edited even tho i used a word thats allowed?
Explain that will ye...
thick that is

i said crap for everyone that didnt see

crap i said btw crap
a word thats not banned its crap that word
have a nice day

My thread called SpAm central got capped, why? We all thought it was great. It was like running onto an empty dance floor and going mental.

Yes it's TRASH but look all around you. Its what we want. Give us back our TRASH!!



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Have a nice day now

Surely the word crap wasn't removed? *Megalolz*

Case in point right there if true.

yea :O

i laughed at an arpeggi statement and thought id share my enjoyment
and decided to explain it my own way and i said i broke a crap laughing at it..

because id usually say the other word for crap thats banned but this is the forum so i thought id be nice about it but noooooo it was illegal to say a word thats not illegal
lovely