Feedback: LDB's Experimental thread

[greg334]

I seldom post our location because many of our loads have security protocols attached. We simply don't talk about where we are or where we are headed for that reason. Even with my daily blog you will see the posts delayed by a day or more and specific locations not discussed.

Even a delayed post about locations are a bad thing.

Leo's experimental location thread is not a concern but a welcome addition.

Of course Phil, you were the one who wanted to have a strict policy to limit posts to subject material.

The original location thread was started by members and had no specific posting requirements. It evolved to what it is today. To go in and restrict it to city state and parking location would not be returning it to what was intended since there was no specific original intention. Additionally, many members like it as is with mention of a location and however many unrelated follow up posts.

Well we now have posting requirements?

Who created these new policies?

Sorry Leo but the intent always differs from the path threads take. We are human, we don't need to feel that we should watch our words or post the right stuff that may be out of the policy boundaries this is what makes EO a great place. As long as it does not make things too personal, or actually cause issues for someone, then there should not be a policy to tell us what we can post.

If many members want to ban someone, it that the course we must follow too?

A number of members expressed a desire for a simple to read, quick to check way to see if anyone from EO was nearby. The thread I started at the request of members seemed to fulfill their requested goal. I'm not sure why it upsets some for a group of members to get what they want from the forum.

You mean they don't know how to start their own thread?

Honestly this crap gets scarier by the hour.

Maybe you need to read my first post in this thread carefully.

 

[xiggi]

Some of you guys really need to get more load offers from your carrier or get a life or get something. I didn't just think this up and five minutes later there it was. A number of members said they'd like to know if someone was nearby but it wasn't always easy to do. This seemed a workable solution.

If the location is given and a little more info added that's ok. What isn't ok is multiple posts that are nothing but chatty visiting and bull shooting in between. Extra info is fine and can be a good thing if it helps folks get together. All of these would be good.

West Podunk, State

West Podunk, State at the store/truckstop/theater/whatever

West Podunk, State at the store/truckstop/theater/whatever and in a while we're going to dinner at Somebody's Diner that looked really good on route whatever and we may go to the movies tonight at the whatever theater.

Apparently some folks have a problem with me so this is a bad idea. That's fine. If the thread does what a group of members want and if admin doesn't want it to go away then it's done what was wanted by the members and that's the objective.

I request a thread where people can only post the town state and place they are nothing else, wait maybe only the region such as Midwest, south east etc. would be better that is even less to look through. See how crazy the whole idea is?

 

[Turtle]

An experiment is just that, an experiment to see what the results are. But you can't alter the conditions of the experiment, in the middle of conducting the experiment, just because you don't like the results you are getting.

It's a good idea for a locations-only thread. Whether or not it actually works is up to the people in general. If more people want it than not, then it will quickly evolve into exactly what Leo (and others) want from the thread.

But the problem is we're talking about a specific thread inside of a Forum with a specific topic. The General Forum has a stated topic of "This General Forum Covers All the Topics, Subjects and Issues of Concern To People in The Expediting Industry. For a More Specific Topic Please Refer To Our Other Forums."

Each Forum has its own topic, and if a thread or post within that Forum does not conform to the Forum's stated topic, it should be moved, edited or deleted. But you can't moderate to the point of deleting posts within individual threads simply because you don't personally agree with what gets posted, especially if what gets posted falls perfectly in line with the Forum's stated topic and doesn't in any way, shape or form violate the Code of Conduct. But that's exactly what "This message has been deleted by LDB. Reason: off topic for this specific thread"does.

Who's Moderating the Moderators is right.

 

[cheri1122]

An experiment is just that, an experiment to see what the results are. But you can't alter the conditions of the experiment, in the middle of conducting the experiment, just because you don't like the results you are getting.

It's a good idea for a locations-only thread. Whether or not it actually works is up to the people in general. If more people want it than not, then it will quickly evolve into exactly what Leo (and others) want from the thread.
It would, if SOME folks here could resist the urge to resist, ya know?

But the problem is we're talking about a specific thread inside of a Forum with a specific topic. The General Forum has a stated topic of "This General Forum Covers All the Topics, Subjects and Issues of Concern To People in The Expediting Industry. For a More Specific Topic Please Refer To Our Other Forums."

Each Forum has its own topic, and if a thread or post within that Forum does not conform to the Forum's stated topic, it should be moved, edited or deleted. But you can't moderate to the point of deleting posts within individual threads simply because you don't personally agree with what gets posted, especially if what gets posted falls perfectly in line with the Forum's stated topic and doesn't in any way, shape or form violate the Code of Conduct. But that's exactly what "This message has been deleted by LDB. Reason: off topic for this specific thread"does.

Who's Moderating the Moderators is right.

You're not being fair - the reason cited is one used only for this experiment, and not otherwise.
Though I'm not one who asked for a 'location only' thread, I too get tired of wading through hundreds of inane conversations to see if anyone is close by - I don't see the problem with attempting to keep just this one thread on topic, more or less. Trying it on any others is just an exercise in futility, and unnatural, besides.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

You're not being fair - the reason cited is one used only for this experiment, and not otherwise.
Though I'm not one who asked for a 'location only' thread, I too get tired of wading through hundreds of inane conversations to see if anyone is close by - I don't see the problem with attempting to keep just this one thread on topic, more or less. Trying it on any others is just an exercise in futility, and unnatural, besides.

*wading thru 100's* a bit of exaggeration there...and even tho..we are talkin what about 60-90 secs? anything older then 48 hours is redundant most times....

 

[greg334]

Sometimes it is redundant after 24 hours.

 

[dieseldiva]

*wading thru 100's* a bit of exaggeration there...and even tho..we are talkin what about 60-90 secs? anything older then 48 hours is redundant most times....

She's not exaggerating....month of August.....50 pages and 741 posts....no, I'm not going through the thing and count how many of those posts were bantering.

 

[cheri1122]

*wading thru 100's* a bit of exaggeration there...and even tho..we are talkin what about 60-90 secs? anything older then 48 hours is redundant most times....

The thread for August has over 700 posts - and I don't read anything very fast, ever.
Plus, I'm remembering when I had to use my cell for internet - jeez, did it take forever to scroll through some VERY large [footprint-wise] posts, lots and lots and LOTS of them, sigh.
Why is it a problem, keeping just one thread on topic?

 

[OntarioVanMan]

The thread for August has over 700 posts - and I don't read anything very fast, ever.
Plus, I'm remembering when I had to use my cell for internet - jeez, did it take forever to scroll through some VERY large [footprint-wise] posts, lots and lots and LOTS of them, sigh.
Why is it a problem, keeping just one thread on topic?

and AGAIN..read where I said it wasn't a problem.....darn...

 

[greg334]

Oh my oh my. Can't go through them all ...

If you want to get to the last bunch of posts do this;

Go to the User CP

Then go to the Settings and Options group on the left side. Find and click on Edit Options.

Then go to the third section - Thread Display Options. Find the Thread Display Mode option then select Linear - Newest First.

Go all the way to the bottom and click on Save Changes.

Opps ... there it is ... the newest post on top. You can quickly go through them now without hunting.

OH and another suggestion, while you are there, set the Number of Posts to Show Per Page to 40 posts per page, life will be a lot easier.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

She's not exaggerating....month of August.....50 pages and 741 posts....no, I'm not going through the thing and count how many of those posts were bantering.

yeah it IS an exaggeration...what person would sift thru the whole month?? and WHY? each page consists of about 15 posts...I was just gone for a day and a half...it was like 3 pages..took about a minute not counting page loading time...

or do as Gregs suggests...40 per page...

741 posts? that is about 25 posts per day....and about just over a whole 1/2 of a page...

 

[Turtle]

You're not being fair - the reason cited is one used only for this experiment, and not otherwise.

Well, no, I'm not being fair. But we have at least a few moderators here with a history of deleting posts, even entire threads, because they personally don't agree with what is being posted. That's not very fair, either, but that's exactly what's happening over there.

But fair has got nothing to do with it. An experiment is a test, a trial, or a tentative procedure, something done for the purpose of discovering something unknown or of testing a principle or supposition to see if it holds up. The conditions of the experiment are set up, and then it's run to see what the outcome is. You don't come along in the middle of the experiment and change the conditions simply because you don't like where the results are heading, in order to achieve the results you want. So, no, I'm not being fair, but at least I'm being honest about the experiment.

To be a valid experiment would be to put forth the idea and create the thread, and then let it run its course. I have a strong feeling that if the conditions had been left alone and no threads had been deleted, then the members of this forum would police themselves and others, and the Locations-Only thread would have quickly reverted to just that, locations-only without any of the banal chit-chat. But if it didn't, then it's a clear indication that not enough people want it for it to be of any worth to the community.

Instead, what we have is an experiment in just how controlling a Moderator and those with like-minded controlling issues can be, in controlling what others can post.

My advice would be to leave the thread alone, let people post what they want to in there, and if someone posts banal chit-chat or something not directly related to their location, then the other members of the community can hammer them right there and then over it. It will then end up being one of two things, a desert wasteland of a thread, or a thread that people want and will participate in accordingly.

I rarely look in the Locations Thread after the first few days, for the same reasons that others don't read through it. I think a Locations-Only thread, get in, keep is simple and to the point, and get out, is a good idea, one that's long overdue. But the only way to find out of that's a majority opinion and one that will work is to let it go and see what happens.

 

[cheri1122]

One: several of our esteemed members are deliberately screwing around with the 'experimental' thread - must be pretty freakin bored, is my guess.
Two: many of us don't care to point out that certain members have a tendency to hold personal conversations way too often, because that's all we'd have time to do here, and we'd rather be doing something more interesting - like arguing in the Soapbox, lol.

 

[dieseldiva]

Why is it a problem, keeping just one thread on topic?

This is probably the most intelligent question/remark on this topic all day.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

One: several of our esteemed members are deliberately screwing around with the 'experimental' thread - must be pretty freakin bored, is my guess.

Name one poster in there that is screwing with the experiment location thread...all mine were deleted earlier by Leo and 1 I deleted myself....and I've not posted after that...

 

[OntarioVanMan]

This is probably the most intelligent question/remark on this topic all day.

That has been a moderators/admin's dilemma since the advent of forums...

 

[cheri1122]

OK, it's the September thread, not the "Location only" one - I get confused, now that there are 2 or 3 on the subject, ok?

 

[OntarioVanMan]

OK, it's the September thread, not the "Location only" one - I get confused, now that there are 2 or 3 on the subject, ok?

of course it is ok....we ain't pickin on ya, ya know...

 

[greg334]

It all seems silly.

Ah... never mind the rest, you guys just don't get it.

 

[LDB]

You guys are calling it mine but it isn't mine it's the members at large who want such a thing. Here's an idea. You few who are so perfect and who know every **** thing in the world there is to know, instead of flapping your keyboards uselessly over and over and over to ***** moan and complain and put down what is being done spend some time and create the perfect solution to give the members what they want. Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot you don't want to contribute just to complain.