Up Front: The Up Front Guides: All Things in Moderation (Awaiting Approval)
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Clbuttic!
Ha, that's clbuttic.
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Good for unintentional hiliarity, though.
Yep. Serve that guy right though. Those Princes of Moab were a bunch of bad donkeys.
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Damned straight, Emma.
Of course, when I'm mayor of Quantum Auckland...
Oops. wring thread.
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It's never the wrong thread. (That should probly go in the guide too)
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Haha, sweet! Christianity as a dog chasing its tail
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clbuttic definitely a clbuttic candidate for 2009 word.
Perl programmers would have know to avoid such an obvious faux pas, naturally.
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clbuttic is good. I'm more used to random asterisking, but substitution extra entertaining. Oh, and thanks Mark, for explaining why I was occasionally having problems with attack.
And just while we're on bad language, may I commend Ernest the Engine.
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The clbuttic issue is a variation on the Scunthorpe Problem.
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clubttic
Abraham Lincoln was buttbuttinated. It's knowledge, bro.
also:
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I could have sworn I put the comma in. We established there was supposed to be a comma, right?
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We established the comma in the phrase. But I think having the comma in the superhero name would be a little awkward. I mean, who has a comma in their name?
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Oh, also, that comma disappeared because of the italics problem, I imagine. You have to put in an extra space.
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I'm more used to random asterisking, but substitution extra entertaining.
It is, though there's still entertainment to be had from obscuration. My old boss used to use #$%& instead of any naughty word from 'damn' upwards. The result was that everything looked like 'fuck'. (To me, anyway.)
Once I worked this out you could be damn sure my characters would be having #$%&tails in the #$%&pit. I am the BEST employee.
Also, about a month ago our home PC had a catastrophic technical failure, which necessitated (among many other things) reinstalling a clean version of Word. This very column required me to sit here teaching its dictionary a whole bunch of swears. ("No, actually, I don't mean 'winker'.")
I just have to assume that anybody I could shock with rude words left quite a while back.
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The result was that everything looked like 'fuck'.
Apparently some US TV stations bleeped the Rev. Wright "God damn America" thing.
As in, "God #$%& America!"
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I think having the comma in the superhero name would be a little awkward. I mean, who has a comma in their name?
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Isn't there a fanfare for him?
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Isn't there a fanfare for him?
And you're a comma commedian.
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that comma disappeared because of the italics problem
and that was a comma, comma, comma, comma, comma chameleon.
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comme ca?
or instant comma?
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Thread's comma cropper.
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Girlfriend in a comma.
(one for the Smiths fans there)
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To drag this back on topic:
Emma, I'm not entirely sure what point you're making here, apart from 'effectively managing internet communities is hard work'.
Do you lean more towards one approach (heavily/lightly/not moderated) than another?
I'm interested because PAS seems to fit within the 'self-moderating' camp more than any of the others you have mentioned, although I'm sure there's a ton of stuff going on behind the scenes which I'm not aware of.
It's also about the only internet community I'm active in at all any more. When I first arrived in NZ, I got involved with a few local hobby/specialist type forums, such as this one. Make friends, get to know the local gen, you know the drill.
Kiwibiker is apparently NZ's largest/most popular forum. In my opinion, it's management style sits squarely in your "Moderation is for Pussies" bracket.
Become a free speech advocate. Let anybody say anything in any way they choose, no matter how big of a dickwad it makes them – and by extension you – look. Sure, you'll end up actually losing speech as users walk away from the bear pit, but those losses will be pretty much invisible. Suggest that anyone who objects to the resulting flood of personal abuse that they harden the fuck up and learn to take a joke.
And, yes, it has lost at least one user (me, and I'm sure many others) who walked away from the bear pit. There's only so much 'Heilen Klarke Helengrad PCgonemad' that I can stomach when I'm trying to have a discussion about cam chain tension, or whether to switch from Bridgestones to Pirelli.
My point being that if these sort of communities are left lightly moderated or not at all, they will ineviably be taken over by the sort of extremist nutbars who make kiwibloggers look civilised, and it is extremely off-putting for those in search of civilised debate.
I also suspect that these sort of rabid mouthfoamers are very much a minority, but by by sheer volume tend to drown out any sort of moderate discussion, and drag what I will uncharitably call the mob down to their level.
I would say that my personal preference is for quite heavily moderated on-topic discussion, but I don't think that's trues either. I'm as guilty as anyone on here of dragging topics off the main points, but it doesn't seem to do that much harm (random BSG references notwithstanding).
One final point: I've noticed quite a contrast between some local NZ forums and global forums. A lot of the local ones have a parallel 'real-life' component - a lot of the participants know each other outside the forum, and this inevitably colours the discussion. Although funnily enough, it doesn't appear to make it more civilised.
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But, but, punctuation humour!
Okay.
Do you lean more towards one approach (heavily/lightly/not moderated) than another?
I really am a moderation moderate. And I think the appropriate degree of moderation varies with the type of community - those that deal with more sensitive issues may need heavier moderation. Fora that are based around a very specific topic may want to police on-topicness more than others where the discussion can be more general and organic.
I mean, the way we moderate and what we moderate for at Bardic Web is very different from the way Public Address works. There, we strongly discourage discussion of religion or politics, because they become wedge issues and distract from the central business of the site.
I love peer pressure 'moderation', and that's what happens here. It requires, though, having a healthy community already established to set the example for noobs. Seeding is great for this - you have a few people you trust come in and start discussions before you open to the general public. Not only do you then have an example set, but also you don't have that 'empty shop' feel.
Karma point moderation enforces the community you already have. Not naming any Iwiblogkaes in particular, but they won't fix something that's borken.
I have to go organise an Easter Egg hunt now, I'll come back later and see if I have my thoughts a bit better organised.
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