Change and Reform for the...Forum!

[Dark Angel]

Lallous & Mods;

i would like to inquire if the initiative to start this thread was motivated by curiosity to collect feedback or does it denote that there is a problem under the hood and you need help defining it? what i dont understand though is why are you getting on the defensive after initiating this thread? it is obvious that the mere presence of this thread indicates the presence of a problem, to define it with a very positive spin, the forum is not is as good as it could be.

the major problem in this forum is with the way the rules are being applied. this is not something you can fix. as long as both rules and posts are subject to interpretations this problem will persist and posters will get pissed.

one liners dont bother feeling bad. but those who put effort into formulating their posts and invest time in them, are more than vexed when they see their effort gone with the wind because of a judgment call from a mod, regardless of whether it was right or wrong.

All the rules that are subject to interpretations must go, without any exception. the only rules that should remain in place are the ones that prevent profanity. this way the moderators involvement will be kept to a minimum, thus they will be able to post and contribute more, and there role will simply be reduce to filter out profanities when they encounter them.

i am not joking when i say get rid of the rules, they are the downfall of this forum. let this be a truly liberal forum, and it will be filled with great minds in no time.

[Lallous]

Originally Posted by Dark Angel

Lallous & Mods;

i would like to inquire if the initiative to start this thread was motivated by curiosity to collect feedback or does it denote that there is a problem under the hood and you need help defining it? what i dont understand though is why are you getting on the defensive after initiating this thread? it is obvious that the mere presence of this thread indicates the presence of a problem, to define it with a very positive spin, the forum is not is as good as it could be.

the major problem in this forum is with the way the rules are being applied. this is not something you can fix. as long as both rules and posts are subject to interpretations this problem will persist and posters will get pissed.

one liners dont bother feeling bad. but those who put effort into formulating their posts and invest time in them, are more than vexed when they see their effort gone with the wind because of a judgment call from a mod, regardless of whether it was right or wrong.

All the rules that are subject to interpretations must go, without any exception. the only rules that should remain in place are the ones that prevent profanity. this way the moderators involvement will be kept to a minimum, thus they will be able to post and contribute more, and there role will simply be reduce to filter out profanities when they encounter them.

i am not joking when i say get rid of the rules, they are the downfall of this forum. let this be a truly liberal forum, and it will be filled with great minds in no time.

The first you get to learn when you become a mod is that the rules are not a bible per se. This thread was intended to collect some feedback and to raise awareness at first between members themselves as they are far more active posters then the moderators. Some of them should really pay attention to what has been said because a large part applies to them before us. If members would adopt a sane attitude toward each other, we won't have to intervene that often. We adopted a minimalistic approach in the last year or so and look where it got us. So before saying getting rid of the rules, each member should start changing whatever bad habit he may got.

It's not a matter of being on the defensive. Nothing alarming yet. This forum remains as Tai said events driven. By the way, don't expect radical changes overnight. It's a long run job in able to assure a continuity for this forum in the future.

[Red Phoenix]

a lot has been said already from all sides here.

one shouldnt tell the keepers how to maintain their realm, but the keepers should also decide if keeping the realm is more important than keeping the public interest in it alive.

how many here still visit solely because of the nostalgic old days and old ways?

as for the forum in general, let us ask ourselves, is it generating new ideas lately?

[The Jade]

Originally Posted by Lallous

The first you get to learn when you become a mod is that the rules are not a bible per se. This thread was intended to collect some feedback and to raise awareness at first between members themselves as they are far more active posters then the moderators. Some of them should really pay attention to what has been said because a large part applies to them before us. If members would adopt a sane attitude toward each other, we won't have to intervene that often. We adopted a minimalistic approach in the last year or so and look where it got us. So before saying getting rid of the rules, each member should start changing whatever bad habit he may got.

It's not a matter of being on the defensive. Nothing alarming yet. This forum remains as Tai said events driven. By the way, don't expect radical changes overnight. It's a long run job in able to assure a continuity for this forum in the future.

Lallous the bolded part is also part of the problem.

You can't say that "the rules are not the bible per se" and use them to warn people or ban them.

They're either the bible or their place is not in the rules section. You can call them recommendations

Rules should be like a constitution hard to trespass and not subject to interpretation.

A lot of the comments are related to these interpretations where the most unacceptable thing happens:
" ya7oukkou li, ma la ya7oukkou li ghayri"

If this is FPM's official forum, it should send the right message: "No one is above the law"

[hhhh23]

Originally Posted by The Jade

Lallous the bolded part is also part of the problem.

You can't say that "the rules are not the bible per se" and use them to warn people or ban them.

They're either the bible or their place is not in the rules section. You can call them recommendations

Rules should be like a constitution hard to trespass and not subject to interpretation.

A lot of the comments are related to these interpretations where the most unacceptable thing happens:
" ya7oukkou li, ma la ya7oukkou li ghayri"

If this is FPM's official forum, it should send the right message: "No one is above the law"

The Jade is totally right, either the rules are the constitution or they are like the 3orf we have in this country. I believe FPMers in general like to adhere to the constitution rather than to the 3orf, so start by applying it in this forum.

[lady_forever]

I don't really post in political threads cause i would rather read the topics to get update with the recent news as i am far now and at times donno whats happening in Lebanon so i thank you for keeping Lebanese people abroad in touch...I don;t read replies cause i don't have time as they are long pages..and i think that i can't really say anything cause i donno whats happening except from people opening new threads..i think there is something wrong that some old members stopped posting maybe due to constant deleting of their posts or maybe have been bashed by other members not sure really but i reckon it would be nice idea if mods send them mails enquiring for the reason what made them stop logging in and posting
regards

[General my General!]

Originally Posted by Lallous

The first you get to learn when you become a mod is that the rules are not a bible per se. This thread was intended to collect some feedback and to raise awareness at first between members themselves as they are far more active posters then the moderators. Some of them should really pay attention to what has been said because a large part applies to them before us. If members would adopt a sane attitude toward each other, we won't have to intervene that often. We adopted a minimalistic approach in the last year or so and look where it got us. So before saying getting rid of the rules, each member should start changing whatever bad habit he may got.

It's not a matter of being on the defensive. Nothing alarming yet. This forum remains as Tai said events driven. By the way, don't expect radical changes overnight. It's a long run job in able to assure a continuity for this forum in the future.

I agree that the rules do need a revision, similar to what Dark Angel and The Jade have mentioned.

I'd like to add that the forum is not purely event-driven. A very central part to the forum is the social culture made by posters, and in part by moderators. Maintaining this culture is important, and is achieved by both providing incentives to good posters, and disincentives for bad posters. I think that a more liberal forum would do justice for the former, and few strict rules applied always for the latter.

Much like any organism, the forum will keep changing, some members will go, new ones will come. But with a few changes the quality can be maintained and improved.

All in all I think you guys are doing a great job, and we do have it in mind that it is volunteering after all. We are also volunteering, albeit 'any time we feel like'.

Keep up the good work!

[Revolution1989]

We seem to allow for threads to veer off topic and turn into a bashing contest... The last meaningful debate I remember was between Jade, Amirkani, myself (then under my Nonan alias) and a couple of others regarding the communication strategy around Aoun's visit to Syria...

People who simply want to voice their opinions and bash or "bahwir" wihtout debating or dialoguing with other members do not bother replying to the answers they got, they just continue posting...

I like the idea of limiting the length of a thread (pages / time)... If a topic is not "addressed" in 20 pages and 2 weeks then it became irrelevant...

We should then have the option to refer to "closed" threads in case new events occur that warrant it...

Otherwise, my participation is totally dependent on my workload... But this gets precendence over Facebook ;-)

[hannaalsayssa]

Originally Posted by Dark Angel

Lallous & Mods;

i would like to inquire if the initiative to start this thread was motivated by curiosity to collect feedback or does it denote that there is a problem under the hood and you need help defining it? what i dont understand though is why are you getting on the defensive after initiating this thread? it is obvious that the mere presence of this thread indicates the presence of a problem, to define it with a very positive spin, the forum is not is as good as it could be.

the major problem in this forum is with the way the rules are being applied. this is not something you can fix. as long as both rules and posts are subject to interpretations this problem will persist and posters will get pissed.

one liners dont bother feeling bad. but those who put effort into formulating their posts and invest time in them, are more than vexed when they see their effort gone with the wind because of a judgment call from a mod, regardless of whether it was right or wrong.

All the rules that are subject to interpretations must go, without any exception. the only rules that should remain in place are the ones that prevent profanity. this way the moderators involvement will be kept to a minimum, thus they will be able to post and contribute more, and there role will simply be reduce to filter out profanities when they encounter them.

i am not joking when i say get rid of the rules, they are the downfall of this forum. let this be a truly liberal forum, and it will be filled with great minds in no time.

DA

could ot agree more.

I would like to add, ( CREATE A THREAD FOR CURRENT NEWS AND INSIDER INFORMATIONS).
we need to allow people to posts informations they have about events, many of us are connected to politicians and are privy in some cases to insider news.
what i noticed is when we post them, the posts usually get deleted.why?????
we are posting in our capacity and not in any OTEHR FORM.
even if the info turned out to be wrong, where is the harm?
newspapers & the media do that all the time ( private sources, analysis,massader,etc...).
this will liven the debate and create more interest, as on many instances these tid bits turns out to be true.
Note: many are saying that this forum has few dedicated members that are carrying the day, i am a member of couple other forums and this is the norm.as everything in life someone has to step in and fill the void.
the most important question to me is, are all the points of view allowed on this forum,YES I BELEIVE THEY ARE.

[Greg Davis]

Lallous

I'm not sure I got my message across in my previous post, so i shall re-itterate in a different manner.


You have created this thread to gain feedback that may improve a forumer's experience in the orange room.

The term 'Moderator' in any forum is an impartial participant of any discussion/debate, present to maintain order, espescially if things get out of hand.

Considering the fact that this forum is the Official FPM forum, I have no objection to it being owned and manager by FPM members.

But, in the event a moderator is a partisan participant in a forum, they should be stripped of their right to control posts particularly those they disagree with.

That is why I am suggesting the appointment of an impartial moderator.

What is your view?