What has changed - or is it me????

[k_estela]

Moderating is not an art, you do what you feel is right and this always involves a certain degree of judgment. I let a lot go and I'm not one to shut down every thread I disagree with. As with survival skills, you are constantly adapting to a changing situation. I will too.

With my teaching career in full swing again, my lovely commute and my internet connection being hit or miss, I'm not on as much as I was in years past. Also, I'm making it a point to spend more time off line and more outside. I post when I can and check reported posts on my blackberry when I get them. For the most part, I trust the guys on this forum to do what is right. Thankfully, 99.9% of you are gentlemen and responsible outdoorsmen who know how to handle things appropriately.

As for the change, no it isn't just you. There has been a one and changes will always take place.

 

[udtjim]

One thing that is tough for me is Big Mike posting pictures of all those darn Bark River knives.:grumpy:

 

[JK Knives]

There has been a noticable shift here on the forum. Regulars not posting as much and content that i realy enjoy is missing. I love all photo threads, Pitdogs included. I also Like seeing knife designs from the makers.

The proverbial pissing matches I can work my way around. Just bring back the pictures and discussions like it was.

Paul

I also enjoyed pitdog`s threads, really great scenery in his area. Asfor knife designs, I did a post a few days ago on a customer design of his idea of a camp knife, looking for opinions. Got 11 replies, so I won`t bother posting them here anymore, I`ll keep them in my forum.

 

[ROCK6]

Moderating is not an art, you do what you feel is right and this always involves a certain degree of judgment. I let a lot go and I'm not one to shut down every thread I disagree with. As with survival skills, you are constantly adapting to a changing situation. I will too.

I really thought Moderating WAS an art? It's difficult to assess sarcasm, humor, anger and other emotions over the Internet...too me, that's not an easy task. I think there is a good core of members that can assist with self-policing...not necessarily jumping on the newbie for a badly perceived post, but to remind them/others of staying on topic and avoid the debates that get personal.

As a side note, I look for the outdoors posts with pictures such as Pitdog...not that he's sexy, but his photography is great and it gives me a little bit of heaven for the hell I'm currently in. Getting out and about here would inevitably get me shot, blown up or head chopped off.

I think it's a cycle; we all have lives that impact our moods, finances, ability to get outdoors, etc.

ROCK6

 

[Ramm9]

Moderating is not an art

Sorry to disagree strongly but moderating is very much an art as witnessed day to day in boardrooms across the country...but the discussion is more appropriate in the thread Esav opened.

 

[Odaon]

I didn't even notice a difference until I read this. I'm so used to people being asses from other forums i frequent that I didn't even notice. This is nothing compared to some of the stuff I've seen . I do agree that there is not a much "reading material" (ie. new threads) to read than there was a while ago.

 

[Diomedes Industries]

I moderate on another forum. I agree it is more art than science. You have to read between the lines - scrub some posts that, on the surface, look fine, and keep others that look rough.

Mostly it rests in intent.

TF

 

[Joezilla]

I also enjoyed pitdog`s threads, really great scenery in his area. Asfor knife designs, I did a post a few days ago on a customer design of his idea of a camp knife, looking for opinions. Got 11 replies, so I won`t bother posting them here anymore, I`ll keep them in my forum.

It was me who asked Pit dog this:

Just a friendly nudge in the right direction. I love all the cute maisy posts, but there are quite a bit of them that do not have much to do with survival. Maybe you could just make an ongoing thread that you post in with a sub header that says "off topic" on it. That would help keep things to a minimum.
thread title could be whatever you want
Like: The Maisy Saga
Maisey raids again
Maisy the destroyer
Maisy the BC bush pup
The crab molester maisy

.............

I just want to clarify everything. I'm slowly learning the art of moderating without moderating. This was an effort just to get all of the stuff in one pot, not ask him to Stop posting pictures. I truly appreciate the points of view in this thread and will continue to try and have less of a presence as a moderator here on the forum. I know the “Keep WS&S on topic” was a bit vague, and I locked it because I saw that maybe it should be done by a case by case scenario. Even with that segment, there has still been friction, as with moving another Maker's post. I will bow out from moderating the forums if that will suffice. I really don't want to get political over stuff.

 

[Joezilla]

With Joe's recent sticky got posted, it opened up a lot of questions on what was and wasn't permitted, and was then locked to further inquiry. I imagine a lot of threads don't get started due to the poster not wanting to have to consider whether it's allowed. Not only off-topic stuff but pics of knives. Looking back through the forum I see atakach's "basic camp knife" thread was moved out of here, but Joe's "Introducing Terrasaur" thread for example wasn't. And the latter was much more advertising than the former.

With this topic, I tried to go back and look at a maker's involvement in WS&S. Though Atakach is a great maker, I couldn't find any posts by him in WS&S besides the one he started about knives he is offering. It may have been in error to move it.

 

[hollowdweller]

The less people post about actual trips or practical stuff the more there are differences of opinion.

A lot of the threads posted lately are more theoretical in nature which tend to hilight differences of opinion.

For me though the pissing matches don't bother me. Unless if people personally attack each other I think differences of opinion are good. Would be boring if we all agreed and sat around all day patting each other on the back.

 

[hollowdweller]

With this topic, I tried to go back and look at a maker's involvement in WS&S. Though Atakach is a great maker, I couldn't find any posts by him in WS&S besides the one he started about knives he is offering. It may have been in error to move it.

Good call Joe. I love to see new knives but I read the for sale by maker forum here every day and a while back this forum had about 30% threads that were essentially just knifemakers advertising their stuff, basically the same thing they were posting in FS/T.

I personally would rather see pictures and reviews of knifemakers blades posted here by the USERS.

I think sometimes when you use a forum that is not specifically for selling knives to sell knives and there is a heavy knifemaker presence it stifles people from giving honest opinions on the knives for fear of offending the maker or being attacked by any fan club that has cropped up.

 

[Kiah]

With this topic, I tried to go back and look at a maker's involvement in WS&S. Though Atakach is a great maker, I couldn't find any posts by him in WS&S besides the one he started about knives he is offering. It may have been in error to move it.

Atakach was a regular here when I was and may have eased out around the same time I did, so my thinking may be skewed there. Basically just using that as an example of the ambiguity of the rule though. Who's allowed to advertise? Who isn't? Not personal at all, just not clear.

I will bow out from moderating the forums if that will suffice.

Nobody's saying anything of the sort. I think you're doing fine. You were added as an extra mod here and then quickly left as the main mod, and you're doing your best with the guidelines as you understand them. The problem is that we all seem to understand them differently, and some don't understand at all, as there's no consensus. Don't take it personal, you're cool in my book, and this topic was brought up well before you joined as a mod. Maybe it's a just a bubbling up of issues that have been in the wind for a long time. If it makes you feel better, just remember, at least you're not this guy ...

 

[koyote]

I'd like to make a suggestion- or three.

Joe- in general you are a really good moderator and I have no doubt you'll get better on top of that. Things probably look a bit stressful right now in part because of people stirring the pot.

I think I'd "solve" the "knifemaker problem" a different way- Take a maker who hasn't posted a knife in WSS before or doesn't post them often (like 2 or 3 times a year) and - if needed- respond by asking for some relevant info- woods/camp related design thoughts, why this blade is a camp knife, what kind of influences the design has.... I think moving the camp knife thread was a bit abrupt, and that's my "general rule" solution. If they don't get the hint, then they don't get the hint. (This would include me, of course)


As for the rest- these threads are full of people talking about shtuff, but for the most part it's boiling down to everyone saying that it's generally cool and doesn't need a bunch of change. Which is a good thing to hear!

 

[pitdog]

How about makers just posting knives that they have already made for/sold to someone.ie. Here is a camp knife I made for fellow forum member-joe blogs, I designed it this way because....blah, blah !
Rather than here is a knife I just made and it's in the for sale section right now, nudge, nudge !

 

[koyote]

How about makers just posting knives that they have already made for/sold to someone.ie. Here is a camp knife I made for fellow forum member-joe blogs, I designed it this way because....blah, blah !
Rather than here is a knife I just made and it's in the for sale section right now, nudge, nudge !

There's one major problem with that- new designs. A few times I've posted a knife that was a new design or a variation, just for comment.

I have, on two or maybe three occasions, posted a knife here that was also in the for sale section- I've never mentioned it, and I'm leery of doing so, but it's generally just a desire to get people to see or share something I'm excited about. Pointing people to a for sale thread is certainly not my focus nor reason for posting. (Though in this economy it gets a bit weird to have knives sit on the for sale page forever )

 

[Don Rearic]

Hey fellas - Lately it appears that a lot of good threads are doing dramatically off topic. I despise having to weed through three pages of a pissing match and watching people argue back and forth.

What has changed around here? Maybe it's me being overly sensitive but it really feels as if we are losing some good conversation and advice to this mess.

What do you guys think? Also - can we change this? How?


**** I'm not pointing any fingers or mentioning any names - NOR SHOULD YOU WHEN YOU RESPOND *****

I'm just happy it wasn't me because I have not been around because of other bad behavior.

 

[abo4ster]

Glad to see this thread started as I am one of those who have left this forum because of some of the 'old timers' have disappeared.

FWIW, would prefer seeing an environment like we used to have where one could share ideas, learn, etc. as it relates to outdoor skills. I will give it another shot and try and be more involved.

 

[myright]

I'm just happy it wasn't me because I have not been around because of other bad behavior.

LMAO - It's all good, Don :thumbup:

 

[Bushman5]

I'm just happy it wasn't me because I have not been around because of other bad behavior.

Don come back buddy!

 

[Don Rearic]

I love all you knuckledragging mankies.

Specifically, I just get really tired of being held accountable for my actions when others are not - by people who don't even give a damn about the stuff we discuss in here. They just see it as an opportunity to screw with someone they don't like and call it "good." And, that's not going to change.