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UPDATED: User profile political content restrictions

Started by Scott5114, May 31, 2018, 08:20:29 PM

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hbelkins

Quote from: webny99 on June 02, 2018, 08:22:36 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on June 01, 2018, 10:33:56 PM
In just about every aspect of life, things such as age, seniority, education, experience, knowledge, status in the community (this does NOT mean economic status), your personal history, and so on, these things are taken into account into how rigidly the rules are enforced. Different people get leeway with certain things and that's just a fact of life.

But that's not a good thing, is it?

Yes, it is. Otherwise, what's the point in working for years trying to build goodwill, a good reputation, and respect, if it is to no advantage for you? Of course, it's "the right thing to do," but there should be benefits in doing so. Otherwise, I'd just go hide quietly in the corner and not put myself out there, either in my physical community or this virtual community.

Quote from: J N Winkler on June 02, 2018, 03:11:16 PM
I think bumper stickers are partly a matter of cultural norms as well as personal preference, the culture in question being that of your subgroup rather than your country as a whole.  I don't allow bumper stickers, stick people, dealer identification, etc. on my cars because I consider them non-U, but I try to be tolerant of other people's bumper stickers and recognize that some (especially the nonpolitical ones) are in better taste than others.

I have a handful of stickers on mine.

Two have roadgeek themes -- a Bridge Walk sticker from the New River Gorge bridge and a reflective "Yield" sign that was given out at one of the booths at a conference I went to a few years ago.

The other two have sports themes -- UK Wildcats and Dale Earnhardt.

(edited to remove inflammatory content - do not call out other users)


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.


abefroman329

Might be time to lock this thread anyway, we can talk about bumper stickers and antenna toppers elsewhere.

NE2

Quote from: hbelkins on June 02, 2018, 11:08:36 PM
Otherwise, I'd just go hide quietly in the corner and not put myself out there, either in my physical community or this virtual community.
Please do this. It'll make the world a better place.
pre-1945 Florida route log

I accept and respect your identity as long as it's not dumb shit like "identifying as a vaccinated attack helicopter".

US 89

Quote from: hbelkins on June 02, 2018, 11:08:36 PM
Quote from: webny99 on June 02, 2018, 08:22:36 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on June 01, 2018, 10:33:56 PM
In just about every aspect of life, things such as age, seniority, education, experience, knowledge, status in the community (this does NOT mean economic status), your personal history, and so on, these things are taken into account into how rigidly the rules are enforced. Different people get leeway with certain things and that's just a fact of life.

But that's not a good thing, is it?

Yes, it is. Otherwise, what's the point in working for years trying to build goodwill, a good reputation, and respect, if it is to no advantage for you? Of course, it's "the right thing to do," but there should be benefits in doing so. Otherwise, I'd just go hide quietly in the corner and not put myself out there, either in my physical community or this virtual community.

The benefit of working to build goodwill and a good reputation is that it builds other people’s respect for you. New users look up to the long-established old-timers. That’s a good thing, and certainly something to work towards.

But the thing is, you can’t just ask for special treatment just because you’ve been around longer. This is an Internet forum, and everyone is treated as equals on here (the phrase “equal justice under law” summarizes this rather well: the rules should be applied equally to everyone). If a certain user was given more leniency and special treatment than other users, they’d be seen as a more important member of the community, above other users. The danger in that is that it could imply that older users are better than newer ones, so the opinions of the newer users don’t matter as much as those of older users. That’s not a healthy environment, and it certainly isn’t conducive to new users joining. I know I wouldn’t join if I knew my voice could just get shouted down every time I said something someone might disagree with. Plus, some people just weren’t around for the “old days” and it isn’t fair to punish them for something they had absolutely no control over.

By the way, I think this forum does a great job of keeping the discussions fair, with everyone contributing as equals and no one user dominating the conversation (unless, of course, it’s an admin or mod doing their job). I also appreciate the moderation here: for the most part it isn’t too strict, but it’s enough to keep us from devolving into political and personal attacks, spam, trolling, and the like.




Quote from: NE2 on June 02, 2018, 11:46:33 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on June 02, 2018, 11:08:36 PM
Otherwise, I'd just go hide quietly in the corner and not put myself out there, either in my physical community or this virtual community.
Please do this. It'll make the world a better place.

:popcorn:

US71

Quote from: hbelkins on June 02, 2018, 11:08:36 PM

Yes, it is. Otherwise, what's the point in working for years trying to build goodwill, a good reputation, and respect, if it is to no advantage for you? Of course, it's "the right thing to do," but there should be benefits in doing so. Otherwise, I'd just go hide quietly in the corner and not put myself out there, either in my physical community or this virtual community.

It sounds like you're calling for a Caste System...a "them vs us"
Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast

abefroman329

"What's in it for me?"  is definitely the question that could be at the front of any Christian's mind.

J N Winkler

I speak only for myself, of course, but I find it difficult to wrap my head around the very idea of bringing consciousness of whatever status I may have to this or any other Web forum dedicated to a special interest.  I generally find that it takes about six months to a year of steady contributions (preferably without strong political coloration) to be accepted by other users as a part of the epistemic landscape, and once that happens, there are no further rungs to climb on the ladder.  The primary benefit of "original gangster" standing is not enhanced respect from the user community at large, but rather institutional memory.  Whatever respect I have from other users comes from knowing a few things about signs, not because I have been on this forum almost from the start, and on MTR since the early noughties.

Hbelkins is not the first to suggest that "original gangsters" are owed deference from newer users and more leeway from moderators.  Bugo expressed the same sentiments in his dispute with Zeffy a few years ago but was not able to command consensus support for this view from other forum users.
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini

abefroman329

Doesn't look like H. Belkins is commanding consensus support now, either.

US71

Of course, in the SCA one is expected to bow and scrape to royalty, but (most) people know that is for fun as come Monday morning, the King goes back to driving his beer truck and the Queen goes back to indoctrinating teaching young minds.  :-D

Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast

abefroman329

So the depiction of SCA in Role Models was pretty accurate, then.

GaryV

I found out in high school, all those years ago, that the "good" kids could get away with more than the "bad" kids.  Teachers gave a bit more leniency before coming down on them for minor infractions, that those with a reputation would not get.

I'm a moderator on another (non-road-related) forum and I get H's point somewhat.  If someone new creates an account and 2 of his first 3 posts are controversial, those posts will get deleted immediately and the user will be IM'd a warning.  Or maybe get banned outright, depending on the severity of the infraction.  A member in longstanding will have the post questioned and be warned about future behavior.  Perhaps a word or sentence will be edited out of the post.

Is that a double-standard?  Sure.  But if the body of evidence is that a poster is not a habitual problem-child, moderators are more likely to act differently.  But that doesn't allow carte blanche to the old-timers. 

This isn't a political forum, so users shouldn't be expecting to see "I support XXX for YYY" messages, in posts or signatures.  Certainly politics plays a part in roads, building and maintenance, so someone posting that a government official supports roads should not be out of line.  Just don't link to his campaign website.

US71

Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast

webny99

Quote from: hbelkins on June 02, 2018, 11:08:36 PM
Quote from: webny99 on June 02, 2018, 08:22:36 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on June 01, 2018, 10:33:56 PM
In just about every aspect of life, things such as age, seniority, education, experience, knowledge, status in the community (this does NOT mean economic status), your personal history, and so on, these things are taken into account into how rigidly the rules are enforced. Different people get leeway with certain things and that's just a fact of life.

But that's not a good thing, is it?
Yes, it is. Otherwise, what's the point in working for years trying to build goodwill, a good reputation, and respect, if it is to no advantage for you? Of course, it's "the right thing to do," but there should be benefits in doing so.

The way I see it, being respected, having a good reputation, and so on, actually are the benefits that come with experience. I don't think additional benefits (like being exempt from rules, etc.) are called for, nor are they precedented.

US 89 did an excellent job of explaining this concept in his post above.

formulanone

#63
Yeah, I have a family bumper sticker, because nothing else really matters...



...well, that and old video games. In the end, nobody really gives a crap. Or carp?

Some of you kept crossing the lines every chance you got, and spoiled it. You want un-moderated discussion? Fine, gather everyone into a room and give everyone a 10-foot-long sharpened stick, because that's what it's like. Just give the loudest assholes the chance to derail every discussion every time out, and see how long it takes for things to go down the drain...

Beltway

Quote from: US 89 on June 03, 2018, 01:44:20 AM
But the thing is, you can't just ask for special treatment just because you've been around longer. This is an Internet forum, and everyone is treated as equals on here (the phrase "equal justice under law"  summarizes this rather well: the rules should be applied equally to everyone). If a certain user was given more leniency and special treatment than other users, they'd be seen as a more important member of the community, above other users. The danger in that is that it could imply that older users are better than newer ones, so the opinions of the newer users don't matter as much as those of older users. That's not a healthy environment, and it certainly isn't conducive to new users joining. I know I wouldn't join if I knew my voice could just get shouted down every time I said something someone might disagree with. Plus, some people just weren't around for the "old days"  and it isn't fair to punish them for something they had absolutely no control over.

I have been posting in online roads forums since 1997 and have developed and hosted major roads websites since 1997.  My study of the topic and knowledge base goes back to 1970 and some of the photos I have posted I took that long ago.

Nevertheless, I don't expect any special treatment with regard to the enforcement of rules on moderated forums.  Seems to me that they should be applied equally and fairly to everyone.
http://www.roadstothefuture.com
http://www.capital-beltway.com

Baloney is a reserved word on the Internet
    (Robert Coté, 2002)

US71

Quote from: abefroman329 on June 03, 2018, 09:56:04 AM
"What's in it for me?"  is definitely the question that could be at the front of any Christian's mind.

Not "any" Christian, but many, perhaps. Some are good people, but their voices are often drowned out by the cacophony of those expecting special dispensation. 
Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast



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