Post by RD on Aug 30, 2017 19:22:04 GMT
Hi all,
Moderating the forum has always been something of a grey area. Our original intention - back from when Ras first set the forum up - was to create an environment whereby Gasheads could chat about all things Rovers related - but in a friendly and fun way; GasChat was always intended to be the lovable rogue - never too serious and always on the lighter side of spectrum.
As we've all come to realise, regardless of our intensions from the outset, the forum has evolved in it's own direction; for better or for worse.
I still believe GasChat is a great medium that allows Gasheads from near and far to share our joy/frustrations/ecstacy/heartbreak etc. However, over recent weeks and months, it's spiralled a little out of control. Personal digs and insults have been on the rise, non-related Rovers stuff has reared it's ugly head and - frankly - this place isn't as nice a place to come as it used to be.
As a result, we are going to start moderating the forum a little more actively than we used to - that won't be particularly easy given that a number of us who started off moderating the forum now have priorities that mean we are online less. That said, I feel it's imperative that the moderating is taken up a notch if this place isn't to get out of control and become a place where posters no longer feel they want to contribute.
Let me start by saying that we don't intend to become uber strict - far from it. None of the moderation team are "fluffy" or "wrapped in cotton wool" - so our thresholds are all pretty high. Therefore, it's likely that if we think something might be worthy of moderation, it probably is! As such, any posts will be dealt with appropriately. We may leave an explanation at times - but given this is something we do in our free time, this may not always be the case. Again though, if we've felt the need to delete a post or a thread, there's probably been a very good reason to and therefore an explanation shouldn't really be required. If you do fall victim of this and are unclear as to why a post and/or thread has been removed, please feel free to PM a member of the moderating team and we will happily explain.
We're also going to clamp down on repeat offenders; as mentioned before - we simply don't have the time to keep moderating the same individuals. As such, repeat individuals will be given a warning. If their behaviour doesn't improve, they WILL receive a temporary ban. If it still doesn't improve then they'll be banned permanently. It's pretty simple really - don't act like a d!ck and you have nothing to worry about.
Any non-football related stuff - politics, religion etc will either be moved to the appropriate sub-forum (if it's a topic and an appropriate forum exists) or, if it's an individual post then the post in question will be deleted. At the end of the day, this is a football forum - keep the politics/religion/non-related football opinions out of the football section. It really is that simple.
We hope you all understand. We're not "letting the power go to our heads" or anything like that; the aim is simply to try and make this place a little more friendly like it used to be a little while back.
As a reminder, the forum rules are here should you wish to review them.
RD
Moderating the forum has always been something of a grey area. Our original intention - back from when Ras first set the forum up - was to create an environment whereby Gasheads could chat about all things Rovers related - but in a friendly and fun way; GasChat was always intended to be the lovable rogue - never too serious and always on the lighter side of spectrum.
As we've all come to realise, regardless of our intensions from the outset, the forum has evolved in it's own direction; for better or for worse.
I still believe GasChat is a great medium that allows Gasheads from near and far to share our joy/frustrations/ecstacy/heartbreak etc. However, over recent weeks and months, it's spiralled a little out of control. Personal digs and insults have been on the rise, non-related Rovers stuff has reared it's ugly head and - frankly - this place isn't as nice a place to come as it used to be.
As a result, we are going to start moderating the forum a little more actively than we used to - that won't be particularly easy given that a number of us who started off moderating the forum now have priorities that mean we are online less. That said, I feel it's imperative that the moderating is taken up a notch if this place isn't to get out of control and become a place where posters no longer feel they want to contribute.
Let me start by saying that we don't intend to become uber strict - far from it. None of the moderation team are "fluffy" or "wrapped in cotton wool" - so our thresholds are all pretty high. Therefore, it's likely that if we think something might be worthy of moderation, it probably is! As such, any posts will be dealt with appropriately. We may leave an explanation at times - but given this is something we do in our free time, this may not always be the case. Again though, if we've felt the need to delete a post or a thread, there's probably been a very good reason to and therefore an explanation shouldn't really be required. If you do fall victim of this and are unclear as to why a post and/or thread has been removed, please feel free to PM a member of the moderating team and we will happily explain.
We're also going to clamp down on repeat offenders; as mentioned before - we simply don't have the time to keep moderating the same individuals. As such, repeat individuals will be given a warning. If their behaviour doesn't improve, they WILL receive a temporary ban. If it still doesn't improve then they'll be banned permanently. It's pretty simple really - don't act like a d!ck and you have nothing to worry about.
Any non-football related stuff - politics, religion etc will either be moved to the appropriate sub-forum (if it's a topic and an appropriate forum exists) or, if it's an individual post then the post in question will be deleted. At the end of the day, this is a football forum - keep the politics/religion/non-related football opinions out of the football section. It really is that simple.
We hope you all understand. We're not "letting the power go to our heads" or anything like that; the aim is simply to try and make this place a little more friendly like it used to be a little while back.
As a reminder, the forum rules are here should you wish to review them.
RD
