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DBOL777

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The forum does not permit discussions which become inflammatory on topics such as race, religion or politics, as these topics often offend many of the members.
 

gb2000ie

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Could I just ask for some clarification? I'm not trying to start trouble, I just don't know how to interpret such a broad rule.

Politics is such a broad topic. Almost anything related to current affairs could be considered political. Referenda on gay rights, politicians making hay by attacking gays. Executions of gays in Islamic countries. Anti-gay discrimination in businesses in the US.

If this rule is to be taken literally, then it seems to me like gay heaven will be one of the few places on the internet where discussions on gay rights are banned!

I get that you want to prevent threads like the recent Cologne one, but as this edict stands, it seems to me there will be so much collateral damage that there will be nothing of any substance left in the Gay News or General discussion sections, which would frankly be a real loss for the community :(

Perhaps some more clarification is needed on this new rule?

Thanks,

B.
 

mark_63

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This is not a ban on all discussions about any of the above listed subjects. Rather it is a clarification - any thread may be closed or removed if it incites to much controversy.
 

bigsal

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"discussions"

The word itself is already very clear, where there is discussion, there's also controversy.

There is no dispute, without discussions.

In my humble opinion, the approach of this "notice" is very questionable, especially in a forums frequented by people (gays) who in private life must fight daily prejudice and censorship, at global level, or even worse, remain in the closet .

It would be enough to apply what he says the regulation of the forum and to sanction members incorrect, without having to close the threads and penalize the vast majority of the members of the forum.

A year ago all they were "Charlie Hebdo ", now close the threads.
 

mark_63

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Discussion is welcome, even if it does lead to disputes. Disputing an opinion leads to debate. What will not be tolerated will be when a thread dissolves into rants and raves, accusations, and name calling.
We expect our members to be respectful of each other and of each others opinions.
 

gb2000ie

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Discussion is welcome, even if it does lead to disputes. Disputing an opinion leads to debate. What will not be tolerated will be when a thread dissolves into rants and raves, accusations, and name calling.
We expect our members to be respectful of each other and of each others opinions.

Basially, challenge the argument, not the pereson who makes it?

B.
 

bigsal

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Discussion is welcome, even if it does lead to disputes. Disputing an opinion leads to debate. What will not be tolerated will be when a thread dissolves into rants and raves, accusations, and name calling.
We expect our members to be respectful of each other and of each others opinions.

I try to express myself better.

If a message is offensive, the moderator should intervenes and send a notice of infringement to the member who sent it, deleting the message.

This normally takes place in all the forums and blog network.

I do not see why you have to close or even delete a thread much debated, where there are interesting presentations and competent.
 
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mark_63

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The staff has more than enough work to do, asking a staff member to comb through a thread that has dissolved into childish tantrums and remove select posts is not going to happen.
There are 11 staff members working to moderate a forum of almost 91,000 members. I know we have enough work to do without adding extra to it.
 

bigsal

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Sorry if I insist Mark 63,

the fact that the moderator closes a thread, it means that has identified an infringement, then can delete that message, which has already identified.
I do not see where the problem is.
I do not think that closing the thread occurs only "hearsay".

However, great respect for the work of the moderator.
 

Shelter

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A discussion about politics or religion never ever will be quiet. And surely emotions will soaring and surely there it can happen that words will be said, no one wanted to say. It's like in real life discussions. How often we meet with friends of us and we are in discussions about this or that theme. And believe me we are not always in complete agreement. We can be loud and angry (that is the substance of every discussion!). Everyone is trying to convince the other opponents with his arguments. And if everyone of you will be honest - will that always be a peaceful hen party?

But - and that is the core of the problem - we may be angry during such a discussion, but nevertheless we respect each other and as well the opinion of the others, also if we don't like them. That is how friends react. And no one of our friends will suddenly get up and throw us out of the restaurant or the flat or the bar - wherever we may be.

And let me ask all of you here - aren't we friends here on this forum, surely not personal but friends in spirit? Everyone here has his own political or religious opinion and no one here is trying to crusade the other. It is totally correct not to offend another member here personally with bad words because of his opinion. But it must be allowed to defend very plain the own opinion. And that I think has nothing to do with indignities.

So my plead is, not to close a thread because the content is very controversial discussed.
A controversial discussion will never be a "bad behaviour" - not in my view. In yours?

A moderator is the leader of a discussion not the terminator of it! It is his task perhaps to enjoin the emotionally charged members to calmn down. That will be totally correct and is fully accepted. So a moderator will be as well a referee.

Let our Gayheaven be again an open minded forum where we can discuss, also controversial, all themes which weighs heavily on our minds.

I hope so much that this really impassioned plea from myself will find open ears and will not be waved aside as "bad behaviour"!

I'm so very happy to be here, to chat with guys from all over the world .... let that be possible again and don't let Gayheaven fall into boredom!

Thank you all!
 

mark_63

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GayHeaven is open to discussions even those that generate debate - they can be the most enlivening of our threads. Debate is vastly different from an argument.
We all know that we can argue with friends - be they real life or cyber - arguments can get noisy but when they sink to the level of name calling they cease to be an argument and become fights.
The administrative staff is making it known that we will not allow discussions that turn into childish tantrums. When a discussion degenerates into something like this and it is reported to the staff we will take action. That action may involve closing the thread or removing the thread, it may involve silencing the offending poster or penalizing the poster in other ways. When an administrator takes action it means that there was something wrong, wrong enough that it was felt action was needed. That action, whatever it may be, is the last word.

Everyone who joins this forum agrees to abide by our rules and policies.
We have stated our policy regarding discussion threads.
 
S

skyward

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There are two sides or areas to this forum, the community side & then there is the porn.

Sadly, like with all the other forums & blogs the porn 'sharing' side is dominated by people out to made money for themselves through referrals & advertising.

When a member starts or contributes to a discussion thread, which can involve careful thought, research & writing, these contributors are not being paid. So it seems to me that the staff since not paid a dime have a lot in common with such contributors.

Sweeping away an entire thread by a 'mass-poster' when you identify a problem is one thing, but sweeping away entire discussion threads is quite another. Remember people have put a lot of thought and work into them -and were not paid to do so.

The mods who spend time in the discussion areas and contribute often daily themselves to discussions are perhaps best placed to moderate here. Maybe mods & admins who rarely contribute themselves might bare that in mind.

Unless someone is posting illegal links, spamming, advertising, posting viruses, running scams to make money, etc. etc. then usually there is nothing too drastic to worry about? :)

Might I suggest that if similar situations arise in the future a thread could be closed for 24 hours or even say 3 days... instead of killed off and sweeped away entirely.

It only takes a second, literally, for a mod to close, open, or re-open threads. Threads can also be temporarily hidden & restored later. Surely there is some thoughtful, measured but effective alternative to bluntly sweeping away whole threads? If not then the next time someone sits down to put real time, effort & work into a post or thread here, then might stop & say 'why bother'? And they would be right to do so.
 

gb2000ie

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Might I suggest that if similar situations arise in the future a thread could be closed for 24 hours or even say 3 days... instead of killed off and sweeped away entirely.

An intersting idea - a little 'timeout' for everyone's emotions to cool off a little.

B.
 

Stonecold

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mark_63 said
This is not a ban on all discussions about any of the above listed subjects. Rather it is a clarification - any thread may be closed or removed if it incites to much controversy.
I was an administrator on a non Gay forum for many years and I can relate to what Mark says, a forum staff has to be able to close or remove a thread if it incites to much controversary not only because of a time issue but also for the well being and safety of the forum. Trust me there are enough issues to deal with.
 

peter123

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Haven't read all post here, but I must say Democracy must and can face all directions, but with RESPECT...
 

MRGSKCBD

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everyone has presented valid points on this matter, i see this as way for the staff to omit any thread which exceeds the limits of point, counter point, and turns into a endless stream of people taking cheap shots and trying to 1 up each other with demeaning comments. thats pretty much what the whole internet is today.
 

gvd_rm

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Discussion

I for one respect and appreciate the work of the moderators, what a thankless task so that we the members can have a respectful website to visit.
 

mark_63

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Banned Topics

Certain discussions within this forum have reached a point where it is not possible to moderate. It is because of this that the administrators have decided to prohibit certain topics.

Members who bait, taunt, jeer, and ridicule others have become the norm as opposed to the rarity. This type of member is destroying any chance of allowing the general discussions threads to remain open for any topic.

It is because of this that for the first time this forum will ban certain topics and any member who starts a thread on any of the banned subjects will be penalized starting with a three day suspension of posting rights.

Banned subjects on this forum will include but not be limited to:

1. Migration
2. Politics
3. Religion
 

Dendood

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The only word of caution I'd make about all this is there's a price to pay for silence. I completely understand the efforts of Moderators to put an end to negative snipping. The danger enters when entire topics are banned. I've seen battles on other forums and similar efforts to strike down discord. What you 'get' is a community that loses any faith that serious, considered thinking is welcome. Things get quiet. Really quiet. Like, no discussion above a fourth grade level of engagement quiet.

You won't have to worry about people fighting about anything they say because no one will say anything. Other than simplistic, "Oooh. What did you have for dinner??? Did you see the latest kitten video??? I think he's HOT! Don't you?"

A forum I used to delight in visiting daily for years hasn't been interesting for the past 3 years running after the long arm of the law came down. Maybe that will be viewed as "Heaven" by the powers that be???

Hostility certainly needs to be tamped down. But... Interesting requires risk.
 
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