Censorship and derailment

[StressedDave]

Especially in Wales and Scotland...

[Mr Cholmondeley-Warner]

Especially in Wales and Scotland...

Ah, you're back, then.

And do we complain? No, we take every opportunity to go and enjoy the EU funding

[StressedDave]

Only from Wales (a trip curtailed by illness) - Scotland was sooooo last month

[akirk]

I'm sure the "ball" owner is quite capable of threatening me himself.

So far, I have no particular issues with the management on here, although I believe Dave was treated a bit harshly. Mentioning the EU was wholly appropriate, IMO, as they do seem to spend an awful lot of our money on other country's roads.

No threats here I am a push over really!
And Dave wasn't treated harshly - I simply felt it wasn't appropriate in that thread, I have no issue with it elsewhere in the forum, but some folks are sensitive to political discussion and I had receive complaints about it - I sent Dave a PM, but was sadly called away for work reasons so it didn't arrive until after he had already posted his objection - I do this in my spare time (which tends to the negative in quantity!) so can't always react immediately - and I have no issue with Dave's posting, nor his having any thread he wants about Europe in the right place, but it wasn't right in that place...

If we had a thread devoted to talking about any one topic and someone adds very off-topic comments then those comments may be removed and that keeps the thread humming along nicely - very normal, the moderation on this forum is about the lightest of any forum I have ever been on, so I have no issue with what was done - I don't see it as a big deal... If I had said no discussion about the referendum at all, then that might have been a little harsher - it was simply a matter of lets try to keep on topic and not upset others... and post the other bits somewhere logical...

The complaints were appropriate - had Dave posted a thread in chat about the referendum and someone had complained I would have left the thread and told the complainants not to read it if they didn't like it but this was designed to disrupt a thread...

so Dave - if you are reading it, don't take offence - keep joining in, I enjoy your comments...

Alasdair

[Silk]

If my post could be read as a threat then I apologise for that (but admit, too, to being confused about how it could! ).

I did put a wink at the end. Perhaps you missed it.

AaAAMOI, I work for an organisation which receives funding from the EU, but I haven't felt any need to post campaign messages

That's because you riding the EU gravy train has nothing to do with the state of the roads. The EU funding of the roads in the poorer countries of the EU at the expense of the richer countries has every thing to do with it.

[Gareth]

The EU funding of the roads in the poorer countries of the EU at the expense of the richer countries ...

Well, I'd be more inclined to accept your point if I didn't know that the net contribution the UK makes to the EU is approximately 0.35% of GDP.

[Rolyan]

No. HTH.

An internet forum is not a democracy. There's only a small admin team and sometimes decisions have to be taken. They don't require a vote from the whole membership.

If people would stick to the thread topic (clue - it's at the top of every page of posts), there would be no need for any intervention. It's incredibly rare, anyway.

Now back to and

You appear to have missed the point (I suspect intentionally).

No one is suggesting that it should be a democracy, or that members should have a vote, and everyone knows it's a small admin. All of that is straw man and you know it.

It's not up to you or anyone else to insist that members stick to topic. Threads should be allowed to drift, as they represent members thoughts and opinions on the day. Clue for you - that's why it's a forum.

I know that Alisdaire does this in his spare time, but I'm still surprised to see him think that he should close a thread just because it's wandered off the original topic. It's not really appropriate at any time, but especially when there's a hint of criticism.

[Rolyan]

I think that might be the first editing I have done / locking of a thread since we started this forum c. 9 months ago - hardly severe moderating I don't generally mind some thread drift but some times it is easier to stop a thread and restart than to try to get it back on track... I have no issue either with politics etc... but not in the middle of a thread where there is no relevance and it wasn't just me, I had others complain... So I think it pretty reasonable...

Alasdair

Hi Alisdair - I'm not saying it's severe, I'm suggesting that members are surprisingly capable of moderating the forum themselves. For everyone who complained, there may have been others who welcomed the points made. So if enough of those had contacted you, would you have kept his comments on.

If folk didn't like it, they could have ignored it and stayed on topic. If folk DID respond, that shows there's an interest that should be welcomed. Regardless of what some think or want, there's no requirement for a thread to stick tightly to the original topic.

It's no big deal, but I was surprised that you locked a thread just because it went off topic. What you don't want is posters thinking that their opinions and comments must fit within a very tight parameter of what you find acceptable.

As I say, no big deal, I'm just surprised you closed it, especially when I've seen other posts on here (over many years on this and the original place) drift without your intervention.

[StressedDave]

Without trying to read Alisdair's mind, I think another possible reason for closing the thread was that it was on the cusp of turning nasty about your posts on cyclists and other user's interpretations of it. No fault on any part, but there's nothing like a good bitch fight to wreck any thread.

[hir]

Without trying to read Alisdair's mind, I think another possible reason for closing the thread was that it was on the cusp of turning nasty about your posts on cyclists and other user's interpretations of it. No fault on any part, but there's nothing like a good bitch fight to wreck any thread.

I'm glad you've clarified that. I thought it had been locked because of my excruciatingly awful attempt at poetry.

[That's wasn't poetry, it didn't even rhyme! Ed; It was blank verse, don't you know anything? Hir; Oh, no, it wasn't. Everyone]