Forum rules

[Tahr]

This forum is a society. A useful and sustainable society has never existed without rules.
To think that this forum can survive without rules or a code that are enforceable and at times punitive is altruistic at best, and naive or self serving at the worst.

I hate rules, but I fear the consequences on this little society without them.

[hunter308]

This forum has rules. All we are trying to do is avoid it turning into a police state. I live in one of those presently. Not a nice society to be a part of.

The old forum was a harmonious place for a long time. No one on their knew the first thing about forums. It was the first time most people had been on one. At that stage, people cared a lot about the sense of community. It was unmoderated, but at that time, the members themselves would step in and say "hey, chill out" or "pull your head in". People respected one another and the forum its self and it ran beautifully.

Then moderators were introduced. Chosen not from respected members, but from the likes of BB who just wanted to police a forum for a hobby. It created an "us and them" atmosphere, and took away the sense of ownership the members had.

That should not be underestimated. Members are not posting on someone elses forum here. They are posting on their own forum. Its owned by the members here.

Forums run a certain way. Everyone has an idea about how a forum is supposed to work. Mods, rules etc etc. Anyone ever been on a forum that did not have the same issues, the same squabbles etc etc? Clearly, that matching mold does not work.

What will work is cultivating that sense of community and ownership. Your shitting in your own nest if you make a mess round here. This forum is not owned by some business that sells goo out of a cow. Its owned by its members.

I actually quit the other forums mod department when I suggested something be done about the people that niggle constantly but never break any rules, thus causing bulk discontent, ruining the forums atmosphere and never getting pulled up on it. The reply. "we just need to sit back and moderate with an iron fist". I quit right then.

Rules are great, but we dont need a little army of wannabe parking wardens giving people slaps on the wrist with wet buss tickets. We need members to take responsibility for their own forum and create a positive culture where members respect each other, and their opinions. Moderation never works. What works is the members being conscious of the culture of their own forum.

You got it in one there Tussock, the good thing here is mods have knowledge and experience with hunting and shooting, when you see a mod running around asking why do you stick a pig with a knife etc it makes you wonder what the hell that person is doing helping run a hunting and fishing forum in the first place, that was the thing with the other place it got too big for itself mods went overboard then it became a channel for political purposes which is something that should never have happened.