Guin, I got to your post and it struck me as something to bring up before I read the rest of the responses.
If that is the case, it is VERY simple for a web site to hold themselves not-liable for minors entering this board, much like porn sites…the user “certifies” they are 18 or older.
I hate to cut out some of those 13-17 because we have a great many “kids” here on the boards that can be more mature than some in their 30s. However, if there is a question about the content then the CR and the SDMB should make it a requirement when entering the site.
I venture to a web cam site that has multitudes of cams that vary from men showing their penises to women having their SOs shaving their parts to even other women showing themselves or their girlfriends inserting various objects in their hoo hoos. Apparently they only need a legal thing that tells you what you might see and you have to enter your birthdate upon entering it.
So far I have not seen a website sued for having these disclaimers. If the SDMB is fearing being sued by some angry parents then I suggest and recommend they put a disclaimer that some content on the SDMB may be considered adult in content. I hardly think that if the SDMB were to go back a couple of years in it’s evolution AND included a disclaimer with an age requirement that the SDMB would be held liable for content. I believe that places like the webcam site would be top of the list for legal action. If your actions aren’t harming anyone, then what’s the harm?
It’s one of the unique and fun things about this place that has attracted so many for so long. People used to be able to discuss virtually everything.
As for Scylla’s thread, I was neither harmed nor sickened by it. I saw a man using his humor to make light of a serious situation to up his sperm count. Some might come across it and be disgusted but there are many threads that are subject to interpretation that gross me out but for others seem like fun to discuss. I have said poop threads gross me out but there was one thread in GQ a while back that caught my eye. I had, oddly seen some information that pertained to that topic earlier that day and even though I was grossed out, I still responded.
If I were that repulsed by the topic, if I were that ashamed to associate myself with that thread, I would not have responded. But, I did.
It worries me that one of the people most singularly responsible for keeping things running is embarrassed of us. (If that isn’t the case, please clarify, that’s what I got out of the job-search comments by Tuba.)
I also think it sucks to be restricted in what can be said here because of one aspect of one person’s life, no matter how big a deal it is to that one person. (Except of course, for Unca Cecil. )
I haven’t been here long and I haven’t encountered TubaDiva before, but I must agree with Miller that explanation seems very self-centered.
I’m a ListMom of several lists, and I (and other ListMoms I respect) agree that personal feelings must stay out of it. Your only concerns should be that rules aren’t being broken, no one is being flamed, and that conversation does not lag. On one of my lists there is a member who likes to post links to sites that she thinks are funny. I usually don’t think they’re funny; some of them are really crude–but none of my lists are my personal fiefdom.
The basis of ListMomship or Moderatorship is customer service, and I think that a concern for customer satisfaction would be of more benefit to your job hunt then a thread consisting of four pages of “WTF???”
Tuba, do you really want to work for someone who finds the SDMB distasteful?
Seriously, though. If you want to moderate an “acceptable” message board, maybe you should trot over to the LBMB. I’m sure they’d love to save your soul… haha
I think a disclaimer is a good idea. The problem is there bound to be someone who looks at a thread named say “I have shrinkage!!!” and then be offended by it. Email a mod, get it locked and have a thread started asking why the thread was locked. The thing is people have to practice discretion. Descriptive thread names help but its up the the person the not look at a thread they may find offensive. I don’t want this board to become full of sex and drug threads but on occasion they can be insightful and funny.
So to sum up a bit, its up to the viewer to decide what they read. Knowing when to kill off your curiosity is important.
I probably should email you but I have said it elsewhere that is viewable to others so I will say it here hoping I don’t offend you, but…
First off. This has always been an open place. I haven’t been here as long as some and I have been here longer than others but it’s always been something along the lines of “if you don’t like the topic, don’t read it.” “If you don’t appreciate it, then discuss it in the Pit.”
I agree that the last is not always the best way to handle it. But I also think that we need to consider that not all topics will suit all people all the time. There will be topics that are way out there. If they are descriptive porn, fine, close it. But Scylla’s thread was hardly out of line, it was, to me, a mask to cover up an obvious problem that he is having in helping his SO in getting pregnant. This is not a bad thing. Maybe his humor went over the top for a few but for the majority and especially the majority that have been here over a year know what to expect here.
Now, on to your employment situation. I am sorry you find the need to seek employment, this is never a good thing for anyone and I wish you the best in finding employment.
With that said, I have to comment on that.
This IS the SDMB. People ask all kinds of questions and discuss so many varied topics. Personally, if I were an admin of a board like the SDMB looking for work, I would have to weigh a few things. Mostly how important is it for me to get this job if I don’t list it. Chances are, if you list it they wont even gander at it, but a bit. They might even think you are edgy and this is the kind of person they need.
Your posts never reflect what others say, except when you say stuff like " I admit I may be a tad more judgmental. I’m seriously looking for paying employment. " You just let the cat out of the bag and if a potential employer comes across that I highly doubt they will be all that forgiving for your seemingly dishonesty in this regard. I don’t mean to be a snot but Jenny, don’t use this as an excuse. The SDMB has records of worse stuff than Scylla’s post that go back to early 1999.
I must say that you and other’s on “staff” with the SDMB have been understanding and forgiving in my past but I also have had some honest emails from people in the past about my behavior. I am doing the same right now.
I want you to be honest with us and with yourself. There must be more going on than that. Threads left and right, that used to be open for discussion in the past, are suddenly being shut down with what I consider “weak excuses.” This may sound harsh and it certainly isn’t meant to be but possibly take a month off as an Admin of the SDMB to get some fresh perspective. You have added at least one other Admin so I think it’s doable.
You also know that most of us “older” SDMB members feel that a thread or a poster is being completely inappropriate, we will voice our opinion right here in the Pit. Sometimes there’s nothing like a lynch mob to get your ass on straight even if you go down in flames.
But, I find the latest unspoken policies regarding the board to be disturbing and if your need for employment has anything to do with it, you need to knock the SDMB off your resume and only mention it in passing at an interview. This is “unfair” to the members of the board and the volunteerism here is greatly appreciated but should not be suffering because of your lack of employment.
I wish you the best in finding employment but please don’t compromise what the SDMB is about to gain a job. Be vague in your resume and if asked then tell them what place it is and also tell them that it is a wide and varied place where virtually anything is discussed.
TubaDiva, you have got to be joking. You are clamping down on puerile, but previously allowable board content because it might be potentially embarrassing to a prospective employer?
ya know, in addition to the job search issue, she also said that she’d gotten complaints.
Obviously some of those posting in this thread ain’t the ones who complained, but there’s a couple thousand folks out there.
I asked a question in ATMB that perhaps the ‘report this post to a moderator’ tab certainly increased the ease of complaining about certain posts, I’m wondering if it hasn’t also increased the number- as in before, in order to complain some one would have to construct an email, have the email addy’s handy - not all of us do- and link to the thread, several steps which may seem like too much effort to go through for a mild annoyance.
However, now all anyone has to do is click on the link et ‘voila’, a complaint has been made.
I’d just like to point out that a lot of us take the risk that the things we participate in here on the SDMB will be found out by parties who can do us harm. I really don’t know what my employer would do if he found out that I’ve discussed my homosexuality or my history of drug abuse here.
It’s a risk we all take when we post honestly and openly.
I have to agree with others that have pointed out that even in the “awful”, there is some meaningful stuff, quite often. It’s hard not to notice the level of intelligence around here even if the subject is suspect.
And just for the record, count me in as someone that thinks you do a great job around here. I’m not trying to suck up but it is noticed by many of us:) Someone would be crazy not to hire you.
My take on this is that we’re nearing the end of US Summer vacation - one of those times of the year when posting behaviours which are generally kept pretty much in check by the community itself tend to get a bit out of control (and, more especially, generate many, many clones of threads which were in themselves often borderline). So the mods and admins are probably sick of people opening almost identical threads to those which have recently been closed.
I seem to recall the admins saying that the “report a post” function would be disabled if it was being abused. As it hasn’t been disabled, I suspect use of it has been well within its original purpose.
In the past, complaints have tended to be assessed both in terms of number and also in terms of the validity of the complaint - nothing in Jenny’s post indicates that this method of assessing complaints has changed.
Yes, an announcement along the lines of “things are getting a bit out of hand guys, lift your game please” would have been nice. If the admins have decided that is required, then I think there should still be an announcement posted. Not everyone reads the Pit and anything which can be interpreted as “policy” should be clearly posted as such in all forums - even if it is essentially just a reminder to stick to the rules.
This is really tough for me to say Jenny, but a prospective employer’s opinion of the SDMB should be totally irrelevant to the way in which this messageboard is moderated or administrated. As the Reader ultimately sets the groundrules for this board and your role as administrator is to enforce their guidelines, I really don’t see how the content of the SDMB can reflect on you personally, and nor should it. Much of your work as an administrator is invisible to this community itself, let alone to an outsider.
I hope we don’t lose you totally to paid employment. I’m sure there are plenty of members who would be willing to use their contacts to assist you in your search for employment if they had an idea of what you’re looking for; you only have to ask.
Taken on one level, an innocuous question. Read another way, you’re pushing too hard. Either way, I’m sure you can be the big guy and give it a little time.
On Tuba’s posts – a reminder that we’re big enough and ugly enough to handle a little self-censorship – and that we should be doing that - isn’t a bad thing, IMHO.
I think she has every right to be proud of her role in the way the board has developed. The Reader’s staff obviously play a passive, behind-the-scenes-if-needed, role here and have absolute confidence in her to run the show. She’s done a great job for free. Period.
Personal Opinion of Tristan- TubaDiva and the others do a hard job, that I don’t think I could do.
However, they, like most other mods that I’ve run across, tend to get rather personally wrapped up in things on their boards.
I think, in the past, TubaDiva has shown poor judgement, and I know I’ve been attacked by her on closed threads. No biggie, I can let it go.
But this response is a cop out. It makes this whole board seem like it’s her personal domain, and it’s not. This board is the realm of ALL OF US. Yes, I know it’s the Readers in fact, and the Mods/Admins de jure but it would be nice if realistic responses and guidelines were set up.
Also, I challenge TubaDiva to forward the complaints to Scyllia, after stripping any identifying verbiage. If the complaints were legitimate, he should be made aware so that he can avoid making the same sorts of mistakes in the future.
Rather than asking x-thousand posters to conform to what a non-defined prospective employer might find appropriate, might I suggest the following?
Have your contact person at the Chicago Reader write you a reference saying that you admin their board of x-thousand posters, with a daily hit-ratio of blahblah, x-hundred posts a day, that they are very pleased with your work etc, best regards, Chicago Reader. There is no real need to mention the name or URL of the site, about 9/10 times its not going to be neccessary.
A written reference is hella lot more impressive than letting some poor soul wander in here unawares.
Better for you, better for them, better for us.
Geesh people. all you need to do is use a little common sense. That’s it. This is a public message board, and there aren’t any little magical sticks out there to keep young people from reading the boards. I’ve seen threads on this board that I wouldn’t want a 16-year-old to be reading.
Yea, it’s a free board, open to all, and most of the time all topics are open. But can’t you just take a second before you get that thread topic going to give it some thought, if you had a teen-ager of your own, would you want them to be reading what you are about to post or start a thread on? You know it as well as I know it, many of the threads are started for shock purposes only. You really don’t give a damn what other people think or what their opinions are, you just want people reading your thread and getting shocked that you could post something of that nature.
Well guess what? You might get responses to it, but for the most part you lose a lot of respect and then we get crap like this on the board where you get thread after thread on why we need to watch what we post.
Guess what? If it’s something you wouldn’t want your mom or dad or other family members to read, I don’t want to read it either.
And yea I can hear it now, if you don’t want to read it don’t open the thread. But with the titles some people use, you can’t always tell what a thread is about until you have already opened it.
Can we grow up a little here people? If you’ve got something that you just have to let the world know about, do a live-journal.
Exactly, and at what point are we halfway down the slipperly slope of religious intolerance of criticism or comments unfavorable to the “one true church”?
Your comments regarding MLK are trollish and worthy of nothing but contempt. :mad:
I think that’s one of the big issues here - should we be censoring ourselves to become more family-friendly? I think not; that would eliminate a lot of entertaining and informative stuff on here. Point of fact: Many people on here do not have children and don’t give a crap what the kids of other people are exposed to; and they shouldn’t, as it’s not their responsibility to do so. You can argue about personal responsibility, and there’s some truth to that sentiment, but it should not extend to making sure each post you make is clean and safe for underage prying eyes.
Also, although there are plenty of posts on here that appear somewhat narcissistic in nature, there are far, far more that are so on the outside only; underneath lies information people can use, because they can directly relate to the experiences related within the thread, and even the knowledge that someone else has gone through the same experience can be very helpful.
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