"As time permits, I’m going to be locking more threads, deleting more threads, and explaining myself less. "
Time for Dale to change his Avatar - its looks like its begining to rub off on him!
Dale owns the place.
It’s really hard to argue with ownership.
Apply self-moderation and maybe it won’t have to come from above. That’s my $.02, probably worth exactly what you paid to read it.
–James
I do, but only in moderation.
I agree with you totally, mate. There’s a lot of tolerance around here. Accentuate the positive! You should see the fights that go on on some lists (did I really say “on on?” 
). I get the weekly newsletter from the BBC Weather Centre and they always try to get you to look at their message boards. I took a quick peek this morning and you wouldn’t BELIEVE the flames, insults and trolling that goes on there - over the weather forecast for Gawd’s sake!!! 
A healthy bit of good humour around here has shut a couple of threads off this week that were turning pointlessly nasty. All power to all our elbows! 
We have kind of subverted Dale’s intentions with this thread so I’m butting out now.
Steve
Things can start to snowball. Some one has to stop it before too many people get hurt. I’ve seen no evidence that he likes to lock things. On the rare occasion when it happens, it seems pretty obvious why it’s been done. I think I can figure it out without an explanation.
Oh dear. This is meant in support of Dale’s intentions.
I am neither agianst or in support of Dale it is his decision not mine. I prefer the Flute and Whistle board myself and post mostly on those.
What an oh so clever way of getting around a locked thread. :roll:
But probably not for long
Sums it up.
If a few people learned when to let it lie instead of rephrasing the same point until tempers fray, we’d see a vastly improved signal to noise ratio, and less need for Dale to filter.
As for whether Dale should moderate, we are guests in the man’s house. If he says stop then those of us with any manners at all should stop. Our freedom of speech is not compromised: we can continue discussion by PM or email.
There is nothing to stop any one of us from starting a board of our own especially to continue conversations that have become too heated for C&F.
To quote James again: “That’s my $.02, probably worth exactly what you paid to read it.”
I appreciate what you guys are saying; it’s just that I wonder
- Why people get so wound up and
- Why this needs moderating?
Firstly as this forum is not face-to-face but simply written discussion why are people so threatened - its not like a fight is going to break out and people or possessions get damaged. If a couple of people exchange a few hot words, so what? Big deal!
Secondly why do these threads need to be locked? I’ve seen a few threads descend into pointless argument and then I stop reading them - thats how I self moderate. If two or more want to argue why not let them and the rest of us just move away? Nobody is being forced to watch the fight are they?
I suppose it’s the old free speech argument again. As an idea it’s a backbone of American culture (probably less of a hallowed right here in the UK) but in practice it doesn’t always turn out so great.
Also this forum is not quite Dale’s house - that’s making it sound a bit more personal than it probably is. It’s a service he kindly makes available to the wider whistling community. If he doesn’t like what that throws up at times that’s no surprise, but I would be less willingly to moderate content, unless I was receiving many complaints by offended users about a particular thread. Even then, I think people take the discussions on this forum way, WAY too seriously. Its not like we are the United Nations, just a bunch of people who play whistle. I would prefer a style of moderation that requested individuals who just insult people or write obscenities to tone it down or be ejected (three strikes and out). Not that I think Dale is particularly heavy handed, but I’m not sure that his threat to lock or delete more threads is the way to go. Obviously, I’m aware that as he set this forum up, it’s Dale’s decision, but I’m entitled (I think? - I’ll soon find out) to my two pennies worth.
I believe Dale is occasionally inundated with complaints. He’s hinted at it previously. I think we can let Dale be the judge of when and why to lock a thread. It’s his board.
Susan
Why do people feel that me expressing my opinion is a threat to who owns the board. (more than one person has pointed this out to me) I’m not stupid, I know its Dale’s and he’ll do things the way he wants to, but expressing an opinon about it isn’t wrong is it?
It is if it differs from mine. 
Obviously - that goes without saying.
I didn’t say I had a problem with anyone expressing an opinion about the way the board is moderated. I simply said that Dale receives tons of complaints about threads and we’ll have to trust that he knows what he’s doing when he locks a thread. You can complain about it all you want.
Susan
Thanks, that makes me feel better
I think Dale should ban all meta-discussion and delete any thread that questions his authority.
Vive la resistance!
I don’t think people feel that you expressing your opinion is a threat, they’re just expressing other opinions which don’t necessarily coincide with yours. The comments I have seen in this thread seem to focus on what people think about Dale moderating the boards, not what they think about your opinion of it.
I don’t mean that to sound like I’m putting you down… I’ve rephrased it a couple of times and it still sounds that way… 
Maybe there’s something to this self-moderation stuff after all. Three times today I’ve been halfway through writing a post, thought “Nah, mebbe not” and hit the back button.
I suppose it’s the old free speech argument again. As an idea it’s a backbone of American culture (probably less of a hallowed right here in the UK) but in practice it doesn’t always turn out so great.
Freedom of speech really doesn’t apply here. Since Dale owns the board, it’s the equivalent of private property. Freedom of speech only means that speech is protected from government intervention. Dale is not part of the government, and this board is not provided by the government, so speech isn’t Constitutionally protected on these boards.
On a lighter note regarding freedom of speech, there is a famous quote, I believe from a U.S.S.R. citizen, where he commented that everyone has freedom of speech. The issue is whether you have freedom after speech! 
–James