Over the last few months there have been a number of incidents where message threads have had to be censored by the moderators because not all of the message board users have had the ability to censor themselves. The message board is a communication medium, and as such maybe we should keep the principles of communication in mind.
If you don’t know them there are four basic parts: Sender, Message, Receiver, and Feedback. If you as the Sender call the Receiver a jerk, then he isn’t real likely to listen to your Message and the only Feedback you are likely to get is to be ignored.
If that is all there was to it we could let everyone act as they pleased and only the people doing the name calling would get ignored and we’d probably all be happier, but it isn’t that simple. Like it or not, we are judged by the company we keep. When you are part of a group and you call someone a jerk, the whole group takes the risk of getting ignored by that person in the future, whether they agree with you or not. That’s why members of a group will “shush” someone who is acting out or acting contrary to the best interests of the group as a whole.
It is much the same as if I want access to a creek via a private landowner’s property. If I let a guy with a kayak stand next to me and call that owner names while I’m there with my gear asking for access, I’m not very likely to get on that creek, whether I even know the other guy or not. Even worse, if I let another paddler use my mailing address to send him hate mail, I’m not likely to ever get any response to my own letters asking for permission to enter.
In the case of the message board, this is the home address of the entire ACC, and by default the entire Arkansas paddling community simply because this is the largest and most public paddling group in the state. If we let people make hateful comments on "our" message board about the people and agencies we are trying to get to do us favors, we aren’t likely to get many favors from those people or agencies in the future. Even if those people and agencies are acting in a way we’d rather they didn’t at the moment, there is no reason to start putting them down, because if we do they aren’t like to change their ways to ways we like any better.
If you keep these thoughts in mind before you click “submit” on your next post might not get “shushed” by the moderators….
David Mac
Message board censorship: why we should censor ourselves.
Message board censorship: why we should censor ourselves.
Last edited by David Mac on Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Rule #1: Never throw $#!^ at an armed man.
Rule #2: Never stand next to someone throwing $#!^ at an armed man.
Rule #2: Never stand next to someone throwing $#!^ at an armed man.
-
Lupe
- .....
- Posts: 1055
- Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2005 10:48 am
- Name: Heather Huckeba
- Location: Little Rock
- Contact:
Re: Message board censorship: why we should censor ourselves.
I just want to clarify something about the message board just in case anyone doesn't know this....
If you see any post on this message board that says "Censored!"...that is something that THAT POSTER decided to post, or to go back and edit their OWN message to say that.
If a moderator needs to remove a post due to violation of message board guidelines (the guidelines we all agreed to follow when we signed up to post on this board), then the moderator removes the post and adds a post saying that editing or removal had to occur. The only time a post would be removed altogether without a note would be if it's an obvious spam post.
So if you suddenly notice a whole lot of posts that now say "Censored" - I just want to make it clear that it was that particular individual who decided to edit all his or her own posts to say that. That is NOT something that the ACC message board moderators did. I know that probably seems kinda odd (it seems odd to me anyway), but that's what has happened. I just wanted to say something about it in case anyone really would have thought that it was something the ACC moderators did, as it seems to create a false impression, especially for someone who might be new to the message board.
Thanks
If you see any post on this message board that says "Censored!"...that is something that THAT POSTER decided to post, or to go back and edit their OWN message to say that.
If a moderator needs to remove a post due to violation of message board guidelines (the guidelines we all agreed to follow when we signed up to post on this board), then the moderator removes the post and adds a post saying that editing or removal had to occur. The only time a post would be removed altogether without a note would be if it's an obvious spam post.
So if you suddenly notice a whole lot of posts that now say "Censored" - I just want to make it clear that it was that particular individual who decided to edit all his or her own posts to say that. That is NOT something that the ACC message board moderators did. I know that probably seems kinda odd (it seems odd to me anyway), but that's what has happened. I just wanted to say something about it in case anyone really would have thought that it was something the ACC moderators did, as it seems to create a false impression, especially for someone who might be new to the message board.
Thanks
I've heard that into every life a little of it must fall,
but you'll never catch me complaining about too much of that southern rain.
~ Michael Timmins, Cowboy Junkies
but you'll never catch me complaining about too much of that southern rain.
~ Michael Timmins, Cowboy Junkies
Re: Message board censorship: why we should censor ourselves.
I agree with you heartily about tone and civility. My only quibble is that private individuals (e.g. landowners) are not the same as public officials and agencies. Private individuals have rights that equal ours and must be asked for what we need. Public officials and agencies deserve civility too. That said, the foundation of our democratic republic (what the framers called the government they created) since day one has been that "we the people" own the government and direct its agencies according to our will. I'm afraid that the American public has forgotten that in recent years. Simply put, "we the people" have a right and duty to demand that public agencies respond to us. When it comes right down to it, we are their bosses. Of course, "we" as paddlers do not always agree on what "we" want. I respect that, try to understand that and have made my choices accordingly about the means I use to inform public agencies how I want them to fulfill my wishes.David Mac wrote: If we let people make hateful comments on "our" message board about the people and agencies we are trying to get to do us favors, we aren’t likely to get many favors from those people or agencies in the future. Even if those people and agencies are acting in a way we’d rather they didn’t at the moment, there is no reason to start putting them down, because if we do they aren’t like to change their ways to ways we like any better.
Davis Mac
Finally, the framers also believed strongly that a democratic republic could only work with a free press and educated public. I think this board can serve a useful purpose for paddlers, to let them know when our government is not working as well as it could with regard to boating issues. See, for instance, recent comments on registering out-of-state boats in Idaho. Again, as long as the tone is civil, I think the information benefits the boaters of the state.
Re: Message board censorship: why we should censor ourselves.
Kim: Government agencies might have some responsibility to “we the people” that private individuals don’t but they are still made up of private individuals who could throw all sorts of red tape our way if we don’t treat them civilly.
That’s not to say we can’t call them out when they aren’t doing their job, only that we shouldn’t do it in such a way that makes them “lose face.” You’ll always get a better response if you say, “Did you notice this was wrong?” over, “Hey, you screwed the pooch on this one.”
Lupe: Maybe I should have used delete as my verb of choice over censor. “Censor” does have connotations of editing without letting anyone know that it happened and the moderators don’t do that that I have ever heard of.
That’s not to say we can’t call them out when they aren’t doing their job, only that we shouldn’t do it in such a way that makes them “lose face.” You’ll always get a better response if you say, “Did you notice this was wrong?” over, “Hey, you screwed the pooch on this one.”
Lupe: Maybe I should have used delete as my verb of choice over censor. “Censor” does have connotations of editing without letting anyone know that it happened and the moderators don’t do that that I have ever heard of.
Rule #1: Never throw $#!^ at an armed man.
Rule #2: Never stand next to someone throwing $#!^ at an armed man.
Rule #2: Never stand next to someone throwing $#!^ at an armed man.
Re: Message board censorship: why we should censor ourselves.
Agreed--DM, check PMs on how this diplomacy has happened recently.
Unfortunately, no matter how gently one criticizes, criticism still stings. Knowing that, our choice is to do nothing--or risk offending in the interest of positive change (or even enforcing current law).
And that'll be the last I'll say on this thread.
Unfortunately, no matter how gently one criticizes, criticism still stings. Knowing that, our choice is to do nothing--or risk offending in the interest of positive change (or even enforcing current law).
And that'll be the last I'll say on this thread.
Social Media
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot], Google [Bot] and 4 guests