Exclusively Setters

Home for Irish Setter Lovers Around the World

Seems like there has been a lot of discussion - to me directly and on the site - on the recent removal of a certain member.  Wanted to provide some context:

 - This member was warned multiple times and had multiple complaints from multiple members over several weeks.  They will not be invited back.  There are no plans to invite any previously removed members back, either.

- I really don't care how knowledgeable someone is (there are tons of knowledgeable members still here).  If they are a rude to other members, they are gone, like a cancer that needs removal.  Not sure this is a lot different than any other Internet site.  I frequent several discussion forums and when people post things that are inappropriate or rude or vulgar, the content and/or member are removed.  Seems pretty simple to me.

- Moderation is tough, especially on a site I no longer use because people were rude to me when it started. If we don't moderate, trolls run off members.  If we 'over moderate', then people leave because they can't have passionate discussion.  People are going to leave either way.  It's like death and taxes.

 - With a site of this size, there is no earthly way you can please everyone.  I remember being in a leadership position in college and noticed with a group of just 30 people, every single decision I made disappointed or upset someone...without fail.  This site has almost 2,200 members.  Whenever a choice is made to leave or remove someone, people will be upset.

 - People who 'threaten' to leave like the site like they are some critical contributor whose departure will crater the site...please let me know if you have any problems doing so and I would be more than happy to help you!  :-)

David McIlveen Wright had a great suggestion a while back that I think we need to consider - a Code of Conduct.  Here's the example David provided.  This is NOT an official Ning or Exclusively Setters Code of Conduct, but it has a lot of positives:

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By using this Forum you agree to the following terms:

• No hostility. All discussions must be friendly and civil.

• No posts or pm's attacking other members. Teasing or jesting between forum friends is fine, but it must be in an obviously friendly manner with a smiley to make it clear you are joking. If it is clearly hostile or between people who clearly dislike each other then it will be considered an attack. If someone complains about being teased then both sides must stop immediately.

• No sectarianism. This means not posting anything that praises or criticises any prominent group (or person) on either side of the sectarian divide.

• No threats of physical violence.

• No inflammatory posts. No controversial, offensive or otherwise disruptive posts which are likely to provoke others into a hostile argument.

• No racism.

• No lying.

• No posts of an 'adult' nature.

• No swearing. Don't 'hide' swearing by replacing certain letters with others or inserting spaces.

• No spamming. Do not post or send unsolicited pm's advertising something or promoting another website without the permission of the administrator.

• No defamatory posts.

• No copyrighted material. Do not post or upload any material protected by copyright without the permission of the owner of the copyright. You shall be solely liable for any damage resulting from any such infringement of copyright.

• No more than one membership per person. Do not register or use more than one username per user. People from the same household sharing the same internet connection will need to disclose their relationship to the forum.

• No mod-bashing. Do not question, mock, criticise or complain about moderators or their decisions on the boards. The moderators will happily discuss individual decisions at length by PM only and if there has been misunderstanding then posts can be undeleted and restored to the forum.

• Do not publish any personal information about another member (eg real name, address, email address) unless they have stated they are happy for it to be posted. Please respect the privacy of other members. Do not publish an email or pm that someone has sent you privately.

 

Posts that break the above rules will be deleted. For blatant or persistent offences a number of warnings will be given before issuing a ban. The number of warnings issued will depend on the seriousness of the incident(s) as deemed by the moderators. In some cases no warnings may be issued at all before banning.

The moderators reserve the right to delete any content they regard as inappropriate. When posts are deleted an explanation may or may not be given depending on how obvious the problem is. If you notice one of your posts has been deleted and do not know why, please pm the moderators for an explanation.

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To me, a lot of the above is common sense, but you know the old adage about common sense.  Open to suggestions on improving the moderation process so it optimizes the communities enjoyment of this site.

Gene

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Replies to This Discussion

Torie I am 30 pages behind for pictures, so we will be 2 to have belated comments  :-)  Making friends, learning about the breed, sharing our fears and joy, looking at pictures, it is so good to have have ES.
When I wake up this morning and surprise surprise ... it's raining :-( ... never mind, it is said it will be so until September, so to cheer me up when my boys are still asleep, I look at ES pictures .... and this is priceless!!!

However, to come back to Gene's discussion, do you think it could be interesting to consider closing a "hot" discussion instead of having people out? My concern is mainly due to the fact that there are definitely and very unfortunately - gangs. Closing a discussion could prevent ???  hopefully??? gangs to complain about the same person in order to have her/him removed, as well as putting Gene in this horrible position, having to read the discussion and then act upon. This would be a shift from people to the discussion itself. I know it will be a real pity but better than having a new victim in the hands of gangs, or having some ES members not participating or even leaving ES because they are tired of being insulted when they dare to share an opinion.

If a dog becomes nasty when having a bone, we would take the bone away, not "kill" the dog.....

HI Chantal.......it could be a option.

I do however think it would be like punishing all members because of a few.

As you know at the present time, members can gang together against members they want removed from ES by complaining to Gene. I think this is a very cowardly way to go about it myself and I would prefer to deal with the matter in hand than stab someone in the back who can't defend themselves.

My personal opinion is that the site should be self moderating.  Gene has done his best and I am sure gets sick to his back teeth of some complainers on here.

ALL members should be given equal rights to vote someone off if they are causing real problems, not just a few complainers. That would be a fairer system all round.

I have never complained to Gene to have anyone removed it's not my style.

 

 

Torie I like your idea of a self moderating site. Not sure how it works though but I like the principle.  Please do expend this idea, how could it be achieved and let see what ES members think of it. :-)

Chantal, I think the Code of Ethics should help .....also I am not quite sure how people could self-moderate though..... history seems to have shown,  this was impossible...... hence Gene's intervention......

Hi Chantal. I love that quote "If a dog becomes nasty when having a bone, we would take the bone away, not "kill" the dog". That does just about sums it up. I thought this was a site for adults, not children, but not so sure now after recent events. Kind regards. Andy

Yes Andy, like you I thought ES was meant for adults ....  but obviously adults do behave like kids sometimes :-(  
So what can we do next?



Chantal on reply to your question "So what can we do next"?

We can wait for the troublemakers to read these comments and then sit back and wait.

They will blame everybody else as usual..........watch this space :))

 

Just keep putting up positive replies. About the site, your experiences and enjoying the positve posts, photos etc of others.

Andy,

I did not know it had an age limit....I thought it was a site just to share stories of our Setters....we have some young members here as I remember....

Hi Catherine. You may be right, but it has been the so called adults acting up. If it had been the younger members, I could understand the childish behaviour. Kind regards. Andy

Hi Andy, sometimes when people get old they revert to childhood! :-))

I rarely comment anymore because I often didn't feel "qualifed" to do so.  I am not a breeder, nor do I show my dog.  I just am a lover of the breed and have owned four of them.  Gene you do a wonderful job and one I wouldn't want!  I like the idea of just closing the topic if it becomes heated.  It doesn't matter where you go in life, you will run into hostility, and you have to learn when to stop your fingers from moving in this case.  Don't type back.  It takes two to tango and if you don't respond to it, it will move on to another direction.  I too love the FB setter forums because the people there are more like me. Many are just pet owners.  We can share our neutered/spayed dog photos and I actually see dogs that look like mine!  We enjoy the breeds antics rather than spending hours discussing conformation and such.  Thank goodness for those of you here that do breed because without you and your efforts I wouldn't have an irish puppy.  But it is nice to just be able to discuss day to day issues and enjoy the beauty of all irish setters. 

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