EE's Zone Presidential Debate # 1: Making the BillsZone Better

[shelby]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD class=alt1 style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; WIDTH: 100%" align=left><!-- icon and title -->EE' Zone Debate # 1: Making the BillsZone Forum Better <!-- Start Post Thank You Hack --><!-- End Post Thank You Hack -->

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<HR style="COLOR: #f3f3ff" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->BillsZone is, at heart, a message board dedicated to the Buffalo Bills. At times our main football forum, the BillsZone, is plagued by arguments, TOS violations, and spam. The Zone Staff would like to see the BillsZone forum evolve into the best place on the net to discuss Buffalo Bills Football.....a message board where people discuss our beloved Bills without bickering, flaming, personally attacking each other, and spamming.

The debate question posed to the Zone Presidential Candidates is this:

How would you encourage a spirit of respectful debate amongst BillsZone posters?
What steps would you take to encourage more traffic in the BillsZone forum, especially during the offseason?
What steps would you take if posters were resorting to flaming or personal attacks in their posts?
Briefly describe what you believe is the appropriate way to moderate the BillsZone forum. For example, do you believe that moderators should play an active role in discussions and actively "police" the forum, or should they take a more hands-off approach and only take action if a post is reported?You may confer with your staff before replying to these questions. Please be as specific as possible in your responses.

Once you have responded to the debate question, your opponents will each have the opportunity to post a rebuttal in this thread. You may then respond to each rebuttal in turn. Please note that only one rebuttal by your opponents, and only one response per rebuttal by you, will be allowed.

The debate will be closed at 7 pm on Wednesday, March 19.

Thank you for your participation, and may the best Zoner win!
shelby
Supervisior of Zone Elections

[Earthquake Enyart]

Please note that when I say moderators, I mean admins too.

How would you encourage a spirit of respectful debate amongst BillsZone posters?

Moderators should be more like moderators on TV and radio. They should participate in conversations and steer them the right way. There is little positive participation, there is just ham handed, inane moderation. They also pick and choose who to moderate. There is no consistent standard that is applied across the board. If you really want to improve the boards, you must improve the moderation so more people feel welcome.

What steps would you take to encourage more traffic in the BillsZone forum, especially during the offseason?

I always hear (but don't really believe) that the front page is sooooo heavilly traveled. Well, what better advertising do you need? Some of the better threads and posts should make it to the front page so that front page lurkers know that there is real football talk going on in here.

What steps would you take if posters were resorting to flaming or personal attacks in their posts?

People forget that one of the main reasons this place started in the first place was the inane, ham handed moderation at the old place. It was REDICULOUS. When this site first started, nothing was removed or edited by moderators, it was just thrown into the Spam Zone. I thought that was a really good idea. If your stuff kept getting thrown in the garbage, in a place where everyone can see that it was thrown into the garbage, you would eventually get the point. Part of the problem now is that stuff gets removed before everyone gets to see it. People who don't see the removed stuff don't know what happened, and they obviously can't learn from it. Once people get the hang of what gets them thrown into the Spam Zone, they will either adapt or leave.

Briefly describe what you believe is the appropriate way to moderate the BillsZone forum. For example, do you believe that moderators should play an active role in discussions and actively "police" the forum, or should they take a more hands-off approach and only take action if a post is reported?

Mods should play an active, positive participative role. The problem is that you have a lot of mods who don't have anything to say that adds any value. Some even make things worse. I truly believe that there is a lot of addition by subtraction that could be done here, and my objective evaluation of the entire staff is something that is sorely needed, if you guys really give a rat's ass about making this place better. Based on the venom I have already received by some of the exiswting staff (including some I have no beef with), I wonder if improvement is really wanted. Perhaps this is just their little plaything, and the rest of us are just "allowed" here at their whimsy.

[shelby]

Thank you EE. Your opponents will now have an opportunity to ask questions or make a rebuttal.

[The King]

When this site first started, nothing was removed or edited by moderators, it was just thrown into the Spam Zone.

So you're proposing... just moving threads when two posters start making personal attacks? What about the initial point of the thread? And what about the TOS?

How is this a positive solution?

[Gunzlingr]

So Steve, you have a problem with overmoderation and hamfisted tactics, yet you propose to be judge, jury, and executioner to the mods you don't like? Aren't you advocating the very actions you claim to be against?

If you get your way with punishing the mods you don't like, what will stop you from going after posters you don't like?

[Earthquake Enyart]

So you're proposing... just moving threads when two posters start making personal attacks? What about the initial point of the thread? And what about the TOS?

How is this a positive solution?
Well, good moderation should be able to cut most off this off at the pass, but there doesn't seem to be much of that here. But if it gets bad after that, every time two posters start going at it, off it goes into the Spam Zone. Period.

[Earthquake Enyart]

So Steve, you have a problem with overmoderation and hamfisted tactics, yet you propose to be judge, jury, and executioner to the mods you don't like? Aren't you advocating the very actions you claim to be against?

If you get your way with punishing the mods you don't like, what will stop you from going after posters you don't like?
I'm proposing a professional evaluation of the current staff. As president, I would create a blue ribbon panel of people that are universally respected and go through the staff objectively one by one. The blue ribbon panel would mostly be the main group that started the place, minus the ballast that they started with. It would all be above board.

[L.A. Playa]

How would you participate positively in a debate of two posters to quell a rising of tension between them ??

Please cite a specific example of what you would say.

Thank You.

[Earthquake Enyart]

There are some that are pure douche bags that should be removed. Creemoredrinker was a good example. He never had a point, and was just a jag.

There are some like Ice who did have a point sometimes that just needed a calming influence from moderation, instead of the current policy of nothing, nothing, nothing, then drop the big one when things are totally out of control. I think the mods should try to nudge things in a more positive manner than be so ham handed. When there is this much confusion over what should be moderated and what should not, there is obviously a leadership void that must be filled.

[shelby]

This thread is now closed, as the debate has been completed.
Thank you, EE.