Suggestion Box

[Spurt]

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@Moonchilde wrote:

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@Sooner wrote:

The problem often is that people who don't understand what is going on, as well as seasoned ones of us who slip up sometimes, get tricked or goaded into a contentious discussion.  Then the person who started it goes scott free.  

I hope moderators will be more atuned to this as we go along.  They do a very good job for the most part, but I think because hijacked threads are becoming more of a problem, that will be dealt with in time.  They have a difficult job.

Trouble makers and nickname switchers can't help but eventually show their  hands.   

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Agreed - and they have shown many of us their hands. But as has been said on several other threads, patterns of behavior do not seem to be taken into consideration by the moderators, or be acted upon, all that often. It has been postulated that either they do not/cannot "share" information between themselves (so don't see patterns), or that for whatever reason TPTB have not given the moderators the authority to ban posters except under a very narrow window of specifics. Whichever it might be, the trolls and multi-nickers use it to prime advantage, sadly.

And while I totally agree that an ignored troll is a defeated troll, the clueless are always going to respond, and then someone will respond to *them*, and someone will say it's a troll and someone else will call that person a meanie for saying it, and ....  You know it happens, every time. The best that can be hoped for is for the old-timers to stay away from these threads and hope the newbies and/or the tender-hearted will "get it" eventually.

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@Moonchilde  @Sooner

Yep the Moderators have a tough job and have to walk a fine line.  But let me state I'm not for strict moderation, all I'm asking for is intelligent difference of opinions and good discussions.  There are plenty of other Forums where if everyone doesn't hold hands and write nothing but happy happy posts and sing Kumbaya....you are banned forever, and then there are the no holds bar Forums where you can be nasty as you want to be.....  Somewhere there is a happy medium and some say difficult to accomplish.  But I've seen it done on Sports Forums which is very volatile and there are intense rivlaries between teams, yet everyone gets along, has a sense of humor and good conversation and yet show respect.....If they can do it why can't QVC!

[Sooner]

I think strict moderation is  fine--it's about shopping and friendship and support for other posters.  I think there are too many other places to argue and I am delighted political discussions aren't something that get going on this board.  

[Moonchilde]

@Spurt, I think because on the forums you mention, it's the moderators who have the say, and they may or may not be the owners/creators of the forums. It's tempting to wish the moderators here could make more definitive decisions more often, but there is also 'be careful what you wish for.'

I personally would hope for a sort of combined data base that all moderators can access and input data, so that all of them can see the patterns we see as far as *types* of behavior, some clearly being more ban-able or time-out worthy than others. Then it would need a concensus of say 3/5 or 4/5 (or whatever the actual total number of moderators is) of moderators to ban a poster, with an admin like Keyai being the tie-breaker if need be. Such a wide concensus would make things as fair as they could be, IMO.

[Spurt]

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@Sooner wrote:

I think strict moderation is  fine--it's about shopping and friendship and support for other posters.  I think there are too many other places to argue and I am delighted political discussions aren't something that get going on this board.  

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@Sooner

If a simple discussion about Wolf Spiders can get to the point where it's totally out of control, I just can't imagine what these boards would be like if that topic was allowed---LOL!!! QVC woud shut down these Forums for good----there are plenty of other places for that topic...

[Spurt]

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@Moonchilde wrote:

@Spurt, I think because on the forums you mention, it's the moderators who have the say, and they may or may not be the owners/creators of the forums. It's tempting to wish the moderators here could make more definitive decisions more often, but there is also 'be careful what you wish for.'

I personally would hope for a sort of combined data base that all moderators can access and input data, so that all of them can see the patterns we see as far as *types* of behavior, some clearly being more ban-able or time-out worthy than others. Then it would need a concensus of say 3/5 or 4/5 (or whatever the actual total number of moderators is) of moderators to ban a poster, with an admin like Keyai being the tie-breaker if need be. Such a wide concensus would make things as fair as they could be, IMO.

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@Moonchilde

I've seen and participated in many forums over the years.....and yes some of the better ones were owner created and anyone that got out of line they quickly nipped it in the bud and told "we don't do that here and explained the consequences". 

I've also seen commercial Forums that employed what was called Special Contributors who wrote articles on topics of interest and obtained credentials to attend special events that they reported on.  In exchange, these people also assisted the Moderators and alerted them to any "problem areas/posters" they also answered questions regarding Community Guidelines. 

I've also seen Forums owned/created by individuals who hired Moderators and the ones who complained when the Forum got out of control were the Corporate Sponsors who advertised on the site....they didn't want their name associated with x-rated avatars and some of the conversations and flame wars that went on.....And boy that Forum got cleaned up QUITE NICELY!!!  Keeping sponsors happy was much more important than freedom of expression for participants!

There was also one Forum that did something very interesting a small group of regulars asked for, actually begged, for an UNCENSORED Category where "adult conversation and language" could take place without any moderation.  They got their wish for their UNCENSORED PLACE and an age requirement and verificiation was also established.  After a while interesting enough---the Uncensored Group---started asking FOR moderation---even they couldn't take a no holds barred type of Forum---  The topic was closed down!!!  An interesting comment on human behaviour. 

If someone is not happy with QVC's Forum plenty others out there especially for the bashers and trashers...

[SaRina]

@Sooner said:  "The problem often is that people who don't understand what is going on, as well as seasoned ones of us who slip up sometimes, get tricked or goaded into a contentious discussion.  Then the person who started it goes scott free. "

@Spurt said:  "And sometimes people get so tired of seeing the same people hijack an intelligent discussion and they get so frustrated and there is a straw that breaks the camels back and they have to lash out because they can't take it anymore.

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What I highlighted is exactly the type of thinking that everyone should try to work on changing. There is truly no need to allow anyone to goad you into contentious discussion. Moderators can only do so much -- everyone has to take individual responsibility by being mature, exerting self-control, and taking the high road.  Just walk away.  It's not worth ruining your day.

It's people's fragile egos that cause them to need to have the last word, to demand that their POV be accepted all around, to argue back because "their feelings are hurt".  Once you take control of your ego and claim your self-worth, this issue is no longer valid.

[sorry if this comes across as lecturing, not meant to be....  I just feel strongly about it. :-) ]

[Buck-i-Nana]

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@Spurt wrote:

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@SaRina wrote:

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@Spurt wrote:

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@SaRina wrote:

I find it really easy to ignore posters I don't care to respond to or interact with.  No one can drag me into their misery, lol.

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@SaRina

Yes, you can ignore people but what's happening is that people don't even want to post an idea because the thread gets hijacked by these bullies, so everyone figures what's the point and an opportunity is lost to provide QVC with our feedback and suggestions .....Discussions with differing opinions are great, but that's not what I'm talking about....its nothing but attacks on the poster!

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@Spurt, if everyone understood that trolls and thread hijackers are just looking for attention and looking to derail a thread either because they are bitter souls (which is what I keep telling myself) or have a sad sense of amusement, and everyone just ignored them and moved on instead of engaging....  in other words, acting as if the trolls were not even there..... I guarantee you the trolls would lose interest in their immature games.

It's such a simple concept, though difficult for most people to follow-through on.

As far as so-called "personal attacks", I understand it's difficult for some people not to take what a stranger posts personally, but seriously, it's a wonderful practice to tell yourself that you are better than them and nothing they can possibly say can make you feel badly.  I have allowed posters to say some really nasty things to me, and I just walk away and laugh to myself.  Try it.  :-)

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@SaRina

You make some EXCELLENT points!!!  I wish they'd bring the IGNORE button back because sometimes you have to bypass so much garbage from the "hijackers" to find  the good conversation and discussion. Check out the QUALITY DOWN JARGON UP thread.....they turned a valid point into a discussion about trolls.  I think we need that button back so we wouldnt even have to see their junk and just see the good stuff

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Ya know what @Spurt?  I went and read that thread and the "snark" doesn't just flow in one direction, that's for sure.

Perhaps when you get what you interpret as a snarky reply to a post, you should reread the post that got snarked at?  Plenty of snark to go around.

[SaRina]

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@Spurt wrote:

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@SaRina wrote:

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@Spurt wrote:

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@SaRina wrote:

I find it really easy to ignore posters I don't care to respond to or interact with.  No one can drag me into their misery, lol.

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@SaRina

Yes, you can ignore people but what's happening is that people don't even want to post an idea because the thread gets hijacked by these bullies, so everyone figures what's the point and an opportunity is lost to provide QVC with our feedback and suggestions .....Discussions with differing opinions are great, but that's not what I'm talking about....its nothing but attacks on the poster!

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@Spurt, if everyone understood that trolls and thread hijackers are just looking for attention and looking to derail a thread either because they are bitter souls (which is what I keep telling myself) or have a sad sense of amusement, and everyone just ignored them and moved on instead of engaging....  in other words, acting as if the trolls were not even there..... I guarantee you the trolls would lose interest in their immature games.

It's such a simple concept, though difficult for most people to follow-through on.

As far as so-called "personal attacks", I understand it's difficult for some people not to take what a stranger posts personally, but seriously, it's a wonderful practice to tell yourself that you are better than them and nothing they can possibly say can make you feel badly.  I have allowed posters to say some really nasty things to me, and I just walk away and laugh to myself.  Try it.  :-)

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@SaRina

You make some EXCELLENT points!!!  I wish they'd bring the IGNORE button back because sometimes you have to bypass so much garbage from the "hijackers" to find  the good conversation and discussion. Check out the QUALITY DOWN JARGON UP thread.....they turned a valid point into a discussion about trolls.  I think we need that button back so we wouldnt even have to see their junk and just see the good stuff

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@Spurt, I just came back and read the "Quality Down Jargon Up" thread you mentioned above.  Firstly, that's not a thread I would care to respond to.... it wasn't an important enough or thought-provoking enough OP IMO.  I couldn't care less if the OP was a formerly banned poster who had a bone to pick.  Let her do her thing.  I'm not that interested in the topic or her beef.

So a few posters opined that the OP was a troll.  That's their prerogative and observations such as this are to be expected in a public forum.  I personally wouldn't give it a second thought or even care to get involved in the troll vs. legit newbie debate.  It's just not important to me.  If I wanted to respond to the OP, I would just do so and ignore the doubters. Other posters did just that.  However, I do not agree that the thread was derailed or full of snark. JMO.

If you assign too much importance to what is posted here, you will find more aggravation and frustration than need be.

Bottom line is.....   it ain't that important in the grand scheme of things.   ETA:  .... and if I can help just one person put this place into proper perspective, then I feel I've done good.  :-)

[Spurt]

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@SaRina wrote:

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@Spurt wrote:

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@SaRina wrote:

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@Spurt wrote:

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@SaRina wrote:

I find it really easy to ignore posters I don't care to respond to or interact with.  No one can drag me into their misery, lol.

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@SaRina

Yes, you can ignore people but what's happening is that people don't even want to post an idea because the thread gets hijacked by these bullies, so everyone figures what's the point and an opportunity is lost to provide QVC with our feedback and suggestions .....Discussions with differing opinions are great, but that's not what I'm talking about....its nothing but attacks on the poster!

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@Spurt, if everyone understood that trolls and thread hijackers are just looking for attention and looking to derail a thread either because they are bitter souls (which is what I keep telling myself) or have a sad sense of amusement, and everyone just ignored them and moved on instead of engaging....  in other words, acting as if the trolls were not even there..... I guarantee you the trolls would lose interest in their immature games.

It's such a simple concept, though difficult for most people to follow-through on.

As far as so-called "personal attacks", I understand it's difficult for some people not to take what a stranger posts personally, but seriously, it's a wonderful practice to tell yourself that you are better than them and nothing they can possibly say can make you feel badly.  I have allowed posters to say some really nasty things to me, and I just walk away and laugh to myself.  Try it.  :-)

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@SaRina

You make some EXCELLENT points!!!  I wish they'd bring the IGNORE button back because sometimes you have to bypass so much garbage from the "hijackers" to find  the good conversation and discussion. Check out the QUALITY DOWN JARGON UP thread.....they turned a valid point into a discussion about trolls.  I think we need that button back so we wouldnt even have to see their junk and just see the good stuff

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@Spurt, I just came back and read the "Quality Down Jargon Up" thread you mentioned above.  Firstly, that's not a thread I would care to respond to.... it wasn't an important enough or thought-provoking enough OP IMO.  I couldn't care less if the OP was a formerly banned poster who had a bone to pick.  Let her do her thing.  I'm not that interested in the topic or her beef.

So a few posters opined that the OP was a troll.  That's their prerogative and observations such as this are to be expected in a public forum.  I personally wouldn't give it a second thought or even care to get involved in the troll vs. legit newbie debate.  It's just not important to me.  If I wanted to respond to the OP, I would just do so and ignore the doubters. Other posters did just that.  However, I do not agree that the thread was derailed or full of snark. JMO.

If you assign too much importance to what is posted here, you will find more aggravation and frustration than need be.

Bottom line is.....   it ain't that important in the grand scheme of things.  :-)

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@SaRina

I thought they took the thread off topic....and therefore, discouraged people from commenting on it..... yes some still replied but not many....and that's my point!...I'm done!