Should moderators enforce rules of relevance?

alan1000 October 17, 2017 at 13:52 1325 views 5 comments

A good committee chairperson will ensure that questions raised for discussion are meaningful and relevant in themselves, and that the speakers stick to the question and do not repeat themselves.

Would the conversations in a forum like this benefit from the enforcing of such rules? In asking this question, I'm thinking particularly of discussions like "The Shout Box"; I read a few random excerpts from it, at which point my stock of masochism ran out. The phrase "total bollocks" comes to mind. The post resembles a factory tea-room conversation, but without the same sense of intellectual depth.

I fully understand that there is a 'freedom of speech' issue, but should we really enthrone ignorance just because there is much of it?

Comments (5)

alan1000 October 17, 2017 at 13:55 #115925 0 likes

Just now saw the moderation standards poll - a good idea, for sure. Look forward to reading that thread.

Agustino October 17, 2017 at 13:57 #115926 0 likes

No.

Streetlight October 17, 2017 at 14:03 #115931 0 likes

Lol, you're unfortunately unfamiliar with the entire point of the shoutbox, which is a random thread to say pretty much whatever in. It's a throwback to the old forum where there was an actual shoutbox for the purposes of 'shouting' things into the void. I would be worried if anything in the shoutbox was relevant.

Baden October 17, 2017 at 14:07 #115935 0 likes

Yes, the Shout box is called the Shout box for a reason. It's not supposed to be intellectual whatsoever. If you don't like the Shout box, simply stay out of it.

S October 17, 2017 at 18:01 #116035 0 likes

We have various categories here. The Shoutbox is under the The Lounge category, where you can hang out, have a blether, and talk about kittens. In that context, it is entirely appropriate. However, the home page contains [I]all[/I] discussions, ordered by those most recently replied to (but with pinned discussions at the top).