For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
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By TheKentishFledgling
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1824307
The Help and Advice forum has now existed with its current title for a little over six months. There is some fantastic help and advice given that really shows the collective knowledge of the forum and its members at its best. There do, however, remain many discussions that don't fit into the help and advice category, instead they're simply "non aviation" posts as this forum used to be called. Many of the discussions are fascinating and informative, with some robust opinions and views expressed.

As a volunteer team of moderators it's near impossible for us to read everything that gets posted, and as a result we know there is a fair chunk of stuff that crosses the "no politics" line that is prominently displayed in the forum description. Up to a point this is fine - it's hard to discuss that many things (especially at the moment!) without it ultimately becoming political (small p), but things do get less palatable when people repeatedly express their own opinion as fact, treating any other view as nonsense, or something to be derided.

We're happy to carry on as we are, accepting there's a slight "relaxing" of the no politics rule, but do ask you all to play nicely. Please, play the ball not the individual. If you see something that you think crosses the line, don't bite back: two wrongs have never made a right, and unlikely ever will. Instead simply report that post. That way it WILL get the attention of the mod team, and we can take action as we deem appropriate. And if you're contacted by a moderator asking you to remove or amend something, please accept their decision rather than arguing and complaining how you're being treated unfairly, or telling us we've got it wrong. If you really feel it's that bad here, take some time out.

Thanks everyone.

tKF
on behalf of the whole Admin Team
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By PeteSpencer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1825220
Agreed with everything you say but please stop continually using the condescending and patronising phrase ‘play nicely’,

Some of us are in our eighth decade and however you feel you need to talk down to us we are not children, neither do we perpetually behave like children . Thank you :wink:

@misc: No, don’t .
#1825270
On the 'Help & Advice' topic ...

I know that moderators are always reluctant to change thread titles, but isn't it time "I just bought another one" was renamed "The electric car thread"? Or similar?

Rob P
By Highland Park
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1825312
Rob P wrote:On the 'Help & Advice' topic ...

I know that moderators are always reluctant to change thread titles, but isn't it time "I just bought another one" was renamed "The electric car thread"? Or similar?

Rob P

Shades of TCTSNBN...(if I’ve got that right...) :lol:

Ian
#1849538
I’m not at all clear how politics is being defined.. we discuss CAA decisions, Eurovision Song Contest biases, vaccination and lockdown action ( or lack of), and now whether truth is being told to a parliamentary, cross party investigation.

One of these threads is asked the question, ‘why is this not politics?’ , then locked . :scratch: :scratch: :
#1849556
Jim Jones wrote:I’m not at all clear how politics is being defined..


“When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less. ' 'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things. ' 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master — that's all.”
#1849758
Just accept no moderation is perfect. Things that are patently political live for a long time, things that aren't remotely political get zapped as political all depending on which mod gets there first and what sort of mood they are in.

It's not a problem, it's just a trainset thing, like we can almost certainly use the term 'gangsta' but are consigned to the dungeon if we mention itinerant, criminal, caravan-using, scrap merchants by their widely understood name.

Just move on.

Rob P
#1849779
I certainly know it's not perfect, did it here for long enough after all and, with my then colleagues (VintageATCO, Col P and Keef for the most part), hopefully somewhat pragmatically and without undue influence of my own opinions or mood.

Maybe without that history I'd be less inclined to raise my eyebrows quite as frequently.

But will move on as told :)
User avatar
By Dave W
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1849782
There is another possible - and simpler - answer to "Why this thread locked and not that?"

And that is that the Mods do not follow or read every word of every thread. If something is particularly egregious and catches the eye, or is reported, then it is more likely to get locked.

Other threads are often left to run as we don't want to lock threads and so pragmatism rules.

Of course, there is a simple solution to the wider issue and it is in you the forumites' hands rather than the Mods; and that is follow the site owner's frequent requests and refrain from straying into politics.

Not everybody is able to resist, though.
#1849810
Dave W wrote:... and refrain from straying into politics.


You are rather missing the point of the post, which is the inconsistency of the definition of 'political'

Rob P
User avatar
By Dave W
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1849815
I'm not missing that - a precise definition is impossible to pin down. But I expect we all know it when we see it and/or spend a second to think about it.

If we Mods attempted to pin it down precisely, then forumites would have significantly less leeway than is currently the case since it would inevitably be a coarse definition.

However, complaining (as has been done) that a post entitled "Dominic Cummings" has been locked and that it might not be political is where the point is being missed (or, more likely, avoided).