Why are so many folk having problems registering?

[Cob]

Eric, my support 100%.

+1
C.

[writingrav]

Dear Geeks,

My thanks go out to everyone who provided feedback, thoughts, suggestions, critiques - even hat recommendations.

I've read. I've digested. I've cogitated.

I believe the best course of action - for the moment at least - is to follow sound medical advice and administer the minimum effective dose of what should hopefully be beneficial medicine. If the dose proves to be insufficiently effective, the dosage can be increased or the medicine can be changed.

But for the moment, let's take small steps...

Banning:

I never wanted the FPG forum to be a "banning" forum. Thankfully, I think we are all nearly in agreement that banning should be (aside from spammers and scammers) a very rare event and a last resort.

New Memberships:

New membership registrations will not be moderated. For each new registration, I receive an email. I look at each new registration and give it the smell test. If it's clearly and obviously a spammer, I ban the user immediately. Obvious spammer registrations are rare. If the registration appears to be a likely spammer, I set that user to be moderated and I see what happens.

The vast majority of new registrations look somewhere between ok and perfectly fine. I take no action on those registrations, which means that a few spammers do and will get through. We can live with that because we have an excellent Spammer Safari team in place. As soon as a post is reported as spam, I receive an email and I delete the spam and ban the user.

Rules:

I am not yet convinced that we need to write specific rules, with the exception of making it clear that multiple accounts are not permitted.

The current rules, which must be agreed to during the registration process, state:

By agreeing to these rules, you warrant that you will not post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, sexually-oriented, hateful, threatening, or otherwise violative of any laws.

The owners of FPGeeks Forum reserve the right to remove, edit, move or close any content item for any reason.

The current rules cast a very wide net and I'm confident that any lack of civility within the forum can be combatted using them as they stand.

I may be wrong... but let's prove me wrong before venturing down the precarious path of rule writing.

Moderation:

From the relatively small number of abuse reports that I receive, I wonder if members are aware of the "Report Post" icon/link at the bottom of each post. It is an exclamation point enclosed in a small dark triangle.

A post can be reported for any reason, be it spam, trolling, suspected sockpuppetry, incorrect location, rudeness, personal attack or insult, etc.

When a post is reported, I receive an email and I look into the situation. I do not promise to agree with all reports. I do not promise to take immediate action. I don't even promise to take any action when I don't believe action is necessary. But I do look into each reported situation - most of which are reports of spam (which are dealt with immediately).

I am not - yet - convinced that we need moderators. I suggest we all make use of the Report Post icon/link for items that need attention. In very short order we should know whether I am overwhelmed. If I am, we'll find some helpers.

Sock Puppets:

I will change the rules presented during the registration process to make it clear that multiple accounts are forbidden.

If you suspect an account of being a sock puppet, please use the Report Post icon/link.

Trolls:

The number one, most effective tool for dealing with trolls is:
DO NOT engage them. Ever. At all. Period.

Feel free to report trollish behavior via the Report Post icon/link. I'll be happy to look at the situation. But keep in mind that trolls live off any and all types of attention, good or bad. Without attention, they wither. Ignore them.

In Conclusion:

I realize that for those advocating chemotherapy as a cure-all, the above will seem more like "take two aspirins and call me in the morning." And honestly, that's exactly what it is. I am advocating small steps rather than huge change and a "let's see what happens" outlook.

I'm willing to be proven wrong, that stronger medicine really is necessary, but for the moment I believe I'm correct. The people who participate in the FPG forum are a uniquely talented, socially adept, and amazingly witty group which, for the most part, efficiently self-moderates. I can think of no other on-line body of this size that "forums" as well and as nicely as this community.

Eric

Well done. Now, on to the question of the main site and, perhaps, some version of FPGTV?

[Jon Szanto]

Hello everyone, and especially hello to Eric,

While this is general in nature, the thread has mainly evolved into a good call-and-response with Eric, and this reply is in that vein. I am glad to see that there is movement regarding returning the operation of the forums to some sense of normalcy, and want to address just a bit of that to our owner and current moderator-in-chief.

Eric, one of the recurring themes, both contained within this thread, as well as other threads you must certainly have read over the past couple weeks, is that of a visible presence in regards to the day-to-day environment of the forum. With weeks, months of radio silence, it should have been easy to understand why those of us who use the forums regularly but have no control over it felt uneasy. There were definitely times where, as things began to spin out of control, well-meaning people were often at wit's end as to what to do. Posts reported, emails sent, etc. When all one hears back is crickets, one begins to wonder, hard. Even with the best of intentions and promises, you get a very bad feeling.

It appears, from what you say, that you've paid attention and have been in the loop. As your actions of the past two days show, you are concerned with activities here and are more than capable of taking reasonable steps to maintain an open, yet non-threatening, forum environment. All any of us would ask, and a small ask it is, would be that the clarity and even minimal interaction you've shown in the last couple of days continues into the future. If there are times that your business or life will take you away from that, I am certain you are fully capable of asking others to step in.

The majority of our community are mindful of the good things that have come from the open setting here on FPG; many have come from other, more restrictive environments. Having said that, one simply can't avoid the fact that all cultures change (I can't, in this instance, say evolve), and general internet discourse is no exception. In recent days, major sites have been dealing with the issues of online harassment and attacks. Recently removed CEO of Reddit, Ellen Pao, addressed the matter just today in the article "The trolls are winning the battle for the Internet". A quote from this story rings very true with our recent experiences:

"The foundations of the Internet were laid on free expression, but the founders just did not understand how effective their creation would be for the coordination and amplification of harassing behavior. Or that the users who were the biggest bullies would be rewarded with attention for their behavior. "

It is clear, and something we have discussed among ourselves and you have reiterated: we all must be pro-active in seeing that the environment works for the best of reasons, and do our part to not facilitate the ill use of the discussion forums. I believe that with even mild consensus among the users here, self-policing as best as possible, along with a light hand on your part, we can once again have a flourishing of pen and pen-centric topics, with people sharing those aspects of their lives in a pleasant and mutually supportive environment.

In closing, I offer something personally towards yourself: I can be very vocal, and obviously I am very passionate. I do care about this little atoll on the net, because it has become my preferred home for these discussions. As events of the last month hit hard, I have been blunt in my postings, and while I made good effort to not make anything personal, I do want to make certain that is understood, and if I have put anything forward towards you that was personally hurtful, you have my apology. I am always open to communication, and PMs or emails always accepted. I am heartened by the movement of the past day or two, and sincerely hope we are now back on track for a fine, fun, and vibrant community of like-interested people.

As has been said: "I want to believe". I'm just not as good-looking as Mulder.

With respect, and apologies for the length,
Jon

[Empty_of_Clouds]

+ at least 1 zillion

[Hawk]

Jon, well said.

[Empty_of_Clouds]

I am leaving the FPGeeks forum.

[Farmboy]

I am leaving the FPGeeks forum.

I'm confused.

[Empty_of_Clouds]

I'm sorry, but my hat related needs are not being satisfied by the forum. I may have to look elsewhere for cranial comfort.

[Jon Szanto]

I'm sorry, but my hat related needs are not being satisfied by the forum. I may have to look elsewhere for cranial comfort.

Hang in there, we're expecting new inventory on Monday...

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Oh my, that's a lot of hats. I may have to hang around a bit longer.