Liverpool FC Forum

[bigmick]

I've been on about this for a while now and just wondered what everyone else thinks. The system as is doesn't work. It doesn't work for the forum, it doesn't work for the mods and it doesn't achieve what it's supposed to, ie moderating behaviour, sorting out spats etc.

The reason it doesn't work is that it's outdated, and applying the rules as they are with impartiality is nigh on impossible. If people get banned they come back under an alias, some members are inevitably given more leeway as they are part of the furniture etc. IMHO it would be better if we had a fully transparent system which was workable and easy to understand. There should be clearly laid down guidelines as to what is and what isn't OK, and transgressors should be sorted nice and quick. If you are a genuine Liverpool fan, by and large the forum should welcome you on and not seek to ban you indefinately. We should allow all banned Liverpool fans back IMHO with a clean slate.

It should be a yellow for bad behaviour which stands for a week or two, followed by a straight red which also stands for a week or two. The new rules though ought IMHO to be rigorously applied.

Here's my stab at a few guidelines:

Abuse of other members with the use of words such as c... and w@nker should not be tolerated. "Funny" abuse though should be OK (I'm talking SOME of Lando and Barry's here), but if it is sustained it should result in a card.

P!ss taking of people's "illnesses" or family members, be they their kids or mothers or whatever should not be tolerated. Out of order and a straight card.

Racism, overt anti OOTerness, homophobia and the like should be stamped out instantly. Any comments which allude to fans not having a clue because they are a girl/American/young etc shouldn't be allowed.

Comments such as some of Aces recent ones where he has appeared to wish that Owen prospers in a Man Utd shirt shouldn't be allowed either. They are inflammatory IMHO and invite spats.



All in all though it should be simple. Get on someones case with a bit of abuse and there should be a warning on the open forum (none of this PM nonsense) if it's not too bad. If it is, there should be a card. Once someone is banned for a couple of weeks or whatever the mandatory period is, if they come back under a pseudonym, they should be banned for life. Whether or not they agree with the penalty, if the system is fair and transparent they should respect the decision and the process.

I think it would make the forum better, and some of the better posters who are currently banned could come back and make the forum better than it currently is.

[Igor Zidane]

Can we say that your an old farty and that the mods are defo gay ?

[bigmick]

Can we say that your an old farty and that the mods are defo gay ?

Technically the f@rty part is OK Ig' (and 100% correct, I'm making farting an Olympic event as I've moved into me forties) but the sexuality of the mods is taboo I'm afraid. Sheesh this is going to harder than I thought   

[Igor Zidane]

Can we say that your an old farty and that the mods are defo gay ?

Technically the f@rty part is OK Ig' (and 100% correct, I'm making farting an Olympic event as I've moved into me forties) but the sexuality of the mods is taboo I'm afraid. Sheesh this is going to harder than I thought   

Racism, overt anti OOTerness, homophobia and the like should be stamped out instantly. Any comments which allude to fans not having a clue because they are a girl/American/young etc shouldn't be allowed.

Throw in anti scouseness in there and i 'll join your campaign Mr trumpton .

[aCe']

Where do i sign up ?
oh would that mean i get an extra card for thinking Owen isnt a total kunt for joing manutd like everyone else does ? or was it for me hoping he'd rescue his career ? i can see how that can be seen as an inflammatory remark but cant say id agree on it warranting a card ...

anyways thats besides the point.. agree with pretty much everything on that post so count me in if im still around...

[Igor Zidane]

Oh and you should ban anyone that wants the rat to succeed at utd . 

[red37]

We should allow all banned Liverpool fans back IMHO with a clean slate.

and some of the better posters who are currently banned could come back and make the forum better than it currently is.

Such as....

[bigmick]

You're asking me to name names Red and each poster on here will be waiting for a persons name to be mentioned before they go "over my dead fecking body". It'll be a different poster for each person, but many have their hated nemesis.

I should think though I may be wrong, that yours would be Bam/Bamaga man. I never saw PM's which were reportedly sent, nor the context they were sent in, and I would not seek to condone/excuse what anybody said or did. He is most likely your "over my dead body" figure, but I hope people could get past all of that. People say things in the heat of moments which they later regret, we all do. Some peoples moment of madness is calling someone a c..., some people go much worse than that. Anyway, like I say I'm not here to stand up for/excuse anybodies actions in the past, but I do think that to a lesser or greater extent the inherant unfairness and injustice of the system as is frustrates people to the extent that it brings out the worst in them.

I may well be living in a dreamworld, but I would like to see Peewee, Bamaga Man, Stu the Red, Bill, LFC2007, Leon and the rest all back on here. If the slate was wiped clean and people transgressed in a fair and just system, their stay would be very brief. People always have a place in their hearts where they can forgive and forget, they just have to find it sometimes.

[bigmick]

I should also say as an add on, that although I aprreciate many people will now have finally concluded that I am actually c... now I have condoned the return of some of the aforementioned, what is the alternative? People simply do as Bill does and comes back under a nom de plume. It's hardly like Stu the Red for example was never seen after he was banned, he was as Fo Dne for years. GBJH has had more name changes that someone who has had lots of name changes, and it achieves little.

I keep going back to it, but if the system was fair there would be no need for such things. I'm bound to say as well although I know this always stirs things up a bit, but how many of the banned posters are ardent pro Rafael Benitez devotees? How many of the people who regularly recieve cards are from the died in the wool "pro" camp? There is a perception amongst many that the rules as they are do not constitute fairness, and whether or not anyone agrees with that, they can hardly be many people who think they achive what they are supposed to surely? You only have to look at the forum today and every day to see that.

[account deleted by request]

Sounds like a plan Mick. I think its certainly worth a try mate. It has always seemed silly to me that people get banned and come back as an alter ego, some to be banned as soon as recognised while others seem to have a blind eye turned to their return. You have my vote.

[tonyeh]

Just asking, but what's the sense in banning someone for just a week?

I frequent another board (nothing to do with footie), but if you're banned, you're banned. Simple as.

Makes people think twice before spouting something they would otherwise say.

[account deleted by request]

Just asking, but what's the sense in banning someone for just a week?

I frequent another board (nothing to do with footie), but if you're banned, you're banned. Simple as.

Makes people think twice before spouting something they would otherwise say.

Mainly to give the person time to cool off, as most peoples spats blow over within a short time. Admittedly some last for years but that's always their fault not mine   

[tonyeh]

Yeh, you tell 'em Saint.   



Seriously though. A yellow (followed by warnings perhaps) should be enough to make someone think twice. A red should mean don't come back.

A weeks banning for a red doesn't mean arse, really.

[Bad Bob]

some people go much worse than that.

You have no idea, mate, and out of respect for the privacy of the people they've targeted I'll leave it at that.  Suffice to say that some of the people you've named will never be reinstated.

Nonetheless, I think this could prove a fruitful discussion because I think there are room for improvements with how this place operates.  But, there needs to be a collective commitment to the project before we start revamping things.

[bigmick]

No I think it does Tony to be honest. You could do first ban one week, second two weeks, then three in a season and you get six weeks (or whatever system you like). The problem with the system as is is that you get posters who are on four cards, and because nobody really wants to see them banned (including me I might add) they get away with murder and hence people think it's unfair. Then, when they do get banned it's often only for a week or so anyway in many cases.

I'd like to see less discretion, less ambiguity and much more adhesion to a clear set of rules. No need to say to somebody your banned for life for repeatedly calling people c...s, but banned for a week THE FIRST TIME HE DOES IT would send out a fairly clear message. When he comes back, his cards are wiped but he pretty clearly knows the score.