Human nature and forums
 

This might get a little deep but I think what I'm about to say is pretty much the truth.

It's just human nature I guess.

Don't know how many of you have seen Runaway Jury with John Cusack, Gene Hackman, and Dustin Hoffman but there's a scene in the jury room that applies.

One guy wants to rule for the defendant and his reasons arent altogether clear. Well John Cusack kind of lets him hang himself for the real reason he want's to vote the way he does. Once that is let out, they put all their feelings aside and look at the evidence impartially and rule for the defendant.

This brings me to Forums. If you were to take some tape and cover up where the posters name shows up and turn off signature displays and then just look at what was written, the responses would be different than if you knew who was saying what.

Recently, I brought up and issue but lets not go there again. Lets talk about human nature.

If a person with 1 post were to post something and lets say the main admin where to disagree with me, most people would follow the admins lead and agree with him. If the poster where to post the exact opposite and the admin would likewise switch his position 180 degrees the same thing would happen.

This happens on my forums, everyone tends to agree with me more because I am the admin. Not really because of what I say. The same goes for this forum and basically most forums.

Would be an interesting experiment to disable any identifiable information on the poster and see how different things would come out.

Any psychologists in the room? :)

On my board where there is no right or wrong really, this doesnt happen. The problem is that most admins try to enforce the loss of freedom of speach and free mind to the point that anyone that does not share the same opinion as the admin is banned. I have three simple rules and as long as they dont break them they can say whatever about me that they want, sometimes they do. One mind and one opinion will never build a database of information.


I hate when people call boards forums and forums boards.

The one thing that is forgotten, most of the members here are admins on their own sites. We tend to think alike as far as what's good for the site and what's allowed.

Please refer to the feedback section te boths of youvs. You would think we think alike however we do not.

After thinking about it a bit, I think the only way to get an accurate feel of where people stand is through polling. Of course it would have to be anonymous, no one would be able to leave comments and it could not be done on vb software because admins can see who voted for what. Also, the way the questions are put must not lean in any direction.

Only then will you get the "truth" or whatever

well on my board i allow people to call me and my mother names and dont ban them
im pretty lax with things, as long as they are not posting disgusting pics and stuff or talking about illegal activities im fine

just yesterday someone said to me that i pleasured myself to midget porn or was it sheep? :ermm:
i just laughed it up and didnt even respond

the problem i have is mods who think they deserve "respect" as if they were someones parents and want to ban someone as soon as they argue with them :(

I will have to agree with Jenta on this one , who posts does sadly have alot to do with how others view it.

Yes 'most' of us on this board do admin our own, but to what level? Alot have 100 members or less, alot have 1,000 and some have more then vb.com or vb.org. But all dif levels of boards with people who may or may not have any 'admin' skills as it is.

I have found many change their view to mine when I post with in my community, is it due to I am all knowing? Or perhaps maybe they want to kiss up to the admin a tad?

You will never know for sure if a reply to a statement is unbias unless the posts are secret. You can speculate but that is as far as it goes.

YES, my exact problem.

Fire the mods and get new (is what I would do), my mods know they are nothing more then servants to the community, any who step out of line get punished faster then a normal member.

Holding your staff to a higher standard and allowing less slip ups from them I have found make them humble rather fast.

Treat them like they are rushing for a frat.

Well think about it (even though this is getting off topic) if your mods are thinking they are better then your members (with out members who needs mods , for that fact the board) then kick them down a few notches.

If the possition of mod becomes one of service and not of status, you end up with more useful people in staff, and when they know they have to be more with in the rules and such then a regular member, they do not act up.

Its easier to replace a hand full of mods then a board for of members :ermm:

Yeah I have gone through mods because of the above but my original complaint is why this occurs so much. Its annoying.

you can still do this.. to an extent..
if you want to see how some people feel and not care if your admin or not.. than create a fake username just for that purpose.. heck create 3 or 4 and have an argument with yourself without bringing your admin side in to the argument.. see who users side with.

I made a thread here https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=93574 so we do not hijack this topic.

This is actually relevant to the topic at hand - It is still discussing Human nature :p

The old saying "Power corrupts" is simply that - Even the best people sometimes fall victim to it :)

Satan

The lovely Hellsatan is right - power does corrupt.. my solution? Keep it all for yourself :D

No, seriously tho ;) with regards to the original point on if we would react differently to a post if we couldn't see the poster name or sig, in my case, I've read the post and half-replied before I even notice who put the post up in the first place :D... I mean, in this thread, I even had to go back and check it was hellsatan who'd made the "power corrupts" comment ;)

The Mods don't necessarily side with the Admins because they are staff, they usually side with whatever rules are put in place for that board. There is a standard set of rules for every board (or should be anyway) and those rules MUST be followed if you are to ever have any kind of community. Those rules are usually set in place when you first register at the forum, so it should come as no shock to you that the Mods and admins will come down on you when you try to buck the systems or defy the rules. Too many members (in this case here, Admins and staff of other boards) come onto forums and think things should be the way they are on their sites and it just doesn't work that way. Just because you don't do it that way on your site, doesn't mean we should have to do it that way here, when the rules are already set. ;)

Could be about what's the best color. Just that the poster influences the responses.

Take for instance someone here you really like, admire and have the upmost respect for and someone here you detest. Your replies will usually vary depending on which one made the same post.

Bah no wonder everyone craps all over my posts :(

Satan

Let me ask you this? have I ever crapped on any of your posts or sided with you on anything? No, I haven't. I stay neutral. And in the end, you still have no idea whether I like you or not. Because that doesn't play any part into what my job is here. I'm a Mod, not a babysitter, or your best friend or even your worst enemy. Just a regular guy doing a job the best way he can. ;)

so are you saying youdont like me ? :(

i thought we had something

This wouldn't work here on vB.org. Because Hellsatan always ends his post with his forum name. And i'm waiting for the day that he forgets, then i'll be able to take over the world.

Heh it's unlikely I will - Any post that doesn't end in "Satan" wasn't made by me, or has been edited by staff to remove it :p

@Boobfoo - But I know you hate me, so regardless of your modship you're still inclined to give me the occasional kick :p

Satan

We did until that one thing happened. :(

Hate is such a strong (but accurate) word in this case. ;)

Hey, no fair! Staff can double post. :(

Satan, I even check as far back as your first thread. And it ended with Satan.

One day my time will come... One day! [music begins in the background]

I'm not sure how you do since the search is limited to 500 results and I have over 4,000 posts that are even counted (I reckon I have something like 8,000 total) :)

@Boobiefoo - Indeed - See I knew it :(

Satan

Don't worry, Chris, LW is number 2 on the list. ;)

Aha so there's a list ;)

Satan

Bowfew, just knowing that you know I existed will help me sleep better at night. :tired:

See? I knew I made a difference. ;)

@Satan: Yes, there is a list, it's out now. It is called Boobiefoo's list of USERS THAT CAN'T SPELL HIS NAME!!! ;)

I can spell your name just fine. 'Bob' I can even spell it backwards 'boB'. :p

Does your name appear on it Boob (booB)?:)

Satan

If only I could spell Boob, it might be on there. :(