The "censor" troll...

[VodkaFish]

I'm wondering how many of you out there have the "censor troll" - you know, someone who gets into an argument with an admin or mod and then loves to throw in the "if this doesn't get deleted" or talks of old topics that got locked (for real reasons) but loves to make it out like someone of your mod staff locked it because they were "losing" an argument?

[Cam]

Nope New forum doesn't have idiots like that yet.

[rooshine]

Oh yeah. Mine are political forums, and I have been accused of having both a right wing and a left wing agenda. All my mods do an excellent job of enforcing the rules without regard to ideology. Yet there are always a few who refuse to believe they broke the rules. Despite how clearly they are told exactly which rule they broke, they still think they were warned or a post edited/deleted because of an agenda. There are only a couple of these posters, but it gets tired pretty quickly.

[iFroggy]

Yeah, I have had those. But those types of topics get removed and those users get contacted. They don't keep doing it for very long.

[I, Brian]

Ensure you have a Code of Conduct linked to from your header, and include a disciplinary procedure in ther e- usually, 3 warnings, or similar. Sometimes people may simply need a little room to settle in, and 1 or 2 warnings should easily suffice for constructive members.

Btw - do observe for the reverse, though - I joined a forum last week, only to have all my posts deleted, and have abusive PMs sent to myself, by a board moderator. It was an astonishing and vindictive abuse of "power".

So admins should always keep a careful eye on their own moderators - take very seriously complaints about staff members. If any of them become poison apples, they can seriously undermine the credibility of your forum. And no the internet, good or bad reputation can travel very widely indeed.

Usually staff will take their responsibility very seriously and properly. Unfortunately, some view it as a power trip - as a way to dominate other people simply because they can.

[wildcard]

I've encountered several people using that tactic, they're 99% of the time losing the argument. Fortunately for me their posts weren't very helpful to their own credibility anyway, so leaving them their did no harm ;-)

[seattlecane]

I'm wondering how many of you out there have the "censor troll" - you know, someone who gets into an argument with an admin or mod and then loves to throw in the "if this doesn't get deleted" or talks of old topics that got locked (for real reasons) but loves to make it out like someone of your mod staff locked it because they were "losing" an argument?

I thought this was just an unwritten rule that everyone board had these.

[Anat]

We have a rule that we don't allow direct criticism of the forums to be posted. They can post feedback, both positive and negative - but anything inflammatory against the board's policies is a violation of the rules. They can always send it via PM or email directly to me though.

I don't mind when they complain - it's when they burst on the public forums and poison the atmosphere for everyonr that really sucks.

[Kakki]

I have a rule in my bigger forum that doesn't allow public arguments over staff decisions in regards to TOS. I sweep them away into the dumpster.

[Abusiveelusive]

I have had that problem MANY MANY times on a forum I admin at. It can get bothersome.

[rooshine]

I replied to this thread back in December, and things really haven't changed. There are still some members who refuse to accept they broke a rule, no matter how clear their violation is. Often before they even consider their own behavior, they respond with accusations of censorship and bias. The great majority of members are upstanding, but there always seem to be one or two of these "censor trolls" at any given time.

[gladding]

Boot 'em. It is your forum you know!