Investment Property Chat - Problems

[Deve]

From: Steve _Deve


Hi everyone

For the past few weeks I've been using the chat feature here on this site, and found it to be great.. very informative and generally friendly, helpful people there.

Tonight however (I was wondering when it would occur) we were visited by a couple of people who seemed more intent on causing problems for people rather than contributing to any meaningful conversation.

I am just wondering if there is any way that a couple of regular users could be "opped" a-la IRC so that we could keep this undesirables out. If anyone is in the know on this please come forward!

(By the way, I can supply logs on request)

Cheers
Steve
(deve from the chat)

 

[Sim]

Reply: 1
From: Sim' Hampel


Welcome to the connected world of the internet !!

Unfortunately you really only have three choices when it comes to rif-raf:

1. Keep a completely open forum/chat like this so that you get the widest range of people contributing, and just put up with the rif-raf that comes in.

2. Keep a moderated forum/chat that supposedly keeps out the rif-raf but requires someone to put in the effort to moderate.

3. Keep a closed (or private) forum/chat which requires users to be invited in. This keeps the forum nice and sanitised but will also keep out a lot of casual users who have something useful to contribute but not the persistence or the connections to get into the forum.

I think the idea of the forum that the Somers have set up is to be as open as possible, and they certainly don't want to have to try and moderate it.

I think it would be sad if everyone gets their own private chat rooms so that they can have their 'exclusive' group... the whole point is to share knowledge and different points of views.

 

[Deve]

Reply: 1.1
From: Steve _Deve


Hi

I'm all for sharing knowledge and different points of view, however this is a bit different. There were a couple of people who logged in to the chat last night (who by the way have absolutely no connection at all with the somers forum) who were abusive, racist and totally rude to the IPchat users.

I'm all for an open forum.. but with that comes the responsibility to treat others with respect. The chat may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I for one have found it very helpful, entertaining and informative.

As far as I'm concerned, as far as the chat goes.. the more the merrier, and indeed if people join our chat from elsewhere, great! It may not be a huge problem, however if there is a simple solution we should probably explore it.

So, if anyone knows if there is a way that people can be "opped" or set up as "moderators" perhaps they could help us out.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Sim]

Reply: 1.1.1
From: Sim' Hampel


Okay, I wasn't around for the incident in question so I was not aware of the nature of the disruption.

Given that the Somers explicitly state their opinion on what is acceptable usage for the forum:

"The forum is open to all those with an interest in property investment, but users should respect the views of others and refrain from any anonymous, rude, libellous or unfair comment"...

...this certainly provides ground for some form of "light" moderation.

I would not be against having a selection of people who were considered moderators of the forum who had the power to remove and ban people who were being unneccessarily disruptive.

Of course this requires a degree of leniency, as we need to respect the rights of people to express opinions (about investing in property) that may be different to ours, but when arguments turn personal, nasty and away from the topic of investment property, then it is time to act against the perpetrators.

Just my opinion !

What do you think Ian ?

 

[prunster]

Reply: 1.1.1.1
From: Grant P


It happened again last night but the difference with this clown was that he/she tried to make it seem like more people were involved by changing his/her name. It was apparent that boredom set in when nobody responded to the immature twit and eventually left after 5 or 10 minutes. Maybe that is the secret - Just Ignore them without comment.

I hope this is the answer, as it would be a pity that a lot of people may be discouraged from attending the chats and sharing their views and experiences.

Grant

 

[WebBoard]

Reply: 1.1.1.1.1
From: The Wife


Hi All,

For those who love the chat room, but not the riff raff, this is how we deal with it at other chat sites.

1. put them on ignore
2. do not speak to them, and they will go away.

Some chat rooms have a couple of designated moderators who chat frequently, they give the offending person a warning before booting them off, the boot is usually a 30 minute timed boot. The offender may then come back to chat after that.
The only reasons for a boot, are offensive language, or stupid non room related chat.
Wild conflicting ideas on IP's are NOT a reason for being booted.

But for this chat site so far, the ignore feature is the best option.

 

[Marina]

Reply: 1.1.1.1.1.1
From: Marina. L


It was my first night in the chat room last night and it was fun.The only thing that spoilt it was the really rude and offensive language they were using. It was really creepy and a bit scary.
Something should be done about it.

It wasn't even a very strong opinion,(we could handle that) just really offensive language.


MARINA