Where do you draw the line?

[OICUR12]

I have been going through some threads that were locked out because of "flame wars".

Some people get banned for being rude, swearing, making "flame posts" and so on but then others I see continue to be able to make posts even though they have used profanity, name called, and so on in the very same thread.

It does not seem to me like the rules are applied evenly across the board.

Why is this?

Are you allowed to use profanity if you are a "regular"? Top contributor? Administrator?

Name calling?

Antagonistic posts?

I don't have to do any of the above to get my point across.

Just trying to figure it out I guess.

I am new and all.

[mike50]

Sounds like you have been around here before !!!

[Flyer69]

When you get banned, you have crossed the line. Pretty simple feedback loop lol.

[PMC]

I imagine that is just a matter of time before there is some sort of adaptation of George Carlin's seven words you cannot say on television. Personally, I think it would be a big improvement to the forum. I would not sent a 16-year old kid to this forum to find out industry information because of all the garbage they would have to sift through.

[TxKingfisher]

DISCLAIMER - These are just my opinions, I could be wrong (I have been before, just dont tell my crew!), take it or leave it.....

I think the admins for this forum do a good job of keeping things in check while at the same time not trying to make the forum too high society. We as mariners are generaly a rough around the edges kind of people. Would I send a 16 year old to the forum for industry information? Probably..... it seems to be a pretty accurate representation of the marine industry, the good the bad and the ugly. In my short time here, every thread that has been locked and every account banned were allowed to speak their piece and run their course until things got out of hand and it was passing the point of futility. If you get bent out of shape because someone drops a few F-bombs, you're probably in the wrong industry. As long as you have something productive to say, I wouldn't worry about getting banned. Maybe the admins don't apply the strict letter of the rules to every situation, but they certainly apply plenty fo common sense to keep things within the spirit of the forum.

[Capt Leigh]

"mike50;31933]Sounds like you have been around here before !!!"

Welcome back Mike Bolinger !
You said you'd be back.
This should be interesting....

[mike50]

"mike50;31933]Sounds like you have been around here before !!!"

Welcome back Mike Bolinger !
You said you'd be back.
This should be interesting....

Capt Leigh is sure hope your not thinking that I'm that wanta be bad ass Mike Bolinger. I found out long ago that people like that are all BLOW and NO GO!!

[Capt Leigh]

No Mike 50,I was not referring to you.
OICUR12 made another post yesterday,and I guess Mgt deleted it so I should have taken the hint.

[OICUR12]

Mike Bolinger? Who is that?

Maybe admin should delete the original thread in addition to the "reduex" thread, eh?

[OICUR12]

I am just a new member trying to figure things out. No flame wars with OICUR12. Sorry.

[john]

Ok, so I guess you're all looking for an answer

I've delayed my response because I enjoy getting the feedback on the way we run gCaptain.

Well... TXKingFisher is, for the most part, right on target but here is the guidance I give our moderators:

Ok, so every morning I enjoy my cereal, cup of coffee and sitting down to read the "new posts" on this forum. A ritual I truly enjoy. Lately the number of posts have skyrocketed which I love because my chances of finding interesting posts increases but, along with the good, comes an increase in annoyances, namely rudeness and spam. If I'm annoyed, I imagine our many of you are as well so...

Remember what Fonzie was like? Cool. That's how we're gonna be -- cool. I know mariners can be a salty bunch and that's fine but if a comment would cause the captain to give you one of "those looks" then leave it off your post. Critical is fine, especially if it's directed at me, but if you're rude, we'll delete your stuff.

iPhone and viagra ads are easy for us to find and delete but it's not the only type of spam. Please do not put your URL in your signature the day you first register or ask people about your product the first time you post. Give it some time.

While I'm talking about spam... anonymity and screen names are to protect mariners and encourage the free discussion of ideas. If you have something to sell then you don't need anonymity so please use your PERSONAL name or initials as your screen name and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. We hate spam.

Lastly, have fun and enjoy the conversation!

That being said, most of the posts that are deleted happen because one of our members clicked the "Report Post" button. Others are left because either A) No one reported the post (i.e. it slipped thru the cracks) or B) it was determined the value of the post out-weighed the infraction.

As far as banning members... we ban a large number of new members because their are indications that they are spammers. Occasionally an honest mariner gets banned by accident (If this has happened to you, please email me). Very few "established" members have been banned, and it has happens only after an influx of requests from other members asking us to do so.

So the answers to your questions are:


Why is this?
Reason 1) No one has reported the post or, despite haven broken the rules, the post contains value to the community (i.e. they are saying something interesting/informative)
Reason 2) All our Admins and Moderators work full time jobs (most of us at sea with slow internet connections) so occasionally it takes some time for us to review reported posts.
Reason 3) A small % of posts are automatically removed by our automatic spam filter.

Are you allowed to use profanity if you are a "regular"? Top contributor? Administrator?
Regular's & Top Contributors: Yes, but that's only because other members are less likely to report them but if I see it... it'll be removed.
Moderators: No, These people are all long time members that the community trusts. If they loose that trust, they will loose moderation rights.
Admins: All the Admins work for gCaptain directly... As stated above, I'm open to criticism.

Name calling?
If its brought to our attention, it'll be deleted.

Antagonistic posts?
Ditto


That all being said, if you are interested in being a moderator, and helping us bring consistency to the forum, please send Mikey and email at: mike@gcaptain.com.

[OICUR12]

Thank you for the professional clarification and response.
Very helpful