Somebody has to ask

[Dexter's Shed]

sorry for the late post, been at the woods all weekend,

if I have caused any members offence by my attitude,crude jokes,etc then I apologize now, I don't set out to offend people, maybe it's the east london boy in me, try as I might to be a country gent, that little devil sneaks out now and again,
I'll try my best to keep the country gent posting here, and the east london boy can stick with facebook,

anyway, can we get back to normal now ????

[boxerman]

Thanks, Dex. So, two of the three protagonists have eaten humble pie graciously - how about the third??

[The Barrowers]

Rich Well written Let's all get on learning, questioning and enjoying each others time and experiences

[splodger]

Social media and online interaction has; without doubt changed the way millions of people communicate. There are innumerable forums online, where members can discuss the topics that interest them and most forums are specific in the type of discussion they prefer to have on their boards. They are not chatrooms and don't try to be twitter or facebook.

Every forum that I have joined has some sort of moderation – mostly to prompt users if they go off topic, to merge / move threads where there is an obvious duplication, to lock threads that are contentious and to remove posts that are deemed inappropriate. Some forums require more moderation than others – but that is mostly down to certain users not following the posting rules for that particular board. Most forums also have spammers and trolls Etc. to contend with so moderation is required.

If users don't want their posts moderated - all they have to do is follow the posting guidelines to that particular place. It's not rocket science. Posting on any privately owned forum should be regarded as a privilege, not a right – it is a shame that some SWOG members don't seem to see it that way.

[oldclaypaws]

This is supposedly a 'Forum'

Websters definition of Forum; "a public meeting place for open discussion"

Dictatorship; "form of government in which one person or a small group possesses absolute power"

So which one of the above is this, a public place where we can speak freely, or a private one where we are privileged to speak and ruled by a small unaccountable group?

[SimonFisher]

You're choosing one particular definition. It also means in these modern times an Internet forum - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_forum.

[splodger]

and the OED definitions:

A meeting or medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged: we hope these pages act as a forum for debate

1.1An Internet site where users can post comments about a particular issue or topic and reply to other users' postings; a message board.

2chiefly North American A court or tribunal.

3 (plural fora /ˈfɔːrə/) (In an ancient Roman city) a public square or marketplace used for judicial and other business.

Origin

Late Middle English (in sense 3): from Latin, literally 'what is out of doors', originally denoting an enclosure surrounding a house; related to fores '(outside) door'. sense 1 dates from the mid 18th century.
More

[oldclaypaws]

Yes, I chose to select the definition that I thought most relevant, to engage in free public debate and discussion. It appears here though that relatively free public discussion is not permitted and is subject to quite subjectively enforced individual censorship.

I find it incomprehensible that you are still both determined to defend the mods right to push about the members with the ill feeling and dead forum that resulted over the last couple of months (as per Dave and Verity's opening question) rather than taking the previously set out opportunity to clear the air and progress amicably on the terms set out by Boxerman.

Is it so hard to type those seven little letters Simon, as politely requested by several members, so we can all move on ?

[Rich]

Ok I see we've got quite a few people that do want to carry on with this debate since my last post

Now if anyone wants to bring back in the personality clashes and continue arguing about who insulted who and who owes who an apology, let me know and I’ll open up a closed forum and we can carry on discussing it till our hazel coppice is overstood.

Strangely though no one has let me know. I'll just assume that anyone who posts after this has still got a lot to say on the matter and I'll redirect them to a closed forum where you can all carry on.

The rest of us who are enjoying the spring and constant changes in our woods might want to reflect on that for a moment and tell us about it, I'm sure it will be a whole lot more interesting

[vushtrri]

Kept my views about this subject to myself upto now but have spent many a minute trawling back through posts to see what all the kerfuffle has been all about........my thoughts on the matter for what they are worth?

Also a member on other ex RAF and civvy police forums where abuse and banter alongside some very informative information is the norm. When it gets to libellous and could land the site admin in the mire that's when people are radi the riot act. Personally I like a big of piss taking, both giving and taking. Life's too short to take banter and a big of abuse too seriously...if I don't like it I just give it back.