How do we police ourselves?

[KSagal]

There have been lots of different positions taken on this forum about how to deal with people who are posting inaccurate, or very subjective information, and insisting it is germane, or representative of something else...

This often degrades into some sort of flame war, name calling and other unsavory barbs going in all directions.

Good people have advised that to discuss the topic, or question the postings or posters, or even participate is bad for the forum, or degrades us all.

I have a problem with letting a lie lay. I find a statement that is wrong needs to be challenged. I do this with regularity. OF course, there are also problems in doing this. Many do not care for the confrontations, and would choose another path.

This is not specifically about any particular topic or poster, as it is a recurring theme. Some will not agree, as is always the case, but those of us who have been on this site for some time have seen this come and go often.

I do not shy away from confrontation. I do not care. If a person lies to me, or in my presence (even in front of me on line) then I generally challenge it, and do not turn the other cheek.

Good people, many that I respect, advise me and others to take a different route.

How do we feel as a forum community?

Is there a way to label a thread to warn those who may not want to expose themselves to the acrimony, or read the controversial? Perhaps some sort of icon on the thread that indicates it contains some controversial material? I am not a fan of censorship, and feel that often there is good that eventually comes from these threads, but they are a chore to wade thru sometime.

What say you?

[Gihgehls]

On most forums that have active moderators, the 'report post' button is used to flag a potentially harmful post. It is generally advised that you do not reply the poster in question, and instead let moderators deal with it. The alternative is taking over the thread's topic and start pointing fingers. I don't think anybody comes to the forum with the intent to deceive, but not everyone is as discerning about the information they hear and the information they disseminate as others are. Some people have the faculty to question their information in a rational way, but it is important IMO to remember that not everyone is blessed with the gift of logic. This doesn't make them liars, in my eyes. To lie IMO require intent, and like I said, I like to believe that people don't come here to deceive, but that doesn't mean they are smart about what they post. Just my two cents.

[vantramp]

It doesn't perfectly solve the problem of wading through threads that have been spoiled by a troll like some recently, but there is an ignore list in the Control Panel so we can at least filter specific users out.

Sadly, that doesn't repair the misinformation, lame attempts at validation, and just plain childish behavior that trolls are known for. It is an option though to avoid seeing their spew and of course the ripples(logical counter posts) are still there which I don't mind.

Glad you brought this up Karl, I didn't realize we had ignore lists until a few minutes ago. I like the idea of adding an icon to specific threads too. I appreciate the efforts of those who take the time to correct the misinformation. Feeding trolls is sometimes unavoidable(like when the alternative is tolerating lies).

-Mike

[Rolacoy]

Since buying two Segways a couple of years ago I have learned many many things on this forum. I have had my ears boxed down a few times for what I have said. And found the need to apologize a couple of times. I agree with Karl that misinformation needs to be set straight and bullies need to be challenged. Someone who lies or is disrespectful should be called out and shown for what they are.

[Civicsman]

“Oh wad some power the giftie gie us To see oursel's as others see us." Robert Burns

It is curious that concern about misinformation, or even just getting off-topic, often seems to come from individuals who are the most opinionated, least factual, and historically most likely to spin off into pages of unrelated stuff.

I agree with Gihgehls that most forums have active moderators that handle such issues.

On many other forums, such issues MUST be handled. Otherwise, there is chaos. Here, there is (for the most part) nothing new to talk about, and very few people posting. The last new product from Segway was introduced six and a half years ago, and the total "installed base" is probably less than 70,000 units worldwide. This forum is for a niche product. An old product and a small niche.

If there were actually new and interesting things to discuss, there would likely be more Seg threads of interest to multiple posters/readers. With a healthy community and healthy interest, those topics would be more likely to stay on topic, rather than wandering away as they often do now. I suspect that wandering away from the original topic is allowed simply because a post, even an off-topic post, is preferable to no posts at all. There's just not that much to do here.

Let's hope there is a new product soon.