It also creates an echo chamber filled with like minded people, of clicks, of intolerance, otherwise known as mobs.

Such actions essentially assume that those members decisions are righteous and justified, without any prior justification.

Each member should be judged on his or her actions, not the actions or reactions of other members..

But, based on experience, the mods would not just assume that the members ignoring other members are righteous and justified. We look at each case individually and do so without regard to who is reporting it. If you were to look at out discussions you would find that they are replete with instances where we agree with and defend members whom we, personally, have long-standing problems with and other instances where we disagree with members who we generally are on the same page with. If such a feature existed, I have high confidence that we would use it only as a pointer to member that we might want to take a look at, but any decisions regarding that member would be based on his or her actions.

Plus, when you think about it, is this really any different than the present system of having the Report option? Doesn't that create exactly the same kind of echo chamber that you are suggesting? Most mod actions against members are the result of reports and there are actually only a small number of members that take the time to submit reports, so it certainly could, but again, I think the mods do a pretty good job of looking at each reported post and the report content on its own merits on a case by case basis. Even when we get a member that is on a reporting spree and reporting every little thing they can think of, most of which are frivolous, we look at each one to spot the ones that are actually legitimate (there are almost always at least some of them) and act on them accordingly.

 

BINGO !

I have the full set now, do I win a prize ?

<sarcasm>Or can I petition the mods to ban those I felt to be condescending ?</sarcasm> (which I think was the point of the OP)

 

BINGO !

I have the full set now, do I win a prize ?

<sarcasm>Or can I petition the mods to ban those I felt to be condescending ?</sarcasm> (which I think was the point of the OP)

No, that was not the point of the OP.

 

Ok then I thought wrong.

 

I have reported dozens of posts. Mostly noobies posting in the wrong Forum or violating the Terms of Service, which includes making a mistake about certain banned subjects, or proposing a device that has a high risk of personal injury. Sometimes it is merely a photo that the website computer program refuses to display for a noob. The Mods seem to think it helps them direct their attention to what I call, "administrative chores".

My personal rule is: I report, and they decide. As long as they have been notified, the rest of it none of my business.
We seem to get along just fine on that basis.

 

Is there a way for mods to see how many ignores people have? Might be a good way to tip off mods to problem users. Sort of a top ten list. But I imagine that is already obvious?

I don't see much value in that; I seems to me it would do more to point out unpopular users rather than problem users, as I suspect most Ignores are based on personal animus more than anything else. For identifying problem users, the Report function is probably quite adequate.

I don't ever recall ignoring so many users in such a short period of time. In past years, it has been months maybe a year or two before I ignored someone. In the past 2 weeks, I have ignored at least 2 members.

I've been here 22 months at this point and have yet to put anyone on Ignore; my Ignore List is empty. A large part of the reason is that I'm here to help people with electronics design problems and to educate on technical matters (where I can, anyway), not to debate politics or argue over scientrivia. Hence, no motivation to Ignore anyone.

 

The Mods seem to think it helps them direct their attention to what I call, "administrative chores".

There's no "seem to think" about it -- it DEFINITELY helps us a great deal. We simply can't review every new post, so we rely heavily on reports from members. As you say, once the post is reported we consider it on its own merits (taking into account the comment that was submitted along with the report) and go from there. Who made the report as very little bearing on the outcome.

 

I've been here 22 months at this point and have yet to put any Sometimes one on Ignore; my Ignore List is empty. A large part of the reason is that I'm here to help people with electronics design problems and to educate on technical matters (where I can, anyway), not to debate politics or argue over scientrivia. Hence, no motivation to Ignore anyone.

Well then you must be a lot more tolerant than the rest of us.

 

Well then you must be a lot more tolerant than the rest of us.

Ummm... not really; it's just that I come here to talk electronics, not get embroiled in political arguments. It's as simple as that. I take my politics elsewhere.

 

Ummm... not really; it's just that I come here to talk electronics, not get embroiled in political arguments. It's as simple as that. I take my politics elsewhere.

It isn't the political arguments that I care about. I just don't read those threads. It is forum members that refuse to participate in a civil and/or sane manner in the discussion of electronics that go on my ban list.

 

Ah. Got it. Me, I just shrug and move on...

 

Mostly noobies posting in the wrong Forum or violating the Terms of Service, which includes making a mistake about certain banned subjects,

According to some current long running threads that are rife with political content, it would appear that some banned subjects are just overlooked here!
Max.

 

According to some current long running threads that are rife with political content, it would appear that some banned subjects are just overlooked here!
Max.

Presently we are trying to work from a point of view that says as long as a thread remains reasonably civil it can be allowed to continue. Some threads are largely meeting that criteria. Those that don't have been shut down. Remember, if you think a thread is too political, there is nothing stopping you from simply not reading that thread.

 

Presently we are trying to work from a point of view that says as long as a thread remains reasonably civil it can be allowed to continue. Some threads are largely meeting that criteria. Those that don't have been shut down. Remember, if you think a thread is too political, there is nothing stopping you from simply not reading that thread.

But the thread keeps popping up in the lists and hence why an ignore thread option would be nice.

 

But the thread keeps popping up in the lists and hence why an ignore thread option would be nice.

Thought that's what the scroll wheel was for?

 

But the thread keeps popping up in the lists and hence why an ignore thread option would be nice.

And it isn't just the political mega-threads; there is other clutter, such as long technical discussions on topics that are of no personal interest. Having such a "don't bother showing me any more updates to this thread" function would make navigating the New Posts and Today's Posts lists a lot easier.

 

But the thread keeps popping up in the lists and hence why an ignore thread option would be nice.

Yeah I am getting annoyed by the same two threads popping up. The number of posts tells me nothing is being resolved so why bother?

On another forum there is a special politics sub forum. You need to apply for a password to get access agreeing to certain rules. I would like to see that here.

 

On another forum there is a special politics sub forum. You need to apply for a password to get access agreeing to certain rules. I would like to see that here.

I've encountered that elsewhere, too. It works, but only if there are rules against political stuff spilling over onto the main board and those rules are enforced VERY rigorously.

 

I have been a moderator on a Electro/Electric/Mechanical forum for around 12yrs now on what is about the largest forum of its kind on the web, typically there are 5000 Guests and 500 members on line at any one time, and forum policy is strictly enforced.
I could imagine the chaos if the rules were relaxed to allow some of the banned subjects to creep in.
Max.
,

 

But the thread keeps popping up in the lists and hence why an ignore thread option would be nice.

I agree, but we simply don't have that feature. The admins have been asked to look into it.