First an introduction. My name is Dave and I've been the moderator in this forum for about a year now since our beloved former moderator stepped down. I moderate a number of other forums here, most notably the Toy Hauler forum for the past 14 years.
My philosophy for moderating is to use a very very light touch and let grownups be grownups. I don't personally mind it much when topics wander off point; heaven knows I'm easily knocked off topic in my own personal conversations. But like in my personal life, I don't stand for rude people disrespecting each other. I like to try to nudge people back towards civility when I can. When that doesn't work, I edit/delete the offending posts, and unfortunately, any posts that referred to them.
(Sidebar: One of the most common questions I'm asked is "Why did you delete the posts from the nice people who responded back to that jerk?" Well, there isn't any other way to do it. Obviously the post that incited all of the upset reactions needs to go, but the responses are unfortunately collateral damage. You can't very well leave the posts intact that refer directly to the topic that started all the trouble in the first place. So they all need to go.)
Speaking of deleting, some people ask me why I don't send a PM explaining why I deleted their post. I used to, but I learned the hard way that this is a bad idea. For the most part we're all adults here and probably somewhat set in our ways by now. Telling a jerk why I deleted his/her post won't train the jerk how to be a good person after that. Most people who behave that way already know that's how they are. And the ones who don't already know it, well...I don't think I'm strong willed enough to teach them how to be better people. Most of those PMs turn into arguments and life is too short for that.
That's my long-winded and one-year-late introduction. Some of you may have already noticed a post from me here from time to time, but I tend to keep my thoughts to myself unless I have legitimate firsthand experience with the park/campground being discussed. That's my M.O. here anyway. In the Toy Hauler forum I'm an unabashed participant because it's a fun place to hang out with people like myself.
That's me.
On to the topic at hand...
Our government is presently shut down and many of you/us are upset about it. Many members are taking to this forum to voice their displeasure and speak out.
This isn't the right place for those outcries though.
The tone of the posts in this forum has become very dark and cutting, even for the topics that don't relate to the shutdown. And even stranger, this tidal change began earlier in December, predating the govt. shutdown.
I've closed and deleted more posts in the past four weeks than I have in the previous months combined since I began working with this forum. That's horrible. It can't continue, or all the nice people will go away and only the mean ones will remain.
I've done my best to add warnings to steer the conversations, but that hasn't worked. It's time for a new tactic, partly because the old methods weren't working and partly because time is precious.
I have started deleting threads outright. *POOF* They're gone. No more subtle shepherding. Let's see how that works.
To conclude, if you have a nasty thought, save it for Facebook or test it out on one of the local humans or pets in your life. See how your dog responds when you tell her that Washington is out of control. Ranting to your dog has little effect, and so does ranting on an RV forum. Ranting isn't good for you anyway. You're no less upset once you've said your piece, but now the other members are miserable with you. And misery doesn't really like company.
I look forward to brighter days and hope that we can all do our parts to keep things brighter here and now.
Let's go camping.
2014 RAM 3500 Diesel 4x4 Dually long bed. B&W RVK3600 hitch โข 2015 Crossroads Elevation Homestead Toy Hauler ("The Taj Mahauler") โข <\br >Toys:
- 18 Can Am Maverick x3
- 05 Yamaha WR450
- 07 Honda CRF250X
- 05 Honda CRF230
- 06 Honda CRF230
