Recently I've noticed that a few of our loyal members have been getting a little carried away from time to time with some of the content of their posts.

I've said nothing up to this point because I had hoped that things would fizzle out and maybe things would go back to normal. I'm not a big fan of moderating every five minutes, since I think we are all adults, and should be able to self-moderate.

I haven't written any formal guidelines for posting rules - I'm not a fan of such things since I believe that mostly this should come from common sense. Nonetheless I could be critised for not writing such guidelines, so the purpose of this post is to try to set direction rather than impose rules.

As you know this is not a closed forum, and many people read our messages before deciding to join our community. My aim with this site is to appeal to a broad audience, and while I'm sure we offend the sensibilities of some with some of our discussions (especially in the complaints corner) I'd like to avoid accusations that this site has become a cesspool of lewd conversation and toilet humour.

Don't get me wrong - I'm all for lewd conversation, but there is a time and a place if you know what I mean. Of course there is nothing wrong with a bit of flirting, but the essence of flirting is also discretion. It can be a fine line sometimes...

Before posting I'd like people to consider whether they would say the same thing if they were in a room full of people, i.e. face to face. Sometimes the anonymity of a forum such as this makes us a lot less hesitant to say some things that one might not otherwise say...

So please don't try and "test" the boundaries here - you are all adults, you all know what to do, and I trust that you understand and respect what I am trying to say.

I apologise that I may have singled certain people out in the past, this post was something I should have done a few days ago.

So on that note - enjoy the rest of the forum, and looking forward to the rest of your messages, including the trashing I'm most likely about to receive...

an "adults-only" section?
maybe the singles-over-30 could go in there too? Block non-members etc so that spiders and casual browsers don't see the silly side?

by the way, I used this avatar on a tech site last year and someone actually complained about it.....and the forum mods changed it because of that.

I've never been back since. F---ers

Hi Mark,

I do think that everyone agrees with you! We all know moderation is required but I think that we (You!) should be a little careful on acting. I personally think that recent posts have been more or less like children seeing how far they can go with their parents and the fact that you have reacted in the way you have, shows that you are acting to draw a line but not reacting to the misbehaviour (if there really was any). Very sensible.

The only question is how will you react if and when someone oversteps the Mark. Are you looking for a consensus or reaction from the audience to say hey we find this offensive or will you react unilaterally?

Richard

I moved some of these messages from the Carrie Avatar thread to try and get them back on topic

I would prefer ultimately not to have to react, but I think that usually a bit of polite "guidance" should do the trick, and if it doesn't then some impolite guidance. If that doesn't work then they get banned.

Sometimes I might act unilaterally, but I'd like to think that I'll do so in such a way that the majority of people would agree with.

In other words I think the motto "don't be a dick" seems to work quite well. Unless of course that happens to be your name

@Lob - Well I must admit that I was a little bit surprised by your avatar. While I think it is funny I could also understand if it might be offensive to some. The forum you were on probably had a wider audience than we do - so such a decision is not surprising. There are other forums where nobody would blink.....

I've been toying with the idea of an off topic area for some time. A place where the posts have nothing to do with Switzerland, somewhere where you can have a slagging match, poke fun at avatars, etc. I'd prefer not to have a members area or adults only area just yet - though I won't rule it out. The downside there is members put all their energy into something which nobody else can read instead of into the public areas. Then of course who would determine membership to such an area and on what criteria?

keep it simple; if you're a member, you're in. it would be just something to stop the casual browser as the information within the public area would [should] be very useful - either via forum search or google etc.

I think as and when membership grows and broadens that our silly sessions might not be as under-the-radar as they are now

Hey Mark,

Why bother with the concept of a members area or the like. Just have an anything goes section... That said an off topic area if we are all honest with each other is not needed as a lot of the threads are actually off topic and the only thread holding it all together is membership of the forum! I guess here people are showing responsibility...

Richard

Ok - how about this - the off topic idea from my earlier post, but combined with your idea for membership? This still wouldn't be a place to post inappropriate messages (as far as the kind of content I was referring to earlier) but at least the general public wouldn't be able to read the offtopic drivel without registration. It might help to avoid lowering the signal to noise ratio at least as far as a casual observer is concerned?

I'm once again showing I do have a brain....note to self......

Yeah you're not all front

Richard

I wish to apologise.

I hadn't read this thread until now.

I've used the phrase "topless women" in a previous post referring to things I love about Switzerland. This could cause offence.

I promise to be more mature with my comments in future.

Well I don't think anyone would have a problem with that - but it seems that your message wasn't intended seriously anyway.

Your avatar is a bit suspicious though