Of Trolls, and Boxes of Red...Another META from HELL
Reposting this article which I wrote over 2 years ago, on Ning.
Okay you bunch of Social Justice Keyboard Warriors. It’s time for another Meta from Hell article. And in this one, Uncle Bruce is gonna school you swinging dicks and sagging tits in the finer points of the CoC and Red Box Rules. Sit down, grab a beer, or Latte, or glass of wine, or water or soda or whatever puts you in your safe place, because this article will NOT be politically correct. Nor will it pull any punches. For some, this is gonna be a 2x4 across the face. Because, well frankly, some of you need a 2x4 across the face.
I’m not going to quote the CoC. It’s available to read at your leisure. But I encourage you to read it. Some of you, for the first fucking time.
There is a part of it that basically says you as an author or seeder of an article are responsible for maintaining the article, and keeping the comments on track. AND MAKING SURE THE COC IS FOLLOWED! This means that if your BFF calls Hal a Fucking Prick, you as the author are the first line of CoC defense by saying “HEY! BFF! Not cool dude! NO PERSONAL ATTACKS”.
“But Uncle Bruce, we can’t delete a personal attack in our own articles!” Shut up fool! Moderators will take care of that! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO FOSTER CIVIL DEBATE IN YOUR ARTICLE! By telling your BFF to knock the shit off, you set the tone of your article, and others will see this.
Now, if your BFF doesn’t knock it off, and continues to make your article look like a bunch of 6th graders on the playground, the COC gives you the right to tell them to leave. YES, YOU CAN ASK SOMEONE TO LEAVE. But you MUST warn them first. IF someone is off topic, warn them. Being disruptive, warn them. Using foul fucking language that your sensitive ears (eyes, whatever the fuck) gets offended with, warn them. Once you warn them, if they continue the disruptive behavior that crushes your delicate senses, you can ask a moderator to make them leave.
MODERATORS! You clowns have a responsibility here too. You must make judgement calls at this point to ensure that the Author is not just trying to shut down dissenting opinion. BUT, you are not supposed to step in and take over moderation of the article from the Author. IF THE AUTHOR HAS WARNED SOMEONE, AND THE BEHAVIOR CONTINUES, AND THEY ARE ASKED TO LEAVE BY THE AUTHOR, IT’S NOT YOUR JOB TO GIVE THE OFFENDING ASSHOLE ANOTHER WARNING. If he/she/it has been warned, and continues to be disruptive, and it is valid, YOUR JOB IS TO BOOT THEIR SORRY ASS TO THE CURB. Delete all further comments from them, tell them that continued participation in the article will result in suspension and to move along.
“But Uncle Bruce, I’m a Moderator. You’re not. How can you tell me my job!” Shut up fool! The CoC has my name written all over it. Nobody knows it better than I do. Hell, there are time when I have to remind certain Site Advisors as to what the CoC says. There are back stories and histories of the CoC that you clowns have no clue about.
Now, back to you keyboard warriors. Every swinging dick and sagging tit on this site has seeded or written a bullshit article at some point. And the trolls on here love to jump smack in the middle of a bullshit article and start their trolling. You seed an article about how Obama is ignoring the will of the people and is going to initiate gun control that will eventually confiscate every gun in America. And the first comment from someone is that your source is bullshit. We have someone on this site that loves to throw that out as their first comment. In fact, they may make several comments about the source or the original author, completely ignoring the facts of the article. I won’t mention any names, but his initials are John Russell.
So, you don’t like the fact that John doesn’t like your source or its author? Too fucking bad. Per the CoC, as long as he doesn’t call you an asshole, there is nothing you can do about it.
Unless.
You establish a Rule. A Red Box Rule. There are rules for Red Box Rules. The first rule is, you must clearly state the rule in the first comment, in RED. This is so that it cannot be edited later to fit some whim you come u with to get at someone who has made a comment you don’t like.
Other than that, the rules are simple, and pretty much apply to the moderators. (Yes, I’m about to smack the moderators again).
Red box rules can be anything you want. They are in effect your delete button for your article. If you make a red box rule to not comment or attack the source, and John starts his comment out with an attack on the source of your article, BOOM! You can have it deleted. Any violation of the Red Box Rules is a deletion.
Moderators. This is where you get smacked. Because Red Box Rules are not up for interpretation by you, or anyone else, except the author. Period. You are nothing more than a delete button. You are not to save the post in your super secret Moderator’s Group. If an author says “Delete John’s comment for being off topic, per my Red Box Rules”, you do it. YOU DO NOT MAKE JUDGEMENTS ON WHAT IS OR ISN’T AN ON OR OFF TOPIC POST. THE ONLY THING YOU DO IS VERIFY THAT THE AUTHOR HAS A RED BOX RULE TO STAY ON TOPIC. If someone has a piffy Red Box Rule that all comments must start out with “God is Great”, and the author tells you to delete a comment because it doesn’t have that in it, no matter how on topic, or pertinent that comment is, you fucking delete it!
And another thing. If someone posts a Red Box Rule to not attack the source, and stay on topic, and John starts a comment off attacking the source, BUT then continues with a half a page comment completely on topic, worthy of Pulitzer Prize, IT DOESN”T FUCKING MATTER! If the author says delete it, and he has the Red Box Rule to back it up, you fucking delete it. John can repost it without the Red Box Rule violation, and get his Pulitzer.
“But Uncle Bruce, that means an author can have any comment he wants deleted just by calling it off topic!” Shut up Fool! You’re fucking-A right! That’s the DANGER of Red box Rules! If an author abuses his rules, he will very quickly find that he has an echo chamber in all of his articles. That shit’s on the dumbass author for being a shithead with his/her/it’s rules.
Red Box Rules must be clear, Non-Member specific, and consistent. You cannot make a Red Box Rule that says John Russell and Hal are not allowed to comment. Don’t be an idiot with your Red Box Rules.
Now, this brings me to the last part of my rant. USING YOUR RED BOX RULE DELETE BUTTON. Listen up assholes, the only way to use your red box rule delete button is to CONTACT A MODERATOR!
We have a certain member here, I won’t mention any names, but his initials are XXJefferson, who seeds articles and states pretty clear Red Box Rules like he’s supposed to. Unfortunately, the trolls tend to ignore the rules, and continue to troll his articles. And he makes comment after comment that people are off topic or are attacking a source, contrary to his Red Box Rules. But he never contacts a moderator to clean up the mess.
Listen up Keyboard Warriors! The moderators are not gonna police your articles for Red Box Rules violations for you! They are a delete button. THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN USE THAT DELETE BUTTON IS TO CONTACT THEM!
Jefferson, you piss me off every time you use Red Box Rules and you let the trolls stomp all over you! I worked too fucking hard to get these rules implemented to watch you make a mockery of them by using them but not enforcing them. And the only way you can enforce them is to CONTACT A FUCKING MODERATOR! Now get your shit together in one sock and contact a moderator when someone violates your rules! It's easy to do. Just open up a little chat box down on the bottom right hand corner of your screen and tell them to start deleting.
And that goes for the rest of you swinging dicks and sagging tits out there. Don’t make a fucking Red Box Rule if you’re not gonna enforce it!
Okay. Thus endeth the lesson. Uncle Bruce has to go take his blood pressure medication before you clowns start commenting.
If I’ve offended anyone with this article, tough shit. I’ve never been accused of being PC, and we aint about to start now. If you’re offended, go find you a safe zone and curl up in a fetal position with your thumb in your mouth. Come back when you learn you don’t have a right to not be offended.
Now, carry on.
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