Mod. Notice Lions Board - tell us what you think...

[dlanod]

As part of a BigFooty wide initiative, we are seeking feedback from you all about the Lions Board. What works, what doesn't, how we moderators are doing and what we can do to make it better.

Let us know your thoughts regardless of your poll response. This thread will remain open for seven days and we will respond seven days after its closure. The only moderator intervention will be to remove offensive material.

 

[bato]

We need a fancy background thingo that the good clubs have on their boards

 

[BuntonRules]

free sauce

 

[POBT]

 

[Simba Moyo]

I'm all for the fancy background thing

 

[patfullfankezz]

I do enjoy the banter here, and we do have fun while having some pretty serious and informative discussions/debates.

I would like to see the whole "announcing of ignoring people" incur an infraction though (you can do a 24 ban right?). It happens nearly every game and it sucks (been on the end of it before and it sucks).

 

[Skoob]

I thought you meant THE Lions board, as opposed to BF Lions board. Nearly clicked "Burn the place down".

 

[Skoob]

I don't think it's any better or worse than the last couple of years. I think that indicates that the current mods are doing a good job.*

* Or at least as bad a job as the last lot, but not worse.

 

[POBT]

The board is pretty good, all things considering. There are posters who I have no time for but the vast majority of posters add to the conversation either through their love for the club and/or their knowledge of football. I think that has been the case for a long time now and remains my primary reason for viewing this board - to chat with people who share my passion and to learn from the people who know something about the game.

In terms of the moderating, I think it is pretty good. It is an impossible task to please everyone but I think the balance is right in terms of giving some freedom and setting some boundaries.

If I was going to make a suggestion, it is to focus on what makes this place enjoyable. At the end of the day, the way this place will survive and thrive is because people find it an enjoyable place to hang out. That could mean different things to different people but ultimately, I think it is possible to focus on the discussions and behaviours that people want to engage with and firmly discourage those that don't. Sometimes things don't technically break the board rules but just aren't conducive to enjoyment. I don't want to refer to specifics but an example that I am guilty of might be the endless repetition of "in jokes". I see in jokes going from building familiarity to being tiresome. It might not breach a rule but it pisses enough people off that whatever fun a joke once brought is outweighed by how much it pisses people off. I can think of plenty of other examples of behaviours which are detrimental to people just enjoying themselves whilst here. If those behaviours become too prevalent, then that's when the board will really suffer. And I think a big part of being a mod (and the hardest part) is dealing with challenging behaviour that doesn't breach board rules.

In terms of specifics, I really appreciate the efforts to keep the board in order and not too cluttered.

I like the life cycle threads of a footy week: changes - preview - match day - review - votes. I reckon that goes a long way to avoiding repetition.

I like a relatively recent trend of welcoming the contribution of new posters.

I like how the mods allow opposition supporters to engage but take a hard line with trolls. The balance is right between being open slather and so insular that no-one pops in except to troll.

Most of all, I genuinely appreciate the contributions of 90% of people who post here and, generally speaking, am happy to tune out of the other 10%.

 

[JasRulz63]

Just had to add that our Roster Watch is the best of it's kind on BF IMO, and Dylan12 does a really good job keeping it up to date.

 

[James North]

A young Richard Pryor disagrees with you, POBT

 

[Elixuh]

POBT did a good job of addressing a few key points. I'll just go through them inserting my own opinion.

> The moderation of this board is probably the best on the site. I rarely notice any mods in their regulatory capacity - which is a great thing! In saying that I think that picking up on anything else would be to over moderate. I'd say the main thing for me is that the mods on this board operate using common sense which really seems to work.

> The only thing I would say is that we should be mindful of what we say to opposition posters who from time to time visit the board. Even if you think you're having a joke with them or a tease it may rub off the wrong way and discourage people from coming back.

> I don't mind the in-jokes most are pretty funny. They only become a pain when other posters are posting on topic and their thoughts and ideas are being essentially lost and not considered or replied to. Just about striking a balance I suppose.

> Looking on other clubs' boards from time to time I notice some have very clever threads and thread templates which we could steal. Including ideas for match day threads etc.

> An idea or opinion regarding the player sponsorship would be to run it all year or for as long as possible to rack up the $$$ and sponsor more players.

> Our roster thread is very very good, kudos Dylan12

All in all, I luv u gaiz

 

[SizeMatters]

You should get banned for sidetracking too much with strange jokes.

 

[SizeMatters]

> The only thing I would say is that we should be mindful of what we say to opposition posters who from time to time visit the board. Even if you think you're having a joke with them or a tease it may rub off the wrong way and discourage people from coming back.

> I don't mind the in-jokes most are pretty funny. They only become a pain when other posters are posting on topic and their thoughts and ideas are being essentially lost and not considered or replied to. Just about striking a balance I suppose.

These two are my main concerns for this board. I cringe when an opposition poster comes in here to ask a simple question or puts in their 2c (vast majority is non-malicious) and gets trolled out of this board. I have posted on other club boards and don't get treated in this manner.

The strange jokes are a problem as they can sometimes sidetrack threads for 2 or 3 pages. Can be difficult to keep track of news link, articles etc when it is lost in a flurry of GIFs/memes...

Overall board is run well and kept very clean with regards to the number of threads. Dylan12 is excellent in keeping the roster watch thread the best in the business.

 

[matwt73]

Its just like our mods to shut down the clique thread and the clique thread discussion thread and then launch a thread of their own

I like the board. I think it is well modded and generally gets the balance right. I actually think we treat opposition visitors pretty well, but it always depends on the context, I know that we have had some regular opposition visitors in the past who have some history with us and accordingly those familiar with their work might immediately see it is a troll, even when it is apparently respectful. I have certainly visited other boards and had poorer receptions, I don't think we need to apologise for that.

We are a smaller board, because we are a smaller club. That often means that some posters can dominate by weight of posting, it also means that the net effect of a derail are more noticeable. If five of our posters go off on an "I'm confused, all these famouse people of a particular ethnicity look the same to me" .jpeg derail, then the other five posters trying to carry on the conversation can get quickly swamped.

I agree with POBT as to the cycle of the week, but I also enjoy the cycle of the season

End of Season reports
Draft discussion
Mock Draft
Free Agency Meltdown
Season etc

I love the Quiz, and POBT 's Importance thread, and the whole sponsorship cycle.

I like that patfullfankezz has started the caption thread, it is a bit of fun after the game, even if cheesey.

I really love that SizeMatters has changed his avatar away from that photo of capper flashing his junk.

 

[Ironmonger]

I think the moderators do a great job overall.

I tend to agree that it's a problem that so many threads get overwhelmed with in-jokes and irrelevant badinage. I don't really help with that, I must admit. Somewhere there's a perfect balance between having fun and serious footy talk. I couldn't tell you exactly where that balance is but it's probably tilted a little too far towards people trying to be funny right now.

Not sure that's an issue for the mods, though. I think we all need to be mindful of the impact we have on this board, and we all need to be less quick to take posts personally. I could certainly take my own advice on that last score.

 

[carnthemlions]

I agree that the jokes can tend to derail threads a bit(and I don't always understand what's going on there). But I think we have to remember that things can get a bit tedious/lifeless otherwise.
This is one of the best run boards on here, no contest. You'd be crazy to think otherwise(or you just haven't ventured elsewhere).

These two are my main concerns for this board. I cringe when an opposition poster comes in here to ask a simple question or puts in their 2c (vast majority is non-malicious) and gets trolled out of this board. I have posted on other club boards and don't get treated in this manner.

Sure...

 

[Caiphus]

We get the moderators we deserve. For the most part we have well informed posters with a good ability to communicate with each other. I'm sure once the club comes out the other side of the lean period of results on the field we will be inundated with the fair weather crowd with less analysis and more irrational opinions and then we will see the true mettle of the mods.

 

[dlanod]

We get the moderators we deserve. For the most part we have well informed posters with a good ability to communicate with each other. I'm sure once the club comes out the other side of the lean period of results on the field we will be inundated with the fair weather crowd with less analysis and more irrational opinions and then we will see the true mettle of the mods.

And what does that say about mods that couldn't even hack it now?

 

[Haso]

And what does that say about mods that couldn't even hack it now?

I'll hack your face in a minute.

 

[whatboutbob]

I've got one foot out the door of this place primarily because I've grown tired of the subset of posters who just want to use it as a one-way blog to vent their spleen or spout stupidity, then sook and cry 'clique' when challenged.

I think the mods do the best they can. This is one of the better run boards on BigFooty. I reckon it is just the reality of an open forum in the facebook age. Doesn't mean I have to feel inclined to contribute.

 

[Haso]

I've got one foot out the door of this place primarily because I've grown tired of the subset of posters who just want to use it as a one-way blog to vent their spleen or spout stupidity, then sook and cry 'clique' when challenged.

I think the mods do the best they can. This is one of the better run boards on BigFooty. I reckon it is just the reality of an open forum in the facebook age. Doesn't mean I have to feel inclined to contribute.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[SizeMatters]

Agree.

 

[Davemonkey]

I'd be disappointed to see people like @whataboutbob and Haso drift away, precisely because this is not Facebook where every knobby has an opinion and most of it frustratingly ill informed.

I come here because it is a community of folks who mostly try hard to get along, the discussion is mostly mature and I credit the mods with doing a great job, past and present. This culture isn't built overnight.

One attractive thing is that people don't take themselves to seriously here. I like (within reason) the diversions and hi-jinks.

The whole clique/anti-clique thing is pretty tiresome, if only in I think both sides need to give a little.

I also think Dylan12's work on the Roster Watch is top notch.

 

[POBT]

...because this is not Facebook where every knobby has an opinion and most of it frustratingly ill informed

I reckon this is worth discussing.

I avoid Facebook for 3 reasons

- posters have little idea about football
- posters are often illogical and/or unintelligible
- it is so negative.

And, the posters I have no time for here generally exhibit one or more of the above types of behaviours. If this board became more like Facebook (and there's an element of that creeping in) then I'd walk too.

I can understand the frustration of whatboutbob . That's what I dislike most about the board too.

As much as I like a broad church, if I had to choose between losing Bob as a contributor or getting rid of the people who exhibit these type of behaviours too often, then I'd want the mods to deal with the latter.