The Future of AWF? (1 Viewer)

[MajP]

I think this site use to be real popular because it had a super friendly crew that invited new people to join. I think guys like TheDBGuy and others have welcomed everyone here in a positive friendly way. People were very helpful and technical. Reading the threads they were positive, and the whole site had a friendly vibe.
Now it is threads like "Is the US in a Civil War" and "Mugging of Elderly", for the sole purpose of click bait to cause controversy and get traffic up. We have moderators now carrying on for pages in arguments with other posters and it is encouraged. Should I rename this thread to, "Is AWF on the brink of Civil War?" So instead of banning this person we are subject to moderators getting in a pissing match with them. I am guessing we are not banning this person because it "brings in traffic". It just seems unprofessional in my opinion.
I doubt if I was a new person, I would any longer feel comfortable here. Especially if my political beliefs do not match up. This is a world wid forum. I think people are hoping to get away from the insanity (I know I am) because you can go find 1000s of sites if you want an argument or echo chamber of your beliefs.
Can we get back to Access? Or is this the death of AWF? I will probably get banned for this.

 

[Jon]

I won't ban you for this @MajP as I believe yours is a legitimate view. I started the "Mugging of Elderly" post not for clickbait, but because I was thoroughly disgusted with what I saw. My motives are not quite what you think regarding that.

This week, we should get a new plugin that will let you hide the Politics and Watercooler sections, so that those who want to avoid all the politics threads can do so in peace. This should significantly improve the user experience for some. It will help you get back to Access regarding what you see on this site. No more political posts cluttering up the What's new section. I would appreciate your feedback on this once it is installed.

As far as banning anyone is concerned, if it were me I wouldn't ban anyone. But that is a less popular perspective, so instead I have left it to the moderators who may or may not want to ban someone. The problem is, not everybody agrees if any particular person should be banned or not.

Do I think this is the death of AWF? Nope. The site continues on regardless. What will cause the death of AWF? A change in Google's algo. That will crush us all.

 

[bob fitz]

Can we get back to Access? Or is this the death of AWF? I will probably get banned for this.

Ha!Ha! Don't get me started again. Apparently, you can't get banned from hear, only suspended until you rejoin again with a different "nom de plume".

 

[Jon]

A safe haven for all!

 

[theDBguy]

Ha!Ha! Don't get me started again. Apparently, you can't get banned from hear, only suspended until you rejoin again with a different "nom de plume".

Hi Bob. No disrespect intended, but as Jon said, "ban" is a misleading term here. The forum software uses that term, so that's what we call it. However, also as Doc said, we can only "ban" an account (or a username). Banning an actual person is impossible, because the forum software has no way of determining who is signing in (or up) other than through the account/username they're using. So, a banned person could sign up using another username (because the previous username is banned), and only another person (a mod?) can tell if that person was previously banned and then maybe take some actions based on that knowledge. So, in summary, we can permanently ban a username/account, but not an actual person. Unfortunately, that's a limitation (loophole) of the forum software. Just my 2 cents...

 

[Dreamweaver]

@theDBguy You are not quite correct there the banning sorfware also uses the persons IP address as the primary means of preventing access to a site but as we all know it's easy to update your IP Address.

mick

 

[Jon]

I am here to try to cater to all views. Yet the views differ. So, to cater to all the differing views, I offer a plugin. It is a bit like paracetamol for forum members, who are getting a headache because of this or that.

 

[Dreamweaver]

I for one will be making use of it

 

[theDBguy]

@theDBguy You are not quite correct there the banning sorfware also uses the persons IP address as the primary means of prventing access to a site but as we all know it's easy to updat your IP Address.

mick

Hi mick. Thanks for the additional info. Yes, you are correct, but it still means you can't really ban a specific "person," because they can use a different IP address (or, as in the case of the person in question, we know he said he uses TOR).

But this particular detail also raises another potential concern, I think. What if multiple people share the same IP address (computer), but only one of them is disruptive? If you can ban the IP address, you are kicking out the other good people too.

Again, it's just another example of the limitations we have for handling some things in a public forum.

Still just my 2 cents...

 

[Jon]

@theDBguy You are not quite correct there the banning sorfware also uses the persons IP address as the primary means of preventing access to a site but as we all know it's easy to update your IP Address.

My ISP has a dynamic IP address. It constantly changes. It can be a bit of a pain in the butt sometimes because some services block me for it.

 

[Jon]

But this particular detail also raises another potential concern, I think. What if multiple people share the same IP address (computer), but only one of them is disruptive? If you can ban the IP address, you are kicking out the other good people too.

@theDBguy That is actually a very interesting point and something I never considered. The fact that my IP address is constantly changing means that on any one occasion, I might find myself banned from my own site!

 

[Dreamweaver]

Mine changes as well But I didn't setup a dynamic one but I've had this laptop for years so might just have forgot.

 

[Mike Krailo]

I have tried hard to avoid the politics, but I did notice that the view points are well thought out and provide a much better perspective then from other sources. That said, I will probably use the plugin option to hide those posts from myself So thanks in advance for that.

 

[Dreamweaver]

But this particular detail also raises another potential concern, I think. What if multiple people share the same IP address (computer), but only one of them is disruptive? If you can ban the IP address, you are kicking out the other good people too.

I'm not that good with math but the chances have to be very slim to have 2 IP's on this site at the same time as very low, maybe somebody math minded to do some math for us?

 

[Jon]

Personally, I think the politics section seems to have exploded in activity recently because of a) the Presidential elections just around the corner, and b) the Trump effect. I also accept that the views in that part of the forum are predominantly right wing and so if members here are left wing, that will provide even greater irritation, which is understandable.

 

[Dreamweaver]

I'm from the UK so the US politics don't interest me at all, I wont get into what I think of whats going in over the pond but I come here for access.

 

[bob fitz]

Hi Bob. No disrespect intended, but as Jon said, "ban" is a misleading term here. The forum software uses that term, so that's what we call it. However, also as Doc said, we can only "ban" an account (or a username). Banning an actual person is impossible, because the forum software has no way of determining who is signing in (or up) other than through the account/username they're using. So, a banned person could sign up using another username (because the previous username is banned), and only another person (a mod?) can tell if that person was previously banned and then maybe take some actions based on that knowledge. So, in summary, we can permanently ban a username/account, but not an actual person. Unfortunately, that's a limitation (loophole) of the forum software. Just my 2 cents...

I appreciate the difficulties but I don't see why someone who has previously been banned/suspended should be allowed to carry on posting here after it has become quite apparent who they really are.

 

[pbaldy]

What if multiple people share the same IP address (computer)

It goes further. If you look at my IP address right now, it's my employer's. If you banned it, you'd be banning everybody at that company. In my case I'm the only one that would be using the forum, but that may not be the case at other companies.

 

[theDBguy]

I appreciate the difficulties but I don't see why someone who has previously been banned/suspended should be allowed to carry on posting here after it has become quite apparent who they really are.

Sorry, that part/question, I cannot answer. I just follow the rules...

 

[Gasman]

I'm not that good with math but the chances have to be very slim to have 2 IP's on this site at the same time as very low, maybe somebody math minded to do some math for us?

Surely a few people in an office will have the same IP address.?

We have one account here, where several people were using it even on the same initial question. Various people were coming and going and it was like Groundhog Day.

Fortunately now, it tends to be one consistent user who still asks questions, the very same questions that were answered several threads ago.
Their memory is as bad as mine.