A Brother Asks: What can we do to stop bad posters from dirtying our news feeds and group threads?
Coach: Here are the best practices for dealing with bad posters.
COACH'S RECOMMENDATION FOR ANYONE
UPSET ABOUT CERTAIN POSTERS...
WHEN ON YOUR NEWS FEED...
Just block them and move on! It's your news feed!
WHEN IN GROUPS...
FACT 1: Many groups have absentee owners who will not turn the group over to anyone else for proper stewardship.
FACT 2: Many groups have only a few moderators, all of whom are likely unpaid and overworked.
FACT 3: If you are a member of a group, remember: AS A MEMBER, IT IS YOUR GROUP TOO!
FACT 4: When YOU LEAVE a group due to bad posters, the BAD POSTERS WIN!
FACT 5: YOU CAN ONLY HELP the group by taking PROACTIVE ACTIONS! In other words: YOU HAVE POWER, USE IT!
If you want to help any group that has bad posters, start by personally blocking all those...
1) who are not following the rules
2) posting agendas that have nothing to do with the purpose of the group
3) who hijack threads for agendas that have nothing to do with the Original Posts
Those who exhibit these behaviors are bad posters!
When you take these actions, eventually you will only see respectful, civil and considerate posters because:
1) Blocked posters cannot see or respond to your posts. What they cannot see or respond to, they cannot dirty with their responses.
2) You cannot see or respond to blocked posters. So anything that they do post, you will not have dirtying your feed.
THE NUTSHELL: IF YOU WANT TO HELP, BLOCK ALL THOSE WHO POST DIRT. Eventually you will no longer see dirt and your posts will no longer be sullied.
Please, help clean up all your group feeds and respond by blocking trash. Say goodbye to it by moving on.
BTW - You'd be helping the moderators of these groups as well and I am positive they would be grateful for your efforts.
DO NOT JUST COMPLAIN! TAKE ACTIONS THAT WILL HELP THE GROUP, THE MODERATORS, and YOU!!!!!!
AS A BONUS: When you post "BYE BYE" on their comments before you block
them, you signal to your Brothers that they could do the same, thereby benefiting everyone. It also signals the moderators that the poster is not benefiting the group as a whole and should be disciplined/blocked. That signal lets them know they too should take action for the benefit of the group.
Talk about EMPOWERING THE GROUP!!!!!
-- Coach John S Nagy
PS - After posting this, I quickly identified two bad posters and treated them accordingly.
Is this censorship?
Absolutely! And for all the right reasons.
When posters break their social contract with you, they abuse you. They do this by not following the rules, by not honoring the intent of the post or group, and by not honoring the intent of your post. You have every right to distance yourself from their future abuse.
This abuse includes them shaming and guilting you with accusation of wrongful censorship. This should be understood. They are by their very nature abusive and their abusive nature is to prevent you from stopping them from abusing you further. This is to be expected.
But don’t fall for it. Discussing with them anything about the merits of blocking them is just another way for them to suck you into allowing them to further abuse you and others who see their posts. There is no end to their game until you prevent them from using your posts to further their ends.
You do deserve to be treated better. You must believe this to take appropriate actions. That being said, bad posters will never agree to anything that prevents them from continuing to dirty threads.
