META: A surrender in the battle for nice things

Submitted by BiSB on

As I posted in the "Y IZ U SO FASCIST I THOUGHT THIS WAS AMERICA" thread, I have reached my braeking point, and have informed Brian that I will no longer be able to serve as a mod. And by that I mean, "I am able, but can't deal with humanity anymore."

I was planning to take a step back when my wife gives birth to our first in a few weeks, but I couldn't last that long. Most of you seem like great people who come here for the conversation and the community, and I have no beef with majority of you. But I couldn't deal one more day with the complaining, the immaturity, and the inability to just be reasonable. People's continued insistance on acting like children has sapped a lot of the enjoyment from this board for me. 

None of us mods enjoy being a babysitter. Nothing makes me happier than a bunch of insightful, rational discussions. But those are becoming rarer by the day; instead, the board has taken on a certain Drew Sharp-esque quality. And maybe part of it is my fault. I've been a rather involved figure around here, and lord knows I've got some rants under my belt.  But for whatever reason, things have taken an MLive turn, and I can't take it anymore.

I'm not asking any of you to change your internet ways, because it's no longer my problem. But I would say that you can only pee in the pool for so long before you're just peeing in an in-ground urinal. And this is a pretty nice place we have here, so please think twice before you drop trou.

I wish Brian, Ace, Heiko, Seth, and everyone else here nothing but the best, and I apologize to the remaining mods for leaving you in the lurch. I would also like to thank the majority of you who allowed me to survive three years in South Bend without losing my mind, and for the many conversations, jokes, and cats. I would also like to thank the cats, but I don't speak their language. 

/cool story bro

/TL;DR

Njia

November 11th, 2012 at 3:42 PM ^

Hate to see you go and all, but, listen, since you're on the way out ...

Yesterday at 5 PM Mass, the priest told the story of how, during a World's Fair in the 1930s, it was possible to spend 25 cents to touch a pile of 1,000,000 one dollar bills. In the other thread, you offered to "go all Oprah on our asses", so in that spirit, please, please give me 1,000,000 points before you go, even if only briefly. I may never again get to touch that kind of useless greatness again.

But, in all seriousness, I've appreciated your levity most of all. Going to miss not having you to kick around anymore, Mr. Nixon.

All the best,

Njia

BlockM

November 11th, 2012 at 3:43 PM ^

I find this position UNACCEPTABLE! I WILL NOT ACCEPT IT!

Seriously though, enjoy retirement. 

I'm not sure what can be done about message boards in general. There's a pretty fine line between bringing up criticisms and bitching unnecessarily, and everyone has a different idea of where it is. That means every time there's a legitimate critique, the thread gets clogged up with people telling them to STFU, and whining posts just serve to clog the board up.

I honestly think that bringing back post voting that means something and higher thresholds to create posts would go a long way, but who knows.

PurpleStuff

November 11th, 2012 at 3:48 PM ^

Agree on the actual downvoting.  I feel like there were just as many silly posts in the old days, but people who did it perpetually eventually left and/or were easier to spot.  A simple -1 may not have been enough to get rid of em0 or others who were way worse than this knucklehead today.  This also puts more pressure on the mods to delete threads and be the bad guy.

MilkSteak

November 11th, 2012 at 4:02 PM ^

I do like the idea in the sense that it gives users more control, but don't you think it will lead to the mob mentality? We all know which opinions are popular here and which ones are not, but that doesn't necessarily promote a discussion. It seems like reasonable posts which disagree with the majority will be downvoted not because they are objectively bad posts, but because people don't agree with them. 

For example - the thread that sparked this was stupid (bringing up RichRod, calling for Borges' head, the general grammatical errors) and got downvoted to hell. But would a reasonable thread phrased more in the tone of, "Do you think Hoke/Borges did the right thing by..." get downvoted as well?

PurpleStuff

November 11th, 2012 at 4:19 PM ^

I don't think it was ever that much of a problem.  Even the thread today ended up being a clusterfuck because it got deleted and then the guy came right back and posted an even bitchier version that blamed the mods for Russell Bellomy's lack of accuracy (I think that was the gist of it).  If his point total just rapidly dwindled below the posting minimum that would have been the end of it without any need for mod intervention.

There will always be overreaction one way or the other and even established posters can be prone to rants, but I think people who are consistently informed and reasonable will never get the kind of massive point drops that cause problems or prevent posting.  It also maybe encourages more lingering and reputation building than just allowing people to make 100 innocuous posts and then start douching it up with abandon.  The harsh public refutation of trolling also serves as the head on a stick at the MGoBlog gates and, at least based on my remembered version of the past, was fairly effective at removing long-term problems.

MilkSteak

November 11th, 2012 at 4:29 PM ^

Good point. I wasn't around for the old points system so I don't know the dynamics of it, just the rules. I really like the idea that 1 post doesn't automatically equal one point. 

Maybe we go another route and instead of getting everyone riled up by docking their points, we set up a separate MGoBlog where terrible posters are automatically redirected to for the rest of eternity after making a god awful post. It could be like Australia is to Britain. Maybe they'd even develop funny accents!

TESOE

November 12th, 2012 at 12:50 AM ^

One problem with the old system was that it created a lot of silly point driven content and meta activity that didn't have much to do with Michigan sports.

I like the karma model. Mods could lessen their lode by upping karma where sportminded comments are given. Points were an interesting model. Massive meltdowns need to have consequences that don't require a mods intervention.

I can't imagine moderation in the same house as a new born.

mGrowOld

November 11th, 2012 at 4:54 PM ^

I wl miss bisb but Purplestuff is 100% on the money. With actual down voting in place WE could police the joint pretty damn effectively. It's the lack of punitive power for the blog as a whole that created your need to intervene constantly with asshats like today.

Hate to say it but this is in Brian more than some idiot posters.

TheLastHarbaugh

November 12th, 2012 at 1:22 AM ^

Another idea would be to put a cap on upvotes (say, 5), but not on downvotes. That would limit the number of circle-jerk type comments that were made under the old system for the purpose of farming points, while allowing users to ruthlessly downvote the em0's of the world into Bolivian.

It would take a lot of pressure off of the mods, because any jack off who spam posts just to get to the point where they can post shitty threads would be dealt with quickly and efficiently by the community. Mods could then focus on more important mod-things, rather than having to police every mgoidiot with a half baked opinion and 100 points.

Rmilkman

November 11th, 2012 at 5:24 PM ^

I'm pretty sure Brian said that after the football season is over he's going to work on bringing back the old points system. I may be wrong though. And it is sad to see BiSB go. I have a ton of respect for your work that you've done, and I know I wouldn't have lasted as long as you did. Enjoy your retirement.

MGJS SuperKick Party

November 11th, 2012 at 6:54 PM ^

I really hope the old point system is coming back! Even though I got negged once really good and I learned my lesson about saying stupid things.

BiSB, you have always made me laugh and I wish you happiness on all your future endeavors.I hope to see you posting here. Congrats and enjoy your time with WiSB and Soon-to-be BabyinSouthBend.

justingoblue

November 11th, 2012 at 3:46 PM ^

You might be the most consistantly funny poster on the site, and seem like good peope generally.

Also, thanks to you and your work moderating, as well as Seth, Ace, Heiko, profitgoblue and Zone Left. Sorry if I've ever made your time here more difficult than it needed to be.

gajensen

November 11th, 2012 at 4:44 PM ^

Any more than one post on this would be fruitless:  Check any thread and its voting details: he's almost always the first responder, usually within 15 minutes and definitely within the hour.  He tries to be the n00b whisperer, rather than letting people learn to fend for themselves and google/wikipedia/MGosearch for themselves, which he should know all about...since the bulk of his posts are unoriginal copy/pastes of things he's taken the unnecessary time to look up and post here.  Just by looking at a thread title I can tell if it'll have 10 posts from him (anything having to do with hockey, softball, or an autistic liking for rules/policy/rankings) before opening it.

I noticed these things because after two years of it, you have to investigate the source of your suffocation.  I think he's a volume poster and is on MGoBlog too much, too often, and too evidenced.  Now I'm aware of a script that can hide the 20+posts/day he comes up with, and suddenly the air is coming back.

a2_electricboogaloo

November 11th, 2012 at 5:18 PM ^

Really?  A guy posting 20+ times a day on MGoBlog is "suffocating you"?  Dude, you need thicker skin or something.

He definitely is a frequent posters, but he also is a generally good poster and a good guy, who has good things to say and adds things the discussion.  Unlike another who act like a 7 year olds, whining about worthless things, and negging everything.

Jesus, dude, grow up.

MastaDon

November 11th, 2012 at 5:23 PM ^

A lot of people post/comment almost exclusively about hockey, myself included. Generally they (not myself) have a very high hockey IQ, and this is one of the top 4 or 5 hockey schools in the country.

I don't understand how that devalues them as an MGoUser just because they happen to like/care about a sport that is not football.

B-Nut-GoBlue

November 11th, 2012 at 5:48 PM ^

What is the point of this attack?!  It is an attack, and it's a bit of a personal one too.  Why?  You are entitled to an opinion, of course, but how does one garner this opinion about someone he doesn't even know?

All of what you just stated equates to you being on here just as often.  It was a bit of a stalker-ish rant.

mGrowOld

November 11th, 2012 at 5:57 PM ^

I could not disagree with you more.  I respect the Hell out of what JGB has to say and he seldom does anything to inflame an ongoing discussion.  He actually seems like someone who doesnt want the limelight as he limits his responses to referenced facts and his opinions.

The fact that I have no clue of who you are and anything you've ever said or done speaks volumes about your contribution to this board and the fact that you chose BiSB's farewell post to take a shot at someone else speaks even louder about the kind of person you are.

readyourguard

November 11th, 2012 at 3:44 PM ^

My initial reaction is: quit being a pansy

My second reaction is: why do we need a post about why you can't handle it anymore?

My third reaction is: this isn't a giant urinal. It's still the premier site to get In-depth info on Michigan athletics and I don't appreciate you disparaging it with your remarks

My fourth reaction is: why do I care enough to respond? I enjoy reading your posts and consider you an intelligent contributor

Finally: See ya.

I Like Burgers

November 11th, 2012 at 4:02 PM ^

Anytime anyone at all posts anything that threatens the collective hivemind of the MGoBoard, people like you give them a nice WELL FUCK YOU THEN.  There is no place on these boards for any sort of logical discussion.  Not anymore anyways.  And its because of peolpe like you that take this shit so serious like its a personal affront to your own life.  "Disparaging it with your remarks"??  Really??  Maybe try relaxing a bit.  Get some fresh air.

And before you go about calling me out for "only joining a few weeks ago...WTF do you know?!?"  I've been on this site for years -- back before Brian moved it to the new site.  So I have seen the board change (for the worse), thank you very much.  The only reason I have a new account is that the old one was banned after I too reached my breaking point after a night of drinking.  Lesson learned.

tasnyder01

November 11th, 2012 at 4:17 PM ^

used to say how nice things were in "the good old days" too. 

"I enjoy this board" and other caveats apply, but it IS funny that people say "we can't have discussions anymore, because people are stupid." and then turn around and say "we're the smartest board online." 

or, "we don't like the MLive stuff because too many people complain" and then complain about "other stupid people on this board"

or, "We don't like multiplicity in the comments" and then laud Heiko and Brian for constantly pressing the "Borges, use the screen" meme. 

 

Get a sense of humor. People are hypocrites, so don't get mad, just laugh.  You can't change stupid people any more than the Pharoahs could.

hart20

November 11th, 2012 at 4:32 PM ^

During that time, the people who stick around and post are generally the more enjoyable posters and intelligent discourse is much more prevalent than at these times. Additionally, I feel as if the quality of posts and the temperament of the board is much worse than during the last season, although they may have to with the 3 losses, more than anything. Quality posts are less common and it seems as if people are getting into ridiculous arguments at a much higher rate, filled with a lot more anger than necessary. People don't attack opposing arguments anymore, but instead they attack the person. Nonsensical behavior is just at a high point right now and it gets pretty annoying.