As a rule.......

By Ged Ladd
March 30 2009

As promised, Ged Ladd sets out his thoughts on the site rules and disciplinary process ahead of the new season. This is your chance to contribute to the debate and help ensure that our site, Middlesex Till We Die, works in the interests of the vast majority of its readers and also in the interests of Middlesex CCC.

Although some MTWD people might see 2008/9 as a “winter of our discontent”, the site has in fact achieved record popularity growth and many private plaudits.  Nevertheless the moderators would like people to contribute, if they wish, in helping us to answer three questions on the site rules and discipline:

1.       Are the current site rules appropriate?  If not, please suggest appropriate changes;

2.       Has the change of disciplinary emphasis (in particular moderators being more draconian in preventing/abating perceived harassment)  improved or hindered the site?  How might the emphasis be further improved?

3.       Is the current informal disciplinary process clear and appropriate for our site? Should this process be different and/or more explicit and/or more specific?

MTWD is a community that we hope can give pleasure to a diverse group of people who love cricket and in particular Middlesex CCC.  It is impossible to satisfy all of the users all of the time, but we do want to try.   We are interested to hear your comments and suggestions.  Please also bear in mind that the site is moderated by volunteers who, like yourselves, have other things to do in their lives, and like yourselves also want to enjoy using the site (rather than spending inordinate amounts of time moderating it). 

People may contribute to this debate on this thread (in which case their points will be both public and attributed) or through e-mail to mtwdadmin@googlemail.com (in which case their points will not be attributed to them as individuals).  If you wish to make a point to the moderators that you do not want made public at all, please feel free to e-mail the above address or e-mail me on gedladd@hotmail.co.uk making it clear in your e-mail if you do not want a point published.

Just before the season starts, I shall consolidate the responses and publish an update of the rules and disciplinary process.

Background

At the end of the 2008 season, I posted an announcement thread relating to a site rules update and the revised approach proposed by the MTWD site moderators.

http://www.cricketnetwork.co.uk/boards/read/s66.htm?67,9729403

If you have been following the site for the last few months, you will probably have noticed that this slight change of emphasis in moderating the site led to (and/or coincided with) a significant increase in the need for disciplinary activity.  This activity is documented thoroughly in the above thread and needs no repeating here.

While it might seem that we are reaching the end of a “winter of our discontent”, the reality is that the vast majority of messages we moderators have received on the matter of site rules and discipline have been very supportive.  Further, MTWD’s popularity, as measured by standard statistics on numbers of hits and numbers of unique users, has continued to grow unabated on a seasonally-adjusted basis; indeed even the rate of growth of the site’s popularity has increased this winter. 

As a new season approaches once again, we shall soon be welcoming back many regular readers who only tend to visit during the summer.  We can also anticipate many new readers and contributors this year.  Also, as the events of the winter unfolded I promised to hold a consultation on this matter and am now seeing through that promise.

Site Rules

The current site rules can be found at the following location:

http://www.cricketnetwork.co.uk/main/s66/st30779.htm

They are clearly referenced and signposted,  when people register,  through the permanent left-hand side menu bars and we also regularly place additional signposts to the rules on threads where breaches occur or look imminent.

In the past three years we have several times asked for comments and suggestions on the rules, receiving little or no feedback.

On reviewing the rules again, they seem appropriate to me.  I am not, therefore, proposing any specific rule changes.  However, you might think differently.

Some sites have much more detailed rules.  One site I like, The Straight Dope, has very detailed rules, although just one guiding principle “Don’t Be a Jerk”.  Here is a link for those who are interested.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/register.php

Disciplinary Emphasis

My natural tendancy in moderating informal communities (or formal ones for that matter) is to take a liberal approach.  During my first couple of years moderating the site we did not impose sanctions at all, using warnings as the only sanction.

While this  approach appealed to my sense of liberalism, it was not an unmitigated success.  Several regular users wrote to us asking us to be more severe and a few withdrew from the site on the grounds that they were finding the place unpleasent and too indisciplined.  Latterly, one regular wrote to me suggesting that I was trurning a blind eye to overt byullying, which that person found unacceptable.   As events have unfolded, I concede that in the early years I did err on the side of liberalism.  I remain reluctant, however, to err on the side of draconianism and believe and hope that we have not done so.

I can see the argument both ways (freedom of speech c/w freedom to enjoy our site without fear of bullying and harassment) and the moderators agreed the change of emphasis announced clearly in the September 2008 thread. 

Most of the feedback we have received since this change has been positive.  However, some regulars have inferred that the site has lost some of its bite.  Personally I find the distinction between banter and harassment fairly clear and obvious.  I also think that most people can self-moderate, such that if they discover that someone has taken offence at a comment that was meant as friendly banter, the matter can be easily rectified by a follow-up posting. 

Disciplinary Process

Prior to this winter,  the current moderating  regime had barely imposed any sanctions at all, so the absence of a defined disciplinary process was not noticable.

The sanction process that emerged this winter  is as follows:

·         a warning,

·         withdrawl of posting privileges for a short period,

·         withdrawl of posting privileges for a longer period,

·         an indefinite withdrawl of posting privileges. 

Extreme breaches might result in the more severe sanctions being applied immediately. 

We have not been too prescriptive about which breaches are deemed extreme, nor do I think we should be, as common sense should prevail here.  However, we believe that the following types of breach are examples of extreme breaches:

·         severe harassment/bullying (in particular, we believe that taking harassment and bullying beyond the MTWD site itself is extreme),

·         abusing the moderators,

·         attempting to break sanctions by setting up alter egos with posting privileges.

Consultation Process and Conclusion

MTWD is a community that we hope can give pleasure to a diverse group of people who love cricket and in particular Middlesex CCC.  It is impossible to satisfy all of the users all of the time, but we do want to try.   We are interested to hear your comments and suggestions.  Please also bear in mind that the site is moderated by volunteers who, like yourselves, have other things to do in their lives, and like yourselves also want to enjoy using the site (rather than spending inordinate amounts of time moderating it). 

One point that some people have made is that the site managed fine without the change of disciplinary emphasis and process for several years.  My view is that the site is going through a growing and growing up process.  In the early days it was a tiny community for a few dedicated fans who happened to like using the world-wide-web as well.  Today, the site has hundreds of regular visitors (perhaps tens-of-thousands of unique visitors each year) generating currently some three-million hits per year.  Most of the people who matter at the club look at the site, some occasionally, some regularly.   It is an important (albeit informal) part of the Middlesex CCC community generally and should do its best to be a friendly and acceptable home to the vast majority of users.

People may contribute to this debate on this thread (in which case their points will be both public and attributed) or through e-mail to mtwdadmin@googlemail.com (in which case their points will not be attributed to them as individuals).  If you wish to make a point to the moderators that you do not want made public at all, please feel free to e-mail the above address or e-mail me on gedladd@hotmail.co.uk making it clear in your e-mail that you do not want that point published.

Just before the season starts, I shall consolidate the responses and publish an update of the rules and disciplinary process.

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