to the moderators

Mac said:

hi ok i agree you can remove posts but how about a democratic move that you have the decencey to tell the poster why you remove. best egards mac

Hi-  theoretically they e-mail you with a reason when they remove your post-  I'm still waiting to hear on one of mine.

:)

S

Hi Mac, Seymouraves

I have just touched on this in my latest post here , you both should have received notification by e-mail if posts have been removed, worth checking spam/junk folders. If it has not arrived then it is possible that technical problems have arisen for which we apologise.

Have a look at the T's & C's for explanations regarding why we delete posts.

Best wishes

IanH

Hi=

T& Cs -

Please treat fellow community members with the respect and courtesy you would expect to receive yourself. You may not post defamatory material to RSPB forums. In particular, you must be clear that any view you express/post is your own and relevant to the forum topic. Abusive, disruptive, irrelevant postings, comments and advertising may be removed and may result in your registration being deleted.

I always make it clear the opinions are my own :)

I am never abusive to other members :)

Being Disruptive is in a sense relative - and people can take offence where it's not intended :)

Advertising-  this is a tough one guys :)  If asked to recommend a pair of binoculars I give a balanced view based on years of use and product review. The same with books , tripods, scopes etc. If a telescope or book or other  product is blatantly badly designed or full of errors  I generally avoid commenting on it here, or just say I personally wouldnt use it  :)  When members ask about used equip for instance I normally list several good quality providers so they have a choice. There are some not-so-good companies out there and the unwary could suffer :(

Does all that count as advertising or reviewing or personal comment ?

I'm not trying to be difficult here I am just trying to see how the T & Cs apply and why asking another member to expand on why they stopped using a certain product was deemed worthy of removal .

S

seymouraves said:

I always make it clear the opinions are my own :)

Advertising-  this is a tough one guys :)  If asked to recommend a pair of binoculars I give a balanced view based on years of use and product review. The same with books , tripods, scopes etc. If a telescope or book or other  product is blatantly badly designed or full of errors  I generally avoid commenting on it here, or just say I personally wouldnt use it  :)  When members ask about used equip for instance I normally list several good quality providers so they have a choice. There are some not-so-good companies out there and the unwary could suffer :(

Does all that count as advertising or reviewing or personal comment ?

I'm not trying to be difficult here I am just trying to see how the T & Cs apply and why asking another member to expand on why they stopped using a certain product was deemed worthy of removal .

S

Hi Mods,

I would also like the moderators to define how they judge a comment as being something more than a personal opinion. I can see nothing wrong with Seymour's approach as he outlines here.

If, as I suspect, the RSPB wants to avoid being sued, surely there should already be a caveat somewhere, in which it is made clear that the responsibility for content of individual messages rests entirely with its author and not the RSPB?

If you want to make this more obvious to anyone reading/writing an individual message, the automatic header for all messages could have such a statement included. That way, nobody need worry about having to make it crystal clear in their text. Surely at least this problem can be solved and put to bed?

Cheers,

Andy

Morning all, hope this finds you all well!

Just a quick question about the Advertising part in  the T & C as mentioned by Seymour.

I am a tad confused by the No Advertising bit ! as on this forum there is a sticky headed " Gear Guide" obviously put on by RSPB Staff! by the very nature of this thread, WE are going to recommend GEAR, the product and it's supplier.

We all have recommended products/companies, right down to where to buy the cheapest " Meal Worms" because we all want to be helpful to others, we are not getting paid for it , the RSPB are not getting Kick Backs from it ! but it is  "ADVERTISING" non the less and as per the T & C we could have our forum membership removed.

My point is, I was about to recommend something, I would hate to have me ass booted oot the door, when I have only just come back , Hee Hee :))

Hi-

glad I'm not the only one who sees the need for clarification.

S

Hi Borderslass and Seymour,

The point about recommending bird food and suppliers also occurred to me!

As I put in my post to IanH's latest thread, the T & C's are quite clear, and the mods must control the forums.

But the more you think about it, they are only clear to a degree and are really only a guide, whether it's us reading them or the moderators. There is a lot which is left open to interpretation.

I wonder what it will actually take to sort out such issues to everyone's satisfaction?

:-)

Andy

Unknown said:

Morning all, hope this finds you all well!

Just a quick question about the Advertising part in  the T & C as mentioned by Seymour.

I am a tad confused by the No Advertising bit ! as on this forum there is a sticky headed " Gear Guide" obviously put on by RSPB Staff! by the very nature of this thread, WE are going to recommend GEAR, the product and it's supplier.

We all have recommended products/companies, right down to where to buy the cheapest " Meal Worms" because we all want to be helpful to others, we are not getting paid for it , the RSPB are not getting Kick Backs from it ! but it is  "ADVERTISING" non the less and as per the T & C we could have our forum membership removed.

My point is, I was about to recommend something, I would hate to have me ass booted oot the door, when I have only just come back , Hee Hee :))

 

I'm pretty sure the no adertising would be more to do with someone coming online to promote a company/product of their own rather than someone recommending a product.  A recommendation is not really advertising as such because it is an opinion as to what is a good product/good value.  For example, if you owned a company that sells bird food you couldn't come here and use the forum to advertise your products/product range however someone could come online and say "hey just noticed this place is offering mealworms for such a price!"  If you started posting the latter all over the place though you would probably get the posts removed firstly because it is spamming, and secondly it looks a lot more like someone trying to advertise something to the world rather than someone who has just stumbled across a good deal.

Hi

Having been a moderator of a photographic site for time now, I have always found a lighter touch when it comes to dealing with things of this nature. Often I use what I call a soft email to the person to explain how and why you feel their actions or words are going a little too close to upsetting someone. Also request the person themselves to remove names of company etc, but still leaving the subject posted and why your making that request.

Removing the thread should only be used as the very last resort  as it's a very fine line from moderator to censor. Also by removing the thread sometimes blows up to being far more than it should.

I also feel the best way is if people did not put moderators in that position when they post.

Robert