Let's put it this way: if I'm going to risk information manipulation I'd rather it be through dealing with the tyranny of the majority rather than the tyranny of the minority.
In short allow the reader to do the filtering not the writer filtering for the reader.
I don't think thread starters will be too happy if readers had more control of the thread than the thread starter if that's what you meant. Such would push content into the private messaging section. The key to remember is that this forum belongs to Baron...its driven by sponsorship. Its income to him. Something that threatens that income level...Baron makes changes.
Essentially he's a one person tyrant and there's many things he does that we like and don't like...nothing is perfect. He's not a stupid person. He knows whom are problematic and when he doesn't know...he soon finds out via the level of complaints sent his way via the "report" button, emails or private messaging.
I've seen many times in the past, trouble makers and trolls gets a few warnings before they get that infamous BAN.
Simply, Baron in many ways manipulates the information flow at his forum by warnings, BANs, deletions, editing and such through the moderators actions or his own actions. That's the way it has been since this forum started...tyranny of the minority.
I think that's our fundamental disagreement here. With the exception of journal threads, the thread starter does not *own* the thread. They started the thread and that's all. The community owns it from that point on.
Now when it comes to journals that's very individual focused and an area where I do believe individuals should be able to control their own threads.
It doesn't matter what content is posted at this forum. In theory, this forum owns the content regardless where its posted. Baron the tyrant can choose to keep the content, archive it or delete it. I remember when he once did a prune process and some content was deleted because of the age of the content. Some members complained about certain content and he undid the deletion. Yet other content there was no complaints although the content was useful...they remained deleted.
The journal threads are a
very clever section of this forum. It gets special policing. Its where members can post without fear of trolling. Trolls that enter someone's journal for the purpose to disrupt, harass and such...they are removed from the journal and BANNED. Its really that simple in the journal section.
My point is this, I've seen members intentionally start threads in the journal section to journal their thoughts about trading while at the same time to sucker in the trolls for removal. I only say such because I saw a discussion by members about doing such down in the Chit Chat section because they feel when trolls show up elsewhere...moderators are too hesitant to get involved whereas the journal threads are different...the hammer quickly comes down in the journal section when the trolls get lost and find themselves in the journals.
That tactic I don't like (suckering the trolls out of their caves so that they can be killed with an arrow like some mystical beast) but that's what some members did in the past and probably will do again without doubt.
Simply, look at the ES Journal by TA traders posting trades in real-time. There's no trolling there in that journal about real-time trading of the Emini ES futures...traders that use TA. Just imagine if those same users of that journal decided to express their TA experience, opinions with their real-time trades in that ES Journal instead of debating with trolls in other threads...
The trolls can not go there in the journal thread and do what they've been doing in the other TA debated threads outside of the journal threads. If they did start the crap in the ES Journal...
they're banned...no warnings.
Another example of off-limit areas that trolls can't enter...take a look at the longest TA discussion, biggest TA thread called
The ACD Method. Its in the TA section and not in the journal section. Its a TA thread with +1 million views and +10 thousand TA replies with a ton of useful content. Yet,
it behaves like a journal by the readers (not the thread starter). More importantly, one of the readers that seems to control the direction of that thread is a well respected ET member that personally knows Baron...
You don't see any trolling in that thread too. Trolls just know for some reason not to take their TA crap into the most well known TA discussion at this forum. That tells me that some trolls with memberships a few years here are actually members from years before that have created a new identity or been banned in the past because only an old time member will know about the relationship of Maverick (reader and user of The ACD Method thread) with Baron (ET owner).
Even marketsurfer himself doesn't enter The ACD Method thread with his debates about TA nor do other trolls. Seriously, think about this carefully, that is the biggest and most viewed TA thread at this forum and its virtually troll free. I just love the irony involving that thread.
I have another case study where a member with a high percentage of likes stopped posting due to the old rules which required him to accept users he found disruptive. The old community rules offered too much freedom to his detractors rather than favoring the desires of prolific posters to be free from the opinions of non-like minded individuals. In these cases where the damage is already done we can read what exists but it's unlikely we can compel them to make further contributions.
The rule changes resolve all this and are sufficient to attract and keep prolific posters in the future. The detractors don't have any place better to go so they'll stay also but they'll have to trade their pet peeves for real concerns because it's unlikely anyone will listen to anything but valid complaints in the future.
Instead of members stop posting, I would rather see them just put trouble makers and trolls on their
ignore list instead of engaging in further conversation with those people. The primary purpose of a troll is to disrupt even if the conversation race cars in another thread...the trolls will show up and try to hijack the thread and change the topic to a controversial topic that seem to have trigger their psychotic posting behavior.
Thus, the
ignore feature allows the member to continue using the forum and allows the trolls to continue using the forum...one doesn't see the other but everybody is happy because
they still have a voice. Its not a perfect solution but it does keep the noise level down and shows without a doubt whom are the problematic members based via their continue behavior regardless if the behavior bothers others or doesn't bother others.
I'm curious to see if the new private messaging system here push members more into the private messaging system if they rather use such instead of using the ignore button. That in itself can become problematic for Baron because of the sponsorship. Baron wants to see active members be active in the public area of the forum instead of the private area of the forum.
Simply, its possible he could create a situation where useful content, viewership, bandwidth begins to decrease resulting in being less attractive to the sponsors while useful content, viewership increases in the private messaging area.
Like I said before, Baron (the minority tyrant) will do something if money in his wallet is being taken out by a select few problematic members behavior. In fact, I've never seen him not do something about it.
-- don't become obsessed with it, or think too hard about it.
