I really haven't been on here much in the last year or so. I noticed a big change back then when Steve sold the site and as the older members started disappearing, the whole demeanor changed.
People move on, as have i but i do stop in occasionally to see whats going on but rarely post anymore.

For those bitching, if you don't like the site then find one you do, there are millions of them.

RP earned my respect long ago and I'm sure Stealth would too given the chance.

 

As a major player in the "Hot Chicks" thread that got deleted, I would like to add that I have no problem with that being done. I mean this is a public forum that has to be policed. Thats all it is, a forum. I can't understand why people would get so upset and angry over a stupid thread like that biting the dust. The other threads that followed after that met the same demise for a reason, they were totally inappropriate. I like having civil discussions with people on here, most are witty and good natured towards each other. It's when certain people turn issues they don't agree with around into personal attacks is when it starts to suck. But then again, this is a public forum, it's to be expected. Keep up the good work that all the mods do.

dly97

P.S.
Don't ban me because of my sig.

 

I read through this to see what everybody's major complaints are and I couldn't put my feelings about the subject any better than what blue already has, so here it is again. I know I don't post alot, and sometimes I may be one of the problems. But I'm on here reading and searching at least once a day, and I must say I'm glad its still a "clean" place to visit.

 

Hmmm....

Interesting thread, interesting enough to bring me out of my cave for a bit.

Firstly, I commend RP for starting this discussion and standing tall and asking the questions with no restrictions placed on what may be said or discussed.
That takes some courage and is something most moderators would avoid like the plague.

To be a moderator on any Forum is usually a totally thankless job. You try to please everyone and end up sometimes pleasing no one.

In this context, it has become increasingly evident to me in the last couple of years that the Internet in general and Forums such as this one in have morphed from one type of entertainment media to another, not necessarily for the better. Note, I say such as this Forum, not specifically this one.

The advent of Blogs, MY Space, Youtube etc. etc. have vastly expanded the internet audience and this has in many cases spilled over into older Forum based sites that are now accessed through these new sites.

Regarding the issue of policing this forum vis a vis skin, language and whatever else causes a thread to be locked or deleted, I would like to offer some suggestions/opinions.

We are for the most part on this forum consenting adults which is to say we choose to be here. I would imagine that we are mostly males, we are by definition a little macho (we love trucks, fixing trucks, modding trucks, racing trucks etc.)

For those of that are males (I know there have been a goodly number of active lady participants) it probably goes without saying that we all enjoy a little skin shot now and then. And, speaking for myself, four letter words are a pretty active part of my daily vocabulary. While I do not condone typing them in their original form, I do not object to using asterisks to insert the word when a strong point is being made. These words are part of our normal verbal intercourse.

My suggestion here is that we self police ourselves. Almost all forums today have a "Report This Post" feature, as does this one. If any member or members are offended by photos, language or perhaps personal attacks against other members that are out of line, they should hit the little box that calls that post or thread to the Moderator's attention and let it be dealt with in that manner. That eliminates the need for dedicated Moderators such as RP having to wade through page after page of stuff to determine if the thread is getting out of hand.

Regarding the direction of the Forum in general, I more or less signed off last October after getting involved in a thread dealing with some videos of Humvees being used as battering rams in Iraqui traffic. I took some of the posts disagreeing with me personally and I got mad (****ed off).

In retrospect, that was probably not the right thing to do. In the past 10, 11
months, I have seen a lot of changes in the internet as I mentioned earlier and while not all are good in my opinion, they are here to stay.

I think my hangup was that I was upset that others seemed to be posting in a way that supported their agenda. In this case, support for the Iraq war.
Let us not debate that subject here, but what I failed to realize was that I was posting to support my agenda, I did not and do not support the war. The war, not the brave people fighting it, and there is a vast difference there.

On a somewhat less serious note, I too have noted what I will call a decline in the level of maturity of the content and posts the last year or so but I see that everywhere else as well and I guess it is evolutionary.

Speaking of which, I noted the several comments about using the search function and the sort of bashing of newbies who asked the same questions over and over. I would like to see us act as a little bit more of a community of people with similar interests and help these newcomers rather than squashing them like bugs the first time they post. Most highly active sites search functions have become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of posts and rather few offer good functionality to actually find something of use.

As for myself, I am going to try to become at least a little active here again. I truly miss the great debates we used to have regarding politics, taxes, the economy, yes, the war, and lots of other interesting non-truck oriented subjects. I will have to stay with the GD forum as I am now very far removed from the modding scene. The Navigator gave way to a Merc Mountaineer which I hate but Pat loves and I still drive my "Little Old Lady From Pasadena" 92 Town Car still bone stock.

See you around and again, thanks RP for giving me a reason to post again.

Bill

 

Good to have you back Bill, and very good post!

 

This thread has been the first indication to me that the site has changed. I've noticed visual changes, but I still enjoy it here just as much as I always have... I don't see anything to complain about.

As far as people getting irritated with the moderators, that's inevitable. My dad used to referee basketball in his spare time, and he always had a saying that stuck with me:

When in a position of power, you must make a decision. Your decision will always make half the people angry. But you will make everyone angry if you make no decision at all.

I come here because I love trucks and so do all of you. I don't see the problem.

 

Something I learned long ago is that rules are only as good as their enforcement. If they are good rules enforcing them more can only make things better. I have been to sites where the rules were weak or randomly enforced and it usually meant chaos, ignorance or a short lived site since everything is money driven now days on the internet.
The rules as they exists are no problem for me to comply with. Deletions and bans...usually someone always will push...usually there always needs to be examples for others to comply.

Moderators. I think they should be anonymous so rule enforcement will not be perceived as personal and the rules will be seemingly enforced impartially. If you post here enough on personal issues you will make friends and enemies of sorts and not viewed as impartial. People will hate the enforcer and not the rule they broke. It should be simply stated what was violated and what the action was or will be. If it's fair 'who' will not matter.
My primary purpose here is truck info. Thanks for so much. Since coming here I will never see vehicle care the same. Everything else (GD) is extra and mostly entertainment.

 

I am the admin on a computer forum that is similar in size to this place. Our rules are a lot harsher than here and we actively police them. It keeps the place friendly to the maximum number of people. I fully support the staff here as long as they do not abuse their power or are inconsistent in their application. One thing that the staff MUST always keep in mind is avoid anything that will give the appearance of a "good old boy network" - allowing established members to get away with things while smacking down newbies for the same thing. If anything, established members need to be held to higher standards, as they are the ones who should be setting the example.

Now, there are potential legal issues. IB, as the forum owners, must prevent anything that could get them in trouble. Being a large corporation, they have a lot more exposure and a lot more to lose than Steve did as a single site owner. **** is a cut and dried no-no. Language can also become an issue. The moderation staff is their representatives here and they must take care of things to IB's satisfaction. It is up to us as members to SUPPORT this, not fight it.

I do not own the forum that I admin. I take basic marching orders from the site owner, and he has left it up to me and my moderation staff to do the implementation. I have nine moderators on my staff, and am considering adding about five more. As a staff, we try to be democratic - we vote on policy matters but I do reserve the right to make the final decision. If the owner does not like the decision, he has the right to overrule me. I would suggest that the powers that be here consider adding several more moderators to ease the load on individuals. A forum this size with as many special interests that it has should have at least ten moderators in my opinion. Flaming, immaturity, and arguments do not belong in ANY of the help forums. This seriously detracts from the quality of advice and information exchange. GD is where you can let your hair down, but still within the published forum rules.

Raptor is dead on with his suggestion for forum restructuring. However, implementing it can be a real pain - it's very time consuming going back and sorting out old threads for moving.

 

i dont like all the new ads
https://www.f150online.com/forums/ge...p-all-ads.html

 

They irritate me too at times, then I remember that they are the reason that the site is free, so I get over it.

 

If you don't care for ads you can set up a good ad blocker program.

 

but the site was around for years without them

 

but the site was around for years without them. i hate the Intellitxt

 

I have always had adds, just not as many and no, there used to be none that were not auto related. It comes with being owned by a corporate entity trying to improve bottom line as opposed to an individual. Guess you can call it progress and evolvement. I just ignore them.

 

The powers that be could always consider what we do on my forums - buy a paid membership and you get an ad-free forum. We charge 5 bucks a month for that.