Thread moved to LOS

[Zapatista]

The thread entitled "Are gardai efficent??" was moved to Letting of Steam.



This thread was started by redbhoy (a non-frequent user according to AAM). 8 of the 11 replies posted so far are also from "non-frequent posters" including myself. Since the thread was moved carpenter, redbhoy and I are unable to post any more replies. I think this is absolutely ridiculous. The thread was just getting started and now the main contributors to its progress so far can no longer air their views on the topic.



I posted a question here a few days ago enquiring about how many posts are required to gain the oh so exclusive title of "frequent poster" and why everyone had to start from scratch when AAM was moved to vBulletin. These questions were answered and I accepted the situation at the time. However, I am now more than a little bit frustrated with AAM. I assume the rule reserving the letting off steam section for frequent posters only is to eliminate some of the childish "prank" posts that appear from time to time. So rather than the moderators having to spend precious time blocking/deleting such posts they have decided it would be easier to restrict the use of this section, even if it is at the expense of serious posters.



I'm sure if I wanted to I could come up with 20, or so, random short questions that I could post in a half an hour, or so, which would raise me to "frequent poster" status. However;



1. This is undoubtedly forbidden somewhere in the AAM posting guidelines.

2. I don't see why I should have to.



I would appreciate moderator feedback on this issue. Specifically in answer to the following questions:


1. Did the moderator that moved the thread check to see if the user who posted the thread was a frequent user?


2. Did that same Moderator check the status of the users who replied to the original post?


3. Why was the thread moved to letting off steam - What differentiates this thread from others such as "Opening other peoples mail", "Pink Floyd at G8" or "Anyone received a text message from Trocaire"?


4. What exactly is AAM's definition of a Miscellaneous Non-financial Question?


5. What exactly is AAM's definition of "letting off steam"?


Zapa.

 

[Purple]

Hi Zapa,
I am sure this is frustrating for you but do remember that the moderators do this on their own time and at their own expense. I have had posts deleted, edited and moved and while I never intend to cause controversy and may not agree with the reasons, we all have to accept that there are no grudges or agendas by the moderators and they do what they do for the best of reasons to maintain the high standards that AAM has.

Since the moderators are doing this on their time I don’t think it’s reasonable too expect them to do too much research into each thread they move (or delete). I am sure that whomever moved your thread did so simply because it looked to them that it might get heated and so thought it belonged in the LOS section.
As for becoming a frequent poster, you can do this by responding to other posters questions. It doesn’t have to be 50 new threads.

 

[ajapale]

Hi Zap,

Have a read of and .They address some of your questions.

13. Non financial discussions The primary purpose of Askaboutmoney is to discuss consumer finance issues. We recognize that a sense of community has developed and people do want to occasionally discuss non-financial issues. We have no objection to this as long as it is kept to a minimum.

17. Letting off Steam is for regular contributors to do just that The Letting Off Steam forum is designed for regular contributors to Askaboutmoney to occasionally discuss non financial issues. It is not designed to be a platform for people who make little or no other contribution (e.g. who don't answer finance related queries or otherwise contribute to the more finance orientated forums) to Askaboutmoney to stir up trouble or pursue their own campaigns. These posters should find another website to pursue their objectives.

The same applies to The Craic.

ajapale

 

[Brendan Burgess]

Zapa

Miscellaneous non-financial questions isfor questions and answers on non-financial matters. It is for people who have real questions as distinct from expressing opinions in the form of questions which is what Redhbhoy did.

Have a look at the threads in Misc. non-financial questions. They are almost all questions and answers.

What differentiates this thread from others such as "Opening other peoples mail", "Pink Floyd at G8" or "Anyone received a text message from Trocaire"?

The Trocaire question and Mail question were people's actual experiences and they were seeking answers about what to do. Pink Floyd started off as a question - why did they split up? It has become a bit of a Letting Off Steam issue, but whichever moderators read it, must have given it the benefit of the doubt.

we don't mind people questionining the rules of AAM the way you are doing, but we really stongly object to people like Redbhoy deciding to get around the rules by posting Letting Off Steam stuff in other forums. If anyone starts posting rubbish to get up their number of posts, we will either ban them or reset their post count.

The moderators have spent a huge amount of their time on administration issues, such as answering this question. It's not what AAM is about. It's about asking and answering questions. From time to time, there is pressure to close down the Craic and Letting Off Steam altogether, so we are experimenting with restricting it to Frequent Users. It's a bit crude, but it's a lot better than having people register just to post rubbish and make no other contribution to Askaboutmoney.

Brendan

 

[Zapatista]

ajapale & Brendan,

Thank you for your speedy responses. Perhaps my frustration over this issue clouded my judgment. I can understand why you have these rules in place and also appreciate that the moderators act voluntarily and devote a lot of their time and patience to AAM. I can also understand how annoying it must be as a moderator to constantly deal with the less sincere guests that post on AAM. I hope you can also appreciate my frustration when restricted from posting any more views on a topic that I have already posted on four times - granted not all four posts were significant contributions.



Brendan I will continue on my second journey towards frequent poster status & will refrain from throwing out 20 random posts to achieve this. After all this would be a waste of my time as well as yours. Feel free to move/close this thread. As far as I'm concerned the matter is resolved and I realise that this thread is not appropriate for this section.



Purple keep it up. I may not agree with all your opinions but I like the way you put them across and also the fact that you will defend them to the end. Without controversy the world would be a boring place & life would be a very monotonous affair.



Zapa.

 

[Carpenter]

In relation to the above I tried to respond to some of the later posts but was refused access. I assumed this had something to do with the (humourous) reference (totally in jest) to a certain type of axe and perhaps this could have been construed as being inciteful to hatred or some such. I don't want to waste anyone's time but I'd just like to say that I'm new to this arena and was just getting in on the idea of the board. Ok you say the posts must, in the main be relevant to finance and related issues and that is your perogative. However sometimes some people (like me!) can maybe get a little carried away at times. I think some of the other posts, while not finance related per se do relate to how people can possibly save a few bob on services/ products etc so money is never too far away when it comes to the subject matter, just a thought. By the way I do not have any axes, Scandinavian or otherwise in my house, so please don't send round the "Boys in Blue" who do, of course, a magnificent job in the fight against crime!!

 

[Purple]

Purple keep it up. I may not agree with all your opinions but I like the way you put them across and also the fact that you will defend them to the end. Without controversy the world would be a boring place & life would be a very monotonous affair.

Thanks Zapa, that's the nicest thing anyone has said to me all day.

 

[Seagull]

In relation to the above I tried to respond to some of the later posts but was refused access. I assumed this had something to do with the (humourous) reference (totally in jest) to a certain type of axe and perhaps this could have been construed as being inciteful to hatred or some such.

It would be because you haven't yet reached frequent poster status. The thread was moved to letting off steam, and you need frequent poster status to post on that board.