Moderation of this forum

[MikeBrantley]

Jeez, can't we all just get along?

Seriously, this is supposed to be a place for fun, informative and insightful discourse. For the most part it is, and I am elated that the traffic on this forum and the others similar to it that have popped up since we went online has been much more brisk than I initially imagined. It's a demonstration that, 36 years after Kodak brought to market a "super" version of its home movie film, people still have a use and an affection for the format. While many people (most?) probably believe Super 8 has outlived its usefulness, stubbornly creative people such as ourselves are proving that wrong. This community is proof of that.

Now it seems I am now being called on the carpet for being an absentee moderator. My first and primary response to that is that no one should assume moderation here is limited to public posts by me. I prefer not to litter the forum with it when I can avoid that by dealing with unpleasantness via private e-mail. No one should be embarrassed when that can be avoided.

But this is getting out of hand.

I do not mind spirited debate -- not in the least. This forum will never be moderated with a heavy hand, because I do not want to stifle the open discourse. If there is disagreement over "fact" or opinion as expressed by an individual poster, I trust that public debate will build or damage that person's credibility. That's the way it is supposed to work here.

Mostly, this has worked -- as the signal-to-noise ratio on this forum certainly is better than on the newsgroups.

Lately, however, there is a disturbing trend developing where the debating of various issues has become so intense that we are calling each other names and generally are being rude. It's not limited to one "side" or another, so far as I have surmised from looking at recent posts. At some point, you have to agree to disagree and go on to another topic. At no point should you resort to name calling, insults or personal attacks. Snide remarks get in the way of communication, too.

Why do I have to say this?

I guess I do. So let's establish some rules...

1. Try to stay on topic. This is a fairly loose rule. If you shot some great film on your trip to Australia, we'd love to hear all about your vacation Down Under.

2. No personal attacks. Don't call anyone stupid, even if you think you have irrefutable evidence that he or she is dumber than a stick. When you get to this point, it's time to agree to disagree.

3. No profanity or harsh language. It's not that I'm a prude, since I have been known to curse like a sailor when in the appropriate setting. But this is not it. Believe it or not, I receive many e-mails from young people or parents of young people who have discovered Grandad's old movie camera in the attic and want to expose some film. I'd like to be able send them to this forum to join our community. I can't do that if we're hurling obscenities at each other.

That's about it. I don't like a lot of rules or too many restrictions. This isn't the free-for-all of the newsgroups, but neither is it an overly confining environment.

Everyone is welcome. As in any social setting, no one person should try to dominate the conversation, however. I'm certainly not expert enough to try to respond to every single post on every topic. Yes, you are supposed to read between the lines here.

Lastly, I will apologize no longer for infrequent updates to my Web site or times of seeming inactivity on this forum. Very serious illness in my immediate family, career considerations and, yes, other interests limit these activities to spurts of furious productivity and stretches of distraction. The Web site and this forum are labors of love and my gifts to the Super 8 community. There is no compensation coming my way for these things other than the joy of disseminating useful information to others who share similar interests. The second doing these things becomes more of an irritant than a source of pleasure is when I'm out of here. I am totally serious.

I don't mean to be too unnecessarily unpleasant or cranky in this post. Let the positives outweigh the negatives, please. I thank you all for contributing to this community. It is larger than you think. I get e-mail all the time from people who do not actively post here, yet they read what you write. You have influence, so please act accordingly.


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--Mike Brantley

[MovieStuff]

Thank you for the clarification, Mike. I appreciate you time in stopping to post here.

Sincerely,

Roger Evans

[MikeBrantley]

You are welcome, Roger. Now go and have a good evening.

If I can make my head stop hurting in short order, I am going to go watch my new DVD of the uncut version of "The Wicker Man." I just got it in the mail today, and I've never seen this movie. Maybe that's off topic, but, hey, I'm the moderator!

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--Mike Brantley

[MovieStuff]

Hey, anything with Britt Ekland dancing by the window nude is a great movie in my book. I read that "none involved are looking too innocent" and I plead as guilty as anyone for losing my temper. Enjoy the film and thank you again for taking time to step in.

Roger

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Roger Evans
MovieStuff
http://www.afterimagephoto.tv/moviestuff/html

[PhillipF]

Yes, thank you Mike for your input. GOD HAS SPOKEN!


Phil

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[mattias]

> the signal-to-noise ratio on this forum certainly is better than on the newsgroups.

everybody keeps saying that, but i can't see why. i always thought a.m.c.s8 as well as a.m.c and r.a.m.p (the groups i follow) were very noise free, especially if you have killfiled matrixxxxx and dickshine.

/matt