se23.com - an exile from the north speaks out

[mummycat]

Sorry to go off topic....for all Lady Geeks:

[youtubes]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GThtMAZGYU[/youtubes]

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Edited by Admin to embed the YouTube link. More here: http://sydenham.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=6110

[admin]

Maybe if the forum next door wasn't such a shining example of how to do it right, it wouldn't bother me so much.

Thank you for that. But it is YOUR personal opinion and not shared by all.

People have very different views of what a community website should do. They range from being a beacon to uplift and improve the community (and that is the specific purpose of some around here). Others that it should reflect society 'warts & all' and challenge authority.

Trying to encompass both views has eluded me which is why an important group of people have decided not to post here. To accommodate them would mean losing another group. So that's why I used the phrase "with community pretensions" as the composition of a forum is a self selecting group of people who share, to some extent, the ethos of the admin.

If you don't then the Admin is an arrogant opinionated enemy of the people.

So you may think that of the SE23 admin. Others think that of me. Indeed it is an inevitable outcome. Paradoxically having a choice of forums in a local area doesn't solve the problem. Dividing the market just encourage the grouping to become more extreme.

Admin

[Robin Orton]

Let's see if he notices I have caved to the pressure.

Indeed, Rachael, I did, but was too much of a gentleman to mention it. Best wishes, Robin.

[Rachael]

If you don't then the Admin is an arrogant opinionated enemy of the people.

So you may think that of the SE23 admin. Others think that of me. Indeed it is an inevitable outcome. Paradoxically having a choice of forums in a local area doesn't solve the problem. Dividing the market just encourage the grouping to become more extreme.

Admin

I certainly don't think that of the SE23 admin, because I don't know him. All my comments are directed at the way he runs the forum, which may or may not reflect his personality.

As for my comments on this forum, you are quite right, they are my opinions and not necessarily shared by all, so I'll rephrase and say the way this forum is run suits me and that's why I like it.

[admin]

My apologies if I appeared to put words in your mouth about another person. That was not the intention. There is, as you know, a tendency to exaggerate views on forums in the hope of making things clear. In this case it didn't.

I was also separating the persona of the Admin from the person who holds the post. Here, for example, the Admin is supposed to be a mild mannered factotum of no discernible political view who can then be trusted to arbitrate in an independent and balanced way between conflicting ideas and attitudes. Whereas anyone who knows me will agree I am extremely opinionated and disagree with a great deal of what appears here. An admin, as a judge in court, is a compartmentalised entity that should IMHO be treated independently of any knowledge or not of the real human being. That's my aim.

Anyway I'm sort of derailing this thread which is why anyone interested in discussing my views on forums would be best comment on Robin's new thread here: http://sydenham.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=6131

Now back to our friends from the north ...

Admin

[Kirkdale Boy]

Agree that this site does look better, I think that there is a very close knit of people on se23 who all look out for each other if one is attacked by a new member about their views

[michael]

Again, this is fairly standard for any online forum, just look at the welcome for pantwetter on the other thread (assuming this is actually another person). But to use ExFHPat as an example of how SE23.com behave is a pretty poor example. Or were there other new members who have been treated harshly? You wouldn't happen to know ExFHPat or one of her other personnas would you?

[Kirkdale Boy]

No I dont know expat or whatever their name is, nor would I like to know them as by reading their threads on se23, it appears they seem to be a bit over the top, I was juts using that as an example.

There are others who get slated, I.E Brian for one

[michael]

You can read more about Brian at http://sydenham.org.uk/forum/viewtopic. ... ian#p46969 , But I'll probably further incur the wrath of BBW for mentioning his thread.

Brian is hardly a new member, he is actually the most frequent poster. It would be reasonable to assume, as BBW does, that he enjoys winding up others, although Brian, like others, does not like to be accused of racism, even when his posts are blatantly racist. It seems there is one on every forum.

[Kirkdale Boy]

Hi Michael

Now had a bit more time to look at se23 threads.

Think I will now have to agree with a most of what you say, as Brian does come over a bit racist in some of his posts.

Also agree about someone who does not live in se23 of anywhere near it, posting, the question is why would they ?

Take care and keep posting

[Wide Lea Red]

I now appear to have been banned from posting on se23.com for having the sheer temerity to disagree with admin's pet racists. We know that opposition to blatant racism is not allowed on se23.com.

My criticisms of the rather unpleasant snobbery on the Domino's Pizza thread will have to remain private.

[michael]

Or you could post here.
[quote]We know that opposition to blatant racism is not allowed on se23.com.[quote]

I did not notice any racist comments on the Domino's pizza thread and find far fewer racist and xenophobic comments on SE23.com than on this forum. I have never had a comment disallowed when opposing blatant racism on either forum.

[Rachael]

Baboonery, is that you? One of the more amusing aspects of se23.com is that I get email notifications of posts, even if the poster is in pre-mod. The system seems to generate them before admin decides whether to let them be posted or not. Often I see that a certain person has posted, but their post never appears on the forum, and I'm left wondering what on earth they said.

I haven't seen people being banned for opposing racism on se23.com. I have, however, seen people being placed in pre-mod for challenging some of the regular posters. However, most people (myself included) graduate out of pre-mod eventually when it becomes clear we are actually quite nice and reasonable.

[Claudia Drezner]

I now appear to have been banned from posting on se23.com for having the sheer temerity to disagree with admin's pet racists.

[Wide Lea Red]

Michael,
I'm not saying there's racism on the NIMBY thread. I'm saying there's racism in many threads from several well-known bigots, which goes completely unchecked, yet any opposition to it gets offed for fear of offending said bigots.

The snobbery on the Domino's thread is another matter. It's all the fault of those HORRIBLE poor people from Nunhead, apparently.

[Wide Lea Red]

Baboonery, is that you? One of the more amusing aspects of se23.com is that I get email notifications of posts, even if the poster is in pre-mod. The system seems to generate them before admin decides whether to let them be posted or not. Often I see that a certain person has posted, but their post never appears on the forum, and I'm left wondering what on earth they said.

I haven't seen people being banned for opposing racism on se23.com. I have, however, seen people being placed in pre-mod for challenging some of the regular posters. However, most people (myself included) graduate out of pre-mod eventually when it becomes clear we are actually quite nice and reasonable.

Indeed. But sooner or later I have an opinion that, while entirely reasonable (or at least, not wildly out of line), is contrary to one expressed by one of admin's pet bigots, or contains a naughty word like 'bloody' or 'bum', and thus I go back on premod. As a way of stifling local debate it's pretty effective.

[michael]

Today's deleted postings from SE23.com (also posted to the SE23.com facebook page):

Has anybody else noticed that Admin is locking / deleting a lot of posts recently? These have included requests for information / where to shop, announcements of community events and answering queries about opening times.

I understand the need to justify charging traders £50pcm for their threads, but I'm being put off using SE23.com.
Anyone else?

One problem is that when items are moved to the trading post no discussion can ensue.

The other problem is that when sponsored topics are no longer sponsored the whole thread gets deleted. It is a shame that people searching for butchers in SE23 will be deprived of the reviews of the pop-up shop because it is not trading in January, but will be open in February.

I don't know any other forum that operates in this way.

To lose so many positive reviews impacts not only that business, but other businesses thinking of setting up a pop-up or permanent business. The positive comments from forum users shows how popular the forum is (what a good place to advertise) and how positively people receive new businesses, rather than just complaining about empty shops (which we are free to discuss as much as we like).

Agreed. I recently tried to post an ad late last year and admin deleted it because he wanted me to pay. About a month later someone posted here wanting the thing I was selling. I did find someone through the ED forum, so recommend diverting your internet traffic in that direction.

Kind of defeats the purpose of having a trading post section really..

Yes, this forum is unusual in many ways!

It is not just items but rather whole threads that get moved to Trading Post or Wider Topics where they lose visibility. This really diminishes the forum's community value.

I have tried engaging with the Admin on these issues but without success.

Threads in the trading post are not always locked for reply. Admin locks them if he feels there has been a lot of spam recently, or that people are trying to get around paying for commercial posts. I was frustrated at not being able to publicly reply to Michael's post about The Butchery reopening in February. At the moment it looks like no one is interested, which might potentially worry traders looking to set up in SE23. These local forums are such a vital way for local businesses and people to come together.

The Sydenham Town forum is a useful resource as many of the activities around the borders of SE23 and SE26 are discussed there, and there are a lot of areas of common interest (especially around the transport and SEE3).

I have successfully sold items through this forum in the past, but would recommend the East Dulwich Forum for that simply because it has a much larger audience and more active buying and selling. The only problem is if your buyer is in SE22, they sometimes baulk at the idea of travelling to SE23 to pick up the items, simply because they have no idea how close we actually are!

[Rachael]

So, our posts about deleted items have been deleted. How delightful.

Nothing on the SE23.com Facebook page now.

[admin]

Nothing on the SE23.com Facebook page now.

Even less on the STF Facebook page. Do you think we ought to have one and would anyone be prepared to manage it?

Admin

[Rachael]

I don't think you should have an FB page, no. Forums and Twitter go hand in hand. They are both notice boards / conversation places. What would we do with a Facebook page? It's the nature of a FB page that one person (or one group / organiser) posts something and people respond. It's a top down thing. Who or what would be the 'top level' of a STF facebook page?