SE Forum Visibility (split from Crash on M8 last night...)

[r055]

just a thought...
where are the two most potentially incriminating forums within SE?
Meets? - someone might slip a word about doing 100tuts along a stretch of public road on a run, which is totally unacceptable.
General? any old p1sh is usually included in this forum from personal information to a discussion about a meet.

Can we not just keep the settings the same for Meets, but also add general to the secured area?

That way, its not obvious to non-subscribed lurkers that these two exist therefore would not feel the need to register.

[Shug]

You're making this poll harder to construct by the second

[ruadh08]

Shug,

Can you backtrack this thread to include my original post which started it all , last night? It may help other coming on to see the reasons behind it?

Ta

Paul

[GregR]

You're making this poll harder to construct by the second

I vote no poll

[s29ttc]

I have just scan read most of the stuff. I think it’s all a bit ridiculous. This is a PUBLIC forum where anyone should be able to access and read the various topics and debates going on. The task of keeping it locked would just seclude the group and make it less likely for more people to join the community. I thought the idea of the forum was to introduce new people and make the community grow gaining further help, experience and diversity. Locking it only makes people less likely to join. Some people like to view forums get a bit of feel for them before joining and then this privilege to be lost. I believe most people will have enough savvy to be able to determine what the post and make sure it is appropriate and if not I am sure that’s a job for the moderators to decide. If people feel that there response or information they wish to pass is secret or is not for public viewing then you have the facility to PM anyone on the forum. I think it would be a great disappointment if it came to locking the forum and becoming a little seclude group as I believe it would with newbie’s being less likely to join. Lets leave it to our members to determine what information they choose to leave about themselves on the forum and moderators can intervene when they feel something is posted which is inappropriate and take necessary action. At most I think a warning about what material shouldn’t be posted and warning not to post anything too private etc would be suffice.

[GregR]

I'll tell you what Scott - you never cease to amaze me with the content of some of your posts.

[Shug]

Shug,

Can you backtrack this thread to include my original post which started it all , last night? It may help other coming on to see the reasons behind it?

Ta

Paul

Sorry Paul, I thought I'd included it. Could you just copy & paste it over, as I can't change the split point now?

[tut]

I'll tell you what Scott - you never cease to amaze me with the content of some of your posts.

Yep, you would not believe that he is a spotty faced teenager, who spk txts all day on his phone and listens to rap, when he can put together a precise and thoughtful piece of prose on the subject.




tut

ps he has a damn fine lassie as well.

[renmure]

I think the sentiment for a closed forum is probably well placed but the internet is a public domain and as long as that's kept in mind then individuals should be able to moderate themselves as to what they want to post about and the extent of information which they may/ or may not consider to be private.

Think I am right in saying we actually have journalists, police officers and even a lawyer!!! on the forum already as active members so it's a bit late for keeping out the bad guys

[tut]

A valid point made more than once is that the Internet is open, so do not post anything that you would not put in a notice pinned on your local village notice board.

In actuality this is very often forgotten when you are posting on the Forum, especially when we are almost using it as an instantaneous chat line on an interesting subject. I think that we all realise that if we opened the car up on a deserted Motorway to see what she would do, we would not post the result. Regarding one of Paul's points, I am sure that I posted that I leave my keys in the cars, and very often do not lock the house doors, plus Old Deer would not be hard to find, and we do have rather a target house.

However just in case any low lifes are reading this, that has changed, I used to kill for a living, plus I now have two 12 bore shotguns, licensed of course, and two teenage sons that know how to use them. I also have a GSD that would take two of you down before you even saw him.

One thing that I do now and have the time for, is put as much thought as I can into a post both for content and how it will be received and perceived, plus I do not like to make spelling and punctuation errors as there are plenty of you out there to pick me up. I also preview every post for the above reasons, then read it immediatly and edit it if necessary before it is read and the edit shows. I know that I can be tongue in cheek and sometimes have a different outlook on life than most, but I try never to get personal or cause offence. Except to real friends of course who tell me to eff off.

There was a cull of members names a while back that had never posted for months or years, so I think that could take place again. There are 400 of those at present with 0 posts, 600 if you count less than 5 posts. That is out of a total of 1080 members, ie 60%.

However I am quite happy with the Forum format as is. As for Moderators, the conduct is good enough that they do not very often have to step in, and if there is not one on line, there are us old timers that step in if necessary if immediate action is needed.

The good thing about the subject being brought up is that it is a reminder to us that anybody can read what we write, not just those that we intend it for.

tut

[mac]

I'll tell you what Scott - you never cease to amaze me with the content of some of your posts.

And given that a lot of us thought, myself included that Scott was the start of "less desirables" coming across from the Cruise scene, would vetting have lost us a articulate and vaulable member?

We can't start judging books by their covers.


Mac

[tenkfeet]

I would say leave as is, reitirate to everyone when they join its a public forum and anyone can read it .

Its quite easy in the excitement of getting a new car to get carried away with posting .

[s29ttc]

I'll tell you what Scott - you never cease to amaze me with the content of some of your posts.

And given that a lot of us thought, myself included that Scott was the start of "less desirables" coming across from the Cruise scene, would vetting have lost us a articulate and vaulable member?

We can't start judging books by their covers.


Mac

Exactly what I was going to say within my post. No disrespect or any harsh feelings towards other members but many of you, quite rightly so had or have the opinion that I was a young boy racer. Small engine car with big wheels etc coming onto the forum automatically thought woooo trouble coming, presumed I wanted the car to race about etc and bring a bad name to the forum. Now if the forum was locked and new members came through the selection process however that was done, how would I have been judged? How would you decide who becomes a member eligable to read various sections of the forum. I do think it would ruin the site and hope it continues to be free viewing and left to the moderators and members to decide on the content

[ruadh08]

Shug,

Can you backtrack this thread to include my original post which started it all , last night? It may help other coming on to see the reasons behind it?

Ta

Paul

Sorry Paul, I thought I'd included it. Could you just copy & paste it over, as I can't change the split point now?

The Daily record report is a another classic case of the papers digging dirt when they hear about an accident involving a high performance or enthusiasts car. They troll the forums, and then mis quote anything they can get their hands on to sensationalize a story. The other classic case is the guy on Pistonheads who ended up in the nick when he lost control of his Honda type r, and badly injured a biker. Quotes from the Honda forum were read out in court, and beforehand had been written about in the papers.

Because of it he was perceived to be a "boy racer" and hooligan in his car, and all this probably had a lot to do with his sentence.

We must all remember that Scottish Elises is a very public forum. ANYBODY can read it, plod, reporters and all, and it is not too difficult to link online names to real names and cars etc.

This will probably open up the old chestnut of the discussion about whether prospective members should be "vetted" by the moderators before being allowed to join. If this vetting process took a good few days, it would prevent casual journalists etc form getting material to blow up to be instant dirt if anybody has an accident.

Worth thinking about every time we are tempted tp post about speed, runs, etc!

[neil]

This will probably open up the old chestnut of the discussion about whether prospective members should be "vetted" by the moderators before being allowed to join. If this vetting process took a good few days, it would prevent casual journalists etc form getting material to blow up to be instant dirt if anybody has an accident.

I not convinced that "vetting" is necessary or even of any benefit, but as you've pointed out having some form of time lag between registering and getting access would prevent journalists from getting instant access to any "dirt" - its amazing how easily a tongue in cheek comment could be taken completely out of context. Is there no way of setting an auto time delay of a few days between registering and authorisation?

Several forums (Seloc being one) seem to function perfectly well as closed forums. Having SE as a closed forum shouldnt scare off any potential new members providing theres a nice friendly front end that is viewable without registering. While a closed forum would be in no way secure, it may help prevent the sort of sensationalist journalism we've seen in this recent tragic case. Ultimately however I hope that SE never has any cause for this to be an issue. Drive safely folks