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GoKunming feedback...

GoKunming (162 posts) • +6

To clarify, @ishmael has received multiple warnings and many patient explanations about the posting guidelines in private messages before receiving a ban.

As we do appreciate his long time contributions it's only a week long ban. Thanks all for your concern and involvement.

michael2015 (784 posts) • 0

Personally - I'm glad to see Gokm updated the TOS (Terms of Service) to include the "no personal attacks"...

"You must not defame...."

Debate is excellent and we can all learn to see more perspectives or dimensions to an issue - but when debates or posts devolve into personal name calling - well, that's just uncivilized and immature.

And on a personal note - it's probably not necessary to publicly list TOS violators unless it's used to demonstrate or enforce authority.

On a more debatably humorous note - can we also add realtime tallies on numbers of warnings and bans to our screen IDs...

redjon777 (560 posts) • +1

Accidentally upvoted Ishmael’s ban when I wanted the opposite.

Seems pretty lame when someone gets banned just because they like to debate some issues beyond what most think is needed. Guess the way now is not to try and push too heavily on a point if someone disagrees, step back and say OK your way is best!

Kills the idea of a forum in my humble opinion.

jj123 (99 posts) • 0

@michael, and others,

I think one thing is being missed here. It's not just the "personal name calling" that's an issue, at least in my opinion, but often someone will post a thread and a few, we know them all by now, start to hijack the thread with their own quips and sarcasm etc, that is the issue.
One can see this on so many posts, and I'm sure it makes some people less interested in posting and being active on the site, which I would assume would be to the detriment of GOKM, as this is a business, although it provides a service for us that live here.

IMO this type of hijacking is as bad as attacking someone personally.

It seems that some contributors here are worried about the freedoms on the site, but again, there's really only three or four perpetrators, and I think they bring others down to their level, and generally bring down the site. I've heard this from quite a few people living here.

Let me just add that I think my use of "argumentative" behavior is misused. I am in favor for people to debate and discuss the merits of the topic, but without it getting side tracked or going down the typical path of the "pissing contest" a few enjoy here.

I believe this whole issue is quite obvious, I believe everyone is an adult here, and they know what they are doing, at least most of the time. And it's just not to the benefit of a website providing a good service.

I think the justifications and/or defense of someone with their anecdotal stories or opinions are again misguided, otherwise why is this even an issue?
I've said it before, there are plenty of places to "VENT" and be who you are, if that is your "personality".

redjon777 (560 posts) • +2

@jj123 it just seems this is will no longer be a discussion place for people who live in Kunming but a forum where I can just search for posted information? Debate is an issue obviously, if you don’t like ‘pissing’ competitions then what’s a forum for? A mix of posts with lengthy debate and some with good info seemed to work fine.

herenow (357 posts) • 0

Based on what we knew previously, I had initially shared some of the concerns voiced above by cloudtrapezer, nnoble and Geezer.

But the fact that Ishmael was given multiple warnings makes a big difference. It is well within the customary prerogatives of moderators to end debate on a given subject -- for example, this has often been done here in the past by locking threads. If users refuse to cooperate with that, then it's reasonable and even necessary to take stronger measures.

Plus the conversation on this topic has now been ongoing for two weeks, so it's hard to argue that debate was being cut off prematurely.

herenow (357 posts) • +1

@michael2015 wrote: "...it's probably not necessary to publicly list TOS violators unless it's used to demonstrate or enforce authority."

I understand your discomfort with this, but the alternative would seem to be non-transparency and perhaps an appearance of arbitrariness -- sort of the forum equivalent of people being disappeared under cover of night.

@redjon777 wrote: "Guess the way now is not to try and push too heavily on a point if someone disagrees, step back and say OK your way is best!"

I don't think that's the way now at all. The point as I see it is simply to not defy repeated warnings from the moderator.

viyida (22 posts) • -1

Besides multiple warnings, for those who followed the dialogue more thoroughly, Ishmael was trying to be Don King by instigating an emotional retort from @jj123 to passive aggressively undermine Vera's example setting efforts.

Anyways, for those who is playing in memoriam of Ishmael....

he is just taking a timeout, having a glass of Guinness with pizza at Cantina, quietly drafting his sci-fi novel.

He'll be alright. Back in a few days, sprightly as ever.

Not like Ishmael was made example of in a William Wallace-esque decapitation, where his limbs are hung on four districts of Wuhua, Panglong, etc.. as GK's malicious attempt to frighten the masses into conforming to laws of the land.

No, nothing like that =)

Also, Peter99 and dolphin can always rejoin us in more civil reincarnated forms. Fingers crossed.

jj123 (99 posts) • -1

@redjohn

So at first, you think this forum should allow pissing competitions, debates, if it has "good information", and all the BS, sarcasm, stupid responses, irrelevant responses, going off track, etc, otherwise it's just a search engine?
What about personal attacks? U left that one out. Is that your line in the sand?

BUT, if there are multiple warnings, then its ok?
Even though it's up to the moderator?

Now the other issues do matter?
Confusing.
But you like this back and forth, even if it's not consistent, because u like the "debate", right?

On this thread, because this is precisely the issue, sure...
BUT when one is simply asking a question re: kunming life, is this how u would like forums to go?

Because you fear something that is not there? Ugh.

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