Lately it seems opinions are being dismissed, even when backed by facts here on MA. I see this as a disturbing trend lately, reminding me of another more intolerant Mini forum. I'm sorry but this is my opinion good or bad. Anyone else?
Little vague, isn't it? There's always going to be differences of opinions, nothing says you hafta agree, even when someone throws facts at you..... One of the hallmarks of this site is that people can disagree without it becoming acrimonious. I'm for that!
my guess is nitromini/lynn threads being locked posthaste. not sure what happened but it wouldn't be the first time Lynn has gone on a bender, pissing off the mgmt. :lol:
Yeah, there is some garbage going on that has been eating at me quite a bit. First off, jiminni, I fixed the typo in your thread title. Now that is out of the way.... For many of us working on our cars is a hobby or a way we can afford to handle the issues that come up. Some have recently advised on this site that since one could kill, another with a car only trained professionals should work on things like brakes. Now the person that said this probably meant the best but their tone, tenor and style was quite off-putting to many. That was just one salvo in this war of words that has been brewing. Some quietly went along their way, some tossed poorly crafted attacks back, some reported the entire exchange and some shook their heads in disgust that this sort of thing raised it's ugly head. This is not the first time this group has sparred, but there is one constant. It always involves a certain member of this site. Now what am I to do? At first I had a staff member try to talk to this person, it has done nothing, so I have jumped in the fray. Much as the US does not negotiate with hostage takers and is willing to sacrifice some people to make that point I'm reaching the same level. In order to keep the general peace why keep the member that is a lighting rod. That person has been coached, coddled and advised that while their facts may be correct delivering those facts on the point of an incendiary device has a tendency to cause collateral damage. jiminni, I know this person is your friend, maybe you can talk them off the ledge. Frankly when I have to spend 10x more time working with that member than all of the 3400 or so others combined I have to question the value to the site as a whole. An ultimatum was delivered and the person danced around it with excuses. I am done, the M/A staff is done. The member has one last chance to get it right or they can move on. If I have to I will shut that door. Now if we want to talk about why some others are also no allowed to speak freely, meaning their every post is moderated, well it because they have shown time and time again that all they are trying to do is stir the pot. I'll be blunt, this is not a democracy. You can cry 1st Amendment rights all day, but those rights do not extend to a private website. The text of the First Amendment states that: The most relevant clause of that Amendment to the matter at hand is "Congress shall make no law." Motoring Alliance is a private website, hosted by the privately incorporated Motoring Alliance LLC, and governed solely by the owner, with guidance from other members and other owners of private websites. Motoring Alliance , and Motoring Alliance LLC that sponsors and regulates this site, is free to establish its own policies and practices regarding who may edit here, and is not subject to regulation by the governments of the United States or any state in this respect. As a private website, Motoring Alliance has the legal right to block, ban, or otherwise restrict any individual from editing its pages, or accessing its content, with or even without reason. This is not to say that Motoring Alliance intends to extensively exercise that legal right, if it can be avoided. Motoring Alliance welcomes all constructive contributors, and is dedicated to assuming good faith with those here to contribute constructively and assist in helping expand access to the sum of human knowledge. And... Since there is someone out there that likes to dig into the business dealing of various sponsors, other vendors and individuals let me make it easy for you. All this information is visible at https://ourcpa.cpa.state.tx.us/coa/Index.html There you find that Motoring Alliance is listed as Motoring Alliance LLC I've even filed my TX Franchise Tax forms for 2010 that are not due until 5/16/11 making this an entity in good standing until 5/15/2012. For those of you that must know more, even though I will be moving to Ohio there will still be a registered agent with a physical address that can be served with process during business hours as the TX law requires.
I consider myself an open minded person in general and I have yet to see an unjust thread lock or warning on this site. I consider Nathan's actions in these cases more than justified, at least those that have come out on the open that I am aware of. Of course, I am not aware of what happens behind the scenes, be it PM's, reports, etc., so I can't comment in that respect. It seems to me that most people that get involved in these forum altercations are narrow minded individuals that can't handle a different or opposing opinion without getting all b@tthurt and feeling the need to prove their opinion is correct by ANY means. When communication skills are "ineffective" these symptoms get magnified. If you feel that this description does not apply to you, take a step back and think about it a little more without getting so defensive. When you realize that you might have contributed to the situation, well congratulations, that is the first step to recovery. If I were Nathan, I would be VERY offended if my site was compared to the other one run by the descendants of George Orwell...
In fox hunting circles, M/A would be known as a "private pack" and all members hunt at the "pleasure of the Master", which is Nathan. I have always hunted with private packs and think they work very well. Tally Ho, Nathan. Jim
I haven't been on M/A long enough to know what posters are being referred to here but I have to agree with Jim. . .we are using this site because Nathan is gracious enough to host it for the MINI community, not because he is under any legal obligation to do it and, therefore, the decision to remove posts/posters are solely at his discretion. I have used both sites and haven't had any problems at either one but I do tend to stay on the safer, more innocuous threads. Either way it seems like such a waste of time and energy to get into a pissing contest with someone on the internet no matter how right you think you are. Nathan, you keep on doing the damn thing!
I do appreciate the support it keeps me motivated on days when there are "issues". I'd also like to add: From day 1 of this site I have tried to be as transparent as possible with the goings on with this site and not just be the Clown behind the curtain. I've not shied away from the tough stuff and have always reported issues with the site to the membership almost to a fault of sharing the trivial. I've also always made myself available to any and all for comments questions and feedback, good or bad. I may be the clown that keeps the 1 and 0's flowing, but ya'll make up the community and without your support I'd have nothing to do. As with any community not everyone is going to be happy at all times. I am fine with that. It's life. All I ask is that you keep it civil, and for the most part 99.99999% of the time ya'll do, and I can't thank you enough for doing so. I find it very refreshing that in the almost 2 years this site has been up and running and as we have grown from 0 to 3400 + members we have not had a need to add any more staff to monitor things. In fact, one of the moderators told me they bored with the lack of work. This is a good thing!! It reflects on how great ya'll have been and I am confident, will continue to act. My personal email is [email protected] . You can find me basking in the glow of the monitor a good 10-12 hours a day if not more. I try and respond to all as quick as possible but there are some days that I walk away for a few hours.
I put 191 miles on the MINI last month. It's better that I walk as sitting here all day does little to reduce the spare tire around the middle.
Appreciate the responses. I understand the problems going on, but to say it's one person......well....it takes two to argue, and there is a constant problem all over every Mini forum even across the ocean, all from one constant.
More like two. When MA was started, there was an implied (if not stated) intent that all old beefs will be left at the door and everyone gets a clean slate. Sadly, some choose not to embrace the opportunity. As the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water.. :mad2:
There is a ton of freedom here... They have a freedom of choice on this site. If they choose the way that leads them to being gone, so be it. But it was THEIR CHOICE. Great job, Nathan. Don't change a thing.
And across all of the MINI forums, it's always the same group of people. I could do without any of them, personally. I don't care which side is right or wrong, which side could go around a track faster, or which one could get a higher dyno graph. I'm sure they all feel that they're offering the community some sort of helpful information whenever they post, but I don't think any of them realize that their ego-driven banter is nothing but annoying to the majority of other MINI enthusiasts. I think nathan has done a great job giving EVERYONE a chance to start over and act respectably. I see nothing wrong with removing the users that continually act out of bounds. Maybe they will learn, one day, that cars are supposed to be a fun hobby and they'll grow out of the childish mentality of battling each other over silly things. Nathan (and mod team), keep up the great work
I support Nathan and the mod team's work. This forum is both an invaluable technical resource and a nice place to blow off a little steam every now and then. Seems like 99.9% of people manage to get things straightened out or agree to disagree, and I think the mods have handled that very well, which is appreciated. It does get annoying when egos flare up, but we don't have the pleasure of a perfect world, online or offline, so it's not like it's anything new. I'm also aware that it's much easier to be a jerk online than it is in person, but I think the strong relationships on this site keep that stuff in check, because everybody has met someone else face to face. Keep up the good work.
I agree that Nathan and the Moderators are doing a great job. I get very frustrated when a select few take a thread off course with many useless posts battling back and forth. It makes the thread useless because it filled with their battle posts instead of good info/comments. This is exactly why many people left another forum and we do not want it to happen in this forum.