I don’t used LB for this type of thing I am interested in the social and bike aspects of the site and never even read these kind of posts.
I do feel that this type of discussion should be held on a different forum, or possobly moved to a separate topic heading for sensitive discussions, and locked to non registered users.
If it is making members feel uncomfortable and it is reflecting badly on LB then should something not be done about it?
My two cents -
totally agree with you Afro. I dont like to see any thread locked or anything like that. Too much of a liberal in me i think.
But i also do not want to see LB damaged. I have made some really good friends on the site, and i have met Python here - so LB holds a special place for me.
Now I may not post as much as I used to - primarily cos I have just handed in my notice to a job that i hated and where i was working like a dog (but thats another topic) but that dont mean i dont still read or hear about LB. And you’re right - the thread that went on - is such a small insignificant portion of what LB is about.
So I think we all need to remember is that freedom of speech is all good but it comes with a responsibility.
Having spoken at length with shewolf, i have a better understanding on how she feels. Now i know she is generally a strong woman and can shrug things off with a laugh and joke about it…but this hit home with her and other members, and when she asked for help from the Mods (who else was she supposed to go to?) she didnt get it and THATS what hurt her too! After all the hours and her freetime she has put in to help others and assist on LB, when she asked for help, it didnt come. This smacks of Weaver,Paivi,Salee…ALL who had a problem in one way or the other, and asked for help and didnt get it and so felt the only option was to leave the forum…I know the Mods agreed to “back off” and allow certain things to continue even if they got “near the mark” so to speak, as we asked that we could at least have a say on whatever subjects came up we felt we wanted to answer in our own way, but in THIS instance when one post was locked, the OTHER that turned out worse than the first, was allowed to go on for a few days…and certain things mentiond that made shewolf and others react, were deleted by the time the rest of us saw the post, so our comments were not the same as they may have been had we saw them…and that bothered shewolf too…
I know there is a lot of work to do on the forum and its all good stuff, but when a member of your “group” asks for help with something like this…why isnt it forthcoming?..you all know each other so why did it take so long to do something about it all? And now something SHOULD change, so it doesnt happen again !!! If its NOT done, it opens doors to more words, etc if or when the people involved meet up at, say the ACE or wherever…
Also, today i had a email from Drei himself, he has decided he is not going to post on LB again, and he did say that he feels shewolf has done more than he has on the forum with her involvement for them, so he feels he is the one that should leave…personally, and this IS my opinion only? I am both saddened and peed off that Drei was stupid enough not to take heed the first post and then go and put out another one cos that one was locked, and also that shewolf didnt get the support she so needed at that time from the Mods…
I only hope that the remaining hosts and mods, never have a similar problem, although i doubt it will be like this was, and need support from the others, cos the way i see it now, they wont get it…sorry but its how it looks and how its looked for other hosts that have left the forum.
Know it looks like the mods are getting stick, its not the case, i know u have a thankless task and are all good people, just saying something needs to be put in place that prevents this sort of thing that creates a happier medium?..it can be done and would be much appreciated cos we dont want to keep going down this sort of road…give me the open road with me bike situation, any time !!
When Poles were attacked on this forum I asked mods for help and they reacted very quickly, thanx for Matt and Jay.
Here Here Afro.
No I have been waiting for the new Busa to come out, anyone post a pic? I cant get onto the MCN site from here (restricted web here)
Pop into the shops and get this weeks copy? its got a big write up on it all? NICE bike…too damn heavy for me, but when i had a ride of other halfs last one, it was bluddy nice ! …shame i cant handle the weight …
personally I think it would be a shame if we had to cut out all non bike related banter because of a few ill concieved posts.
Perhaps we need a system whereby we can easily complain about a post and if a couple of people complain a post is automtically removed, at least until it’s reviewed by the moderators.
I have used forums in the past that have a complain about this post button, but I’ve no idea how easy it would be to implement automatic post removal off the back of that, but at least complaints could go to mods and they could remove it when a couple come in.
That way if someone posts offensive nonsense instead of everyone getting riled and posting answers and generating debate on a thread that doesn’t deserve it you just press the complain button and look elsewhere.
Great Idea, it will be passed to the moderators attention immediately.
Come on. Keep up 
Was on here before MCN 
http://londonbikers.com/forums/shwmessage.aspx?ForumID=35&MessageID=223882#bm225628
Oh yeh…forgot about that…silly moo…ha ha…good job one of us is awake 
I think the site strikes a sensible balance at the moment. I was very shocked and disappointed by some of the posts on the “Mega Mosque” thread. The first post was inaccurate and, taking a strict reading of a very woolly law, could be said to incite religious hatred.
If I was a moderator I would have deleted the first post as soon as I saw it but we don’t don’t live in “The Free Republic of The All Powerful Bevanavich” (yet, I’m working on it). It almost seems as though the post was constructed to get “white van man” to spit out his bacon sarnie.
The post wasn’t deleted though and by the time I’d read it, there were already posts pointing out that this mosque, if it ever gets built, will not mean that plans for a school, hospital or central London racetrack get scrapped.
Anyone reading even the first page will have seen that this community, like all others, contains a wide spectrum of views. If I read something that offends me, I will post and I hope others do too. We should aim to make this a “self policing” forum without the need for too much moderation/censorship.
The “race” threads flew even closer to the wind but I am encouraged that they didn’t instantly descend into relentless flaming. If they had, or if there wasn’t a strong reaction by some to these issues I would have never have visited the site again.
There was a reaction though and I’ll be sticking around for now to try and help combat any ill-informed, prejudicial or just plain stoooooopid views. Together we can do it.
I’m Spartacus!
just checked on the front page:
3,288 members have posted a total of 194,132 replies within 19,045 topics in 27 visible forums.
but 2 notable pratts on a couple of threads is enough for people to threaten to quit using/supporting the forum in whatever fashion?
people are taking things WAY too seriously
Grim, i know u prefer your bike, but surely the new one has that certain…“i want one” factor?..its gorgeous. Dont think ill have the bottle to have a go once other half sorts it out…wish i was taller !! But i can sit and admire from afar…(prob “far” being the operative word, seeings he will be miles in front of me all the time!)
See thats what makes it a “forum”…people with different views and ideas…some can take it all, some can take some, and some cant take it at all…its what makes us who we are…as for the “pratts” you mention…well, guess someone luvs em !!
A bit of common sense and intelligence about what might upset people and self control would go much further than a censored site.
Yes but for when that kind of diplomacy fails, there needs to be a system in place to tackle threads that may impact the forum in a negative way.
Good replies.
The community as a whole can create a culture of thinking before posting, and thinking before replying, and the Hosts do well at a hard job of encouraging this, though when all this fails, as AfroR1 says, we need a procedure that catches these bad discussions and deals with them in a way that protects the community and at the same time tries to appease as many parties as possible.
Nobody is talking about removing non-biking discussions from LB, that would be madness, though clearly, we’re losing out by having these ‘bad’ discussions. LB isn’t a dicatorship, so it’s not a case of us deciding anything unilaterally, we’re listening to everyone and taking in wisdom from previous incidents.
It’s my personal opinion that these sort of discussions should be removed straight away, I don’t think they have a place here, but as stated, it’s not a decision for any one person to take. It’s also hard to spot these discussions before they’ve gained some momentum, and by that time it can be hard to take action, unless we’re decisive and just delete them entirely once identified.
The new forum software that’s being integrated as we speak will have more features to help make the forum team aware of bad discussions, so we’re already working on improving things.
Discussions like this are what seperate LB from many others. Most other forums wouldn’t even discuss this and the owners would just make a decision. I don’t think that is the right way in the long-run. This is your community after-all.
very true. But short of a full time staff member and membership fee’s things will always slip through.
Now your talking !!! Membership fees…is that the way to go? 
I don’t think that was Oli’s point…
