Topic: Cyberbullying (split from Brexit thread)

[24/7]

Echo that - thanks PS for taking the time to clarify further, much appreciated

We've always encouraged healthy debate. Doesn't always happen but it's good to have the aspiration there and actively encourage it. When it becomes UNhealthy debate, that's where it can get messy - and mods have views/lives/hearts/souls too......

[BlackandWhitePaul]

Should just ban anyone who can't take a joke.

Yes, well let's just see who can take a joke next season when you's get beat off the Toon, both home and away   

[Jiminy Cricket]

That's the thing though - lots of stuff is done that you don't get to see - and, frankly, shouldn't. Lots of stuff gets deleted before most people even get to see it. Warnings are private. Ban messages are private. The moderation log is restricted view. You don't get to see a lot of what we do. So whatever view you have is intentionally restricted at best, myopic at worst. At the end of the day, some people will see what they want to see anyway and we can do fuck all about that.

Although not relevant to the topic in hand, this is a really important general point. It often causes all kinds of problems. As you say, members often only witness a tiny fraction of the problem, yet they feel they know all the facts and have the correct handle on the situation. Then, on other occasions, my forum (I assume it is the same here) receives complaints because a member feels that the moderation problem should have been resolved in private. The problem with that is that then other members will assume that no action has been taken with a very public problem. Members need - in the main - to take things on trust unless they have very good reason to think otherwise. I don't think such doubts should apply to RAWK.

[Jiminy Cricket]

Well that escalated quickly 

Since when did people become so damn touchy? A gentle ribbing is not cyber bullying. I imagine most people know this though but saw it as an opportunity to have a moan.

Exactly. I'm sure just about everyone here is on the end of far worse from their mates down the pub. Now, few here will be proper mates, but I'm sure we understand each other well enough (most of the time) to accept some playfulness, ribbing, or even occasional cutting remarks. Surely this is even more acceptable at forum such as this.

[CraigDS]

Yes, well let's just see who can take a joke next season when you's get beat off the Toon, both home and away   

And with jokes like that you're not getting banned mate 

[Mutton Geoff]

Personally I think we should draw a line through this now
I didn’t regard Alan’s comment as malicious I simply felt it was not needed at this time and in the past might have led to a reply which would get me banned. As for Alan in the past we have got on well in fact he was a great help supplying a resource for my school’s history department . On this issue I fear we will never agree but hopefully Alan and I will continue to get on amicably in the future.

As this seemed to get overlooked on page one i will repost it, Alan's joke or piss take was frankly the wrong time wrong day,

 i have a problem with depression these days and also my physical health and i had a shit day in the classroom dealing with the abuse students think we teachers are just there to take off them, so yes i was not in the mood for any banter or people taking the piss out of me when i got home.

And i will reiterate other than this jezzer malaise Alan and I get on really well i feel on these boards and he has been a great help to me off the boards. I never once thought it was cyberbullying which is something we know a lot about in education, i simply thought it was a stupid comment and a needless joke at my expense.

This has now escalated to something way out of proportion to the original problem in my opinion and maybe we need to forget it and move on now.

[Jiminy Cricket]

This has now escalated to something way out of proportion to the original problem in my opinion and maybe we need to forget it and move on now.

I think just about all of us can agree with that. It has escalated out of proportion, and mostly not of your making. It is just a group dynamics thing. It is sometimes an almost random occurrence. Especially when discussing touchy subjects like Brexit or politics in general. I think we all are pissed off with what's happening in the UK - some lashing out (by all of us) is inevitable, and not always on target.

[John C]

Cheers Geoff. I appreciate what you’ve posted and it certainly wasn’t you that escalated it.

About 15 years ago I was an anti-bullying and harassment officer in my workplace, a large organisation. A number of us were trained to provide advice and support to employees who felt they may have subject to bullying, isolation and such practices who may not have been members of a trade union. The scheme was brilliant and gave me a good insight about how to conduct myself at work
Whilst I’m mindful that RAWK may appear to have clique’s and that one or two posters seem to follow someone around making comment about another poster (I felt it myself in 2006) which we are very mindful about, but it is fucking abhorrent and unacceptable to suggest a quip is online bullying.

This matter is closed now folks, thanks for your contributions as usual.

[Alan_X]

OK john, but lets not lose sight of the fact here that, he is after all, a fucking southern shandy drinking bastard.


I would suggest all of you use the one simple rule I use, and that is to neither favour one poster over another, but to treat them all with the same level of contempt. Bellends.

Is the right answer.

[Alan_X]

Personally I think we should draw a line through this now
I didn’t regard Alan’s comment as malicious I simply felt it was not needed at this time and in the past might have led to a reply which would get me banned. As for Alan in the past we have got on well in fact he was a great help supplying a resource for my school’s history department . On this issue I fear we will never agree but hopefully Alan and I will continue to get on amicably in the future.

Cheers - Thanks for that. I do have a lot of respect for you and was more than happy to help out with the ec[dhibition catalogue. It’s a shame we will probably never see eye to eye about the current leadership but by the same token I would hate this to be a site where there is a party line that everyone conforms to. The Labour issue is as contentious as it is because it’s one that we all care about passionately.

We’ll discuss the issue of UK politics threads in the staff room. As has been said many times we are a Liverpool Football Club website and if binning certain threads allows us all to focus on the things we agree on it’s not a great loss to me. There are plenty of other places on the internet where politics can be discussed. Personally I’d rather have no Labour Party discussion and keep the opportunity to discuss football with you.