New warning system for members on AFO

[AFO]

AFO has recently introduced a new warning system for members. This is a result of recent poor behaviour by some members.

If a member does not abide by our site rules (found here http://www.australianfishing.com.au/site-rules) then they can be given a warning by an Admin or Moderator. It does not matter which rule, it may be trivial or serious, whatever the reason if you don't act within our Site Rules you face receiving a warning.

Members are allowed 3 warnings - members receive 2 warnings then on the third they are permanently banned from the site. The 2nd warning may give the user a temporary ban, during which time we ask the member take time to reflect on their actions and become familiar with our Site Rules before participating in the community once more.

We believe our Site Rules are reasonable and fair for all our members. We strive for a friendly, supportive and happy fishing and boating community and will take measures to ensure this is achieved.

We receive reports of inappropriate behaviour on the site and act when necessary. Since the introduction of our warning system, we have gone back through recent reports and given warnings to members who have not adhered to the Site Rules in recent times. Consider yourselves lucky if you have been given a warning and take this as a reminder to be familiar with our Site Rules and participate accordingly. Some members received several warnings because of numerous reports of their bad behaviour and as a result have been permanently banned.

Banned members are not allowed to interact on the website or attend or compete in Tournaments, Events or activities organised by AFO. Banned members forfeit any fees paid to AFO including membership or tournament entries.

Our general rule is if you don't want to say something nice, don't! and just ignore the user and/or remark. Personal attacks are not allowed and we ask instead of fueling any arguments you report the matter. We value our members and we hope this warning system will remind members of their obligations as a member and if given a warning they take heed of the warning and change their ways to continue to participate long into the future

[aussie123]

So with all the trouble on here in recent times with 2 members in particular,one has been banned and the other is still here.

How does that work?

[AFO]

We have gone through the reports over recent times and analysed the actions and have given warnings accordingly. Some members received 1, some 2 and some 3 (banned) warnings as a result of our investigation. All members given warnings know what is expected of them on the site and know the consequences of any future offence.

Our warnings are given irregardless of the member (whether how long they have been a member, how many posts they have or if they are known to Mods or Admins). If any member does not abide by the Site Rules they know the consequences.

Warnings are only visible to the individual member who has been given them and Moderators and Admins.

[zan0_15]

Our warnings are given irregardless of the member (whether how long they have been a member, how many posts they have or if they are known to Mods or Admins). If any member does not abide by the Site Rules they know the consequences.

Your actions so far completely contradict the above statement. Therefore it is nothing but a politically correct lie.

[AFO]

That is not correct zan0_15 and frankly we take accusations like this to heart. We spend countless hours managing this large collective of members who come from all sorts of backgrounds. Although some members may think this site is only run by 1 or 2 mods/admins, this site has numerous admins that login to do the many administrative tasks that a forum with close to half a million posts requires - including move topics, delete posts, rename titles, respond to PMs and emails, report inappropriate messages and behaviour and they have no idea who is who and what petty differences members may have with each other.

These warnings have been reviewed by several admins (of which 2 are totally independent without any knowledge of any members). We have reviewed all reported forum posts and reviewed reported PM messages.

With regard to 2 particular members, these two members were given temporary bans and since those bans each member has been given warnings reflective of their actions since then.

[Wahoo2]

I have had a really good think about this before posting what I am about to say and I am prepared to suffer the consequences if this ruffles any feathers but it needs to be said.

Since joining the site a couple of months ago I have met some great blokes, fellow fisherman and guys I would consider to be my mates. I have gained a wealth of knowledge and put this to the test and time after time I have reaped rewards out on the water with advice from guys including Tugger, Bri the Pom, Haines (banned), Richard7785, TimD and many more. I thank AFO for providing me and many others with a place to share and meet new people with one common interest, fishing.

Unfortunately I and many others see that this site has a small group of long standing members who try to intimidate, stir and belittle new members and anyone who may have an opinion that differs from the group. I have been messaged through Facebook from a member on here, derogatory comments about my wife which should incur an instant ban in itself yet this was swept under the carpet and this member continues to contribute nothing to the forum apart from half arsed wise cracks and pointless posts looking to stir fellow members and gain a post count.

In regards to the warning system how can you possibly justify rolling out a warning system and then back date it just to push a friend of mine and many others out of the forum. Not even a first and final warning but a back dated instant ban? I will find you 3 warning worthy posts from members and because on each time they broke the site rules can we then remove their membership too? What's good for one is good for all and the above post where you say that friends of mods and admins are treated the same is absolute hogs wash. If this were so the forum would be without a couple more members.

Take this how you like, I love the site and most of the members but don't like the way that this has been handled and how the 'protected species' continue to roam free.

Kane.

[crazywalrus]

I have had a really good think about this before posting what I am about to say and I am prepared to suffer the consequences if this ruffles any feathers but it needs to be said.

Since joining the site a couple of months ago I have met some great blokes, fellow fisherman and guys I would consider to be my mates. I have gained a wealth of knowledge and put this to the test and time after time I have reaped rewards out on the water with advice from guys including Tugger, Bri the Pom, Haines (banned), Richard7785, TimD and many more. I thank AFO for providing me and many others with a place to share and meet new people with one common interest, fishing.

Unfortunately I and many others see that this site has a small group of long standing members who try to intimidate, stir and belittle new members and anyone who may have an opinion that differs from the group. I have been messaged through Facebook from a member on here, derogatory comments about my wife which should incur an instant ban in itself yet this was swept under the carpet and this member continues to contribute nothing to the forum apart from half arsed wise cracks and pointless posts looking to stir fellow members and gain a post count.

In regards to the warning system how can you possibly justify rolling out a warning system and then back date it just to push a friend of mine and many others out of the forum. Not even a first and final warning but a back dated instant ban? I will find you 3 warning worthy posts from members and because on each time they broke the site rules can we then remove their membership too? What's good for one is good for all and the above post where you say that friends of mods and admins are treated the same is absolute hogs wash. If this were so the forum would be without a couple more members.

Take this how you like, I love the site and most of the members but don't like the way that this has been handled and how the 'protected species' continue to roam free.

Kane.

Hi Kane

I think you will find that any member banned recently and previously is not undertaken lightly. It is unfortunate that you feel there are members that intimidate new members. I think you may have unfortunately got caught in the crossfire between certain members if this is the case. The problem you have is that AFO admins can only rule on activities and actions that are undertaken on the site not other sites or in person. I myself find any vilification of a person abhorrent and disgraceful but AFO can not rule on messages on Facebook. I would suggest that you have a look at your privacy settings on facebook as when I first heard about this I was surprised that it was even possible unless you where friends.

I do think that there must be some members on here that are on their last warning. I hope that their behavior is correct in the future and they are kept on a short leash.

Although some posts may be found offensive to someone with an axe to grind with someone, to others they are not seen as a personal attack. I have read the posts of one perpetrator since the banning and they have been careful to ensure that the posts where not personal but in some cases still had the desired effect. Both in my mind are destructive but only one will end up getting yourself banned.

At the end of the day - we should all leave the petty fighting off the site and get on with chatting about fishing and the like. At the end of the day we are here on the site at the pleasure of the site owners and this sort of behavior I am sure does not please them.

Regards Ted

[TIM D]

I've had my first official warning

We live in the nanny state and now the forum's going the same way, is Julia

Gillard a AFO moderator now ???

thanks tim

[kmcrosby78]

I've had my first official warning

We live in the nanny state and now the forum's going the same way, is Julia

Gillard a AFO moderator now ???

thanks tim

Tim I don't know you from a bar of soap and further I have no knowledge of what your warning was for, but Ted's last paragraph sums things up perfectly. The guys that own and/or put the effort into running/moderating this site would much rather people discussed fishing (and other stuff) and got along, rather than constant problems. As an example, and not to big note myself, I've written over 750 posts and would like to think I haven't even come close to a warning, so I really think if everyone follows the rules and either gets along (or ignores others if they decide a certain person is not someone they'd like to associate with) the site would have a happier vibe.

Once again, I'm not having a go at you yourself as I don't know you (and I haven't been on the site much lately as work has been flat out) but just making a general comment.

[Doobsy]

If you haven't got anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

(In Forrest Gump voice...)

And that's all I have to say 'bout that.

Let's fish, take some photos and put up some reports.

Think of the children. :ohmy:

:woohoo:

[bootyinblue]

I applaude any system put in place to make the site a more harmonious place and ease the workload of the site admins and moderators.

People just need to remember that being a member on the site is a privilege and not a right, and further criticizing the admins for the actions they have implemented is not going to help their cause, and I suspect nor your own.

[pancakes_and_haggis]

The mods I this site work tirelessly to keep the forum family orientated and put in a huge amount of hours trawling through posts and threads.

I've been warned before for language but have understood the reason behind it and have learnt the lesson .

In my mind the moderators have been fair in what they moderate if they do not want something to be seen on this website for 1 reason or another it is there prerogative to moderate it

I have made plenty of good friends from this forum and met plenty of great people, I'd perhaps taken a lot more than I have given, but whenever possible and within my fishing knowledge I give back where ever possible.

Sometimes it can be the way you take a comment that can be the difference between a friend and an enemy and to me that's unfortunate.

Keep the forum upbeat and informative after all that's why we are here

Callum

[Terry H]

In regards to the warning system how can you possibly justify rolling out a warning system and then back date it just to push a friend of mine and many others out of the forum. Not even a first and final warning but a back dated instant ban?

Kane, the site and forum rules are not new. Many of the members issued warnings have been provided them in the past. A number of the warnings received in this new system are just registering/acknowledging those warnings already received in the past. Consider it a formal recognition and reminder of these warnings.

The decision to ban a member is never taken lightly, nor is a Moderator suggesting to Admin a member be banned. As for why some members were permanently banned and others not, Admin have strongly considered the behaviours of those members before and after the temporary ban. Where a member has been permanently banned I would suggest this is a result of their behaviour not changing appropriately and them continuing to breach the rules in a significant manner.

Tim,

Consider the forum going into a nanny state if you wish, that is your opinion. At the end of the day the forum is here for members of all ages. It is also a fishing forum, not a place to verbally abuse/insult/patronise people. As such, it is appropriate for such posts to be moderated, and for members (who continue) to be removed for the benefit of the rest. After all - no one wants to come on here and read posts of adults arguing or bickering like kids.

As for the events that occur outside of the AFO forum, whether it be in person, emails, phone, facebook, or another method - I ask one question. If they are not misbehaving on AFO, what is banning them achieving? Banning them from AFO will not stop this behaviour.

[TIM D]

Sometimes it can be the way you take a comment that can be the difference between a friend and an enemy and to me that's unfortunate.

Yeah thats why i have so many enemies on here, some blokes can't take a joke these days

cheers tim

[Terry H]

Sometimes it can be the way you take a comment that can be the difference between a friend and an enemy and to me that's unfortunate.

Yeah thats why i have so many enemies on here, some blokes can't take a joke these days

cheers tim

Tim,

If this is the case I would suggest that if you have not met someone before and they do not know your personality to go easy on the jokes and sarcasm.

It can be quite difficult to tell if someone is joking or being serious through a text-only communication. Sarcasm (when delivered verbally) is generally accompanied with different tones and this is not the case on a forum.

[Milan]

As Terry said Tim there is no context in written word and so you've got to be alittle careful.

[Damien2Rad]

I've been using forums of all kinds for many years now and have never received a warning nor made enemies.

The secret? Ignorance really is bliss.

You listen to the good and you ignore the bad.

I've spent time with people on both teams (that's what it looks like from the outside looking in) and I have to say that I enjoyed all of it and still remain imnpartial and neutral in any and all arguments or disagreements.

Now, back to the fishing....

[MoparKevUk]

As Terry said Tim there is no context in written word and so you've got to be alittle careful.

That's what smileys are for!

[Terry H]

As Terry said Tim there is no context in written word and so you've got to be alittle careful.

That's what smileys are for!

I agree that smileys can help convey your sarcasm. The issue remains though that if you haven't met or spoken to the person much then it is very easy to rub someone up the wrong way, particularly if you frequently do it.

[madmullet]

I find it a shame that one of my close mates has been banned, when thr other is still hear. The both had equal roles in the way of bad behaviour but i dont see why one is gone but yet one us still hear. To me that is 2 set if rules fr what i have seen day in and day out. One if the main tipics that gets brought up is the protected species, nit just with 1 or 2 people but over 30 that i have talked to over the past couple ig months, now why woukd this be???

If a few members are causing trouble, but are classed as afo family by many, then why not put in place a differant way of handleing these people like, having a lock on them so when they want to post, when they hit send it goes to a admin for further evaluation.

I know this take more time, but they also contribute a lot of good to this site also

Sorry about spelling, cant be bothered to go threw it as i sm on my i-phone

[zan0_15]

This is an absolute joke.

how can you implement a new system/set of rules without informing the afo community then decide to backdate the new rules? how is this fair? its not and you know it.

And i want you to tell me why only one member was banned as a result? How about the constant baiting that has gone on over the last month by the protected species group? Whats ur response to that?

And so your telling me you picked some absolute random to investigate threads and poists over the last few weeks and they then acted in accordance to these new rules? Absolute garbage.

have a serious look at what this site is becoming.

why am i recieving no feedback on posts i report to mods as requested? i know why, as there is no feedback as nothing gets done about it because the members in question are under afos desk........grubs.

[AFO]

I find it a shame that one of my close mates has been banned, when thr other is still hear. The both had equal roles in the way of bad behaviour but i dont see why one is gone but yet one us still hear. To me that is 2 set if rules fr what i have seen day in and day out. One if the main tipics that gets brought up is the protected species, nit just with 1 or 2 people but over 30 that i have talked to over the past couple ig months, now why woukd this be???

If a few members are causing trouble, but are classed as afo family by many, then why not put in place a differant way of handleing these people like, having a lock on them so when they want to post, when they hit send it goes to a admin for further evaluation.

I know this take more time, but they also contribute a lot of good to this site also

Sorry about spelling, cant be bothered to go threw it as i sm on my i-phone

Well it is a shame that one of your close mates treated our site poorly and did not adhere to our Site Rules.

Your close mate was banned because even after a temporary ban, he did not change his behaviour, where as other members who have been given temporary bans and warnings have.

So there is no 2 sets of rules, it is pretty clear actually.

There is no AFO 'family' or any other rubbish people make up. It is a community of members from all different backgrounds and we treat each one the same. We don't see why we need to waste our time any further by closer moderation of members. It is quite simple - be a friendly member and adhere to our Site Rules and there will be no problems. For the other 10k members they seem to be able to participate perfectly fine!

It doesn't matter who you are at all, warnings will be given to anyone for anything not in accordance with our Site Rules. The atrocious behaviour of some members including your friend is appalling. We get hundreds of emails from our 10k member base regularly reporting their bad behaviour. Not only does this waste hours of our time, it means the rest of the community suffers. These disrespectful members don't realise, it is a privilege to be a member, and we don't get any compensation for wasting our time on them.

All members on this site agree to the Site Rules, and if they bothered to actually read them, they would know there was no warnings previously, just an immediate ban.

So no sympathy for them if they have been banned now. We gave members informal warnings and even temporary bans, some took heed of the warning and changed their ways, some didn't and they can only blame themselves and not whine at AFO. It is their own actions they can blame

[AFO]

This is an absolute joke.

how can you implement a new system/set of rules without informing the afo community then decide to backdate the new rules? how is this fair? its not and you know it.

And i want you to tell me why only one member was banned as a result? How about the constant baiting that has gone on over the last month by the protected species group? Whats ur response to that?

And so your telling me you picked some absolute random to investigate threads and poists over the last few weeks and they then acted in accordance to these new rules? Absolute garbage.

have a serious look at what this site is becoming.

why am i recieving no feedback on posts i report to mods as requested? i know why, as there is no feedback as nothing gets done about it because the members in question are under afos desk........grubs.

Firstly, there has been no backdating of rules. Our Site Rules has always stated a one strike and you are banned policy. So instead, we have graciously introduced a new system that allows a few more chances to redeem themselves and change their behaviour. So, if we wanted to backdate the rules, your friend would have been banned along time ago. We see this as extremely fair.

We have explained this numerous times, the member you inquire about has had over 200 emails over the last month sent to us as a result of their actions. This alone would get them an immediate ban, but we gave some informal warnings and even temporary ban, but the member still did not change their ways and was banned. It is all in black and white and the sheer volume of complaints against the member you mentioned easily warrants the actions we have taken. We gave them multiple chances and we see that is very reasonable and fair.

We do not provide feedback on reported messages. We review these reports and act accordingly. Frankly, the attitude you are displaying is not in the spirit of this community. There is no 'afo's desk', there is no 'allegiances', there is no 'boys club', there is no 'conspiracy'. We have always said, that if you think something is inappropriate, then report it and we will review. It does not mean that your report means a member will be banned, warned or congratulated. We review each case by case.

Accusing us of inappropriate actions is very disrespectful to the tireless efforts we put in to the community. Remember, this is our site and every member needs to act according to our reasonable Site Rules to participate. We recommend you re-read the rules so you are aware of the behaviour that is expected.

[Terry H]

how can you implement a new system/set of rules without informing the afo community then decide to backdate the new rules? how is this fair? its not and you know it.

There have been no new additional rules. These rules have been in place for quite some time. The only thing that is new is the formal warning system on the forum software. The warnings issued recently were just formally recognising these warnings already issued, and in some cases where warnings should have been issued.

If you go out and rob a store, then don't get caught for a month you can't turn around and say "well you didn't arrest me for that last month, so what's the deal now?"

And i want you to tell me why only one member was banned as a result? How about the constant baiting that has gone on over the last month by the protected species group? Whats ur response to that?

Two members were both warned, and both given temporary bans. One continued and did not ease up. The other on the other hand has settled down greatly on the forum. There is a difference.

And so your telling me you picked some absolute random to investigate threads and poists over the last few weeks and they then acted in accordance to these new rules? Absolute garbage.

Not sure how many times I have to say this, but I hope this is the last. Admin have NOT introduced a new set of rules. The posts were in breach of the rules when they were made.

why am i recieving no feedback on posts i report to mods as requested? i know why, as there is no feedback as nothing gets done about it because the members in question are under afos desk........grubs.

Just because a post gets reported to mod does not mean anything will happen with it. Posts that are reported to mod are then assessed/checked by multiple mods and admin. If nothing has happened with it in a reasonable time period then one can assume this means that the post is fine under the current site rules.

As for your PM, I did not have a chance to reply to it until today. As it has been stated before the Mods and Admin help run this site in our own time. This may mean that I can respond to your PM within 5 minutes, or depending on work and what is happening in my personal time (eg away from the computer at work events or fishing this weekend) it may take longer for me to get to your PM. It's not being ignored, just haven't had time to respond.