I’m going to paraphrase and outright steal from some of the things Sterling said to the moderators, but I also will add a bit of my own outlook, having been around since pterodactyls darkened the Texas skies.
We have to tighten up control on the forum. Secondary responsibility for that falls on us, the mods and admins, but it will of course primarily be the members’ responsibility to control things. In other words, don’t make a mess and we won’t have to clean it up!
Sterling: “Familiarity and comfort can lead to forgetting that this is a corporate forum. Your comments ultimately reflect on our company and not the offending poster.”
There is nothing inherently wrong with familiarity and comfort, of course. Many of us have met or know each other in real life and so on. As an example, I am friends with Sterling and his family and many of the EBMM employees, but this doesn’t give me carte blanche to answer questions that are better answered by, say, Dudley or Dargin or Sterling. If after all these years, I still think carefully about how to approach a given subject, I don’t think it’s too much to ask you guys to do the same.
Sterling: “The forum started with no rules. Period. Every rule and change has been made necessary by people who get crazy. We are just going to delete posts that don’t work.” And please, don’t PM me or anyone else about your First Amendment rights. If you don’t know by now that I hate deleting things, you know it now. But delete it I will, and the only person I have to defend it to is BP.
Some things should be obvious but are not, so I’ll be as clear as possible.
1. Sterling: “Any threads that contain negative criticism of other players will immediately be deleted.“ I can’t imagine there would be any question about this. No one expects you to absolutely love every new band you hear, but “Wow, these guys suck” is simply unnecessary. If you don’t like it, don’t comment. Negative response is not an option. And this isn’t just about EBMM artists. Everyone in the music business is working hard to do the best they can. Let’s respect our fellow musicians even if what they do isn’t our cup of tea.
2. Sterling: “Posts containing politics, race, creed, sexual orientation, and country of origin will also be deleted.” He reserves the right to make English dental jokes.
3. Sterling: “Sexual innuendos are out.” Every time a female member joins up or Kevin or Derek post a pic of a female endorsee, I can tell you that a few of us hold our breath, waiting for the junior high sexual commentary. We’re seldom disappointed. Yes, the female endorsees do check the forum and yes, they are offended. Treat them like you want your daughters/sisters to be treated and let’s put an end to it without moderation. PLEASE.
If the mods get three PMs about a particular member being “rude, abrupt, combative, or terminally negative”, we will contact the offending party and let them know that they are not making a positive contribution here. The offender will be on double secret probation. Any further trouble and the account will be terminated. And yes, we DO get PMs about certain obvious troublemakers, although as a bassist I’m relieved to say it’s mostly on the guitar side. But not always.
My take is that all of this should be common sense and usually is. The vast majority of you guys are positive, contributing members and I don’t want you to feel as if everyone is being painted with the same broad stroke. Not the case at all. A few – a very few – bad apples really can spoil the whole barrel. I have lived through and dealt with a case or two of this on the forum and it’s just no fun for anyone involved, especially the good guys.
So just tighten it up a bit if you need to, please. I thank you on behalf of Sterling and all the moderators. And as the boss said, “It sounds like a bummer but I think that the vast majority will appreciate the more positive friendly environment.”
Originally Posted by beej
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