Idea for Swellnet

Yep, been on the drawing board for a while. Hopefully in the next few months!

How about an ignore feature where you can disable the comments from posters you select and prevent them from appearing on your feed ?

Seriously.

I've seen other forums that have it.

I realise that the forums aren't a huge money spinner , but I've got no clue as to what sort of expense or difficulty that'd entail.

Blowin, there's a slightly different version along those lines I'm more interested to implement, which I saw utilised really well on another website around ten years ago.

Simply, every comment can be up-voted or down-voted (nothing new there), but a threshold is put in place, where every 2x down-votes decreases the font size of the comments posts, and after (say) 10 down-votes, it's rendered invisible (though you can still 'reveal' the contents of the post if you like).

This will hopefully incentivise (or otherwise) posters to reduce the amount of shitty comments. 

I love it!!

Or negate any opinion going against the tide?

Sure, the effects may not always be intentional. But we gotta try something. And if the overwhelming majority of the Swellnet audience thinks someone's comments are out of line (and down-vote it accordingly), there you'd have to say there's a reasonable chance the concensus could be right.

Better than having to wade through some of the guff that appears from time to time, anyway. And it won't be fully censored, just partially hidden. You'll still be able to read the comment (unless it ticks the box for deletion).

That being said, I am always open to suggestions of how to improve things. 

That's a great idea , Ben.

Too bad if someone's got 18 different pseudonyms and they elect to downvote you out of existence though.

Any possibility of restricting multiple personalities ?

Yeah there'll be teething problems no matter what we try. But, we gotta try something. 

Restricting multiple personalities - the problem isn't as bad as you think. Again, my goal is all about disincentivising dickhead beahaviour.

Remember, for someone with 18 different pseudonyms to down-vote someone else's comments, they've gotta (1) create multiple fake profile with fake (or at least a unique) email address, (2) keep a track of each username/password, and the "personalities" of each pseudonym, and (2) continuously log in and out of each account in order to down-vote someone.

That's a heck of a lot of effort just to be a nuisance. And, such behavioural patterns are usually quite visible at our end (if not to the general public as well, especially because we can make visible the names of those users up-voting and down-voting).

Cheers, Ben.

Yeh I agree Blowin there's a few on here that act like a pack of deranged Collingwood supporters sharing the same set of false teeth.

I don't think it'd be as hard to fake as you think Ben they would only need 2 or 3 different browsers open at the same time. Some avoid the personality issue by just not having one - not talking about any turkeys in particular.

The next question is would the esteemed readers of swellnet vote the outlandish comments up or down? Its a tough crowd to pick!

We also have to keep in mind that the forums constitute a very small percentage of our overall traffic. So I can't allocate a lot of development resources to 'em, as I'd rather be doing other things with that money.

Didn't you mean a Herc of a lot of effort?

Wowsers!

I get it.

Righto (literally).

Time to skedaddle.

Onwards & upwards.

Greener pastures.

Take a knee.

Lest we remember.

http://www.openculture.com/2016/07/john-cages-silent-avant-garde-piece-4...

Having public forums without moderators relies on the goodwill and common sense of contributors - herein lies the problem.

From observation recent SN forum topics that have become heated involve issues around race, religion, xenophobia and its ugly relative jingoism. Its no surprise these topics become heated here because they are hotly contested everywhere in our community, media and in politics.
Hmmm, I've said forever the first job of a true leader is to unite and yet we have political leaders here and abroad that routinely seek to exploit division .... anyway I digress.

My idea: Mirror what they do in the newspapers, allow comments from the public within a certain time period and then close off all further comments. Time period = say 2 or 5 or 10 days. Shut all topics down and let everyone move on.

Then wot? Logon to Swellnet to smack down some of those pinkie, leftie, whale hugging imbeciles that make me puke

Sure, that all sounds fine and dandy.

Problem is though, some articles (i.e. weather/surf related) should remain open for comments indefinitely as there is often new information that comes to light that is worth including. But what if someone starts going berko in the comments then? etc

I think in general, our forums are pretty good - I've been a part of many forums over the last 20-odd years, and Swellnet is pretty tame compared to some of the stuff I've seen elsewhere.

Anyway, we'll give a few things a crack and see how it goes. 

Blowin yeah the ignore button is a decent idea . How many posters would be on your list ?

Please give me the block./ignore option, just like they have on the "surfermag" forum, i only need it for one user.

I rarely post there but the "surfermag" forum also has a user rating where you can give people a thumbs up or thumbs down.

I think thats good, it shows peoples long term character, some people here are just constantly negative while others actually bring positive conversation or help other users.

Personally i think most people here are fairly mature and don't need much moderation and topics rarely get heated or pushed too far, and although i strongly disagree with some peoples views, i see it for what is is just different views, i try not to get personal because i mean i don't share the same views often with friends or family, just because we don't share the same views doesn't make you an enemy to me or doesn't need to turn into back and forward abuse.

I don't even mind if every once in a while maybe someone gets frustrated and calls me a name or goes me some shit, thats just life.

But what i don't like is people who constantly troll and bait and try to get personal and throw abuse and names and go on and on, not because it causes me any type of pain, i couldn't care what some person I've never met thinks or writes, but more because it's just really annoying and pointless and sometimes yeah it is hard not to take the bait.

I don't mind discussing or debating but just getting into a pointless bitch match with some person you have and will never met ands couldn't care less about...sorry count me out.

Personally i don't like the closed thread idea, some threads develop overtime or its good to sometimes bump back an old thread and relook at things or add to it etc

I Agree , Indo.

Let the comments go on and don't moderate as it is now.

The comments are fine as they are . Regardless of the controversy of the topic or how heated they get , it's all good. I dig the frank exchange of differing opinions. Let them be forthright and unmoderated.

It's the repeating loop pattern of personal bullshit that's not even related to topics that's frustrating. I realise I'm not blameless , but I do try and move on then find myself sucked back in to the stupidity vortex.

Clam - there's only 2 people I'd ignore , but one of them has a few different pseudonyms . I realise that's probably a fraction of the amount that'd ignore me.

I sometimes think that my being stalked by them is karma for how I treated Blindboy . But then my disputes with BB were ideological , not just being a cock for the sake of it . Maybe that's not 100 percent true ?

Sorry , Blindboy. Doesn't mean I agree with you though.

Great points ID, I concur.

No ones perfect we all have our faults but Blowin adds a lot of real positive and constructive things to the forum, he often starts good threads some maybe political or controversial many not, many travel type threads.

To me thats the difference between some posters and others, a user rating system would show the positive and also the negative, or just show the positive or just show the negative.

Indy, speaking of Agung.

Some of your Indo knowledge has been insightful. And given in the best spirit of info and knowledge sharing.

Which is cool. It's a given. Well, to me.

Maybe you could even include Blowie with some of his fish knowledge (blowfish?) for those that are inclined and interested.

Myself, I'm ignorant of the lesser known parts of say, Sumatra. And the fishing, period, on the East Coast of Oz. Hell, fishing most anywhere. It's not really my bag. Though I've caught a few.

Add to that a lot of things. Tax accounting. Physical conditioning and training. Surfboard bottoms and how they really work. Wave pool mechanics.

We're all ignorant of a lot of stuff.

What irks me is how people deal with their ignorance.

Wilful ignorance I find hard to abide.

Revelling in one's own ignorance and wearing it like a badge of honour is an abomination!

It seems especially prevalent in the wider Australian political/cultural life for the last 20 years or so.

& it ain't healthy in my opinion.

I thought Swellnet could be a place to question and interrogate the 'orthodoxies' that are thrown up daily in the corporate media. Question the official narrative as it were.

Or regurgitate.

Whatever.

Really.

Surf's up. Time to grasp the brass ring!

Fnar, fnar!

Hang on, someone's just Facebook messaged me. Again.

GF tickets come through?!

What you call ignorance is just your opinion though on other peoples views.

Just because you or me think we are educated or right about a topic doesn't mean we are, especially when it comes to social type issues, there is often no right or wrong, its just a matter of perspective and really most of it comes back to just being an opinion, and thats what forums are about discussing things sharing info and giving an opinion.

Personally i try to avoid the political topics especially when it comes to worldwide politics and issues like war etc because all the info we are getting is second hand information and basically just someones view on how they see things.

IMHO its crazy to think we know the true picture or understand the issues especially if we have never even been to these places, i mean its hard enough trying to understand and grasp issues in Australia let alone foreign countries.

If this mutual back stroking keeps up I'll be reporting SN to Cory Bernardi and the ACL!

¡Hasta la victoria siempre!

Indeed!

Give me convenience or give me death!

hey shanter,
its pointless, gutless & pure weakness, when a nobody, goes wah wah wah ! another, nameless, childish, sooky, snotty so & so.........well it just sound's again like dribble, simple shit, that real people, will not take, even with a grain of salt. we all know that this is true........ i suggest ya stay on face book.

kinda like, facts & fiction!!! the real life & the people that live within it, get sick of, watchin tv, & the latest movie comin out, sittin on the, "interwebs" or what ever... alot, of fakes seem scared, of the out doors these days. i feel sorry for the younger generations being brought by these fakes, its so sad.

note; the "try ", word blowin, its like failing, with honor ! you will have to skip the "honor", bit when it comes to stu, ben & the rest of the bakers dozen. i recommend what ya all want, but good luck. reality bites, & truth hurts fakes.

For someone who doesn't like this website you sure do spend a lot of time on here dribbling shit Lukas.

i love swellnet, geez your out of touch........

IndoD gets my vote as the top contributor ,
I wish there was more like iD !

As a frequent reader and very infrequent contributor, I think the personal block is the way to go. Just because a bunch of people don't like something someone says, I don't think that thing should be hidden. The rare cases of intervention from the moderator seem to take care of extreme cases well here. But there are people I chose not to listen to outside the forums, and people I always skip over in the forums and being able to block them would be good. The whole "let's all rate everything everyday everywhere" from schools and universities to customer experience to 'friends' to comments on web fora shits me quite frankly. I think it is part of a general trend away from individuals basing judgements on knowledge and towards basing them on how they are presented - appearance over substance. The swellnet fora already work exceptionally well all told. :)

"What irks me is how people deal with their ignorance.
Wilful ignorance I find hard to abide.
Revelling in one's own ignorance and wearing it like a badge of honour is an abomination!"

ditto SB.

Its one thing to differ in an opinion but let it be informed and balanced not something lobbed on here masquerading as reasoned but intended to wilfully stir the pot.

ha ha thanks Clam :D

by ojackojacko

"The whole "let's all rate everything everyday everywhere" from schools and universities to customer experience to 'friends' to comments on web fora shits me quite frankly. I think it is part of a general trend away from individuals basing judgements on knowledge and towards basing them on how they are presented - appearance over substance"

This deserves a like. ;)

"The whole "let's all rate everything everyday everywhere" from schools and universities to customer experience to 'friends' to comments on web fora shits me quite frankly. I think it is part of a general trend away from individuals basing judgements on knowledge and towards basing them on how they are presented - appearance over substance"

This deserves a like. ;)

Hear fucken hear!!

It's the narrative of the numpties

While rome burns...

Wilful ignorance or personal bias? Everyone is biased. These are formed through upbringing, experience etc so you'd be hard pressed to change someones mind in an online forum of all places.

Nobody would bother reading/commenting if we were all just backslapping and chortling away like old old scholars all day long either.

On that note, if you disagree with someone for whatever then FFS at least have an opinion on why rather than just trolling the place. There are users on here that just want to watch the place burn.

brilliant lostdoggy :)))

'What you call ignorance is just your opinion though on other peoples views.'

That's just more 'willfull ignorance'. For instance we 'discussed' Traditional Indigenous Culture. I present fact, based on having formally studied Traditional Indigenous Culture, as presented by Indigenous Australians. To an experienced person, that means demonstrating in other disciplines, a proven and tested ability to reason, comprehend, and discern fact from fiction, and to assemble and present facts. I got in the top percentage of people doing so, often the highest marks possible, including in those other non Indigenous Study disciplines, got on the Dean's Honour roll, a few times, and won other awards. I have also worked with Indigenous Australians in 3 states, in the real world, and always received glowing references. As a further, anyone with any experience in the field, would understand what Indigenous Australians trying to have the material and subject matter accepted at University level actually means. Think the Elliston Massacre multiplied exponentially.

Conversely, Dutchie then going full tilt with his totally untested, his unproven, unsupported 'knowledge', his total' willfull ignorance', thinks he is presenting brilliant new facts, that haven't been considered in my tested education, 'knowledge' by his own admission gleaned when conducting a google search whilst, 'bored shitless looking after his child'. His ability to learn, discern, reason in the subject matter, and required other disciplines, is unproven, untested, unsupported and based on nothing but his own 'willfull ignorance'. Beyond ludicrous. But he 'argues' on, 'discusses' relentlessly.

Many people thanked me for helping them with health/fitness issues. My help/knowledge is based on the same, proven over and over, premise as above. And 45 years of super successfully testing it in the real world, to this day. To present that help, I constantly waded through mountains of drivelling, 'willfull ignorance', including blowie's totally ludicrous, untested, unsupported, rantings and drivellings. Again, as I suggested many times, if we were to put blowie and many other drivelling, 'willfully ignorant' swillnuts in a real life situation, with any number of injured, or uninjured clients, he/they would immediately present as very simply, to the point, fucking beyond ludicrous, beyond drivelling, beyond bullshit artists. I would expose him/them, and he/they would expose himself/themselves in 2 seconds flat, as 'wilfully ignorant', loud mouth, crap artists. But, we both know, in the crunch, he/they would never, ever go there. Instead he/they would shit his/their pants, and grovel out of that scenario, to swillnut crap on another day!!!

Seeing this, the only sensible conclusion that can be drawn, is obviously the site is just a comedy crap and drivvle fest, swillnutting fun and games. Surely?

And, I say that, whilst taking a cutting edge selfie, having dressed myself up, in suitable, dark, cutting edge attire, having adopted a deep, heavy, somewhat brooding stance, and just staring somewhat groovily, nonchalantly, broodingly, skywards, at a jet flying overhead... as one does... in the contemporary, brooding world of the swillnutting surfee!!!!

SWILLNUTS FOREVER!!! SURFEES FOREVER!!!

Ignore.

Willfull ignorance alert!!!

"Ignore'... the truth.

Care to show us that fitness 'expertise that you so passionately argued about then blowie? It can easily be set up, and will only take a couple of seconds to expose your ludicrous crapping and bullshitting, your pointless trolling to be more accurate.

I truly do not know what you are talking about or referring to.

Fitness expertise ?

I just wish you'd fuck right off.

Willfull ignorance alert stage 2!!!

'ignore'... Major doozie Alert!

Herc.

Do you realise what you sound like ?

Everyone has their "thing " . The issue that means a lot more to them than it does to most people. An issue that puts them straight on the attack / defence , gets their shackles up or possibly makes them slightly irrational when discussing. Now I'm not in any way saying that fitness , Indigenous welfare and culture or Blacks arent worthwhile topics to discuss at length.

But some people just become UNHINGED at the slightest opportunity to rant about their pet topics. Even to the point of ranting about them without any provocation or relevance to the discussion at hand whatsoever.

Sounding familiar ?

But you're next level

Way next level.

The manner in which you post the same diatribe over and over and over again, often inventing opposition in order to unleash your full repertoire of opinions - you think that is normal ?

Or sane ?

I don't.

Get help.

Till then ....please don't address or mention me in any of your posts and I'll ignore you.

Cheers.

'ignore' Another doozie.

How fucking hard is for you to stop bullshitting.

Just more bullshit.

Just a new idea, in a women's day or week.

Whatever changes are made if the "wilful ignorant" prevail or are emboldened by those changes I will not be renewing my paid up subscription. Its not unique to SN, its just something I do all the time as a consumer.

You think I'm willfully ignorant , Guy ?

I only ask because I'm struggling to think who is referred to with this willfully ignorant accusation.

I've used it myself , but I think in reality it's misplaced. People just have their own opinions.

They mightnt be able to articulate them accurately , or they might even be built on a foundation of unpleasantness such as bigotry.

But it's still their opinion and their entitled to it.

To assume that every opinion you possess it's completely and inarguably correct is quite the hubris and also very, very unlikely to be true.

For me to accuse you of willfully ignorance is to place my opinion on an unreachable and incontrovertible pedestal.

Not saying I'm innocent of that either...

Might point being , Guy , is that it's a bit narrow minded for you to consider not reading or contributing to the discussions just because other people don't agree with your thoughts or world views.

its either this, or trump and the little rocketman

Front bar 'willfull ignorance' alert!!!

Troll alert!!!

Because of his 'passion', as he states, his 'thing' for fitness, Blowin said:

'So you learnt about specificity training forty years ago , no doubt passing on your learning , and now the current literature says it's bullshit.

Will your forty years worth of clients get their 20 cents back ?'

Whilst also conveniently, 'willfully ignorantly' forgetting saying this, as he always does when wheedling and grovelling out of constantly being called on his trolling. Also 'willfully ignorantly' leaving out where I often had stated, and can easily show, that I learned long ago that specificity training has shown to be actually detrimental to performance, so chose, and used the opposite stance, to this day.

Again, care to demonstrate your 'willfull ignorance' that is, your thing and passion in real life blownit? It will only take a couple of seconds...

If your comprehension skills were as developed as your misplaced ego , you'd realise that you had contradicted YOURSELF and I was merely pointing this out.

See the difference between that and declaring I'm a fitness expert ?

Fucks sake , you've been harbouring that imaginary accusation for years.

Seek help.