Censorship is getting out of hand

[G-Man]

I think the VRCC board need a new algorithm. 

[Willow]

From the Rules of the Road"

2.) Your words are your own. Lively participation is vital to the board's success, but please remember that we are communicating without the benefit of body language and voice inflection. Words can sometimes be misinterpreted. The use of "emoticons" can help you to give the gist of your message.     Please feel free to use these to help set the tone of the message. It is imperative that participants converse in a courteous, respectful manner. Differing opinions and viewpoints are normal and foster lively debate, but please keep your comments relevant to the subject being discussed and not about the person who offers a differing opinion than your own.

Pay special attention to the final sentence in the above paragraph.

My job is to protect the well being of the VRCC community within the bounds of the accepted rules.  It is not my job to be overly concerned with an individual member's feelings.  

[Wizzard]

Feelings are like waves.
We cannot stop them from coming but we can choose which ones to surf.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Feelings are like waves.
We cannot stop them from coming but we can choose which ones to surf.

 

[Davemn]

From the Rules of the Road"

2.) Your words are your own. Lively participation is vital to the board's success, but please remember that we are communicating without the benefit of body language and voice inflection. Words can sometimes be misinterpreted. The use of "emoticons" can help you to give the gist of your message.  Tongue Please feel free to use these to help set the tone of the message. It is imperative that participants converse in a courteous, respectful manner. Differing opinions and viewpoints are normal and foster lively debate, but please keep your comments relevant to the subject being discussed and not about the person who offers a differing opinion than your own.

Pay special attention to the final sentence in the above paragraph.

My job is to protect the well being of the VRCC community within the bounds of the accepted rules.  It is not my job to be overly concerned with an individual member's feelings.   

But it’s OK to call/imply someone is stupid because you disagree?

[Jess from VA]

From the Rules of the Road"

2.) Your words are your own. Lively participation is vital to the board's success, but please remember that we are communicating without the benefit of body language and voice inflection. Words can sometimes be misinterpreted. The use of "emoticons" can help you to give the gist of your message.  Tongue Please feel free to use these to help set the tone of the message. It is imperative that participants converse in a courteous, respectful manner. Differing opinions and viewpoints are normal and foster lively debate, but please keep your comments relevant to the subject being discussed and not about the person who offers a differing opinion than your own.

Tongue Please.... is not a clear rule.  

Is this another of those rogue word substitutions?  

I think asking for tongue is a bit forward (though it shouldn't be a violation of the rules, since the Supreme Court has held there is no harm in asking).    

I did use emoticons (as instructed). 

[Wizzard]

seems to imply speaking in tongues,, are you pentecostal?   

[The emperor has no clothes]

From the Rules of the Road"

2.) Your words are your own. Lively participation is vital to the board's success, but please remember that we are communicating without the benefit of body language and voice inflection. Words can sometimes be misinterpreted. The use of "emoticons" can help you to give the gist of your message.  Tongue Please feel free to use these to help set the tone of the message. It is imperative that participants converse in a courteous, respectful manner. Differing opinions and viewpoints are normal and foster lively debate, but please keep your comments relevant to the subject being discussed and not about the person who offers a differing opinion than your own.

Tongue Please.... is not a clear rule.  

Is this another of those rogue word substitutions?  

I think asking for tongue is a bit forward (though it shouldn't be a violation of the rules, since the Supreme Court has held there is no harm in asking).    

I did use emoticons (as instructed).  

Hey !   he said pay attention to the last sentence, not the fifth sentence !

I think I've read the rules of the road at least 3 or 4 times. Never noticed that Willow was sending subliminal messages before. (Maybe that's why they call them subliminal)

[Willow]

Tongue Please.... is not a clear rule.  

Is this another of those rogue word substitutions?  

I think asking for tongue is a bit forward (though it shouldn't be a violation of the rules, since the Supreme Court has held there is no harm in asking).    

I did use emoticons (as instructed). 

Yes, Jess, I should have looked more closely at the copied text.  "Tongue" is the text associated with an emoticon.

I've corrected the post.

[scooperhsd]

Censorship is not getting out of hand - Rules of the Road violations OTOH are skyrocketing - for which the admin staff should be locking / deleting threads.

[Jess from VA]

Alrighty then.

I'd be willing to give you some lip.  But no tongue.  

[markymark640]

I would agree that, in my opinion, there is too much unwarranted censorship on the board, at times.

Specifically, it seems to me that folks who had negative things to say about trump have experienced this censorship more than others.

And I'm not just crying poor me. I have received a number of messages from other members that also have the same ( or at least)  similar opinions.

Censorship on this board, or any other, should not be political.

I've even been censored, and had several of my posts removed, without any type of notification, for some stated offense that is not even listed in the 'Rules of the Road', so I obviously was not aware of the rule.

And speaking of that, when was the last time the Rules were updated.  2009 ?

[scooperhsd]

I would agree that, in my opinion, there is too much unwarranted censorship on the board, at times.

Specifically, it seems to me that folks who had negative things to say about trump have experienced this censorship more than others.

And I'm not just crying poor me. I have received a number of messages from other members that also have the same ( or at least)  similar opinions.

Censorship on this board, or any other, should not be political.

I've even been censored, and had several of my posts removed, without any type of notification, for some stated offense that is not even listed in the 'Rules of the Road', so I obviously was not aware of the rule.

And speaking of that, when was the last time the Rules were updated.  2009 ?

The "censorship" that you're complaining about is NOT political in nature. It's more of not being respectful of the other members- IOW treat others like you want to be treated. It is OK to disagree with someone else's opinion - it is NOT ok to call them a name about it.

[f6gal]

Specifically, it seems to me that folks who had negative things to say about trump have experienced this censorship more than others.

I can assure you that is not the case.  There is crap and mud-slinging deleted from both sides.  Actually there are far more deleted/locked/edited posts on the right than the left.  There are a couple of reasons for that: 1) Sheer volume (the left is outnumbered here).  2) Over-compensation to appear unbiased.

Unfortunately, due to the higher volume of right-leaning posts, it's also more likely that something might get missed.  Of course, you do not necessarily see posts that are deleted, so how can you know what posts are censored most frequently?

[f6gal]

Oh, and BTW, even though Willow does the majority of moderating, the other staff members also moderate.  If I moderate something, it will likely be deleted.  I'm of the mind that if it needs to be locked, it needs to be gone.  (I'm not sure which emoji is appropriate here.)

[Ice]

Personally, the censorship on this board has not gone far enough. Currently out of the 31 posts on the first page 24 are political.
This is or better said was a motorcycle forum. Over the past several years it has turned mostly into a political free for all with insults and opinions one direction or another tossed across the board.

Most of the guys that actually came to this board for the common denominator, Valkyrie motorcycles and sharing the same interest of the bike, the rides and the joy of it have moved on to Facebook or some other platform. To me that is the biggest shame of it all.

As of the past several years it is almost not worth logging into the board unless you want to voice your opinion about politics, as any actual motorcycle related thread that someone took effort to write up disappears in less than a day to page two or further due to politics.'

I look into the board daily in hopes to hear about someone's ride or adventure, however seldom bother to log in because there aren't any. I do not do Facebook so I have lost out on many of the friends that used to be here but very seldom are due to the political crap that is slung back and forth.

So again the censorship on this forum in my opinion (and yes I know everyone has one) does not go far enough.

Wishing everyone a great Thanksgiving and have fun pissing and moaning about the politics you cannot change, and alienating people that would drop most everything (or used to) to help a fellow Valk rider in need.

[Oss]

I am Oss and I approve of Ice's message

Must be that Idaho air eh?

[Romeo]

Please correct me if Im wrongheaded on this issue. This forum does not belong to any of us except those on the staff. Therefore it is my belief they can do with it what they please. This is not a democracy.
If you aren’t happy with the way they’d run it, move along. Seems simple enough.

[GiG]

Please correct me if Im wrongheaded on this issue. This forum does not belong to any of us except those on the staff. Therefore it is my belief they can do with it what they please. This is not a democracy.
If you aren’t happy with the way they’d run it, move along. Seems simple enough.

I am GiG and I approve Gary, Evan, and Yuri's message!

Yesterday, a guy was whining about his posts getting pulled without "notification", so I said here is your "notification" in the hope he would quit crying.  Just trying to help.

This is not a Democracy, nowhere in the rules does it state you are owed a "notification".  So my helpful post to give the whiner his "notification" gets pulled ( to protect crybaby's tender feelings?  - that's some twisted logic there)  .

The admins have it their way, its their sandbox most posts are a bunch of crybabies, not much of any thing worthwhile, just the same back and forth for many years.

65* in Motown, Imma gonna play hookey in a minute and ride. ROMEO?

[Wizzard]

I agree with the majority of this thread. 

[Challenger]

Quote :Yesterday, a guy was whining about his posts getting pulled without "notification"

Probably felt he wasn't getting the full benefits of his membership dues ! 

[Serk]

[Wizzard]

Its all real simple. When you join an organization you agree to abide by their rules. If you do not want to get out. 

[G-Man]

I just thought it was very strange to log on one particular morning and seeing 3 or 4 locked "discussions" where there was only the original post present, which was not incendiary.  There was another locked "discussion" in which there were a few replies to the original post, and I believe I had replied to that post, and my reply was removed and I'm pretty sure there was nothing incendiary in my reply.

And yes, the admins can do what they want.  Have at it.

And to those compaining of too many political posts, you know what the definition of ins...................

[Jess from VA]

Well I will (happily) be the devil's advocate.

I am a patriot and a veteran and I care deeply about my country.

I don't like and don't want it hacked, lied, cheated and stealed in to a socialist/communist state.

I like coming here and talking about it with my fellow patriots.  And standing up for freedom and liberty against all enemies (mostly domestic).

I continue riding my Valks, and enjoy talking about them too when I can.

And I appreciate the VRCC owners letting us have this forum to discuss current events (as well as motorcycles) (within the rules provided).

And I don't believe that any large numbers of members have bailed (only) over political posts.  Most of us have had our bikes for decades, and have got them pretty well sorted out (except for aging issues now), so it's natural the number of bike-only posts has declined over the years.

We let folks post political (or anything really) posts over on the Delphi Valkyrie Riders Forum (with similar rules about courtesy and personal attacks), and that forum has about died out entirely with maybe 6-7 posts a year now.  And it wasn't political posts, it was just (fewer) old guys with old bikes and not much left to talk about.

[Willow]

I just thought it was very strange to log on one particular morning and seeing 3 or 4 locked "discussions" where there was only the original post present, which was not incendiary.  There was another locked "discussion" in which there were a few replies to the original post, and I believe I had replied to that post, and my reply was removed and I'm pretty sure there was nothing incendiary in my reply.

And yes, the admins can do what they want.  Have at it.

And to those compaining of too many political posts, you know what the definition of ins...................  

It's not so strange, doctor.  I just get weary of dealing with threads that are originated with little or no purpose other than stirring the pot or invoking argument.  We all have the ability to search and read news articles.  It escapes me a bit how a few of our members feel a need to repeatedly post links to "news" articles as if they've found something that no one else could find.

[Willow]

...
And I don't believe that any large numbers of members have bailed (only) over political posts.  ...

And I would believe you to be incorrect.  It's okay that we hold differing unprovable but strongly held opinions.

[GiG]

...
And I don't believe that any large numbers of members have bailed (only) over political posts.  ...

And I would believe you to be incorrect.  It's okay that we hold differing unprovable but strongly held opinions.

+1

I came to this board a long time ago to hear about rides to places I hadn't ridden and meet other riders. There are some big rides that I attend every year and know when to schedule my ride.
There have been many NEW Valkyrie centric group rides that are not even posted on this board lately. Personally, I do not do FB, but I hear about these rides through other means (mostly word of mouth) and attend many of them.

Politics has a lot to do with the current situation regarding bickering and lack of participation here.
Between the other social media sites and the difficulty posting photos here, something has been lost.

Thanks to all that put forth the effort to do ride reports, I know it take work and enjoy them. 

[Wizzard]

I come here for all of the above.
I keep coming back.   

[Ice]

...
And I don't believe that any large numbers of members have bailed (only) over political posts.  ...

And I would believe you to be incorrect.  It's okay that we hold differing unprovable but strongly held opinions.

+1

I came to this board a long time ago to hear about rides to places I hadn't ridden and meet other riders. There are some big rides that I attend every year and know when to schedule my ride.
There have been many NEW Valkyrie centric group rides that are not even posted on this board lately. Personally, I do not do FB, but I hear about these rides through other means (mostly word of mouth) and attend many of them.

Politics has a lot to do with the current situation regarding bickering and lack of participation here.
Between the other social media sites and the difficulty posting photos here, something has been lost.

Thanks to all that put forth the effort to do ride reports, I know it take work and enjoy them. 

Gig, I completely agree with you.
When I returned from Germany back in 2009 this board was full of ride reports and rides that were coming up. That is why I came to the VRCC, the enjoyment of the bike.
For most it has become difficult to post a ride report here, especially with pictures (at least for me as I do not have the prowess of computers others do) and the ones that do put in a lot of effort to do so, only for that effort to disappear in a hail of political fire.
For the most part I rely on Petra to tell me what is going on with our Valk brothers and sisters and the rides they do as she has Facebook and keeps me posted.
If anyone who disagrees with the statement that many of our fellow Valk riders have moved on, I encourage them to look back to the board from 9-10 years ago and see how many rides were posted, ride reports etc. and the folks that posted them and see how often, if at all they are still here. You will see that many of the folks that posted/hosted those rides are no longer posting here.
Many rides are still happening, however the effort required to get attention for a ride on the board is overwhelming, it will as with actual motorcycle ride reports disappear from the front page in less than a day.  
Yes there were still a lot of political posts back then, however they did not dominate the board as they have in the past years.
Again you have the right to disagree with me, as we all do have the right to disagree. To me it is just a shame that this board has gone the way it has. It seems too many take joy of slinging insults at each other and in the end effect accomplish nothing. Where as if someone post a ride report, at least you get to enjoy the ride with them and it makes me want to go out and ride, which I do.

[Wizzard]

I have never heard of a single person that changed their political stance based on info from a fourm.  ???

[Skinhead]

Please post a link to join your new forum when it is ready, I'm getting sick of all the political posts (just kidding about the political posts).

BTW I think the big change in the forum, began during Bush jr's adminstration.  That is when the hatred for our sitting POTUS seemed to get out of hand.  Then we got Obama, and he started alienating a lot of conservatives.  When Hilary lost, the Dems didn't get the message that the voters sent via the election, and they decided that better cheating was needed.  So here we are.  JMHO, YMMV.

[f6gal]

Please correct me if Im wrongheaded on this issue. This forum does not belong to any of us except those on the staff. Therefore it is my belief they can do with it what they please. This is not a democracy.
If you aren’t happy with the way they’d run it, move along. Seems simple enough.

I am GiG and I approve Gary, Evan, and Yuri's message!

Yesterday, a guy was whining about his posts getting pulled without "notification", so I said here is your "notification" in the hope he would quit crying.  Just trying to help.

This is not a Democracy, nowhere in the rules does it state you are owed a "notification".  So my helpful post to give the whiner his "notification" gets pulled ( to protect crybaby's tender feelings?  - that's some twisted logic there)  .

The admins have it their way, its their sandbox most posts are a bunch of crybabies, not much of any thing worthwhile, just the same back and forth for many years.

65* in Motown, Imma gonna play hookey in a minute and ride. ROMEO?

The recipient felt it was a personal attack. 

[Dave Ritsema]

Holy Crap! What is this world coming to? I actually agree with Gig! 

I don't even know who I am anymore. OK, litmus test. Hey Gig! How about those Fighting Irish? 

On a serious note I was a moderator of this board at one time myself and I had it much easier as there was not nearly the bickering and arguing that there is now. It's a thankless job and I appreciate the VRCC Staff's efforts trying to keep the sandbox clean for all of us.

[GiG]

Holy Crap! What is this world coming to? I actually agree with Gig! 

I don't even know who I am anymore. OK, litmus test. Hey Gig! How about those Fighting Irish? 

On a serious note I was a moderator of this board at one time myself and I had it much easier as there was not nearly the bickering and arguing that there is now. It's a thankless job and I appreciate the VRCC Staff's efforts trying to keep the sandbox clean for all of us.

Dave, you mean the 14 - 45 losers from 2019?     

Fighting Irish?!? THAT'S RACIST! MODERATOR! MODERATOR! 

[GiG]

Please correct me if Im wrongheaded on this issue. This forum does not belong to any of us except those on the staff. Therefore it is my belief they can do with it what they please. This is not a democracy.
If you aren’t happy with the way they’d run it, move along. Seems simple enough.

I am GiG and I approve Gary, Evan, and Yuri's message!

Yesterday, a guy was whining about his posts getting pulled without "notification", so I said here is your "notification" in the hope he would quit crying.  Just trying to help.

This is not a Democracy, nowhere in the rules does it state you are owed a "notification".  So my helpful post to give the whiner his "notification" gets pulled ( to protect crybaby's tender feelings?  - that's some twisted logic there)  .

The admins have it their way, its their sandbox most posts are a bunch of crybabies, not much of any thing worthwhile, just the same back and forth for many years.

65* in Motown, Imma gonna play hookey in a minute and ride. ROMEO?

The recipient felt it was a personal attack. 

Thank you for the notification, Connie 

[Rams]

Hmm    
I guess I'm a bit different.   While I love my Valkyrie and cherish my Valkyrie brothers and sisters, I view our political situation as something that effects all of us in our daily lives.   It's damn important to me what policies and laws get passed.   Politics reflects our values and also our future.   It's important (at least to me).  

There may come a day when the politically correct thing to do is to park my Valkyrie.  I realize that's somewhat of a silly thing but, if it ever happens, it will be because of politics.   Such as the New Green Deal.   I don't mind the moderation.   As Willow's favorite PITA, I still think highly of him.  

Rams

[Dave Ritsema]

Holy Crap! What is this world coming to? I actually agree with Gig! 

I don't even know who I am anymore. OK, litmus test. Hey Gig! How about those Fighting Irish? 

On a serious note I was a moderator of this board at one time myself and I had it much easier as there was not nearly the bickering and arguing that there is now. It's a thankless job and I appreciate the VRCC Staff's efforts trying to keep the sandbox clean for all of us.

Dave, you mean the 14 - 45 losers from 2019?     

Fighting Irish?!? THAT'S RACIST! MODERATOR! MODERATOR! 

LOL 

[mello dude]

Personally, the censorship on this board has not gone far enough. Currently out of the 31 posts on the first page 24 are political.
This is or better said was a motorcycle forum. Over the past several years it has turned mostly into a political free for all with insults and opinions one direction or another tossed across the board.

Most of the guys that actually came to this board for the common denominator, Valkyrie motorcycles and sharing the same interest of the bike, the rides and the joy of it have moved on to Facebook or some other platform. To me that is the biggest shame of it all.

As of the past several years it is almost not worth logging into the board unless you want to voice your opinion about politics, as any actual motorcycle related thread that someone took effort to write up disappears in less than a day to page two or further due to politics.'

I look into the board daily in hopes to hear about someone's ride or adventure, however seldom bother to log in because there aren't any. I do not do Facebook so I have lost out on many of the friends that used to be here but very seldom are due to the political crap that is slung back and forth.

So again the censorship on this forum in my opinion (and yes I know everyone has one) does not go far enough.

Wishing everyone a great Thanksgiving and have fun pissing and moaning about the politics you cannot change, and alienating people that would drop most everything (or used to) to help a fellow Valk rider in need.

THANK YOU!!!!

[hubcapsc]

There may come a day when the politically correct thing to do is to park my Valkyrie.  I realize that's somewhat of a silly thing but, if it ever happens, it will be because of politics.   Such as the New Green Deal.

They may decide the best way to build out a safe network
of self-driving cars and trucks is to regulate away all the whacky
un-networked vehicles (like motorcycles)...

-Mike