Open Discussion of Moderation Policy

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I’d like to offer some concerns that I’ve had in recent months with moderation. (None of which have been about @Dan_Eastwood’s moderation, incidentally.)

  1. My most immediate concern is with the lack of consistency of application. If it seems that getting your post hidden as “inappropriate” is a lottery, it is highly unlikely to alter behaviour. Where you have a post explicitly flagged for the use of a word condemned as “pejorative”, but a quick search reveals that this word has been prominently used in this forum (as both a topic title and a topic OP) without issue, this does not garner respect for the forum and its policies. I have however noticed a degree of “consistency”, but not of a good kind. This forum (and more particularly its owner) seems to be very heavy-handed (at times to the point of shooting off half-cocked) in defense of theist academics such as Richard Buggs and Michael Behe, but the forum seems to be very laissez faire about insults cast at atheist academics such as Barbara Forrest, Eugenie Scott (both of whom have been interviewed for this forum, I would note) and Robert Pennock.

  2. Another issue is topic splitting, which seems to be sporadically heavy-handed. Most threads on this forum run off topic when they remain active for any length of time (often multiple times). Unless this off-topic discussion is stifling discussion on the original topic (however this would be in the minority – in most cases where the topic is split, the original topic becomes moribund), this does not seem to be an issue . It has been suggested that this is due to moderators having insufficient time or attention. Evidence does not however support this. I have seen a topic started by a moderator, go almost immediately go off topic, and be left to wander until it reached a topic that made that moderator uncomfortable. Then there was a flurry of topic splitting. These occasional bouts of splitting frenzy would be less disruptive, if greater care was practiced in ensuring that the right comments ended up with the right thread.

    Of more concern is ‘air-brushing by topic splitting’, where criticism is hidden by moving it to a new ‘Private’ thread, e.g. this one. This sort of practice does not contribute to transparency, and thus trust, in the forum.

  3. A final, minor, issue. If you are going to turn an existing topic into a ‘curated topic’ (splitting the rest of the discussion into a ‘Comments on’ topic) can you please seek the intended participants consent first.

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