Forum Announcement: New Moderation System In Place

Hey folks, I just wanted to give everyone the heads up that we've put a new moderation system in place which will allow us to monitor incoming comments from now on.

The system is pretty simple, really......if you have 10 or fewer total comments, or we have you on our 'watch list' because you're prone to making inappropriate comments, then all of your comments will have to be approved before they will be posted.

We've tried from the very start to maintain a friendly and helpful community and overall we've done a good job. But this website has gotten so large that it has become impossible to keep things up to our high standards without a much more stringent system in place.

However, I'm confident we've organized this system in such a way that it will make for very little inconvenience for those awaiting moderation, and a much better experience for everyone overall.

If you have new comments or a new topic awaiting moderation you will be sent an email the moment it is approved, with a link to the conversation. Right now if your comment is not approved it will be dropped silently. We are not sending out notifications about why it was rejected at this time.

For our moderators - right now we're handling the approval process behind the scenes to make sure this system has all of the kinks ironed out and that it's set up the way we like it. I expect that very soon we will be allowing moderators to approve new comments or topics if they deem them appropriate. I'll keep you posted on this.

I sincerely apologize to everyone for not doing more about this sooner. I was trying to do everything I could to keep this an open and welcoming community for everyone, and I had hoped that if we were nice enough and helpful enough we wouldn't have too many problems. And for the most part that was true when we were considerably smaller. But with a quarter million unique visitors coming through this site every month it's just impossible to have a completely open system like we've had in the past while still maintaining our high standards of professionalism.

So I appreciate everyone's patience while they await moderation and I thank everyone for tolerating a system that was based more on wishful thinking than reality. I certainly hope things will be far more pleasant around here from now on.

Thanks!

Uh Oh I better watch my "p"s and "q"s.

A naughty list--I love it!!

As always Brett thanks for working so hard to make this site what it is.

A naughty list--I love it!!

As always Brett thanks for working so hard to make this site what it is.

He's making a list, He's checking it twice. He's gonna find out who is naughty or nice!

A naughty list--I love it!!

As always Brett thanks for working so hard to make this site what it is.

He's making a list, He's checking it twice. He's gonna find out who is naughty or nice!

Yeah, that's pretty much it.

I mean, you guys know we're always happy to help everyone that comes along. No one leaves here with unanswered questions. Everything here is free and all we ask is that people be friendly with us. You wouldn't think that would be asking too much in return for all we offer, but with some people it certainly is too much to ask.

I also must admit that I'm always surprised by how many people keep coming around when they clearly do not like a professional environment like ours and they do not fit in whatsoever. Personally I never want to be somewhere I'm not wanted, and I never want to be in an environment that doesn't suit me.

So it only makes sense to me that if someone shows up here and sees this isn't the environment they're looking for they would simply go elsewhere. That's what I would do. In fact, I started this website because I couldn't find anyone that was giving honest, genuine, helpful advice in a friendly and professional environment. So I started my own. I didn't try to force my way into situations I didn't like and didn't belong in. That doesn't make any sense at all!

But as we know there are a lot of people who don't let logic get in the way of their decision making process.

But as we know there are a lot of people who don't let logic get in the way of their decision making process.

Well said!

I'm glad to see this development. I used to try and inject some decent logic into some of the whacko inquiries we would get in here. Lately though it has gotten so I just decide to ignore them because they will usually go through a self destruction cycle if we leave them alone long enough. The problem with that approach is that they cause a bunch of collateral damage along the way before they finally burn out.

This looks like a great way to filter some of it. I know it's not your first preference, but there are those who keep forcing the issue.

On the fence about this - but it's not my sandbox, so I don't make the rules.

I think it creates more work for Brett - especially with the influx of newcomers.

Trolls should be banned and IP blocked with extreme prejudice, and without hesitation.

Semi-useful-trolls (Ryan?) should be given 3 strikes (or a similar infractions system). Once warned, most of these personality types just go on a rant/rampage anyways, and are worthy of the ban-hammer.

I find it dismaying that so many threads that did have useful information, end up getting deleted, because they end up being urinating contests.

Rick

The problem with that approach is that they cause a bunch of collateral damage along the way before they finally burn out.

Yeah, that's exactly the crux of the problem. It's too late once they've made a mess of things.

One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from Dale Carnegie, and it's something I remind myself of constantly, and yet I'm still regularly surprised by people:

“When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity.”

- Dale Carnegie

I'm also going to do a little podcast-style audio introduction to the forum so I can explain to people that our intent is to create a professional teaching environment and a support group for new drivers. There are sounding boards for the peanut gallery out there, and plenty of them, but that's not at all what we do.

I think it creates more work for Brett - especially with the influx of newcomers.

Without a doubt this is actually going to be far less work and worry than it was before. Before the door was wide open and we had to clean up messes and battle with people over nothing all the time. We were spending half of our time either defending ourselves or arguing points that have been locked in steel for 30 years.

The thing is, we're here to teach. We already know what it takes to be successful in this industry and that's the information we're excited about passing on to new drivers. We don't want to waste our time arguing over nothing or defending ourselves all the time. We want to help people who are committed to becoming true professionals in this industry.

And I mean, seriously, does it seem like the world needs yet another place to spew lies and filth and criticize each other and argue all day long about nothing?

What the world needs is someplace you can go to get advice that's honest, genuine, and helpful from real professionals who have lived the life and have demonstrated over long periods of time that they can perform at the highest level. That's what we have to offer people, and that's rare, especially in a really friendly and enjoyable environment.

I find it dismaying that so many threads that did have useful information, end up getting deleted, because they end up being urinating contests.

I totally agree. There are just some topics you can't talk to certain people about. That Jonathan dude I had to ban this morning. As soon as you guys told him he couldn't carry a gun he went ballistic. Starting pulling up old gun threads from three years ago to call people a bunch of names, called us a "Communist forum that's trying to strip the rights of honest Americans", and just lost it! I mean, he instantly became a petulant five year old.

Now that I think about it, I don't think a guy with his temperament should be carrying a gun in the first place!

Maybe now with this new system we'll be able to have conversations on topics we can't cover right now. They're obviously going to be heavily moderated and a lot of stuff won't get through but the teaching points will. We'll see.

But the most important thing to remember about us, the thing that sets us apart, is that we're here to teach and support new drivers. We're not activists and we're not a debating club.

We're proven professionals who enjoy teaching people all of the lessons we've learned over the years so they can get out there and enjoy their careers the way we did. That's all we want this place to be - a professional classroom and support group for new drivers.