In reply to ProgN
Yeah I figured out, eventually, that I can just type in 'twitter' and delete the x on links for now anyway, here.
A note to the TexAgs community regarding posting and moderation
By Brandon Jones
July 3, 2020
TexAgs,
I cannot recall a more tense time in our history together. With a global pandemic, no college sports, racial tensions on campus and differing political views tearing us apart, clarity and civility seem elusive.
In a moment like this, we've had to lean on one of our guiding principles: We believe progress is made through MORE discussion, not LESS, and we believe that to be true even if the topics are uncomfortable and we occasionally disagree with one another. TexAgs has always been a place for Aggies to connect with each other, express our opinions and have a shared experience centered around topics we are passionate about. Lately, some of those topics are being discussed with a heightened level of passion, so it's more important than ever that we find a way to be civil, respectful and productive.
Posting Policies
We want to remind everyone that there are rules to posting here, and those rules can be found in our user agreement/posting policy. Like many other online forums have recently, we recognized room for our own improvement, so we updated the rules and encourage each of you to read them at your earliest convenience. As it relates to what we are all going through together right now, I want to be really clear about the following:
TexAgs staff, our moderators and the overwhelming majority of posters on this site will not stand for comments that are racist, sexist or in any way dehumanizing. We have and will continue to remove any posts we see that are hateful or that contain content intended to demean any group. This does not mean we can't discuss hot-button issues on TexAgs, but we ask that you be thoughtful and charitable when you do. If you are unable to express your point in a humanizing way, your post will be removed and you will not be welcome to post on TexAgs any longer.
This policy will be strictly enforced by our moderators, who will work diligently to catch everything they can, but remember, with 2.5 million posts here every year it is not possible for us to bat a thousand on the removal of ALL objectionable posts. We will be doing our best to protect your right to free speech and to express yourself, but we will need your help.
Help Us Protect Free Speech
If you come across anything you believe offends one of our policies, PLEASE flag the post for moderator review. We do not approve posts before they go up and we are unable to read them all immediately after they do. We depend heavily on the posting community to bring problem posts to our attention. If in doubt, flag and we will review.
Thank you for your help and for making TexAgs a community where EVERYONE has the right to be heard and respected. We are deeply greatful for your continued support.
Gig’Em!
Brandon Jones ‘95
President & CEO
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Discussion from...
5:15p, 9/27/23
Where do you guys fall on posters using ChatGPT to construct their posts in this forum?
My argument is if you can't formulate your own position on a given topic and communicate and defend it yourself, you really don't have a stance at all and probably shouldn't be arguing/posting on the topic in the first place. At that point, is it even your opinion? If we're going to go down that road message boards will quickly be obsolete.
I'll hang up and listen.
My argument is if you can't formulate your own position on a given topic and communicate and defend it yourself, you really don't have a stance at all and probably shouldn't be arguing/posting on the topic in the first place. At that point, is it even your opinion? If we're going to go down that road message boards will quickly be obsolete.
I'll hang up and listen.
12:49p, 10/10/23
Anyone else on here having a challenge hitting the 'new post' number in gray or just 'last post' lately? I have to refresh each time I do to make it work. Happens on all 3 devices (phone/tablet/laptop), so I don't think it's a random software/popup blocker etc.
9:04p, 10/23/23
[If you have comments or questions on moderation, please reach out to Moderator at TexAgs -- Staff]
8:46a, 12/13/23
I know it still draws clicks and ad revenue, but I wish y'all would do something about the bots.
4:51p, 12/17/23
Can you please cross-post this to Religion & Philosophy? Because there's been a huge uptick in antisemitic comments there since October 7.
1:05p, 1/9/24
I appreciate the direction of putting more onus on quality of Thread OPs in order to facilitate good conversation and have this not be people's facebook wall.
2:14p, 1/9/24
Quote:
[OP, same advice for you as we gave another user already with this same video. This is also a PSA for all users. We don't want this forum to be another form of twitter or bulletin board thread starts. If you start a thread, post your content and post your own short summary and "take" as a way to frame the discussion for the thread. And when you start a thread, be committed to engaging in the discussion. THREAD STARTS have a different standard than a post in a thread. We also have different expectations for the OP of threads than a thread contributor. We would rather have a lower number of thread starts per day with higher quality engagement within the threads started. OP, please don't take this as us picking on you. This just happens to be the third thread started for this video and we are trying to make a larger point for all users on the forum. Thank you to all users for helping us maintain and even raise the level of discussion on this forum in 2024. -Staff]
Hey Staff, you all take a lot of abuse and frankly I agree with some of the reasoning behind some of it. But when you do good stuff you deserve appreciation when it's due. So, kudos on this one.
Now if you could add some AI that points out when the repeat offender trolls have fired up a new sock and autopermaban it, that would be greeeeeeeeeeeeat. :-)
Cheers and Happy New Year's!
3:17p, 1/9/24
I got hit with this one for starting a thread on the breaking news of Ray Epps receiving probation. Nobody is going to type out a long form post breaking down the actions of Epps on Jan. 5-6 or the history of his case because everybody on this board is already aware of those things, and if unaware, you're unlikely to improve the level of discussion on this board and more likely to derail the thread rehashing the background.
The most discussed threads on this board typically start with a post containing a snippet on breaking news, and they go from there.
The most discussed threads on this board typically start with a post containing a snippet on breaking news, and they go from there.
Staff
9:15p, 1/10/24
In reply to Fat Black Swan
We are not asking for much. Nothing in our PSA asked for "long form" anything. We need OPs to start taking more ownership of starting the discussion with their own take on the subject. Yes, we hope this does cut down on the number of thread starts. This forum is not the X/Twitter repost platform. It's for discussions and if people are going to start thread discussions they need to post their own take and give some framework for discussion of the topic. There have been dozens of Ray Epp threads posted up. The point is, what do you think of the latest developments. If you care enough about the topic to be posted simply give your take on the latest news. It's not a high bar for a political discussion forum.
Fat Black Swan said:
I got hit with this one for starting a thread on the breaking news of Ray Epps receiving probation. Nobody is going to type out a long form post breaking down the actions of Epps on Jan. 5-6 or the history of his case because everybody on this board is already aware of those things, and if unaware, you're unlikely to improve the level of discussion on this board and more likely to derail the thread rehashing the background.
The most discussed threads on this board typically start with a post containing a snippet on breaking news, and they go from there.
We are not asking for much. Nothing in our PSA asked for "long form" anything. We need OPs to start taking more ownership of starting the discussion with their own take on the subject. Yes, we hope this does cut down on the number of thread starts. This forum is not the X/Twitter repost platform. It's for discussions and if people are going to start thread discussions they need to post their own take and give some framework for discussion of the topic. There have been dozens of Ray Epp threads posted up. The point is, what do you think of the latest developments. If you care enough about the topic to be posted simply give your take on the latest news. It's not a high bar for a political discussion forum.
9:45a, 1/26/24
In reply to WatchOle
Good morning Brandon and mods,
Would you consider adding the praying hands emoji to our emoticon choices? The AggieHawg thread on f16 and the one on premium requesting prayers for the 4 yo boy that was just diagnosed with Leukemia come to mind as appropriate for it.
Just a minor suggestion.
Gig'em
Prog
Would you consider adding the praying hands emoji to our emoticon choices? The AggieHawg thread on f16 and the one on premium requesting prayers for the 4 yo boy that was just diagnosed with Leukemia come to mind as appropriate for it.
Just a minor suggestion.
Gig'em
Prog
8:42p, 4/20/24
How are threads involving race which get pretty spicy getting handled?
It looks like some posts get deleted but not until after people seem to imply that staff do not condone posts like that. Our band or warnings getting handed out for those threads? what is the moderation staff's position on discussions like that?
in general, it seems like those discussions should be avoided, but given that post just get deleted, it's difficult to discern what the moderation teams position is on these.
Eta: to be clear, I'm not specifically asking for bans or warnings be given to anybody on either "side" of the discussion; I am mostly asking for staff's position on these because a bunch of posts getting deleted without staff messages or edits seems a bit unclear
Thank you!
It looks like some posts get deleted but not until after people seem to imply that staff do not condone posts like that. Our band or warnings getting handed out for those threads? what is the moderation staff's position on discussions like that?
in general, it seems like those discussions should be avoided, but given that post just get deleted, it's difficult to discern what the moderation teams position is on these.
Eta: to be clear, I'm not specifically asking for bans or warnings be given to anybody on either "side" of the discussion; I am mostly asking for staff's position on these because a bunch of posts getting deleted without staff messages or edits seems a bit unclear
Thank you!
6:32p, 5/6/24
In reply to WatchOle
Just curious- when did the rules change about "you have to provide commentary - you can't just post a tweet or a link"? So often I click on a thread that looks like it will be interesting but it gets locked real fast. Isn't the tweet or link enough to start a conversation? It's fine on the other boards. For example, someone just posted a tweet about the new swimming and diving hire and that spurred good discussion on Premium. Why can't that happen here?
I would email this question but my last few emails about moderation have been ignored. At least this way I have a good chance of you seeing my question even if I catch a ban for it.
I would email this question but my last few emails about moderation have been ignored. At least this way I have a good chance of you seeing my question even if I catch a ban for it.
Staff
7:08p, 5/6/24
In reply to chap
As explained just a few posts above your post. This changed because the Politics board started to become the "forwarding" dump station of Twitter/X posts. The forum is not designed for that. We don't want 100 new thread starts a day that are simply forwards of something that a user found interesting on X. If an OP is going to start a new thread, they need to frame the discussion with their own take on the subject they want to talk about. If they don't want to take the time to do that, they should simply find a thread that is already talking about that subject to post their X post or wait until someone starts a thread and takes the time to frame the discussion.
To be clear, starting the discussion does not mean anything more than one or two sentences that gives your take on the topic and provides readers a focal point to discuss surrounding the subject you are starting.
To be clear, starting the discussion does not mean anything more than one or two sentences that gives your take on the topic and provides readers a focal point to discuss surrounding the subject you are starting.
4:27p, 5/16/24
Need clarification as to why all of the A&M/ Title IX issue threads keep disappearing.
[We have no issue with the subject being discussed. For some reason the users wanting to start the threads seem to have trouble sharing their own feelings about the subject and/or not including moderation commentary in their posts. -Staff]
[We have no issue with the subject being discussed. For some reason the users wanting to start the threads seem to have trouble sharing their own feelings about the subject and/or not including moderation commentary in their posts. -Staff]
5:55p, 5/16/24
I asked a question yesterday but it was deleted. I'm not arguing against anything, I'm asking if you think it's possible for a thread title to accomplish what this new policy is?
If there's no way you believe it can, that's fine it's your forum but it would be nice to know where the line is.
I know I've trolled and gone over the top with some threads but some legitimate things (or things that seem to meet this new standard) get deleted as well. Again, not arguing.
[Thread titles are thread titles. Some commentary in an OP post is needed to frame the discussion. Again, it does not need to be much, but it needs to be more than a thread title. -Staff]
If there's no way you believe it can, that's fine it's your forum but it would be nice to know where the line is.
I know I've trolled and gone over the top with some threads but some legitimate things (or things that seem to meet this new standard) get deleted as well. Again, not arguing.
[Thread titles are thread titles. Some commentary in an OP post is needed to frame the discussion. Again, it does not need to be much, but it needs to be more than a thread title. -Staff]