My point is diversity.
I’m also white and privileged but I want to hear other peoples views not just certain members
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As is my point
This post was flagged and is temporarily hidden.
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As someone who is often involved in such debates, I find myself often engaging out of frustration. It’s frustrating when a local forum that is supposed to not engage in general political debate is used to post plainly general political views, and it’s confusing when there’s no link at all to SE23. I think @ModTeam do a good job at keeping things on track but sometimes political posts are left up in which case I think it’s reasonable to challenge them.
I agree with you that it definitely does take more than one person to digress in to a political debate, but as a piece of genuine feedback, it only takes one to start it. Not every post has to be an opportunity to get on to a political thread, but it often feels that way. Posts about graffiti don’t benefit from someone showing up and questioning the artists political leaning, posts about beggars in SE23 have nothing to do with posters’ views on immigration, posts about LTNs don’t have to be challenged every time with accusations of posters waging a war between motorists and pedestrians. Perhaps if we all took a step back before making broader, general points on topics of local significance this would not happen so much, regardless of the colour of the politics involved.
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There are some really good views here and thankyou all for the feedback.
It is tiring to start a new day and find the same arguments being perpetrated and I think we need a little breather, time to reflect and perhaps find our positivity.
Therefore I’m trying something new - setting this topic to ‘slow mode’. This will limit how often each member can post, giving time hopefully for more thoughtful responses while also taking the heat out of any quick-fire arguments.
Let’s see how it works… if good, I’ll write it up on the site rules.
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Thank you! I do too 
Personally I dislike moving posts out to #moderator-actions if it cuts up discussions. Moderators are volunteers and don’t watch the site 24/7, so sometimes posts that fall outside the guidelines aren’t quickly removed.
Personally I feel that if a post has been challenged or corrected in subsequent replies, and if the discussion has moved on, it’s often better to let things be, rather than cut things up or risk over-moderation. The same can be true of flags that are received sometimes several hours of even days after a post was originally made.
It’s always a difficult decision what to do, and the other moderators will likely see things slightly differently and that’s fine too. But hopefully that explains why some things may sometimes be left, even if they aren’t strictly within site guidelines.
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I stopped posting here around about the time the BLM and street art conversation was taking place. I didn’t want to seen to be linked to a forum where the owner was promoting ‘all lives matter’ during a time where the focus should have been on promoting equality for Black and other minority ethnicities. It riled me that someone who no longer lives in the area was actively trying to have certain street art removed because it didn’t fit in with his political views, thinking that he was being the voice of the people. It is up to the current residents to take action on matters like this. Though it seems that the majority were happy to have this street art in our neighbourhood.
With @ForestHull now at the reins I had hoped that this forum would now be a safe place. Alas it is not, certain people’s agendas are still loudly being pushed.
As for people posting here that no longer live in the area. I say go for it! Having lived in the area you are able to prove valuable input to matters that have been ongoing.
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The thing is, people shouldn’t be forced to take a stance as in the BLM debate. We all have our own opinions and feelings. I have a 15 year old who wouldn’t talk to me because I said all lives matter. It took her a while to understand why I had that standpoint. I also tried to look at it from her viewpoint.
But all I ask is, focus on the reason, not the person. Chris, and others have some very strong views, engage with them as apposed to blocking them out or trying to stop them. This is directed at all btw, not you.
Finally, we have a really well set out flagging and mod system. Too often it is misused as someone doesn’t like a comment or standpoint. Please ignore it, move on or counter it. Whatever you do though, do it in a polite way and fight the argument, not the person.
Please only flag if it against the guidelines. As mods we are getting tired of people flagging as they don’t like a comment. If it isn’t against the guidelines, please don’t flag.
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How & why posts like this are closed out is astonishing
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I’m not forcing anyone to take a stance on any subject. I have friends who have differing political views than mine and find it quite easy not to let these views get in the way of our friendship. A community forum owner should remain neutral on subjects like this thus not aligning the forum to any political leaning, be it right or left. I could carry on about various actions taken against those with differing opinions to Chris, which still continues to this day, but this is not what this thread is about.
My point is, if the matter being discussed is a recent event like, for example, undesirable street art, leave it to those in currently living in the area to discuss and resolve. Wider topics like the deathtrap at the FH station crossing (again as example) quite happy for past and current residents to get involved.
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I tried to make it clear that was not directed at you.
Chris is no longer the owner but even still, he took a lot of time and effort to set up the site as he was driven out of another local one because he got shouted down as his viewpoint was different.
Our differences are what make us unique. The opportunity to discuss those must surely be allowed. You may not have liked some of his, or mine, or others commented, but I am sure that censoring them is not a good thing.
Mary Whitehouse was the challenger of anything that looked dodgy on TV in the 80’s. I remember her being interviewed when she, yet again, wanted something shut down on TV as she saw it as lurid. The interviewer just told her to turn over.
The same for here, unless it goes against the forum guidelines, turn over.
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I agree, they shouldn’t be forced to take a position. But once the lid is unnecessarily ripped off the can of worms, then the worms fall out.
The point I take from this thread is that if cooler heads can prevail and keep the can opener in the drawer more often this wouldn’t happen
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It wasn’t clear that the first paragraph wasn’t directed towards me.
It’s quite clear that we all agree that we don’t mind differing opinions, it makes life more interesting and helps us learn. However, it is what follows that is problem.
No-one here is trying to censor anyone nor is anyone suggesting this happens. If they are, then I am not supporting that stance. The majority here are happy to engage in friendly debate. It’s when that debate is no longer friendly that’s when people get upset and find they can no longer engage with this or other forums.
I know that Chris is no longer the owner and I appreciate the time and effort he took to set this up but the legacy lives on. I know the history behind the other forum and what happen and continues to happen with certain individuals. It created quite the stir around Forest Hill and resulted in some local businesses no longer wanting to be affiliated with this forum.
Forest Hull is already making a positive change and I appreciate that he has allowed this debate to continue. However, certain people need to stop stirring this up.
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And if people don’t like the content of a thread, they are free to go onto any other. We don’t stop reading a newspaper because we dont like one article.
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Thanks @beatrix - it’s certainly a challenge, but the forum community seem to be reaching a reasonable consensus here, and possibly the moderators need to be a bit stricter/bolder on making sure things follow the guidelines on being agreeable and such like.
Of course, it’s helpful to moderators if members can sensibly flag problems, noting the following paragraph was recently added to FAQ:
Note: Please don’t waste moderators time by flagging posts you simply disagree with. It’s okay for people to have different opinions or values; flagging should only be used for posts which break these guidelines.
I probably don’t need to remind anyone that the moderators are volunteers and have their own families, jobs, responsibilities and such like, and I’m eternally grateful for their help and contributions.
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Thank you FH, your are far better at this to me. And as I have said before, and as @ForestHull has said above. Please don’t abuse the flagging. 
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Is there an ongoing issue with people flagging things that needn’t be flagged? If so, is it particular people, or just a note to everyone in general?
You, at least, quote sections of the FAQ to back up your moderation decisions. I’ve always liked that about your moderation style since you came on board. Glad that @oakr came back. I’ve not really interacted with / seen moderation actions of the other moderators enough to pass comment, apart from @clausy, but he seems to have disappeared from the forum in recent weeks.
Point is, I think the mod team are doing a good job overall. I know it’s not an easy job, and I know from moderation experience in other forums that sometimes certain users make you want to throw your computer out the door (I’m aware I’m probably one of those users) - but you (as in the royal you) generally keep your cool, and I think that makes for a more welcoming environment in which people feel that they can share their thoughts and feelings without too much backlash. Sometimes, anyway.
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Yes, there are a small minority who will flag for whatever reasons. Maybe the don’t like the poster or content of the post. But if it doesn’t break forum guidelines then it just makes a mockers of the flagging system.
Most flags are seen by, and commented on by, ALL the mods. We mod by consensus so as to give call for the widest range of views and feeling.
We have made efforts with Discourse, the developers to see if we can add a “why did you flag” option but this is not available yet.
So please, before anyone flags, have a cup of tea, think about it, consider if it does break guidelines. And then decide what to do.as I have been at pains to say, of you don’t like the content of a thread or the direction it is going. Leave it there and move on.
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It’s a general comment. There’s no problem with flagging things which are abusive, offensive or drag things wildly off topic. A good rule of thumb is that if you think it shouldn’t be said in the pub or over a restaurant meal, it likely shouldn’t be said here either. Don’t engage just flag. Once it gets to a string of posts, it gets a lot harder to clear up.
What we sometimes see though is people (on both sides of the political fence) flagging valid opinions they don’t agree with. That’s when moderation becomes a lot more onerous.
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I think there’s a little uncertainty sometimes about when to use the flag system for posts that seem to stray in to general politics. I’ve previously been asked to flag rather than debate these types of posts as a result of long discussions that probably get very tedious for everyone, but then on some occassions these flags don’t result in clearly political posts being removed (which I suppose could lead moderators to think the flags are vexacious, which is not the intent). I agree that an option to note reasons for flagging would be useful, but I would also say that having a ‘no general politics’ rule will naturally lead to to lots of flags if members frequently interject with general political views. As a user of the forum I simply don’t know how strictly the mod team want to take that rule, and whilst I like the pub example, that is different to rule against general politics. As a result I’ve refrained from flagging anything for a while as it often just seems to muddy the waters further! As ever, thanks mod team for all the time you put in here, not an easy task!
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