Hey who is here and why?

[Derek27]

He's often disappeared for a little while and came back.

[Kai]

Shaun White has disappeared, been a very good contributor on here with his iconoclastic takes and he also pointed me to a way of buying Microsoft Office inexpensively.

Did wonder where Shaun had disappeared to, hopefully he's all OK as not like him to disappear this long.

He's fine, been in touch with him a few days ago, sorry to say but in short he got fed up with all the jibes, and as everyone knows helping stubborn newbies is a thankless job most of the time.

He also feels that the forum is a bit too liberal at times, particularly in terms of politics and such, which Peter is probably well aware off since his inbox is full of Shaun's complaints.

But IDK why that bothers him so much, seeing people freely express casual racism and whatnot, freedom of speech is a whole thing and I have no real problem with that, it's not like Peter can actually moderate any of it even if he wanted to.

[Dallas]

Shaun White has disappeared, been a very good contributor on here with his iconoclastic takes and he also pointed me to a way of buying Microsoft Office inexpensively.

Did wonder where Shaun had disappeared to, hopefully he's all OK as not like him to disappear this long.

He's fine, been in touch with him a few days ago, sorry to say but in short he got fed up with all the jibes, and as everyone knows helping stubborn newbies is a thankless job most of the time.

He also feels that the forum is a bit too liberal at times, particularly in terms of politics and such, which Peter is probably well aware off since his inbox is full of Shaun's complaints.

But IDK why that bothers him so much, seeing people freely express casual racism and whatnot, freedom of speech is a whole thing and I have no real problem with that, it's not like Peter can actually moderate any of it even if he wanted to.

I got a PM from Shaun pointing out two posts he wasn't happy about but that was quickly followed up with another saying not to reply he was taking a break so thought it best to respect that and give him his space.

I'd like to think he'll be back shortly as he was a very good contributor to the forum, and will be missed if he doesn't return.
I'm not going to highlight the actual posts he pointed out but looking at them after his message and taking into account the overall context prior etc they very much looked more satire and tongue in cheek rather than intended as hurtful to anyone.

As regulars know Peter has always preferred a light touch with moderation on the forum and I also agree with that. Like Kai has just touched on its a fine line between freedom of expression/speech and deliberate harmful/offensive posts.

Thankfully I think you could count on one hand the number of posts that fall into the later category we've had to remove over the years, as for the remaining posts there are people from all over the world using this forum who come from all types of backgrounds so they are always going to be a wide range of views on subjects especially around politics, but just because they don't get removed if someone doesn't agree with them it doesn't mean to say it means we share that same view.

There are many posts which I disagree with but that person has a right to that view and to express it, personally I too just skip over them if i don't think its worth engaging, there are plenty more active topics and discussions going on elsewhere on the forum

[Derek27]

He's fine, been in touch with him a few days ago, sorry to say but in short he got fed up with all the jibes, and as everyone knows helping stubborn newbies is a thankless job most of the time.

He's picked the right time to take a break.

[Trader Pat]

He also feels that the forum is a bit too liberal at times, particularly in terms of politics and such, which Peter is probably well aware off since his inbox is full of Shaun's complaints.

TOO liberal?! How can the forum be TOO liberal? Wow thats a new one on me!
If the forum isn't right-wing enough then go to Reddit or 4chan! In fairness to some on here they're doing their best to make the forum more right wing

But IDK why that bothers him so much, seeing people freely express casual racism and whatnot, freedom of speech is a whole thing and I have no real problem with that, it's not like Peter can actually moderate any of it even if he wanted to.

I remember 2-3 years ago there was a thread on the forum where the racism wasn't all that casual. I can't remember what exactly the thread was about but I did think at the time it should have been closed. I've changed my view since then I don't think the forum really needs to be moderated, it sort of moderates itself. Like you say if you don't like a certain thread then don't read or participate in it.

There's lots of stuff said on here that I don't agree with but I think its really interesting to see what other people believe and how they see the world. Like I said earlier the election thread is fascinating to me. It really is a study in confirmation biases, they're absolutely everywhere in there!

[jamesg46]

Shaun White has disappeared, been a very good contributor on here with his iconoclastic takes and he also pointed me to a way of buying Microsoft Office inexpensively.

Did wonder where Shaun had disappeared to, hopefully he's all OK as not like him to disappear this long.

He's fine, been in touch with him a few days ago, sorry to say but in short he got fed up with all the jibes, and as everyone knows helping stubborn newbies is a thankless job most of the time.

He also feels that the forum is a bit too liberal at times, particularly in terms of politics and such, which Peter is probably well aware off since his inbox is full of Shaun's complaints.

But IDK why that bothers him so much, seeing people freely express casual racism and whatnot, freedom of speech is a whole thing and I have no real problem with that, it's not like Peter can actually moderate any of it even if he wanted to.

I can't help but feel I played a part in pissing him off, I wont mention the post but when I mentioned it was nothing more than light hearted humour he never responded.

That is exactly what it was (humour) & the way i believe it was perceived from the responses never even crossed my mind. I did consider apologising for it, but then if I didn't intend it that way my apology would of been nothing more than words for something never intended to offend.

Maybe I'm just being paranoid but the timing suggests otherwise. I hope to see him back soon and also hope he sees that my intentions weren't to belittle, mock or make fun of him.

I think in future I will stick to dry and direct conversation, it's sort of ruined the forum for me a little.

[Kai]

I can't help but feel I played a part in pissing him off, I wont mention the post but when I mentioned it was nothing more than light hearted humour he never responded.

Nah no chance, he just wasn't quick enough to follow all the bants at the time across multiple threads, with him being busy having to manage an army of bots etc

Like I said earlier the election thread is fascinating to me. It really is a study in confirmation biases, they're absolutely everywhere in there!

Well there you go, there's something for everyone, happy you found it fascinating for whatever reason (although sounds a bit like you walked into a zoo and was fascinated by all the different types of animals, lol, hope you didn't insult all the participants there!), for me it's actually the most boring thread on the forum and haven't really read anything, the one time I randomly peeked inside I contracted aids within minutes

As regulars know Peter has always preferred a light touch with moderation on the forum and I also agree with that. Like Kai has just touched on its a fine line between freedom of expression/speech and deliberate harmful/offensive posts.

I feel the level of moderation is spot on, as others have said the forum really does moderate itself for the most part, I don't see any other sensible way to do it considering the vast differences in backgrounds, interests, opinions and age groups etc. Not perfect but nothing ever is, the bad part is a minority opinion might get bullied off the forum and such, but that's a much lesser evil compared to having heavy moderation in place.

[Emmson]

There is a fair amount Dunning-Kruger too

[Trader Pat]

Well there you go, there's something for everyone, happy you found it fascinating for whatever reason (although sounds a bit like you walked into a zoo and was fascinated by all the different types of animals, lol, hope you didn't insult all the participants there!), for me it's actually the most boring thread on the forum and haven't really read anything, the one time I randomly peeked inside I contracted aids within minutes

I'm too liberal to intentionally insult anyone! I've probably insulted some by saying that though!

[Trader Pat]

There is a fair amount Dunning-Kruger too

The forum would be half empty without a bit of Dunning-Kruger

[Kai]

There is a fair amount Dunning-Kruger too

The forum would be half empty without a bit of Dunning-Kruger

Only half empty??? It's the core foundation of every trader on here

[Trader Pat]

There is a fair amount Dunning-Kruger too

The forum would be half empty without a bit of Dunning-Kruger

Only half empty??? It's the core foundation of every trader on here

[Anbell]

Trading's a solitary lifestyle and there's only so much porn you can watch

????

[gazuty]

I just wanted to know about you guys, what you are doing here and why you joined this forum? Maybe i will get much information which i don't know

I joined to interact with others who used Betangel.

I stayed because it’s a very satisfying community of different views.

It’s also one of the few places where people might understand what one does in ones spare time (and for others who are full time pros). Outside of this community (and it’s been touched on many times) telling people you make money from a gambling platform/ horse racing/ sports betting etc is at best met with bemusement, but often with disbelief, ridicule or even abuse. For some reason people will say “oh professional poker player, cool”. And yet I would get “Gaz don’t bullshit me, you’re just not telling me about the losses - do you need help? Are you addicted?”

[burntheory]

I thought it was an on-line dating site...