haha, i was blaming you for being a 3rd grade teacher ....Lighten up, don't be so literal all the time, have fun and make a spelling error, or mis-use a word or punctuation, it's fun, it's human.

 

Wikipedia's page is the same interpretation! It describes the "Big Brother" interpretation (that you used to clarify) as "thought police" too, the same point I made.

Merging two back-to-back posts with each other, keeping the content 100% the same... is not "thought police". It doesn't even enter into the same territory, because the poster's words are not being changed nor silenced.

There's no sinister intent, there's no manipulation of truth, none of the commonly understood meanings of Orwellian applied to merging two back-to-back posts! So why are you guys harping on me for trying to question the validity of the word you used, Dan?I agree! But you guys don't seem to believe that my interpretation of what you said was valid! How can that be?

Look Dan... my whole point is... you had a valid opinion and concern about the merging of posts. You just chose to use a word to describe it that conveys a much larger problem. That is what I took issue with, because I'm not some "big evil guy" sitting behind a dark control panel, cackling away at "controlling the minions".

I believe very strongly in freedom of expression, provided that it is mature and does not devolve into personal attacks and insults.

 

Al Gore says you are responsible for global warming too!









<runs and hides>

 

whoa nelly belle there, folks.

Now I didn't read the whole thread, but I read the OP, so that's what I'm gonna comment on.

NAM has changed quite drastically over the past..say..2 years. That kind of change is inevitable for a site with a rapidly growing number of posters. I've seen it before and will likely see it again.

It's pure sociology, Mark. As "the group" (NAMmers) grow, each personality that enters the mix, changes the social dynamics of "the group". It's cyclical as well.

 

I just had a mental image of you ducking behind a couch

thanks so much for getting us back on track, and focusing on the task at hand. I did enjoy that little recess though.

 

uhh....you asked, I clarified what exactly I meant. /story. replace 'Orwellian' with 'Big Brother' in my post if it makes you feel better

 

a vendor rating system might help...or hurt. I dunno..just trying to think of constructive stuff.

 

Hehe.

Of course I'm not even going to go there... we haven't abolished the "political" guideline yet.

(and yes, I realize that even mentioning the guidelines speaks to your concern about "authoritativeness" here, but if it isn't nipped in the bud early, someone else might take offense to what you said, and away we go... such is the balancing act sometimes)

 

Just read this on another forum about someone's discontent and feeling like they can not be heard...and that it will take too long to be heard due to their "status", so I am bypassing that and letting them be heard.

 

ITS NOT A COMMUNITY, ITS A WEBSITE!
Everyone needs to get their panties straightened out and act like real people, not like friendly little communists.

 

not just vendors, but buyers/sellers too!! iTrader It's a two-way street and self-policing is the best way to manage it

 

Ok I dunno if it is new (as I tend to miss things sometimes) but a week or so ago I noticed that a vendor rating system did pop up. Check the left side menu

 

I really like that idea, it might also let the vendor know, buy multiple votes and not just the same person complaining over and over again, that they need to either improve customer service or product quality...or that they are doing an outstanding job.

Great suggestion!!! I really like that, and maybe it could be part of the vendor directory.

 

well, you're right, T...and I'm blind.

 

you are right, but it would be nice if it was tied to a common list of the vendors, then people can go down the list and continue to vote, not just a single review, etc.

I do like the vendor and product rating system though, that will be VERY helpful.

 

we are currently working on getting that implemented...at least that is my understanding....similar to eBay ratings, etc.

 

sweet! note that ratings and reviews are separate things....both should be utilized

 

I totally agree!!!!

 

All I can say about all this foshizzle is, bring back the member list, or a way to look up someone to PM them without having to look through a ridiculous amount of threads just to find one of their posts!

 

yeah, I miss the member list, too. It came in handy.

 

It's back I just used it to update my buddie list...Thanks Mark!!

 

You can also search for a member under the search function, open that pull down, click on advanced search, then start typing their screen name, then it will show you a list of those that are close, pic the one you want, a thread pulls up, then you can send them a PM.

But I also agree, the member list will be nice to have back.

 

I tried, here: But thanks Katie! It's actually been there a long, long time (see the "Reviews" section right under the site logo), but Mark recently made it even more visible. Some posters are put on moderated posting, yes... for a variety of reasons. Oftentimes, it's because they develop a reputation for very aggressive and negative posting (e.g. trolling). Generally speaking, the admin team looks at and discusses these types of decisions before it's done though. Other reasons for being put on moderated posting are reasonable suspicion of being a previously banned user trying to sneak back in, or trying to sell product on NAM without a vendor agreement.

The point is that moderated posting does happen, yes... but it's not simply because they have a "different viewpoint" than Mark or the moderation team. There's behavioral reasons behind it.

 

This whole perception vs perception discussion is an example of something that annoys me on NAM. You will have a perfectly good thread going that then gets bogged down with a lot of back and forth wordsmithing, he hit me back first posts.

Sometimes, I think it would be best if people would just take the high road and not feel the need to respond and defend themselves on everything.

This is not something the moderators can fix and may be an opinion shared only by me.

There, I vented. I've been a member of NAM since Jan 2003 and still find it a good site to visit.

 

Yep! I guess in all of the squabbling that Jon (03Indigo), Dan (PGT) and I had, some people missed this post from Mark:Good point, blue_rocket2.Well, not unilaterally, but there's at least one moderator (me) who can try to do better. It's a personal battle that each of us has to take... well, those of us with a problem anyway. I sincerely doubt you're alone on this.Awesome. I can see you don't post very often, so the fact you chose to speak up here speaks volumes.