Our Approach to Online Behaviour

[HNA4]

Hello All,

In light of the unfortunate circumstances surrounding Tracey Smith’s resignation as from her role as Fans Representative on the Hibs Board, we felt this would be a good time to review how we operate here.

Several of you have mentioned in posts and told us directly that you find hibs.net to be a less friendly place than before. – we hear you.

Going forward we will be applying the existing rules more robustly to ensure that Hibs.net continues to be the friendly, inclusive site we all want it to be. We will do this in the following ways:

• By shoring up our zero-tolerance attitude to abusive, insulting or aggressive behaviours. Members found to be breaching these behaviours will be banned, without exception. These include personal insults, racism, sexism, homophobia and threats.
• We have been guilty of hesitance when it comes to dealing with posters who are clearly only here to wind others up. From now on, anybody who we feel is only here to troll the forums or antagonise other members will be swiftly removed. Fewer second chances on this front.
• Whilst we rarely see the kind of vitriolic abuse directed at individual club personalities that appears on social media sites, we have recently had to remove some posters that have overstepped the mark and we will continue to monitor this with vigilance.

We recognise that the vast majority of our users are Hibs fans who simply want to connect with others in the community, share their thoughts and experiences, and have some fun whilst doing it. When we look at equivalent forums for other British football teams, it’s safe to say that Hibs.net is one of the best groups out there, but it’s vitally important that we do our utmost to retain what we do well, whilst improving the areas in which we fall short.

It is at this point that we’d also like to call on you, fellow members of Hibs.net, to help us along the way – with our site rules and community guidelines in mind, please do use the report function to flag up posts that you feel go against these values.

We do review every report, this fact isn’t always communicated, but it’s true. The report function is there to allow our community to hold each other accountable and we should have been putting a spotlight on this more often. No one other than the admin team will see any reports that you send, be they forum posts or private messages, so please don’t hesitate to flag these to us.

Finally, we’d like to thank you all for making Hibs.net the vibrant, entertaining and friendly place that it so often is. There’s a significant period of change happening at the club currently and we want Hibs.net to be your favourite place to read and discuss all the news that comes along with that.

Best wishes,

The Hibs.net Admin Team

[04Sauzee]

Can this be made a sticky, woukd hate to see this getting lost on page 2 after a day or 2.

[Sammy7nil]

Don't disagree with the policy however this is a great site and there really is very little abusive or threatening posts. I hope the Admins still allow a bit of "banter" or it could become a very dull site. Good luck Admins i don't envy your job.

[Pretty Boy]

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Don't disagree with the policy however this is a great site and there really is very little abusive or threatening posts. I hope the Admins still allow a bit of "banter" or it could become a very dull site. Good luck Admins i don't envy your job.

I don't think anyone wants to see an end to banter or even robust and 'heated' debate. It's all about making sure we keep things on the right side of the line. 99% of the time that happens anyway and self policing is very good on here.

It's never easy when we are rubbish because a lot of people want a moan, some take it too far and others then react to that it all becomes a bit antagonistic and silly. If we, as admins, keep on top of the really bad stuff, everyone takes a few seconds to think before they post and we all show respect to each other then this place becomes a far more pleasant place to spend time.

[Hibernia&Alba]

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Don't disagree with the policy however this is a great site and there really is very little abusive or threatening posts. I hope the Admins still allow a bit of "banter" or it could become a very dull site. Good luck Admins i don't envy your job.

Fair point, and I'm sure the admins can distinguish a joke from something more sinister; though it isn't an easy role, as you say. In my time on here, I've literally only seen a couple of posts that were threatening; personal insults much more, though not common. Trolling is perhaps the biggest issue, but it's a matter of judgement regarding what qualifies as trolling. Overall I find .net a friendly and welcoming place, with the vast majority of posters here for the right reasons. Bigotry is easier to identify and must be non-negotiable in all forms.

Compared to some football message boards I've read, .net is well behaved, but sometimes disagreements are taken too far in the heat of the moment.

[hibsbollah]

Great call admins, let's lead by example . Sticky please.

[Silversand]

Well said admins.

I'm thinking it's worse on other social media compared with .net (Facebook I'm looking at you) but good that we're trying to keep things calm on here.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

[Billy Whizz]

100% agree

[Vault Boy]

By the way we'll make this sticky after plenty have had a chance to see it.

[One Day Soon]

Admin pricks do a great job on here in my view and some debates must be quite hard to police when heated because generally I think they are honest disagreements rather than anything more personal, but from time to time it's clear there is also an 'edge'. I also think most posters police themselves pretty well. I know I've locked horns from time to time and been conscious when a sparring partner has toned it down or stepped back a bit.

Is there any infraction system at work - a kind of three strikes and you're out approach?

[Hibby Gav]

ggtth

[Jay]

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Admin pricks do a great job on here in my view and some debates must be quite hard to police when heated because generally I think they are honest disagreements rather than anything more personal, but from time to time it's clear there is also an 'edge'. I also think most posters police themselves pretty well. I know I've locked horns from time to time and been conscious when a sparring partner has toned it down or stepped back a bit.

Is there any infraction system at work - a kind of three strikes and you're out approach?

And we have a winner! First thing to be clamped down in is this very very old joke. Its not funny and totally disrespectful.


Yes theres an infraction system

People can also report private messages if you feel they are abusive in any way.

[One Day Soon]

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And we have a winner! First thing to be clamped down in is this very very old joke. Its not funny and totally disrespectful.


Yes theres an infraction system

People can also report private messages if you feel they are abusive in any way.

Are you serious? It's funny, gentle, affectionate and entirely respectful.

[Jay]

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Are you serious? It's funny, gentle, affectionate and entirely respectful.

Im serious its not funny ten years after the event most people dont even know what the joke was . Its time to put it to bed .

[Sir David Gray]

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Are you serious? It's funny, gentle, affectionate and entirely respectful.

I've always thought that term was taken as the light hearted joke that it's intended to be but perhaps not. There's a fine line between good natured humour or banter and malicious abuse and I certainly don't agree with the latter in any walk of life.

Hopefully it will be enforced sensibly and those who have crossed the line will think twice about their actions going forward.

I certainly wouldn't like to see anyone face the level of abuse that Tracey Smith obviously has.

[Since452]

Agree. Hopefully we all take note

[ALF TUPPER]

Well done admins 👍🏻

[Scouse Hibee]

100% agree with the OP statement, keep up the great work it’s very much appreciated.

[Brightside]

Great stuff.

[Keith_M]

I'm in favour of the principle of what you're trying to do but I'm a bit worried that there are some Admins that quite clearly have a completely different viewpoint on what constitutes "banter" or "humour".

[The 90+2]

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I'm in favour of the principle of what you're trying to do but I'm a bit worried that there are some Admins that quite clearly have a completely different viewpoint on what constitutes "banter" or "humour".

Probably best not to post anything that could offend others on the forum, including the admin I suppose.

[CyberSauzee]

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Probably best not to post anything that could offend others on the forum, including the admin I suppose.

That's nanny state thinking.

What needs pointing out is the difference polemic and what's not. Too many admins (and some long time posters) on here are too sanctimonious for me - if your opinion is different, then you are wrong and that's it.

As long as the individual is not attacked then open debate should be encouraged.

Remember, you may not like it, but it's just someone's opinion. If you don't like it, switch off your internet.

[matty_f]

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That's nanny state thinking.

What needs pointing out is the difference polemic and what's not. Too many admins (and some long time posters) on here are too sanctimonious for me - if your opinion is different, then you are wrong and that's it.

As long as the individual is not attacked then open debate should be encouraged.

Remember, you may not like it, but it's just someone's opinion. If you don't like it, switch off your internet.

Open debate is encouraged and at the risk of proving the point () I'd love to see an example of where an admin has told someone they're wrong and that was that.

[Jay]

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I'm in favour of the principle of what you're trying to do but I'm a bit worried that there are some Admins that quite clearly have a completely different viewpoint on what constitutes "banter" or "humour".

Id like to think we all know what abuse is. Thats what we are talking about here

[Keith_M]

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Id like to think we all know what abuse is. Thats what we are talking about here

I completely back clamping down on abuse.

[Jay]

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I completely back clamping down on abuse.

We are in agreement then. Im all for banter and humour too.

[Wilson]

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Id like to think we all know what abuse is. Thats what we are talking about here

Not really. Are we no longer allowed to describe a player as "brutal" for example. I mean if you genuinely feel that that is an apt description?

It isn't racist, homophobic, or sexist. Extreme maybe.

I have seen posters who I would describe as overly sensitive calling for posters to be banned for describing players that way.

The lines become blurred. People will not post their honest opinion or you'll ban people whose opinions are at the wrong extreme. The site would be poorer for it.

[hibee_girl]

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Not really. Are we no longer allowed to describe a player as "brutal" for example. I mean if you genuinely feel that that is an apt description?

It isn't racist, homophobic, or sexist. Extreme maybe.

I have seen posters who I would describe as overly sensitive calling for posters to be banned for describing players that way.

The lines become blurred. People will not post their honest opinion or you'll ban people whose opinions are at the wrong extreme. The site would be poorer for it.

Think you’re fine to call players brutal unless that said player is on here and complains to us

[Pretty Boy]

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Not really. Are we no longer allowed to describe a player as "brutal" for example. I mean if you genuinely feel that that is an apt description?

It isn't racist, homophobic, or sexist. Extreme maybe.

I have seen posters who I would describe as overly sensitive calling for posters to be banned for describing players that way.

The lines become blurred. People will not post their honest opinion or you'll ban people whose opinions are at the wrong extreme. The site would be poorer for it.

No one is going to be banned for calling a player 'brutal'. That's exactly the kind of thing that can, and should, be sorted by self policing and debate.

I'm sure people can apply a bit common sense when it comes to reporting posts and so on.

[iwasthere1972]

Well done. Bad enough having to put up with the football and the results we've suffered for months but all the abuse and countless moaning threads really deters me from coming on here. It's the usual culprits from what I can see but I wouldn't get drawn into it.