Our Approach to Online Behaviour

[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.

[Vault Boy]

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

Exactly, think you're safe there.

FWIW I think the post is clear about the approach. The rules are already in place, we've just outlined how we plan to enforce them more effectively.

[Wilson]

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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.

Thanks both for the replies.

[danhibees1875]

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

Or if it's Stevenson?

[MWHIBBIES]

Especially glad to see the clampdown on the blatant trolling. I reported a user multiple times over the couse of a year or so and nothing was done about it until very recently when they were banned. It was so painfully obviously and almost all of their posting was trying to wind people up.

Been on here 10 years now and had many arguments but never felt the need to personally abuse people, even when I was just a daft laddie when I joined. (I'm sure someone will find a post now where I've been out of order )

Definitely a positive change for this place. I was a big opponent to the abuse our players and staff were receiving.

[hibee_girl]

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Or if it's Stevenson?

I’ll be personally banning anyone who dares to criticise Stevenson!

[Viva_Palmeiras]

Amen. Peace out.

I hate that tired expression for admins - have no idea where it originated. sent mixed messages so glad the sun has set on that.

[lord bunberry]

Good news. I’ve never been offended by anything I’ve read on here, but I’ve found the forum to be less enjoyable lately. Replies like are you on crack etc to someone giving their opinion is just unnecessary. I’m old enough to remember life before Internet forums and I have a rule that I wouldn’t say something online that I wouldn’t say face to face. I’d hate this place to become a sanitised boring forum that doesn’t allow passionate opinions to be expressed, but it shouldn’t ever become personal.

[1 8 7 5]

Hopefully people wont get banned without them having the chance to apologise. As a new poster, i find this site pretty tame, and dont see much nonsense at all. There does seem a few more established posters who like to get into heated debate with the same people regardless of the topic

This is a great Hibs site, and fully of radges of all sorts Hope it doesnt change too much!

The admins appear to do a relatively good job here, and has been mentioned previously, there is good self policing on this site.

[Percy Vere]

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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

Good call.
Banter and healthy debate is great but I’ve found the forum quite a frosty place during the PH months. To the point of just avoiding it due to the vitriol
And unpleasantness.
Welcome post.

[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.

[Brightside]

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

Paul says it’s not fine. 😂

[Vault Boy]

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Paul says it’s not fine. 😂

[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.

[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.

[McD]

Agree with this approach.

admins do a great job of managing a difficult balance on here, especially when the team are struggling which leaves all of us frustrated, looking for a release and probably a lot more touchy than normal.

cheers for all your hard work folks, it’s greatly appreciated

[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.

[SteveHFC]

Are we still aloud to post this

[danhibees1875]

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Are we still aloud to post this

No, you need to do it quietly.

[wpj]

Debate is healthy
Abuse is unhealthy
Trolling is sad and pathetic but a product of the times unfortunately, we, Hibernian fans need to try to be better than that. All of course IMHO 👍

[Vault Boy]

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Are we still aloud to post this

Only when a Celtic striker who shall not be named is given a mention on a Greggs thread.

[The 90+2]

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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.

At the same time, more established members coming out with “this is exactly why I don’t post anymore” when someone posts a thread is also abusive and a slyer, more damaging way of saying they don’t agree with a post or the person is talking rubbish. Think how it makes someone feel to read that something they post is making others not visit the site.

[The 90+2]

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Only when a Celtic striker who shall not be named is given a mention on a Greggs thread.

Ex Celtic striker who’s surname sounds a bit similar to fireman and I would agree 😁

[Hibbyradge]

I don't think there has been anything untoward on hibs.net that requires a change in approach, to be honest.

I don't see people being bullied and although there are sometimes questionable attitudes expressed by some, particularly on the Holy Ground, it's always within a respectable boundary.

For example, the admin pricks thing might be annoying to some, and it might be an old gag, but it's not said seriously or with any malice.

"Lol he's going to pump" her is older but it's still a good line if it's timed well so age is irrelevant.

I wholeheartedly agree that online abuse and bullying is abhorrent and steps should be taken to stop it, but gentle fun, and robust arguments, make this site what it is.

[Vault Boy]

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I don't think there has been anything untoward on hibs.net that requires a change in approach, to be honest.

I don't see people being bullied and although there are sometimes questionable attitudes expressed by some, particularly on the Holy Ground, it's always within a respectable boundary.

For example, the admin pricks thing might be annoying to some, and it might be an old gag, but it's not said seriously or with any malice.

"Lol he's going to pump" her is older but it's still a good line if it's timed well.

I wholeheartedly agree that online abuse and bullying is abhorrent and steps should be taken to stop it, but gentle fun, and robust arguments, make this site what it is.

I understand why some folk want to ensure that the more light hearted elements of the site are retained, and we can assure you that these aren't under threat HR.

This is maybe a good time to mention that some of the more untoward things on here get reported and removed from here pretty swiftly, but it certainly does happen on occasion.

As reflected in the post, I think we're in agreement that the conduct on Hibs.net is above average when compared to other online spaces, but when we reflect on Tracey's experiences, it's important that we always strive to do better. It can't hurt to have a refresher every once in a while, and I think it's also good for us all to be able to hold each other accountable, to prevent there being more Hibbies who go through a similar experience to Tracey.

I'm glad you haven't seen these behaviours on Hibs.net though HR, it's just about making sure it stays that way.

[easty]

I’ve only read the opening post, so dunno if it’s been spoken about already, but I disagree a lot.

I don’t think there is a lot of abuse, I’d say there’s very little. For me, people in general are far too quick to take offence to any old **** recently.

[One Day Soon]

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I don't think there has been anything untoward on hibs.net that requires a change in approach, to be honest.

I don't see people being bullied and although there are sometimes questionable attitudes expressed by some, particularly on the Holy Ground, it's always within a respectable boundary.

For example, the admin pricks thing might be annoying to some, and it might be an old gag, but it's not said seriously or with any malice.

"Lol he's going to pump" her is older but it's still a good line if it's timed well so age is irrelevant.

I wholeheartedly agree that online abuse and bullying is abhorrent and steps should be taken to stop it, but gentle fun, and robust arguments, make this site what it is.

The Holy Ground is now, to me, the equivalent of the old Dundee Arms or 'Vietnam' as it - too - was affectionately known. I will miss the APs references, I thought they were actually unambigously deferential to the the admins. I must admit I'm pretty amused by thought of the admins collectively sitting down to discuss the new era of .net detente and getting to that particular point on the agenda.

You make an important point though, humour is pretty subjective so the administrator persons could be quite busy...

[Vault Boy]

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I’ve only read the opening post, so dunno if it’s been spoken about already, but I disagree a lot.

I don’t think there is a lot of abuse, I’d say there’s very little. For me, people in general are far too quick to take offence to any old **** recently.

It doesn't say there's a lot of abuse, so I'm not sure what you're disagreeing with.

A board member stepped down this week due to harrassment. We're reiterating the important of our rules and guidelines.

I suggest you read it again!

[Hibbyradge]

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I understand why some folk want to ensure that the more light hearted elements of the site are retained, and we can assure you that these aren't under threat HR.

This is maybe a good time to mention that some of the more untoward things on here get reported and removed from here pretty swiftly, but it certainly does happen on occasion.

As reflected in the post, I think we're in agreement that the conduct on Hibs.net is above average when compared to other online spaces, but when we reflect on Tracey's experiences, it's important that we always strive to do better. It can't hurt to have a refresher every once in a while, and I think it's also good for us all to be able to hold each other accountable, to prevent there being more Hibbies who go through a similar experience to Tracey.

I'm glad you haven't seen these behaviours on Hibs.net though HR, it's just about making sure it stays that way.

I agree.

I wouldn't like to see someone being banned because of a single, out of character, remark, but it's good to reiterate that there are lines which shouldn't be crossed.