my members cry for more democracy! but i am not a us president!

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  • Lenni
    Senior Member
    • Aug 2004
    • 758
    • 3.6.x

    my members cry for more democracy! but i am not a us president!

    basically, my members want a poll on every change of the forum. this happened before and now that they have tasted, they want more of it.
    there is a major change happening, which i think is necessarry. but since most of the active users are against this change, a poll on that would definately be negative for my side. what shall i do? in the past it was me (the admin) to decide on important things and even my forum is not huge, its successfull enough for me. am i no longer trusted?
    short description of the major change: put junior idols (age below 18) in their own seperated forum. controversial topic, i know. thats what discussions are about now.
    what would you do?
    Last edited by Lenni; Fri 16 Sep '05, 8:20pm.
    selling kawaiiNation.com
  • filburt1
    Senior Member
    • Feb 2002
    • 6606

    #2
    Too bad for them. It's your forum, you pay the bills, you make the decisions.

    Then again, don't do something that will piss off all of your users.
    --filburt1, vBulletin.org/vBulletinTemplates.com moderator
    Web Design Forums.net: vB Board of the Month
    vBulletin Mail System (vBMS): webmail for your forum users

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    • Lenni
      Senior Member
      • Aug 2004
      • 758
      • 3.6.x

      #3
      yes, you just wrote my thoughts. of course i can do everything i want, but since my forum is quite small, many of those who are active (and against a change like this) would be really pissed off. i have just made a pending forum as how i imagined it to look like later (it was a closed forum) and they started to complain a lot. i dont want to piss them off of course. but since this topic is so controversial, its becoming a difficult task. (and, pms go round with terms like "paedo". ugghh.
      selling kawaiiNation.com

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      • fire27
        Senior Member
        • Jan 2004
        • 136

        #4
        depending on the change it could be user specific eg. used as a different style. if its something more than that (adding something) as long as it wasnt intrusive they probalby wouldnt have a problem. there are many 'major' things that you could change without any specifics its hard to give you a concrete answer

        Comment

        • Lenni
          Senior Member
          • Aug 2004
          • 758
          • 3.6.x

          #5
          put junior idols (age below 18) in their own seperated forum.
          as you must know, my forum is about asian idols.
          i edited the first post so you better know what the problem is about.
          Last edited by Lenni; Fri 16 Sep '05, 8:22pm.
          selling kawaiiNation.com

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          • Toneboy
            Member
            • Sep 2001
            • 36
            • 3.6.x

            #6
            As other people have said, it is your forum. If people don't like it then they can go elsewhere.
            Site Admin - http://www.savedbygrace.org.uk

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            • Lenni
              Senior Member
              • Aug 2004
              • 758
              • 3.6.x

              #7
              yeah, basically you are right and i think the same. but you must consider that my forum is rather small and most of the active users are against a change like that. if i pissed them off, my basis runs away. i will discuss this issue a little further, but not too sure what the result will be. in the end, i think i will put my thoughts into action.
              selling kawaiiNation.com

              Comment

              • Kathy
                Senior Member
                • May 2000
                • 1251
                • 3.8.x

                #8
                Since when in a hobby forum or a commerce forum a democracy?

                Its your property. Be a leader.
                Fan Club member for VBulletin Dev and Support Team ;)

                Hysterectomy - GirlsGetGoing.com - Fabulous Fifty

                I'm frequently asked about the skin designer for my forums. ForumSkin.com

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                • Onimua
                  Senior Member
                  • Apr 2005
                  • 4572

                  #9
                  What about trying and reaching some kind of compromise then? "Okay, if you do this, I'll do this" kind of deal?

                  By the way... nice skin. I like it alot.
                  Congratulations on the death of vBulletin, Internet Brands.

                  Comment

                  • free thinker
                    Senior Member
                    • May 2005
                    • 747
                    • 3.0.7

                    #10
                    It has been my experience that some of the most successful online communities are those where the administration has virtually no contact with the members. And where the moderators have virtually no contact, short of moderating, with the members as well.

                    The instant the administrators and moderators start "chatting" with or "discussing" issues with the members...it gets hairy. Your members start to view you as reachable, as human, as influencable (for lack of a better term). Then they start to expect special considerations and favors.

                    You are right. You are not a US president and your forum is not a democracy. But once you make your forum a community (by joining in), they expect that the forum will act as a democracy as most other communities in our lives do.

                    This is just an observation of mine. It directly applies here at vB.com as well. The admins and mods here talk, joke, and chat right along with us. I enjoy this as I am certain most others do too. But because they do this, they are periodically subjected to stupid, inappropriate, or inconsiderate comments and questions. It's just the nature of the beast.

                    Comment

                    • Shining Arcanine
                      Senior Member
                      • Feb 2003
                      • 2482
                      • 3.0.3

                      #11
                      Originally posted by rin
                      basically, my members want a poll on every change of the forum. this happened before and now that they have tasted, they want more of it.
                      there is a major change happening, which i think is necessarry. but since most of the active users are against this change, a poll on that would definately be negative for my side. what shall i do? in the past it was me (the admin) to decide on important things and even my forum is not huge, its successfull enough for me. am i no longer trusted?
                      short description of the major change: put junior idols (age below 18) in their own seperated forum. controversial topic, i know. thats what discussions are about now.
                      what would you do?
                      If it was their forum, they could make the decisions, but it is your forum and ultimately the decision is yours.

                      Comment

                      • Lenni
                        Senior Member
                        • Aug 2004
                        • 758
                        • 3.6.x

                        #12
                        thanks people! one of my moderators supports a change like this. i will consult him and we will discuss things. actually, since being called a pedo by some of the active members, i dont really care about them anymore.
                        selling kawaiiNation.com

                        Comment

                        • ManagerJosh
                          Senior Member
                          • Jun 2002
                          • 9922

                          #13
                          well you could meet them inbetween, like have a senate layer who can make recommendations and stuff to you. Essentially a form of government to keep them happy.

                          They can make recommendations, but it doesn't mean you have to accept them
                          ManagerJosh, Owner of 4 XenForo Licenses, 1 vBulletin Legacy License, 1 Internet Brands Suite License
                          Director, WorldSims.org | Gaming Hosting Administrator, SimGames.net, Urban Online Entertainment

                          Comment

                          • Lenni
                            Senior Member
                            • Aug 2004
                            • 758
                            • 3.6.x

                            #14
                            good idea! i will look into that.
                            by now, i have made an unvisible forum which becomes visible to all who join a certain usergroup. if they do the forum becomes visible. that way, i can control who has access to it (for example i can check if those who called us paedo joined in or not.). the hardest part will be to tell my moderators about it.
                            selling kawaiiNation.com

                            Comment

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