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I only use them on other sites for two purposes, one is when somebody says something just to be an asshole to somebody else (rarely), and two is for the purpose of limiting posts per user. On ufn if somebody gets enough downvotes they are only allowed to post a certain amount of times a day. Works great for combating trolls.
No s**t. You have made it quite obvious how much of a stick you have up your ass about utefans. I only used utefans as an example of how well this works for combating trolls.
EDIT: you missed the point – regardless of whether or not people feed trolls once enough people downvote the person they can no longer post again.
Sure, let them post as much as they want and clutter the board. Awesome plan. Being an adult is so much better than thinking about how to limit unwanted behavior.
I don’t really have a stick it is just whats the point of another Utah fan website if it is identical to utefans? Tired of the comments of lets make it like utefans. I also wouldn’t mind if a moderator just booted that content when people troll. But if people on here choose to feed the trolls let them spend their time as they see fit.
Utefans is an example, I also have used reddit as an example in other threads. They have a downvoting system that moves crappy posts down. You don’t key in on that though. I love this site so far, but there are things that can be improved, and yes utefans does certain things better imho. Doesn’t mean we are making this utefans.
I personally don’t like the idea of moderators tossing people at their own discretion. Cougarboard does that, and you can’t even speak ill of BYU without immediate action. I like the voting system (beit utefans or reddit), because it gives some power to the members.
Did somebody over there bang your wife? Seriously, I understand you don’t like that board, but now you’re just being a dick. You do realize that the vast majority of posters here migrated from ufn, and most of us still post over there yet you continue to denigrate these folks (myself included). If you hated ufn, you will likely end up hating it over here after long enough.
You are the one personally attacking and using a tone that is not very polite. Majority of your comments are either critical or make it like Utefans. I don’t like utefans because literally it was a few board posters driving the site, with alternate egos mocking people. If you like that so much stay on that website is all. Lets make it like utefans or reddit just doesn’t fly when you are constantly on here saying get rid of Utah womens basketballs, add politics, add this add this.. blah blah blah. Tony has done a great job ALL BY himself for the most part.
Show me one personal attack, I’ve always gone out of my way to steer clear of this. And saying you have a stick up your ass is not a personal attack, although you appear to be incredibly sensitive so maybe it is (and I guess this would be too in your eyes). Also, I’m giving suggestions. I sent a message to tony a few days ago praising him, but he asked for suggestions so I’m giving them. There have been dozens of posts making suggestions, but you’re p**sed because I’ve made some? All of my posts have been critical? Please, the ones you focus on have been, but I’ve made posts in nearly every category so far discussing a wide range of topics.
You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about either. I know a ton of people personally on utefans, either as friends or as customers of my business, and they are individual posters who contribute greatly. It’s not “like three posters with a bunch of fake accounts”.
I have taken this tone with you, because a couple of days ago you called ufn a circle jerk with a few idiots with multiple accounts making up all the posts. I responded to that post, but you never said anything else on that thread. Your clear dislike of utefans and its members, of which make up the bulk of folks here, is clear and distasteful. Why in the world would I be respectful towards somebody who acted this way towards myself and other members right from the jump?
Also, what in the world does this have to do with professionalism? You’re taking this site, and possibly life in general far too seriously.
You meant no offense by saying “it’s just three posters” who are “morons” posting all the content over there? Or by playing into the “beavis and butthead” posts? Sure bud.
And the site is great so far, doesn’t mean it can’t be better though. You act as if suggesting something is somehow degrading to tony. Ridiculous.
Jesus christ, I can see why you don’t like ufn. You are so thin skinned I don’t see how you make it out your front door. Dude, asking if somebody banged your wife in jest is so far from a personal attack or offensive that it’s silly. Calling people morons on the other hand…
Maybe you are missing the point. Mine was a statement of fact you are making comments FOR shock value. If someone posts a concern over the Utah offense on this site they get a fairly good answer with some reasonable comments. Not We are fine or I prayed about. The very thing you fear troll behavior DRIVES utefans. Because the clique drives it which alienates many that don’t have the opportunity to clique with them.
Get off your f**king high horse. I make comments for shock value? Outside of this dumpster fire of a thread lets look at my posts just from today:
I actually like Arizona, but I am rooting against them this season, because I see them as the likely candidate to represent the south in the CCG.
Shocking, absolutely shocking.
The one thing I don’t like about the running format is that even during wins it’s a non-stop bitchfest. I cannot stand the posters who think they know more than the coaches, especially when it comes to play calling. How in the f**k does somebody grow the balls to question the calls when they have spent ZERO time with the players/personnel, and ZERO time scouting the opposing team or studying film (outside of maybe watching some games)? Once in a while a weird play will come in out of left field that makes you scratch your head, but I’m talking about the guys who sit there the entire game, and rail the OC for every single f**king play. It’s so goddamn exhausting.
This is shocking, me being critical of ufn.
I’m sure some will take offense to this, but do we really need a separate category here? I have no problem with girl’s basketball, and even watch the lady Utes from time to time, but this area ain’t gonna get much action. Sorry, but figured I’d say it, and if you agree, Tony, it could clean up the board a tad.
Oh heavens no, a suggestion. At least it was correct, somebody took offense to it.
I grew up playing baseball, and after having daughters softball became the goto sport in our house for many years. I coached for several years, and really grew to love the game. I actually enjoy watching it more than baseball as it’s more fast paced, and the players are far more enthusiastic. Doesn’t hurt that Utah joined a softball power conference right around the same time my girls started playing.
We really began rooting for Utah around then, 2010ish, but they were difficult to watch at times. They finished the first season of PAC-12 play with two wins. Fast forward to last season, and oh what a great job Hogue did. She won conference coach of the year honors while guiding Utah to it’s first winning season (conference play), and an NCAA tourney berth. Seems like those years of torment are starting to pay off, and I’m really looking forward to the upcoming season.
We lost our best player in Kate Dickman, but her little sis is an incoming freshman this year. Pacheco may be the best defensive catcher in the PAC-12, and while her bat was a liability much of last season she really started to turn it on toward the end. Their bullpen is young and promising as well. Anyway, not too many folks followed the team on ufn, so hoping there are some people here who will contribute over the course of the next year. Go Utes!
My god, the horror.
Allright p**sing match is done. I truthfully didn’t even read your Women’s basketball thread I saw the header and then you started this one and I thought no more Utefans bulls**t. Just ignore it if you don’t like it I try to say but I fed this post. So I am done I will ignore it and you without any administrative help.
Asking sports-fans (people) to be adults…haha. That’s a good one. I do agree with you. People take this $hit way too seriously. Many of us ex-collegiate athletes don’t even take it that far.
I’ve gone back and forth on downvotes. I like to be “positive” in attitude.
You bring up a good automatic moderation point which is when someone gets enough downvotes to be moderated.
It could be a system like reddit where if there are enough downvotes, the post gets collapsed so you have to choose to open it – that way its not deleted automatically, and the poster isn’t harmed in the future, its just that one post.
I like the down vote idea.
I understand not wanting to make this exactly like UF.N & clearly that isn’t going to be the case, but why reinvent the wheel? The down vote system is something that has worked well over there IMO. I think it can be tweaked, but it is definitely something worth consideration.
@BeehiveUte brings up an interesting point of discussion. While I like UFN and am an active member there, this is not the same place nor is it intended to be. It should have it’s own personality and I want it to be more than just a forum.
I don’t want to simply replicate what UFN does, though a standard great feature any board has is probably a good idea to implement, like say having an avatar.
Not sure if I’m being clear enough, but the point is there may be cool features about UFN or even cougarboard which are similar here, but there will certainly be differences.
For christsakes tony, nobody is trying to make it utefans. I will stop referencing them as some folks here are incredibly sensitive to that subject. I mention things I like from reddit, including their downvoting system, and nobody bats an eye. I’m just thinking of ways to help the site out, and if utefans currently does something better why would we not consider it? Just because it comes from utefans? C’mon now guys.
The only reason I don’t want the system from utefans is because of the complete limiting factor – the poster cannot post over a certain amount. Instead, I like reddit’s functionality, where the post is auto-collapsed and you can move on with the discussion. If a troll makes a name for himself, then enough people recognize him and can downvote his posts so he never gets visualization, but the majority of discussion can continue unabated.
I love reddit’s system too, but it still allows trolls to start new threads which just clutters the board.
Don’t know if its possible, but perhaps make a topic creation auto-mod, where a poster has reputation and must have a certain amount (above 0) to be able to post new topics.
That way it doesn’t dissuade from posting replies, just new topics that would clutter the board.
I’ve already said this, I’m not a fan of giving that power to one person. Once enough people have spoken then somebody loses privileges.
Not really, unless its abused as a disagreement button. and even then, unless you are going out of your way to troll then you’re not going to get downvoted enough for it to affect you. Its a “community moderation” tool to combat trolls.
Yep, power to the people. What’s wrong with that?
There is a difference between shadow-banning a user, and limiting an offending post. I, too, believe the best way to combat trolls is to simply ignore them – but that is not what 80% of the online community does. Each troll post still inevitably gains traction and will keep getting bumped up to the top of the category list. A solution like I’m suggesting would help keep the overall site discussion going the right way, instead of degenerating into useless trash or getting knocked off topic.
Valid point – but then you have to account for the lag effect of reversing the mod’s decisions or getting them removed from their position.
Its a discussion I think that is warranted. I’m in favor of a “upvote/downvote” system since I feel it helps give a sense of community when you are contributing to a thread – you feel bolstered by upvotes and want to continue posting. It also serves a function in moderation since it doesn’t tax a moderator to go through every post to figure out which ones to ban/delete – also leaves out the subjective decisions of one person and leaves it in the hands of the community as a whole.
Got you fired up there. Carry on. Great discussion.
I will quit with suggestions if it’s that big of a deal tony. If I overstepped my bounds I apologize, but I didn’t think making a few would rile some folks up so much. Jeesh.
Please continue to give suggestions, but please be prepared that some other site members may not feel the same way about all suggestions.
The reality is that even though this is not UFN there are a lot of people who have come here from there and who will frequent both sites. Comparisons between the two are bound to be made.
We don’t want to clone UFN and other fan sites but we don’t have to be against including something just because it exists on another fan site.
We should gauge each feature based on it’s merits and contribution to THIS site.
For what its worth I agree with you & didn’t see anything wrong with your suggestions.
This site clearly is going to be different than UF.N, but that doesn’t mean it can’t borrow some of the things that have worked well over there or what has made UF.N so successful.
AZ I love the suggestions. You probably don’t realize how many requests I’ve fielded so my reaction was a bit to cover all of them, not just yours.
I REALLY want all suggestions to keep coming because I want this site to be the best it can be.
Oh, I’ve seen the dozens and dozens of posts with suggestions, and can only imagine how many PM’s you’ve received. That’s why I’m blown away by this guy calling me out.
I’ve been pretty mentally frazzled, and the email problems really made it bad. With most of that fixed I can get on participating and tweaking the site with improvements.
Trolls just want attention. If UFN’s system has taught us anything, the blue stars only encourage trolls to post more because it’s confirmation that they’re posts are striking a chord and getting to people.
I never blue starred the Duckgrad types over there for that reason.
I like Tony’s idea to keep things as positive as possible on this site.
the blue starts only encourage trolls to post more because it’s confirmation that they’re posts are striking a cord and getting to people.
Wow hadn’t thought of that. Makes sense. They troll, get a bunch of blue stars, and feel like they’ve done their job.
That is why there needs to be a negative consequence to the downvote – i.e. hide the post (gray it out, collapse it, something that make it easy to skip without seeing it).
If I find myself blue-starring a troll more than a few times, I just put them on ignore. Works great. There are folks on uf.n I’ve blue starred multiple times, but I choose not to block them because they have other, worthwhile input.
Tony, this is a great start. The beauty of this being so new, is that you can experiment. I’d love to try the reddit system of downvoting. If you or others don’t like it, hey, just get rid of it. I know you’re herding cats right now, but don’t get hung up on changes being permanent, and don’t be afraid to try different approaches.
This brings up the other aspect of an ignore feature in conjunction with the downvotes – have both and then its the best of both worlds.
Trolls seem to thrive off any attention — whether it’s thumbs up or down. I agree with other posters that just ignoring or quickly banning is the best way to combat.
I don’t disagree – it is the single best way to get trolls to go away. However, practically speaking, it is hard to do to coordinate an entire site’s worth of posters (668 and counting!) to not respond to a troll’s post. It also encourages trolls to get more and more daring/boisterous/offensive to get reactions out of people.
I would like a downvote option as well.
I’ve never used Reddit. I guess I’ll go take a look.
That was a ridiculous read haha.
Ahhhhh. Our first Utehub fight.
I like UFN and have been a member since 2003, however I think the Hub can be something for a broader audience of Ute fans. The blue star has bred an atmosphere of negativity. If it’s important enough to decent then take the time to write a post. The down vote serves a negative purpose and keeps lurkers, observers, and new members on the sidelines. If we want a different feel, encourage conversation, not discourage with a down vote. A down vote is a move that will irreparably change the feel and tone of a fresh new hub for fellow Utes.
What about a transparent downvote where everybody can see who downvotes others? Might keep some folks from being so liberal with the downvotes. I’m just trying to think of ways to keep trolls at bay without overloading mods, and move quality posts up.
I don’t know what to think. When I read posts outlining reasons not to have down votes I agree with the points being made. When I read posts in favor of having down votes I see their points as well.
Tough call.
Just gave your comment a thumbs-up Tacoma. Good reasons on both sides. Perhaps the a factor will be IF the feature is even available or possible.
I’m kinda like @azswayze. I only ever blue star trolls over on ufn and never just for for simply disagreeing with a post so I see his argument for the utility. However any system that can be abused will be abused so the trick is to figure out how to control trolls through some decentralized method while limiting/disincentivizing abuse?
I like the idea of collapsing comments with enough “dislikes”
I like the idea of limiting posts by folks who consistently make “disliked” comments
I like the idea of having “dislikes” not be anonymous
I like the idea of limiting the number of dislikes in a time period maybe x/day or week
Perhaps instead of a dislike button what about a “troll” icon then it’s clear this isn’t just to show you disagree but an trolling control measure?
I think there have been a lot of good ideas here, the ones that make the most sense to me are:
A) the reddit row vote system
And
B) transparency for up and down votes
I know a lot of people still love UFN and want to use this place to add to that. And there are a lot of people who strongly dislike Utefans.net, but it seems to me that both groups should want this place to be different from what already there or else what’s the point?
Rivals board has non-anonymous up votes. It’s great and would work just as well for down votes I think
I like this idea. Would definitely bring some accountability to down voting.
In my eyes jrj84105 suggestion makes the most sense.
Anyway to dislike this whole thread?
Yeah, this thread is depressing. 🙁
Anyway to dislike this whole thread?
Haha.
Actually the Like plugin is very old. It is SUPPOSED to show who liked, just like the suggestion. It’s not for some reason.
but do we really need a separate category here? I have no problem with girl’s basketball, and even watch the lady Utes from time to time, but this area ain’t gonna get much action. Sorry, but figured I’d say it, and if you agree, Tony, it could clean up the board a tad.
Coach Lynne Roberts is going to turn this program around! We are going to see a very exciting brand of basketball – so I say lets leave this here!
Throw it in with “other Utes sports”
That’s my thought. I see we have one person who disagrees, but I’ll be shocked if we see weekly, or even monthly posts on this subject.
All due respect to women’s sports… The two draws here will obviously be football and men’s basketball. I could easily merge and it wouldn’t bother me.
I love baseball, but you could even throw those in the other sports category. We’re just not gonna see a ton of traffic in these places.
OR I could just name the category “basketball” and if a few post about women’s would it be a problem?
Hmmm, an interesting question.
On the one hand I think it would be good to have a category for our non-Football/non-Basketball prime sports.
We’re probably not going to have much traffic for Gymnastics, Skiing, but those are nationally recognized programs. Should we consider a category for them, in case others seek out talk/information?
Women’s volleyball is marginally a top 25 program. Women’s BB, softball and baseball? Do they have enough of a reputation to merit a category?
I’m on the fence but think Gymnastics should have its own category even though it is only a hot topic right around meets, and regionals and nationals. Since we have NC in Gymnastics give it a category I say.
The rest, other sports probably fits fine, if you can search for volleyball, softball, women’s BB and you find it no harm no foul.
One category “Utah Olympic Sports”
I grew up playing baseball, and after having daughters softball became the goto sport in our house for many years. I coached for several years, and really grew to love the game. I actually enjoy watching it more than baseball as it’s more fast paced, and the players are far more enthusiastic. Doesn’t hurt that Utah joined a softball power conference right around the same time my girls started playing.
We really began rooting for Utah around then, 2010ish, but they were difficult to watch at times. They finished the first season of PAC-12 play with two wins. Fast forward to last season, and oh what a great job Hogue did. She won conference coach of the year honors while guiding Utah to it’s first winning season (conference play), and an NCAA tourney berth. Seems like those years of torment are starting to pay off, and I’m really looking forward to the upcoming season.
We lost our best player in Kate Dickman, but her little sis is an incoming freshman this year. Pacheco may be the best defensive catcher in the PAC-12, and while her bat was a liability much of last season she really started to turn it on toward the end. Their bullpen is young and promising as well. Anyway, not too many folks followed the team on ufn, so hoping there are some people here who will contribute over the course of the next year. Go Utes!
Thanks to @execUTEioner who helped me tweak my server email settings yesterday. The spam score has been greatly improved from one which most mailboxes would reject, to one most will accept. There’s one more small thing which is not a huge issue, so as it sits now outgoing emails should reach more users.
There’s still the problem with the site’s IP address being on one email blacklist which is used by crapcast and I think maybe msn and hotmail. SO those emails may still not make it through. But, I’m working on getting that blacklist entry removed.
@admin, That’s great news. Hopefully fewer folks will report that emails go straight to spam.
since we play all four teams, i guess all that matters is the potential for a rankings advancement. my take is we root for UCLA over AZ since AZ is very close to us in the rankings. we root for ASU over USC for the same reason. god it’s hard for me to root for ASU. am i missing something? let’s assume we beat the ucks for this discussion
Either way you slice it, the USC/ASU game is good for us = one of those teams will be 2-2 after this weekend. Right now it looks like ASU has the most problems, and they haven’t been able to fix it yet. But, that said, this is the Pac12 and it seems like everyweek there is some sort of come-back, or upset that happens that turns the conference on their head.
UCLA/AZ is more interesting. Personally, I think we match up with UCLA better, and I believe we have them at home this year (I think) so I am leaning toward wanting them to win – give AZ an early loss and hope they get another one or two down the road.
I think it’s too hard to tell at this point. I guess you could root for USC because they already have a loss and Sark will probably blow another game or two. On the other hand USC still has the best talent in the division.
I think it will take a few more weeks to be able to figure out who we want to lose in games within the division.
My heart says I want all AZ schools to lose, all the time.
I actually like Arizona, but I am rooting against them this season, because I see them as the likely candidate to represent the south in the CCG.
Comes down to this for me. We play ASU at home and USC on the road. We want to win the South. It’s easier to win at home then on the road, so let’s get USC a loss in conference…
Our 2014 home and away record would disagree with you, but typically winning at home is easier
2014:
Home: 3-3
Away: 5-1
You mean another loss…
Yes – they will get stronger as the season goes and beating them 2 years in a row, on the road is going to be a challenge.
USC lost to Stanford already so I would have to pull for USC to give ASU a conference loss too.
Then I’d probably root for UCLA over Arizona because I think we have a better chance of beating UCLA at home than AZ in Tucson.
Of course, by that logic I also think we beat ASU at home easier than USC on the road.
UCLA – better chance to win overall and it’s at home
ASU – same logic
I think you go with who do we have at home this year of the 4 and who is on the road. So I want USC and AZ to lose. I think we can take UCLA and the Solar Zoobs at home this year.
Hah! SolarZoobs…
Agree. Cheering for UCLA and ASU since we have both at home and we struggle to beat UA anywhere.
