And I'll add a few. VFTT inherited folks from the un-moderated AMC forums. People who trolled or just couldn't stand anyone suggesting they ease up a bit in their posts. Darren came within a whisker of killing VFTT when this forum was much more central to hiker's sport's lives. The result was the referral system so people who went out the back door didn't come back in again. You can't imagine some of the things we were called here, in email and PMs. IMO the forum was tightly moderated because it had to be. With the departure of troublemakers, some by their own volition the need for moderation eased. Dave, Tim and I try to let threads and members work things out and it's hard to remember the last time the mods had to step in, as it should be.
Social media is taking it's toll on forums of all types. For VFTTers who feel there should be more discussion - post and begin threads.
As someone (a non member) who lurked trail conditions for a long time and stayed away from the other forums, I missed most of that time of heavy trolling, moderation, and historical schisms. I have been told some stories.
I think the moderators do a great job here. Two things I've noticed are true. One, we self moderate very well here, whether by editing our own comments to remove the edge in some cases or when senior, wiser members step in with a gentle hand and a reminder that we are not on "that type" of forum. The moderators keep a nice loose grip on that and rarely have to step in. They set a tone, senior members maintain the tone, new members are welcomed and shown what is considered the norm here. Most of us go outside that norm periodically when a topic is brought up that involves lots of passion and opinion. We don't discuss snowshoeing, gun-toting dogs very often with good reason.
Like many things, it take some time to get to know the environment of VFTT, what is socially accepted here, and when you are out on a bit of a limb. I go out on that limb sometimes, but I know how much weight it can hold here.
The second thing I've noticed here is that I have seen senior members step in and guide new members in their postings here as opposed to bashing them or ignoring it. There are members in this thread who have done that favor for me in the past when I was new, and I have done so for others. It helps to remember that when someone's experience comes from a less moderated forum, they may have a tendency to defend themselves. You don't need to do that here, and that may take getting used to before someone lets their guard down. The positive, embracing, and teaching mentality here ends up in a stronger forum with people quickly gaining an understanding of just what level of emotional correctness needs to be maintained on this board.
It's what I now have come to believe has the most value for VFTT and maybe why this forum continues. If left un-moderated and totally open to anyone joining, it would lose the very value it gets from being a place where most of the advice and opinions given are backed with experience and knowledge. Simply, it would fall into the mix of all other forums. I also like the fact that there a bunch of people on this forum whose knowledge extends FAR beyond hiking gear, backcountry knowledge, and good routes. It adds a level of background knowledge here that is simply absent on most other forums.
Cheers to the moderators and those senior members who have long set a tone of open and respectful conversation while leaving it wide open enough for people to add personal opinion and self moderate as needed.
