Do we need to set up a new blimp board?

[texasliberty]

The Blimp company has not been perfect, and there are definitely some things it needs to improve on, but I do believe that they are working their hearts out and at the end of the day they have managed to get a Ron Paul Blimp in the air, an awe-inspiring achievement that has brought great dividends to our candidate's campaign.

It seems like there is a good deal of grassroots energy and initiative that is trying positively to help the Blimp team, but the forum is pretty heavily infested with trolls who do everything possible to derail or interfere with the Blimp's success. Some of them are probably working for other campaigns, and some of them are just those kind of people, but whatever their motive, they're constantly getting in the way of anyone who starts a thread trying to organize and strategize effectively to support the Blimp. They inject argument into fundraising threads, they bury productive threads, they post the same questions over and over, and when an issue gets addressed they just latch on to a new one. It's pretty clear that there are two camps here - those that are often frustrated with the Blimp team's effectiveness but really do want to move the project forward, and those who really want to shut it down or move it backward. For whatever reason, the moderators don't seem to be on top of controlling the trolls to the level needed to allow enough productive motion.

For those of us who have chosen to support the Blimp and want to be able to get things done and influence the project positively, I'm going to pose a question: should we just set up a new dedicated Blimp forum somewhere else (on a different server) and moderate it more heavily? I think too much effort (both on the part of the Blimp team and on the part of the real motivated grassroots blimp supporters) goes into dealing with the constant friction of the derailers - if we're going to fly the Blimp to victory, we're going to need to get rid of that drag somehow. Setting up a separate blimp forum outside this site has definite downsides - it splits the grassroots, limits crossover eye traffic, etc - but it would get us past the friction so we could get more done. It might be worth it. What do you think?

 

[ocattorney1]

That may be beneficial, but it is probably enough to have one separate thread where only constructive discussions regarding the operations or fundraising can occur. If this can be set up here, then it may not need to be created elsewhere.

 

[hueylong]

The blimp project is part of a private company. We have no authority to 'change the blimp board'.

Huey

 

[texasliberty]

The blimp project is part of a private company. We have no authority to 'change the blimp board'.

Huey

I meant set up a new blimp "board" as in "forum", not as in "corporate board". Like on another server. And staff it with troll-hating get-r-done free market capitalist pro-blimp monitors

(Blimp!)

 

[texasliberty]

Like, for example, this:

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=60923

Here we go. Another actual attempt to do something being destroyed by trolls.

Serious people, think it over. This is a total drain on productive effort. They know they can't fight the blimp (we generated another $30k of media value today, BTW); they're going to have to go full court to tear it down.

When you've had enough, we can move the activism straight off this site in a few hours, start getting work done, and let the rest sink beneath the waves. Just say the word....

 

[Bryan]

Flag the posts. That thread was cleaned up too.

We're looking at expanding the mod team too.

 

[NewEnd]

The blimp should start a new forum, and to give ideas, you HAVE TO donate. to ask questions, YOU HAVE to send in a cashiers check, that will clear once your questions have been satisfied.

Then we can avoid all these two-bit "consumer advocates", asking ridiculous questions and harrassing the media contact, like cyclone has been, even though he doesn't have any money for the project.

 

[gecko42]

Lacrosseus

is now added to my ignore list

 

[gecko42]

negativity

I still think we need a different board. Everytime I look at this sub-forum I see NEW people with the same OLD negative issues rehashed. People try to start their own positive fundraising thread and someone has to bitch in it.

 

[szczebrzeszyn]

I still think we need a different board. Everytime I look at this sub-forum I see NEW people with the same OLD negative issues rehashed. People try to start their own positive fundraising thread and someone has to bitch in it.

That's working in both direction, you know? NEW people come here to tell us their blimp love story and beg for the cash in tens of threads and the other ones come here to say it simply sucks and the company is a scam. I'm actually sick and tired of both those groups.

 

[Focus Liberty]

I'm just confused and looking for leadership from the company itself. I don't understand why the leadership can't come from RonPaulBlimp dot com. They have thousands of email addresses from previous donors, like me, who could be ORGANIZED to further support the blimp project. I remain optimistic that we blimp supporters can grow in numbers and fly all the way through the primaries.

 

[texasliberty]

Without IP bans, I just don't see this working

Admins, I really do appreciate the extra moderation and the attempts to move and delete flagged posts. I know this is more work for you and I do appreciate it. But I have to say, sadly, that I really don't think it's enough. Now it's just become a whack-a-mole campaign - people determined to shut down the project post new negative threads or attach FUD to derail a positive activism thread. Eventually it gets marked and moved or deleted but in the interim forum sentiment turns negative, ideas get fractured, and people get discouraged. A few people are constantly and actively (and successfully) interfering with activism getting done here.

When looking into why the heck nobody ever seems to get banned here no matter how many times in a row they break the rules, I saw a discussion in the FAQ forum, the essence of which was that there were no trolls, just trollish behavior. And I have to say, it filled me with horror at its naiveté. We're in a major political campaign. Dirty tricks are a reliable staple of real campaigns - from "McCain's black baby" to voter disenfranchisement, anyone who's paid serious attention to politics has seen them all over all major campaigns. When a crazy media talking point like "Ron Paul is a racist" suddenly appears everywhere, do you really think all those reporters fall out of bed one day with the same crazy idea?

It doesn't happen like that. It's someone's job to think that stuff up. Every major campaign has people whose job is to interfere with their opponent's successful activism. The moment those money bombs went off, the moment the Blimp flew, the moment Ron Paul started rising in the (heavily rigged) polls, those people got phone calls and they are now part of your world. And they'll post all day long. You can move hundreds of their posts; they don't care; there are more where those came from. You are just not going to be able to really handle those people without IP Banning them. Otherwise one Rovian intern running a few sock-puppets can (and will) derail huge activist projects. We're weeks out from the center of gravity of the primaries. They are going to try everything they can to shut down the projects that are causing them pain. And if you don't start IP banning them, they are going to succeed.

And negativity works. Sentiment turns negative, fund raising drops off - look at the crazy careening of the Blimp fundraising chart. It's like bathing in battery acid for the Blimp crew every time they try to read the forums, it takes away from productive work as they answer the same attack or repetitive question, and we don't have a clear channel to contribute our good ideas anymore. In short, it really neuters the effectiveness of the forums as a positive campaign vehicle.

So while I really do appreciate the extra work you're putting in, I think we need to know: are you going to be willing and able to IP ban people who are actively disrupting projects? Because if not, I just don't see this forum working out as a coordination tool for the Blimp much longer. Please let us know.

 

[Bryan]

PM sent.

 

[RickNHouston]

I have a stupid question

seeing as how this is a RP forum ...don't we have any control over who advertises in it ? As in other candidates

 

[merlin]

RonPaulForums.com is a great place to visit for hardcore supporters; but I would never steer a "convert" here. The atmosphere is really poisonous and contaminated. I don't even believe that average posters here represent the Ron Paul campaign anymore. I don't know who these people are. They aren't on Paul's bandwagon. Parasites have infested the nest.

 

[Doc Dewey]

The Blimp is starting to take off and we are seeing real positive
name recognition for Ron Paul. I'm sure we have people from
other camps trying to throw a wrench into the works.
Like the negative msm stuff. Lets just shut down the negativity
and get the blimp funded and Kick butt. I donated $25.
I think the forms of payment may turn people off by all
the personal information they ask. You just have to bite
the bullet and do it. I was not an original blimp supporter, but
I see now that it is really making a difference in getting
the word out. The more succesfull we are the more sneaky
the attacks will be, like the eternal pimp article on drudge.
We need to keep moving forward. They are running scared.
It is not time to call off the attack.

 

[Bryan]

seeing as how this is a RP forum ...don't we have any control over who advertises in it ? As in other candidates

Yes, why do you ask?

RonPaulForums.com is a great place to visit for hardcore supporters; but I would never steer a "convert" here. The atmosphere is really poisonous and contaminated. I don't even believe that average posters here represent the Ron Paul campaign anymore. I don't know who these people are. They aren't on Paul's bandwagon. Parasites have infested the nest.

Flag posts that violate the forum guidelines:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=22

 

[mdevour]

You can't starve a troll who's slitting your throat!

Admins, I really do appreciate the extra moderation and the attempts to move and delete flagged posts...

I think we need to know: are you going to be willing and able to IP ban people who are actively disrupting projects? Because if not, I just don't see this forum working out as a coordination tool for the Blimp much longer. Please let us know.

+1 ... In fact, I fear the forums are on track to fail as a coordination tool for a lot of things. Witness this post:

RonPaulForums.com is a great place to visit for hardcore supporters; but I would never steer a "convert" here. The atmosphere is really poisonous and contaminated. I don't even believe that average posters here represent the Ron Paul campaign anymore. I don't know who these people are. They aren't on Paul's bandwagon. Parasites have infested the nest.

Merlin is exactly right!

Who are the dozen most ignored people here? Why are they still members?!

Verify that each is posting a significant number of negative messages, then ban them for good. Then the forum experience can be "1000% better" for everyone who visits, instead of a hollow illusion only for those who use the ignore function.

There needs to be a serious dose of realism applied here. This problem isn't going to get better as the forums grow. Psychological tricks like "ignoring trollish behavior" aren't going to stop the disrupters from diluting the forums' usefulness.

Mike D.

 

[Mark]

The Blimp company has not been perfect, and there are definitely some things it needs to improve on, but I do believe that they are working their hearts out and at the end of the day they have managed to get a Ron Paul Blimp in the air, an awe-inspiring achievement that has brought great dividends to our candidate's campaign.

It seems like there is a good deal of grassroots energy and initiative that is trying positively to help the Blimp team, but the forum is pretty heavily infested with trolls who do everything possible to derail or interfere with the Blimp's success. Some of them are probably working for other campaigns, and some of them are just those kind of people, but whatever their motive, they're constantly getting in the way of anyone who starts a thread trying to organize and strategize effectively to support the Blimp. They inject argument into fundraising threads, they bury productive threads, they post the same questions over and over, and when an issue gets addressed they just latch on to a new one. It's pretty clear that there are two camps here - those that are often frustrated with the Blimp team's effectiveness but really do want to move the project forward, and those who really want to shut it down or move it backward. For whatever reason, the moderators don't seem to be on top of controlling the trolls to the level needed to allow enough productive motion.

For those of us who have chosen to support the Blimp and want to be able to get things done and influence the project positively, I'm going to pose a question: should we just set up a new dedicated Blimp forum somewhere else (on a different server) and moderate it more heavily? I think too much effort (both on the part of the Blimp team and on the part of the real motivated grassroots blimp supporters) goes into dealing with the constant friction of the derailers - if we're going to fly the Blimp to victory, we're going to need to get rid of that drag somehow. Setting up a separate blimp forum outside this site has definite downsides - it splits the grassroots, limits crossover eye traffic, etc - but it would get us past the friction so we could get more done. It might be worth it. What do you think?

Sure, a dedicated forum is a good idea. But, do you just want "yes men" concerning the blimp?

It's not good business practice.

 

[texasliberty]

No, not at all, constructive criticism is super important. For example, the Blimp team's blog has gotten much better as a result of constant positive pressure from the forum, and will hopefully improve more (and get used more, like it has been recently). I think you totally don't want yes men. But at the same time, it's important to keep the forum atmosphere positive. One can say, "Wow, I think we really need to fix this thing here" without being bitterly rude. Rudeness is corrosive - who wants to read that? So people tend to avoid it. My take, anyway...