We need to talk about Kevin, sorry, I mean ban-all-sheds

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His advice is generally sound, and if it's presented in a way that maybe upsets some people, then maybe they should realise that it's just an internet forum, not real life...
All true. However, what I think frustrates many of us (certainly myself), knowing the sincere and well-intentioned objectives he clearly has, is that the approach/style/methods he adopts are, I feel sure, very often counter-productive in terms of his own objectives - which is a pity, for everyone concerned.

Kind Regards, John
I agree with that, but surely everyone knows that & allows for it, it is no reason to call for him to be banned
 
I really don't see the point of this thread. I have read the op a few times and am bemused.

With apologies to Lionel Shriver, we can't keep burying our heads in the sand when it comes to ban-all-sheds ("bas").
Another thread was deleted, partly I'm sure, due to personal insults directed to bas by me. Do you mean he insulted you?

Can we please have a grown up conversation about bas' contribution to this sub-forum? To what end?

I can be objective and, as long as the mods contribute, I'm happy to bow to the collective will of the majority on here. What do you want the majority to decide?

On balance, I do not believe that bas is a positive influence within the Electrics UK sub-forum. I don't believe that his intention is to help address posters' questions, nor do I believe that he holds the interest of the OP or the membership at large in any regard. I take he has upset you recently. I don't have any issue with him. If you don't like what he has written, ignore it. If he is replying to somebody else, why is it your problem anyway?

Over the eight years that I have been a member of diynot I have received an enormous amount of help from members in various sub-fora but, within Electrics UK, it has been a constant battle. bas really personifies this sub-forum - what he agrees with, goes, and what he disagrees with is beaten into submission. This either happens directly because he makes the OP go away, or through attrition because everyone else just gives up when faced with the misery of multi-quote after multi-quote. Do you really think the biggest problem is bas replying to a post? I would say that the biggest problem is when a post arrives asking for advice and (usually with the first 4 replies) the 'discussion' verers of an a tangent and stays there for the rest of the thread.

My projected position is that the Electrics UK forum is effectively ruled by bas, and that is unhealthy. From a diynot perspective (and I stand to be corrected) I don't think that a single member has this much of a stranglehold on any other sub-forum...?

How does that work? I am not aware of bas having the power to delete threads/posts or remove acounts from the site. Assuming you are not 5, you have the fre will to ignore bas, or take part in any discussion with him.

To the crux of my post;
  1. I'd like to understand other members' positions on bas' input, ideally with a black-or-white view on whether he helps or hinders the Electrics UK community
  2. I'd like to see the moderators' view on where bas fits into this, probably based on the answers to #1
It would be easy to see this as a personal attack, (do you think, I'd say if somebody hinted that I was a sociopath, who is likely to take a bow and arrow into a school to massacre the students, I may be inclined to take that as a personal attack. Just saying) and therefore a straight-to-deletion thread but as my topic title suggests; we have an elephant in the room.
bas has been allowed to grow into the unofficial arbiter of what we are allowed to discuss on here, (how does he manipulate the site as you suggest?)and that's not fair on the OPs nor on the prolific posters (many of whom have far more experience, and are far more helpful than bas).

This is a debate that needs to happen. If it's quashed then my tiny voice, along with many, many OPs with two posts, will give up and move elsewhere.
If bas posted this, would this just reinforce your view that he controls the site? If it does, look up the word irony.
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I would say that this an internet forum. It is here to help people out and provide an area to discuss Electrics in the UK. If you don;t want to read what bas (or anybody else) posts, don't read them. As in the outside world, there are times when people have a strong opinion and refuse to back down. It is a basic human trait. I persoanlly have no issue with bas. If the majority in here do, then so what. If the underlying requiremnt is get bas kicked off the site, how does that square with accusing him of demanding some kind of super status. It's a chatroom, so enjoy the banter and let the things that matter get you perplexed.
 
I agree with that, but surely everyone knows that & allows for it, it is no reason to call for him to be banned
I have never called for him to be banned. Indeed, over the years I have resisted (and argued with) at least two or three off-forum attempts to drum up a 'petition' to request (or 'demand'!) that he is banned. However, as I wrote yesterday, what saddens me is that I have watched as the (in many people's eyes) 'negative' aspects of his participation appear to have progressively grown more and more in relation the valuable 'positive' contributions he is more than able to make. If that progression continues, the time could well come when DIYnot decide that he is doing more harm than good to the forum (hence the interests of DIYnot) - which, again, would be a great pity.

Kind Regards, John
 
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Nothing good can come from this thread.

I will also add that I've yet to see a forum turn into a nanny state, and live on as more than an empty shell.
 
I see Kevin is as divisive as ever...I see Scouse has retained the same pragmatism he always displayed before. BAS is and always has been a difficult fish...but to be honest as others have said if you ignore the posts that don't apply to you or the topic but take the positives out of his helpful posts then there will not be an issue. I think one thing everyone should remember is that the written word does not carry humour with it for the most part...so it is possible that some remarks are tongue in cheek and simply not read that way by others. To be honest if his behaviour was that bad he would not have been here for what must be about a decade now.. he would have been banned a long time ago..so on balance I would say leave well alone.

I do find the irony of this thread is that it is effectively targeting an individual at a personal level which is and always was a breach of the rules. Such discussions as this should be done as a PM to a Mod so they can discuss in their closed forum. This thread speaks more of the OP than the target of the thread in my humble opinion.
 
To be honest if his behaviour was that bad he would not have been here for what must be about a decade now.. he would have been banned a long time ago..
That's true, but amidst the support from a few (including, in some senses, even me), he clearly sails very close to the wind. This is generally a very 'well behaved' forum which is usually not at all difficult to moderate, but there nevertheless is a trickle of threads being locked, messages (sometimes even whole threads) being deleted and 'public warnings' issued - and I struggle to recall any significant number of such instances in the last few years in which BAS was not at least part of the reason, often essentially the sole reason. In the eyes of the mods and site owner, he therefore must have easily the 'worst' 'behaviour record' (in their eyes) in this forum and one imagines that there cannot be an awful lot of 'wiggle room' left. That's why I am always trying to encourage him to modify/moderate his 'methods' (not his views or objectives) - since I, for one, would not want the forum to lose him.

Kind Regards, John
 
There's someone in the plumbing section who is heading the same way .BAS is not unique. Perhaps we just need to remember how he is and not wind him up? It is a bit unfair having a go at him in "public"
 
from what i remember the deleted thread was about bitching and I recall it was skotl that brought BAS into the subject no one else .
I have also noted a few posts recently from skotl seemingly putting Bas down as well as a few members from the GD forum who only tend to come here to put bas down , similar to how they flooded the quiet planning forum a while back, again just to goad him.

//www.diynot.com/diy/search/473195/?q=b-a-s&o=relevance&c[user][0]=53147

.
Anyway, you're my life's mission, B-A-S, not the rest :mrgreen:

I found that offensive
 
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There are several regular posters on this forum who I trust to give accurate and safe information and BAS is one of them, he can be blunt and to the point but his information is never dangerous and he never encourages risk taking. Why ban him?
 

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