22
2011
Site News: I Hear You Loud And Clear
An article by 
I am well aware of some of the abuses that are rampant on our site lately with regards to our Rating System, Shoutbox Terms Of Agreement Violations, Comment Guidelines Violations, and the overall lack of civility between dueling factions who simply have differing opinions on basic baseball philosophy.
We have always had heated baseball debates on MMO for many years, but with our readership doubling from what it was two years ago, those heated debates have crossed over into daily mud-slinging contests that have nothing to do with baseball. Actually, though I love and appreciate that over 11,000 different readers choose Mets Merized Online as a daily destination, some of the acrimonious banter has become too much to take and it seems drastic steps are now in order. I’ve written the specific offenders individually and pleaded with them to tone it down, but those pleas fell on deaf ears. That all ends now.
Effective immediately the following changes will be implemented so that we can give the majority of our readers a more pleasurable Mets fan experience. If you are a die-hard Mets fan who loves reading and talking about the Mets or baseball in general, I believe you will enjoy the new focus on projecting a more positive image and fostering a new fan-friendly environment for more passionate and civil debates about our beloved team and the National pastime.
Here is a summary of what will be changing…
1. Thumbs Up/Down Rating System – I took a look and evaluated our rating system which has now been in place for two months. Last night I tweaked the settings to prevent what seemed to be an abuse that was hiding certain substantive and positive comments. These comments were being voted down because of who posted the comment, rather than an honest evaluation of the substance of the comment. That will not be the case anymore. The rating system was never intended to be a popularity contest, but only a way of rewarding the very good comments by highlighting them, and also pointing out the hotly debated comments. The Rating System should work much more effectively now, and in one month’s time I will re-evaluate it again if still needs some additional refining.
2. Comments On Threads – For years I have been very lenient and yielded a great deal of patience with regards to the negative tones and personal attacks in the comment threads as long as they weren’t racially charged or totally offensive. Some took that as a sign to trade in their dignity and civility for bullying others and and behaving like Neanderthals. Over two-dozen of these offenders have already been placed into moderation and that’s where they will remain until the tone of their comments improve and as long as their comments are not intended to insult another reader or writer. Sometimes those comments will post immediately and sometimes they may not post for hours. I don’t have paid moderators so there’s nothing I can do about that. My advice would be to stop harassing or insulting other readers so you don’t have to be moderated. Basically my bottom line is now this: If you have nothing constructive or positive to say or add to the debate, then don’t say anything. That’s not too say you can’t be critical, I’m just saying to do it in a constructive way.
3. Shoutbox – It’s kind of hard to entirely shutdown a live chat room that has been such a big part of our allure and has generated over a quarter-million or more comments a year since 2006, but it looks like that’s where we’re heading. We used to have over 400 registered and active users in our MMO Shoutbox which was a great source of outstanding Mets debates for years and years. In the last six months it has been reduced to a cage match between about two-dozen users. Many of our longtime users have since gone and have moved onto the comment threads. To maintain the continuity of the Shoutbox under these circumstances seems totally ridiculous at this point. Let’s face it, the rancor and vitriol which is all you ever see now, has become a real eyesore to everyone including me. At one time, me and almost all of our writers would check in and mix it up with readers in the Shoutbox, but none of us would dare enter that arena now without a bullet-proof vest, so what’s the point of it? When the paid subscription runs out at the end of this month I will not be renewing it. To replace the Shoutbox we will begin a MMO Weekly Chat every Thursday evening, and once the Spring Exhibition Season starts, we will begin having our own MMO Mets Game Threads. We used to have Mets game threads before, but discontinued them in 2007 because of the strain it put on our shared servers. Now that we have dedicated servers we can handle just about all the traffic and bandwidth we want. That comes at a great cost, so please help us whenever you have few extra nickels, we appreciate it.
* * * * *
In addition to the changes described above, I wanted to get your thoughts on one more thing:
Registered Comments – For years I have resisted registered comments because I personally have always hated the hassle of having to sign-in every time I wanted to leave a comment – it seemed like a big hassle. I also hated that whenever I registered on a site using my real email, that it also came with the added bonus of additional spam either urging me to sign up for their newsletters or to sign-up for whatever else them or their sponsors were pitching. I think it’s gotten a lot better now as far as the spam goes, but what are your thoughts on registered comments? Let me know at GetMetsmerized@aol.com.
We still have all the problems, technical issues, high bandwidth, and monthly costs of any major large-scale website, but without the huge corporate sponsor to pay all of the bills. Nobody on MMO is paid to blog or earns a dime, we are just passionate Mets fans and this is just a labor of love. However, every time the first of the month rolls around, it’s a real grind trying to muster up all the money to pay the bills. I’m tossing around some different ideas to help remedy that and someone mentioned to me offering premium content via paid subscription. I was wondering what your thoughts were on that?
Anyway, that’s all for now. Thanks so much for your support over the years and I look forward to offering you all a much more pleasurable experience whenever you visit our site. You’re the best!
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
18 Comments + Add Comment
NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 25 | 18 | .581 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 21 | .523 | 2.5 |
| Phillies | 21 | 23 | .477 | 4.5 |
| Mets | 17 | 24 | .415 | 7.0 |
| Marlins | 12 | 32 | .273 | 13.5 |
Last updated: 05/19/2013
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APPLAUSE!
Sad that it’s needed Joe but I welcome the attempts to try and stop it!
It’s about time! Thank God! I love this site, but some of the regulars here made me to scared to give my own opinions sometimes.
Well done Joe. I love the site’s stories and insight into the team that the major media sites just don’t get. But I’m so tired of the constant bickering and fighting by a few handfuls of people. I have been on your site for two years and I rarely miss a day. This is the first time I have taken the time to post a comment. I look forward to a site where real fans can post their thoughts without the nonsense.
You are absolutely spot on Joe. Steps must be taken to prevent some misguided individuals from ruining this website, the sole purpose of which is to talk BASEBALL. I am sick to death of looking at the shoutbox, and seeing on-going verbal tirades where people are being attacked for their race, gender, sexuality, physical attributes, and just about anything else NOT relating to a baseball opinion. I have stopped going on shoutbox for this reason. It has turned into a circus of unpleasantness, and it’s just a handful of readers that are ruining it for everybody else.
Personally, I hate the rating system, for the very reasons you pointed out, it is merely a popularity thing and is used as a tool to vote comments down because of who said them and not what was said. The “thumbs serve no constructive purpose and should be eliminated.
As far as comment threads. I fail to understand why people cannot disagree with something posted or commented on without resorting to name-calling, insults, and hurtful statements. If you think a particular player is over-rated, or misrepresented in a piece, or comment, before you say how much the guy sucks, stop for a minute and think that that player may read what you say. Do you really want to send a message to a 20-year-old Mets farmhand who is a really good kid, that he totally sucks and is wasting his and your time by trying to make it as a baseball player? Is that really fair? I don’t think anyone on this site, knew two years ago that Lucas Duda was going to develop into the type of performer that he is becoming. How can anyone on this site presume so much about the future of a player? If you want to disagree, that’s fine, make a counter-point. Give an example of what you would have done, but don’t put people down for just being people. I’ve said this before: Mets fans are like snowflakes, everyone is different. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion without being tormented for it. Varied opinions are what makes this site so interesting.
If you still feel you are entitled to say whatever you want on here, with no regard for other people’s feelings, then perhaps you should move on to another website, you have simply worn out your welcome here.
It’s about time partner! They are lucky you run the show and not me because I wouldn’t have been so tolerant for so long. You have been more than fair and the aggressive actions should be received quite well. Good call on letting the shoutbox go
I would love to chat with fellow Mets fans but you cant say anything without being bullied, its just ridiculous.
I also believe that the site has become big enough to have registered users. We should look into that.
Great job! Bravo! Lets Go Mets!
What she said.
Great move. I haven’t commented in a while because it was too ridiculous on here. We must remember that we are all Mets fans and that’s what it should always be about. I hope these changes work.
It’s gonna be sad to see the old shoutbox go, but it needs to be done. For that, I applaud you Joe. Before I went M.I.A. on here, I used to be a regular on the box and to be honest, I used to be irritated to see the same old regurgitated crap over and over on a daily basis, usually spawned by certain individuals (You know who you are!). Like someone commented earlier, it’s hard to give your opinion without people jumping down your throat, even if it was a good, fair, and objective opinion. As far as the thumb rating system goes, meh…we really could do without it. Thought it was too Youtube-ish.
How about instead of getting rid of the shoutbox completely, we just ban the people who are causing all the problems?
And I also don’t like the idea of registered comments.
I’m so glad to see these problems finally being addressed. From one who has enjoyed this site for a long time, I was sad to see it become overrun by be these brash extremists who had no respect for themselves let alone others. Nice to see sanity has prevailed.
I just wonder how many people here who are regular users have even donated to the site?
is 25 or 50 bucks gonna kill you? And relative to the time you spend here that’s not asking a lot.
Although it’s nice I don’t think giving the site a pat on the back or a smile, or some nice words is gonna keep it afloat. Money always seems to make me smile more than most things..except for one –
I applaud this.
I enjoy the posts on this site and still read most but have either totally skipped over comments or rarely add to comments because of the constant bickering lately. I’m probably not the only one.
I’m sure those who have caused Joe’s post on this know who they are. Hopefully they’ll get the message.
Well done Joe. I used to be on the NYTimes Mets forum for about ten years. It started out well then a certain few held it hostage until it was finally shut down.
Some confuse freedom of speech with blogging – they bully, discuss their political adgenda and are downright intolerant to others’ opinions. That is not the way to hold discussions.
People can and should disagree but there is no room for personal attacks.
tlagee: I wish I could give a high 5 instead of a thumbs up
huh… ok.
jessep – thanks mate
Thk love