Feel free to email me to discuss any moderation issues. We've made some good progress from email in this thread.mailto:wejo@letsrun.com
This thread went off the rails a bit with 1 particular poster hijacking it and trying to make it about one moderator so we have locked it.
Before I give my takeaways, if you have concerns about moderating, or posts, please report them or email me directly. We make it very easy to be heard at LetsRun.com and reach us. But if you sidetrack threads by discussing moderation, those posts will be removed and can lead to temporary bans as they ruin the discussion for everyone else.
But some takeaways. 1) Dealing with the problematic posters/troublemakers isn't easy but we need to make sure in dealing with them we do not go too far and harm the experience for other posters 2) The filters often flag people by accident. Exempt SC members from the filters at the very least. 3) Consider creating a toggle so people don't have to see "this post was deleted in a thread". In the posts where the trouble makers try and takeover, these notifications start to ruin the experience. 4) Consider moving some posts out of the main forum. 5) Look at limiting how often people can post in a thread. 6) Try and get a better handle on the use of VPNs by people posting, reporting posts, upvoting, etc. 7) I will actively monitor all of malmo's moderating and posts for the next week and give him feedback. We already actively communicate but some of your points and emails were helpful.
Weldon, the moderation on this forum drives people away and makes the user experience much worse. People “attack” the moderators on this forum because they make the forum unpleasant. I could tell you stories of dealing with them personally, but everyone on this forum has their own story, and I’ve told mine too many times.
Here is what you should do:
Forbid moderators from removing any post or thread unless it meets the following criteria:
1. The post is physically threatening to another poster. Literally threatening. Rudeness does not count. This is the Internet.
2. The post is pornographic. Not discussing how they lack a girlfriend.
3. The post doxxes someone.
4. The post is critical of high school age runners. College and especially pros are fair game.
5. The post is clearly spam. Not someone who posts on the same or similar topics frequently. That is not spam, it is someone who may be too fixated on a topic. I’m talking about unauthorized advertisements, obscene posts, or repeat nonsensical posts.
That’s it. We must stop moderating posts because the moderators think the post is annoying, or stupid, or they disagree with the politics, or they don’t like criticism of a particular runner.
And above all, moderators must stop deleting and banning people whose only crime is being critical of the moderation. It’s just words, not violence, and it’s not the end of the world. People are critical of the moderation because they care about this site, and because the moderation here is very poor. The message board can survive a few posts critical of moderating practices. And let’s be frank: criticism of a moderator will get you deleted and banned within minutes if not seconds. But other things…not so much. This creates the impression that the moderators are mostly here to protect their own position.
This used to be a really fun site. In fact, I would say that I probably had more fun on LRC before 2023 than I had almost anywhere else. That all ended as the moderators turned the screws and began to eliminate a lot of of the goofiness and fun that used to characterize this message board. Recapture that. It can be done, but you’ll have to make some hard changes.
^if this was how the site worked, I’d be on here all the time. Im on my last legs with this site. Ive been on the reddit thread advanced running alot more than here over the last year because the mods are out of control.
No no as listen to the “Head Mod” of yours who who dislike and don’t respect but keep around bc he’s been trolling people on the internet since forever and you feel sorry for him and you’re dumb af
Registered users can’t be more fun and interesting?
No, registered users are almost always more conservative and guarded in their views. Especially on a site like this, in which the wrong move can get you banned. No, I would never want this site to force registration for posting.
You say this as if making posters stop and think before posting is a bad thing.
Honestly, the forums are maintained well. I have no complaints. The heyday of the forum for both humor and running was probably 2007-2014, but the site is still solid.
The spam has gotten better with the auto filters, but I got banned (thanks for fixing it) for posting a link to an article about Puma's sales tanking. Then a post kept getting deleted that was a link to a (virtual) race that was selling much slower than last year. Maybe tweak the filter so it doesn't autoban or auto delete posts from supporters club members?
As for the troublemakers, have you ever tried creating a Thunderdome sub forum where they can argue with each other but the rest of us don't have to see it?
1) Improving the filters should be high on the list. 2) Exempting SC members is a no brainer. Good ideal.
No, registered users are almost always more conservative and guarded in their views. Especially on a site like this, in which the wrong move can get you banned. No, I would never want this site to force registration for posting.
You say this as if making posters stop and think before posting is a bad thing.
I like funny irreverent humor and opinions that may be unpopular. I like a spot of trolling from time to time. Some of the funniest things I have ever read in my life were on LRC before The Great Terror of ‘23. That’s a lot more likely if people can sign in under different handles. People just become really cautious and vanilla and humorless when they only post under their own name.
We lost a real one01/08/2026 12:38pm EST4 months ago
You will be missed, but not by my walletNot sure what happened, site just went dark a few weeks ago. Was hoping it was just a blip but there doesn't seem to be much hopePour one out for our homie
The offending troublemaker had all their comments removed (thank you), but they effectively derailed the entire thread with inane irrelevant ramblings.
They also used a number of alt accounts to brigade the voting, and twice registered my username in the thread (We lost a real one), forcing me to use a new one.
Just insanely petty and disruptive behavior. That's a true troublemaker.
The biggest whiners are non-registered. Your call on how much anons matter in this feedback.
Registered spammers are an issue. Any user who has over 5 comments per page is a spammer, period. Especially when they do it routinely. Topic irrelevant.
Where are the 2025 user rankings? You did them for 2024 a year ago this month.
Some of us had registered handles that we used for many years only to be banned by capricious moderators. It's easier to use anonymous names rather than jump through hoops to get reinstated, only to be banned again by moderators that have it out for you.
Fair enough. In the 5 years I've been here, it seems the over-moderation is subsiding a bit. But yeah, I've gotten probably a dozen temporary bans, one permanent ban, and one instance of a moderator (had to be) posting from my account.
All my "bans" were for G-rated comments too. Nothing profane, nothing threatening. Just banned for stating basic facts that contradict left wing narratives.
Fair enough. In the 5 years I've been here, it seems the over-moderation is subsiding a bit. But yeah, I've gotten probably a dozen temporary bans, one permanent ban, and one instance of a moderator (had to be) posting from my account.
All my "bans" were for G-rated comments too. Nothing profane, nothing threatening. Just banned for stating basic facts that contradict left wing narratives.
The mods here are like Reddit mods. They should moderate more like X.
....already the posts about a certain moderator have been removed.....you've got to be kidding me!
I have restored posts in this thread.
But I am getting very tired of people saying in random threads "malmo sucks" and then getting banned and then complaining about it. I think it's easier if he just ignored you but your obsession to go off topic about a moderator (in these other threads) shows you are out to settle a score. it's never from a registered user so I clump a lot of these "malmo haters" into the trouble maker category because I have told you repeated to email me if you have a problem.
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