Mentally Deficient Users

I think what is needed here is a tactful way of telling new members "this guy has some issues, you should neither listen to his advice nor antagonize him". I sometimes have to tell new members privately "We don't tease X publicly around here". Most people will pick up on the subtle implications.

 

Yeah... there are over 150,000 members on the site and we probably get 100 new members a day. Its not really feasible to cont

It isn't really public teasing either its just that the user's posts get on people's nerves but don't really break any of the rules. Don't really want to call attention to the person or have people avoid them. I would like to redirect their efforts to becoming a contributing member of the community.

 

Can anyone (a mod, a volunteer) take the guy under their wing?

 

Since infractions don't seem to work (meaning you've tried it), then I would move on to a ban. Although yes, it's sad that they have issues, I wouldn't allow them to continually give bad advice on the forum; it will deplete the credibility of my site and nobody would see it as the "number one resource" in my niche like they currently do.

Continue to issue infractions, but make sure they result in a ban.

 

First quote is from the first post in this thread. The second kind of conflicts with the first remark you made. How would you know Pms & infractions haven't worked? your not an admin/staff member merely a visitor.

Unless the staff are actually speaking to you directly behind his back and not really confronting the (what you regard as a situation) as a visitor. I would find that the issue has been brought here instead of confronting the person in detail and being upfront with him.

Anyway, leave him to it, because he doesn't have all the answers, it doesn't mean he has a low IQ or mentally deficient. He might be an expert in other things that your not that would allow him to dictate how mentally deficient you are. Either way, he's trying to help, leave him alone to it. People can be the judge whether to take his advice or not.

 

I am staff there actually. Trying to keep things ambiguous on purpose.

 

good quote shelly

 

And it seems parading a guys (your assumption) lack of intelligence when he's trying to help. Seeing as assumptions are the soup of the day I'm assuming this site is vbulletin.org or .com. Actually, don't tell me, I don't care enough to know. I just wanted to point out your conflicting remarks.

 

well i know it can be hard to deal with some people who think they know everything when it is obvious they have a deficency but i have found as a person who is english only speaking the biggest issue i have found is the non english speaking/reading posting with a issue about my style because they cant read the readme

 

I understand your point that he's only trying to help. But if it gets to the point that he is giving such bad advice, how can you stop it from hurting your site's reputation? When this person posts in every thread and answers every question (with the wrong information), how does it not adversely impact your site?
If it didn't, it wouldn't be a big deal. But it does; so something should be done.

If it's a n00b that asked the question, how can you expect them to know that they shouldn't find this member to be credible? He has a high post count (since he posts in every thread) and his lack of making sense is only apparent to somebody who has been around long enough to recognize his posting pattern. Otherwise, it's undetectable and easy to take his advice.

 

yeahthat Nick

If he's affecting the site's reputation then I agree that something has to be done. Sounds like you've already made that decision, Wayne. Since you are a helper, not the admin, is it persuading the powers that be to take action that is the issue? Justifying it? Sounds like you've already got the infractions count. What more is needed to implement a decision that he shouldn't be able to post? Sounds like you have some moral support here.

Is it at all practical to moderate all his posts, and only let the ones through that make some sense? Is there enough mod power and a willing body to cover that duty?

Good luck!

 

Well would really like to mold the person into a valuable contributor to the forum. I don't want them ridiculed or banned. Instead, I want to help mold their activities so they are helpful where they can be. I am sure they have some sort of useful information to contribute, was just looking for ways to try and find it.

 

I like this idea. Simple, effective, 100% coverage (every post is reviewed) and leaves no infractions listed in their Users CP.

 

But is this person able to learn what you need him/her to understand? If there is really a block then it is like expecting a blind person to read a print book.

I like the idea of finding a role for this person, who sounds like a loyal member who is online alot. Whether it is technical or something else. Everyone has strengths somewhere. It might be a matter of thinking through what strengths they have demonstrated to date - could be some technical aspect, or even that they are loyal and online alot.

The qualities of loyal frequentors and online alot are sometimes-overlooked strengths in a member. Maybe they could be matched with something the forum could use. Maybe this person could surf relevant news or technical info sites and post links to information that forum members could use. In an appropriate forum so they aren't spamming, even a new one dedicated to that purpose. Just a thought.

 

I just let them be until they do something infraction worthy. For the most part they just post stupid things but don't do any harm to the forum.

The members usually take care of them and straighten them out but I just keep an eye on them and make sure they don't get out of line. There's no point in putting them in the miserable user mod or anything like that just because they aren't the smartest member.

 

I've never experienced these kinds of members. The last thing I want to do is get pissy with people. Though, in my defense I have a member who has a cousin or a brother, I forget which, that is slightly autistic. It's kind of good to know how to deal with these issues that can arise, but labeling someone isn't good.

 

Actually yes, in many cases people with mental deficiencies are usually able to learn, albeit more slowly than the general population. One of my members with suspected mental deficiency has made some progress over the past few years and has even managed to contribute an interesting idea or two. (There was much rejoicing through PMs...)

 

i dont know whether it is ok to bump up threads this old on here (its not allowed on some forums that i am on) but i have something i would like to add.

theres a member on a forum that i post on and he has a variety of different problems, and the clique of old members (who seem to think they are above the rules) always pick on him a lot, because he cant spell very well, doesnt read threads very well and always misunderstands the point of the thread, and gets wound up very easily. the forums admin isnt on very often, and ive only ever seen a mod post a few times, as they dont seem to be on the forum very often.

he doesnt really understand why nobody on the forum likes him much, and he gets insults and nasty comments on every post he makes (in return hes not very nice to them) and so i decided (im not staff on there, just a very old member) that i would be very nice to him and become his friend. although even i dont understand him very well, he is quite intelligent, even though they label him as stupid, he just doesnt understand people very well, and hes really nice when you treat him as a human being and not some sort of alien.

 

We had a member on our forum who is severely autistic and right pain in the arse, we made him a moderator! :lmao:

I just try to treat everyone the same, objectively and impartially. If they stick within the rules they can post as much nonsense as they want, and luckily for them we don't have many rules. there was an issue where this poster began annoying other members by banging on about the British National Party all the time, but we don't censor anyone's political beliefs no matter how bizarre. We asked him politely if he'd just pack it in, but being autistic he didn't seem to be able to.

Anyway, it came to a head when he used his moderator permissions to start locking threads that he didn't like so we had to stop him being a moderator, then he just left.

 

GOOD for you!