Thanks, Chexfax, for getting the ball rolling.

I am going to take a stab at answering your question below. But I do caution that my ideas here are a work in progress.

I look forward to learning from the responses of other candidates as much as (and much more than) staking out a position. There are plenty of smart people around who have alot to offer, whether on the TalkBoard or not. So I'm sure that my own ideas will be modified and clarified by the good arguments that others make in this thread.

I don't see the TOS as a hammer to enforce. Instead, I see it as a guideline that embodies the idea that FT should be a community that welcomes a diverse group of flyers and participants.

The role of moderators is, first and foremost, to reduce tensions and make Flyertalk a welcoming place.

The TalkBoard to provide guidance and perhaps settle disputes.

A personal attack can, I think, be distinguished from a substantive opinion. Flyertalk (and ideally its members) should focus on the substance of a post. Criticizing who the poster is, rather than the merits of their argumetns, is the essence of a personal attack.

A poster can be disruptive without making a personal attack. Here I think of folks who continually harp on negative aspects of a carrier in a forum where the majority of posters are positive about the carrier -- or the reverse. In that case, I know that several moderators have worked hard to
(a) protect the rights of the critical poster to express their opinion
(b) while counseling the poster on ways to do so diplomatically
(c) and keeping other board members from responding personally.

"Disruptive" posts CAN be healthy, but it takes real work to make it positive for all around.

"Personal attacks" when coming frequently from the same poster should warrant action.

In my role as a moderator, I've often emailed a poster and asked them to consider editing their remarks, explaining that they seemed to be crossing the line away from civil discourse. And folks have often appreciated the gesture -- because we've all had times where we hit the 'submit reply' button without truly considering the effects of our words.

When a person continually makes those kinds of posts, that's when a time-out is going to be appropriate.

What do the rest of y'all think?

Best,
Gary
aka gleff