Havent read any commments but i will post my own.
When developing a strategy for the direction of a forum there is one thing that must be considered first and foremost:
“why do people come here?”
No one comes here because of strict rules, no one comes here for a locked classifieds forum, no one comes her to be obligated to maintain a dedicted technical section and to address tech issues for people.
100% of the people on this forum and almost all other car forums are here for recreational purposes.
recreational including social, casual research, keeping up to date on things, to buy and sell the occasional item.
When moderation goes beyond and tries to develop firm policies and procedures by which the membership must follow you compromise the very value that the forum provides in a people’s daily lives.
if i wanted rules and structure i would stay at work all day.
if i wanted to read directions and make sure that everything i post or reply to lies within strict guidelines i would go to law school…
Eliminating as much e-moderation as possible is absolutely necessary for the long term supremacy of a forum over it’s competitors.
The end-goals of 90% of moderation are achievable through social means.
If you dont want people to low-ball or smack talk in the classfieds you simply ostracize the offenders.
You either ignore them, or refuse to sell to them, deny them access to sections of events on said grounds or moderate that individual specifically as a last resort.
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I’ve had to fight several schools of thought on various forums and i’ve seen forums die from over-management.
Forum management is often a micro-cosm of real regional politics… maybe real politicians think they are actually doing the right thing too?