Yes, that is true. But, it does limit the posts there, even if by a very small amount. To me, that’s a major plus, negating all the counterarguments you have posted so far. Every small dent in postings outside of Postcrossing, without any control, should be pursued. Forbidding the translation thread does the opposite.
People post in other social media partially because they don’t come to the forum at all - they are some of those “unaware users”. I’ll just leave this point here for everyone to ponder.
I understand. Your view is basically flipping the pros and cons of mine. This is precisely the purpose of the thread here: to suss out main factors to consider.
How would it increase? Are you sure every one of these would post it elsewhere? And that still happens now too, outside of Postcrossing. How can we measure maybe because of the translate thread it even got worse, because messages are shown here, some members thinks it’s ok to publish them where they decide?
Like here is mentioned, the translate thread has very few posts, so if it can’t help people and they still publish the messages elsewhere, it doesn’t seem to be useful.
Yes, the world is never perfect, and still things are done in hope of a better.
Change here would be a good start.
Right. I agree. But there is no way to tell for sure, or even assume, that stopping the translating thread would increase the message publishing elsewhere. It could actually also lessen it. (I asked about this before the part you quoted from me.)
And about the amount. I don’t personally take sides if it’s few or many.
It’s said to be few, so it shouldn’t be a problem.
Also it’s said to be helpful, and if not being here, all these (many) would be elsewhere.
(Not word to word quotes, but the idea.)
If it’s really few - why keep it?
If it’s many - even more important that there should be a note about Postcrossing accepting the publishing of the message side (when the understanding is it’s not ok).
Perhaps this part of community guidelines can be revised (as written on the updated original post about suggestion), by mentioning that it’s ok to post the message of the card with explanation that if it’s done to get assistance, to know what’s written there (both for language and unreadable writing issues). And then mention that postcrossing has translating & transcribing thread in the forum. Also not to post personal information such as address. (Honestly I’m not sure if someone understands if they shouldn’t post personal informations when they need help with the message itself)
Maybe to me this will fix the inconsistency between community guidelines and translation thread, with the easiest solution
Why don’t you just accept someone has a problem
Or why don’t you just ignore this thread
I would have a very off topic example, how ignoring and invalidating can make a problem bigger, but when someone accepts it, it’s a good start for a better situation. But, not every one needs to take part in it.
Also, problem solving can be good fun
I hope you can sense me not being mean with turning questions back to you
As you were typing, you’d probably noticed how tricky the translation thread is. So later I relegated this option to the “other suggestions” section in my OP.
More importantly, this exception jeopardizes the core concept of Postcrossing. I tend to believe Postcrossing founders prefer postcards to be kept private @admins. Personally, I regard some of such behavior as inconsiderately showing others’ writings for their own enjoyment without properly notifying the sender. It doesn’t hurt to keep postcard writings private, but there is a small but real chance that it might hurt the sender if published without permission.
Actually, regarding the initial proposed consent feature (which is rejected outright as in the polls in the OP), what I really had in mind is a per-postcard consent feature: Like the feature of the sender uploading an image, the sender can specify whether they are okay for the written side to be published before it’s registered. I’m afraid this feature won’t materialize anytime soon. So this brings me back to my current main argument:
Regarding the poll in post #109, not necessary but we can have it. I voted no because mine is a partial negation: I want to keep the community guidelines as they are but change/scrap the translation thread. Perhaps @RalfH can invite non-forum members to vote too.
No matter what the result of such a poll is, I think my argument remains valid. The translation thread is unfair.
Ok, those were actually rhetorical questions, but it didn’t seem you “accept” this problem, or what “one calls a problem”. But, happy to be wrong.
Ok.
Same. Because if it’s about communication, it’s a one on one “chat”, not intended to be published. And also because it’s told not to scan the message side, I get the feeling it’s appreciated not to do then.
I would be surprised to join now, read the guidelines, and see the translation thread.
The tricky part of translation thread I noticed is just : it contradicts what’s written in community guidelines. Hence why I believe revising the community guidelines would be the easiest solution
Why?
It’s assumed that everyone has agreed with the guidelines when they use the platform
It’s written there that the it’s better to use English (so if someone writes their cards in a language that not everyone understands, they should also take the risk that the receiver could ask help on translation thread)
Maybe it should be added there to write in block letters are encouraged as cursive letters are taught differently/ or maybe not even taught in some places
To me it’s more like , control what you can control and community guidelines can be updated this way
You don’t like your message content being asked in public forum? Then maybe
write in English
write clearly with block letters
You concern about your privacy?
don’t write personal informations
use PO Box
For example.
Sure there’s an exception sometime if reciever’s English isn’t good , but I think this is a very small minority. Also online translator works okay most of the time
And yes one is fine to assume so, but maybe it does hurt the receiver when they don’t understand the message written for them. This assumption is ok too, right? Sure, the receiver can message the sender privately after they have the card registered. But will they get answers? I assume not always because in other thread I read sometime, many users don’t check their emails regularly, and some don’t even bother to reply the question (everyone’s different). Thus I understand why the translation thread is made because it provides easier solution (although we know the contradiction of it and guidelines has to be fixed)
Maybe it’s okay too to assume that majority of postcrossing users don’t care about the forum and what’s going on here (judging about how many people actually show up here), you can even notice on how many people would like to participate in discussion/suggestion thread like this , which makes me think maybe the majority of postcrossing users don’t care about the translation thread
Also about communication, it’s tbh hard to communicate when someone doesn’t understand and can’t figure out about the message
My suggestion for this stays the same : update the community guidelines that can accommodate users both in forum and official site for the easiest fluid solution (especially about this current issue : translation thread)
BTW translation thread also exist in few forum’s geographical & language section~ so I think it will be extra work to delete the thread (if it’s accepted) or to moderate. Not to mention that moderators aren’t many and several geographical & language section gets less attention (not that they have translation thread either)
I’d vote for keeping translation topic (maybe with a better introduction including not showing ID of the card). But adding it to the guidelines is another point, personally I don’t have a preference here as it didn’t bothers me, but I can understand this argument.
I’d suggest to make it two questions with 3 options each (yes, no, I don’t mind)
Thanks for writing in @catchycat . Let me see if I understand you correctly.
As with revising the community guidelines,
Pros:
Community guidelines reflect current activities on the forum
Easy to explain on the main site
Easy to get a translation/transcription
Cons:
Difficult to moderate the content of postcard writings in English as well as non-English languages (than to ban posting since the latter doesn’t require knowing foreign languages)
While for me, it’s
Pros:
Community guidelines reflect current activities on the forum (applicable to entire Postcrossing community)
Easy to get a translation/transcription (a few people)
Cons:
Difficult to explain on the main site (entire Postcrossing)
Difficult to moderate the content of postcard writings in English as well as non-English languages (than to ban posting since the latter doesn’t require knowing foreign languages) (moderators and volunteers)
In my opinion, the sender who wrote the message is the most vulnerable party in this case. So I tend to prioritize them. As I’ve mentioned above, this boils down to the core concept of Postcrossing. I don’t want to see it morph into something like a live feed.
It relates to the principle similar to presumption of innocence. Assume the sender wants the written postcard to be kept private. The burden of proof is on the receiver: to seek consent. If it’s not obtainable, so be it. Move on to next postcard exchange.
They can ask the sender.
Which is good also because maybe the sender at this point notices they should use either language the receiver understands, if not English, or they can try to write more clearly, if possible.
, which makes me think maybe the majority of postcrossing users don’t care about the translation thread
of course one can not sign.