Seriousness Level. (This might be a mad idea but...)

DeVore

It occurs to me that there is a disconnect sometimes between the seriousness a thread starter might want, and the flippant responses that might be tossed out inadvertently.

That is to say, sometimes a thread starter wants to have a serious discussion about something and doesnt want lol cats and funny oneliners. That can be difficult to determine sometimes and leads to friction. Also it makes it very hard for mods in some forums to know when to smack someone and when to let it slide as a "bit of fun".

Sometimes the mod smacks a poster only for the OP to say "ah I dont mind" etc... whereas other times the OP is frustrated that his threads signal-noise ratio is low and berates the mod for not "enforcing the law".

Maybe if we had a little indicator to say "fun thread" or "serious thread", some sort of scale... we might even be able to filter based on it.

DeV.

Sparky

Get cult to add thread prefixes for Feedback.

Trial it and see how it runs. I dont think you'll be disappointed.

Ruu_Old

Would be useful for After Hours discussions as there have been decent debates in the past and it would make a change to the lighter side. Yore mad I tell you DeVore, mad!!!

edit: sometimes Joe "After Hours" Public doesn't want an in depth discussion in Humanities, etc.

Sherifu

Hmmm, yes it is a mad idea.

Krieg

I dont understand how you could filter the Flippant remarks?

+1 though

Even as a reader, it can be frustrating to see a perfectly good topic on a serious matter decending into ****.

Silverfish

I agree.


I'm thinking back to a thread in one of my forums before that went turned into a private chat between two posters, the OP complained, I asked if he wanted the o/t posts removed, all the other posters went mad, accusing me of 'overmodding' and dragged the thread further off topic, I deleted posts, infracted people, they posted their infractions on the thread, then the op started complaining about the overmodding.
If they'd posted at the start saying they didn't mind people derailing the thread, I'd have left it go.

Can't do nuffink right around here

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

isn't this why we have humanities and politics and everything else?

pvt.joker

DeVore wrote: »

It occurs to me that there is a disconnect sometimes between the seriousness a thread starter might want, and the flippant responses that might be tossed out inadvertently.

That is to say, sometimes a thread starter wants to have a serious discussion about something and doesnt want lol cats and funny oneliners. That can be difficult to determine sometimes and leads to friction. Also it makes it very hard for mods in some forums to know when to smack someone and when to let it slide as a "bit of fun".

Sometimes the mod smacks a poster only for the OP to say "ah I dont mind" etc... whereas other times the OP is frustrated that his threads signal-noise ratio is low and berates the mod for not "enforcing the law".

Maybe if we had a little indicator to say "fun thread" or "serious thread", some sort of scale... we might even be able to filter based on it.

DeV.

DeVore

yes in some cases it should be moved to somewhere which is, by default, more serious, but its not always on topic then.

I wasnt thinking of a "seriousness" level per post but thats also a good idea but more advanced.

This is all a bit "blue sky thinking" but its an interesting topic to explore I think....

DeV.

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

the problem is that sometimes in, say, Feedback someone will start what they think is a serious thread, but really it should be treated as a fun thread. I don't think some of the 'crazies' can be trusted to distinguish between what they view as serious and what everyone else will also view as serious.

Sample thread from Crazy McCrazy:

OP:

[serious] Outrageous Banning from PI

I replied to a thread in PI where a girl had two-timed her boyfriend with some good advice that should help her address her issues. I was only trying to help her. Yet Gordon banned me for a month. Where is my right to free speech? The mods in that forum are on a power trip, need to be removed, and should learn some proper manners.


Reply 1: Gordon

Your actual advice was "ya moldy aul bit*h, ya should be walking the streets like all the other whores on Baggot street"


Reply 2: Sherifu

*insert lolcat here*

Sherifu

Roundtower2 wrote: »

Reply 2: Sherifu

*insert lolcat here*

I resent the implication.

I think the powah has gone to your head.


Sig police and now thought police?!!!

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

\only joskin, great idea.

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

Sherifu wrote: »

I resemble the implication.

fyp

whiskeyman

I always find you'll get good discussion anywhere outside AH tbh.
If anything, the crazy serious to funny posts in AH makes for good reading!

Sherifu

Roundtower2 wrote: »

fyp

WindSock

I was thinking of something like this a while back, concerning trigger threads. I thought of maybe using the ! icon when starting the thread or something like that.

biko

Papa Smut wrote: »

I think the powah has gone to your head.


Sig police and now thought police?!!!

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

\only joskin, great idea.

SIGPO are already monitoring your thoughts.
Oopps, was that a sekrit?

Not really sure what you want Dev but if it's in vBulletin try it out.

kaimera

Nice thought Dev; I'd liked to see it trialed like OJ was for a short time just to see like.

Dinter

Does it not kind of interfere with the flow of a thread though?

While I agree that it can be annoying when a thread veers off topic it doesn't bother me when people are trying to make one less or more serious. How does a mod decide whether a comment has enough gravitas or whether it's meant flippantly.

Would a "seriousness" scale not interfere with the freedom people have at the minute to add their two cents as readily as they can at the minute*.






*Don't worry I understand posters have no right to publish their opinions, thoughts, suggestions, plans, ideas, submissions, schemes, anecdotes etc.

Steve

Any links to example threads, DeV?

If people want serious answers to a question then there are forums on boards covering just about any subject you can think of.

If, on the other hand, they post in AH for example (to get more exposure), they should be prepared to put up with AH replies.

I don't think it would be fair to effectively pre-censor threads because the OP mightn't like the replies that are normal for a forum.

Same goes for feedback vs helpdesk - maybe the moderators should tell offenders to post in helpdesk if they have a problem with a banning / infraction.

Gandalf23

DeVore wrote: »

It occurs to me that there is a disconnect sometimes between the seriousness a thread starter might want, and the flippant responses that might be tossed out inadvertently.

That is to say, sometimes a thread starter wants to have a serious discussion about something and doesnt want lol cats and funny oneliners. That can be difficult to determine sometimes and leads to friction. Also it makes it very hard for mods in some forums to know when to smack someone and when to let it slide as a "bit of fun".

Sometimes the mod smacks a poster only for the OP to say "ah I dont mind" etc... whereas other times the OP is frustrated that his threads signal-noise ratio is low and berates the mod for not "enforcing the law".

Maybe if we had a little indicator to say "fun thread" or "serious thread", some sort of scale... we might even be able to filter based on it.

DeV.

This is an excellent idea. I think we should trial in feedback for the rest of the summer to see what happens.

But was not something similar suggested before? I could be wrong but I seem to remember a few threads/polls in the past where ideas such as this were rejected. People said they loved taking the pi5s and lolcatting feedback threads (especially those fighting da powah!!!).

If it happens I have 3 questions:
1. how will the OP indicate the seriousness of the thread?
2. will posters obviously fighting da powah (or being general idiots ... lazers pew pew anyone?) requesting serious threads be respected?
3. how will this be modded? Especially in feedback where imho its needed most. Will this necessitate feedback mods?

Like I said its a good idea, but it might turn feedback into helpdesk if its done badly.

Earthhorse

Do people own the threads they create in boards or the direction they go in?

The tone and content of an opening post will almost always determine the direction in which the thread heads. I've always thought introducing more thread icons would be a good idea but that was more to do with filtering on content and to prevent new subforums being created everytime someone wants more discussion of their favourite music genre, TV show etc.

Creating an icon for the type of discussion seems, to me, redundant. If you put the effort in to crafting a good first post people will take you seriously. If you don't they won't. People also like to use humour and flippancy to deflate pompous debaters. You can't legislate for this kind of thing.

In short, I don't know if it's a mad idea but I do think it's a bad one.

Tigger

WindSock wrote: »

I was thinking of something like this a while back, concerning tigger threads. I thought of maybe using the ! icon when starting the thread or something like that.

why are you connecting my threads
someone connected my shoelaces one and i fell over is it something like that ?

r3nu4l

I think it's a great idea. In fact, the thought can just as easily be reversed. Sometimes posters are looking for a lighter take on certain topics. The natural place to get lighter discussion is After Hours but sometimes mods then move those threads to 'politics' or whatever and the poster ends up with a serious debate when what they really wanted was comments on the size of Mary Harney's lunch bills etc.

Worth a try.

Rb

If it's not broken...

I think things are fine as they are. Outside Feedback, most people know when a thread starter is looking for a serious discussion or a bit of craic, be it in afterhours of whatever. Inside of feedback, well, those who act silly get treated silly.

Being honest I really dislike the thought of an "indicator" slapped onto thread by the OP of threads.

Maybe just remove Sherifus picture linking/posting privelages and put in some sort of filter that if he posts anything with less than 7 words in it, it auto-deletes. Should clear up some of the problem anyway :pac:

But seriously, not a fan of the idea.

Fajitas!

It's a good idea, I think it's potentially in place already - Ye know the symbols we can put in the headers, Post Icons IIRC - If you could do something like that - and a key, it could work.

Though, I think it'd work best as an optional feature - One wouldn't have to 'theme' every new thread.

Those headers usually work with PM's etc - I know if someone uses the caution sign, it's gonna be about a problem on the forum, etc. Smiley/joking faces are usually that and so on.

Rb

Would the "indicators" have to be adhered to though?

I mean, say we have someone called..."audacious_girl" create a thread in Feedback saying "OI YOU GAYS UNBAN ME" but sticks a "serious" indicator on it, does that mean all replies would have to be serious?

In such a case, they deserve to have the píss taken out of them, yet if they use this indicator they could argue that they wanted a serious thread and potentially use it against whoever took the píss in what was obviously a stupid thread.

I dunno, I don't like the idea anyway. If someone can't tell when an OP is looking for a serious discussion and when they're not, they should just be infracted for off-topic replies or attempting to de-rail it in the case of them taking the píss in what was obviously meant to be a serious thread.

Gone West

A little slider bar above the text when youre making a new post would be cool.
Set at a different level for each forum AH would be like 3/10 Cuckoos nest would be 1/10 and the personal issues would be 10/10 or whatever. So you could ignore it, and use the forum as default seriousness, or you could adjust it to signal to people you'd like serious replies or you don't mind people having a laugh. Replace those thread icons (smilies etc) that you see to the left of some threads with a tiny bar which tells you how serious the thread will be.
That would be cool.

And nice and difficult for cult to code up too

the_syco

Meh. Should be an option for a mod to select, in Feedback. A Roman thumbs up or down for the thread, if you will. A thumbs up = serious, but athumbs down = lolcat heaven.

Sherifu

Rb wrote: »

Maybe just remove Sherifus picture linking/posting privelages and put in some sort of filter that if he posts anything with less than 7 words in it, it auto-deletes. Should clear up some of the problem anyway :pac:

But you'll still be able to troll. No fair.

Marcus.Aurelius

Sounds like a good idea to trial at least!

Don't worry Sherifu, I know you'll find a way around it.

Somehow

Sherifu

Marcus.Aurelius wrote: »

Sounds like a good idea to trial at least!

Don't worry Sherifu, I know you'll find a way around it.

Somehow

Godspeed .o>

javaboy

Rb wrote: »

I mean, say we have someone called..."audacious_girl" create a thread in Feedback saying "OI YOU GAYS UNBAN ME" but sticks a "serious" indicator on it, does that mean all replies would have to be serious?

In such a case, they deserve to have the píss taken out of them.

Hey she's only 17! Give her a break

Einstein

while I do think its a good idea, the only prob i see is that people might be afraid to say anything in fear of a mod thinking it's too serious, or not serious enough....thus prevent posting.

Which as I type this realise this is kinda what the aim is...so I'm gonna stop typing now

KnifeWRENCH

I don't think this would work. It would disrupt the natural flow of a thread if posters were restricted to only "fun" or "serious" replies.

And if some troll who gets banned decides to stick a "Serious" tag on a Feedback thread, does that mean we have to give "serious" replies, instead of treating them like the idiot that they are?

Plus, users might just "ignore" the tags. A lot of mods enjoy giving sarcastic/lolcat responses too, y'know.

Karoma

I says nayyyy.
Sure, sometimes there are misunderstandings, but that's a part of communication and adds to it (People learn about themself, about others, and about the topic from mistakes.)

Sometimes serious threads shouldn't be taken seriously. (Seriously!)
Somtimes unserious (It's a word.) joke threads shouldn't be taken as a joke and other times part of what makes them fun is that the intention is not explicitly marked out at the start.
OP's are bias, sometimes they know it and sometimes they don't. They're not the best judge of how "their thread" should work out.

Or did I get it wrong? and it's only to mark the intention, but have zero value after that? If that's the case, is there any real point in going to the effort when it can be made clear through discussion what the intent was?

Don't underestimate the intelligence of users. They'll work out the level of seriousness as it applies, not as the OP intended. We'll get it wrong sometimes, but that's life, that's discussion, that's t'Internet.



t'Internet: Not as serious business as you think. Srsly!

Sherifu

Having thought about it for a bit, I think it's a bad idea. Pretty much agree with Karoma's line of thinking above.

Rb

Spot on Karoma.

Steve

Karoma wrote: »

Don't underestimate the intelligence of users. They'll work out the level of seriousness as it applies

Don't overestimate them either, easy mistake to make in AH. :pac::pac::pac:

Marcus.Aurelius

No, I think they're very matur......Ah f*ck it, I can't write that without seizing with laughter.

After reading Karoma's post, I kinda agree with his point of view, but it might make for an interesting experiment. If it turns out totally useless, at least we'd have had a go.

Rb

SteveC wrote: »

Don't overestimate them either, easy mistake to make in AH. :pac::pac::pac:

Obviously doesn't put the oh so intelligent Stevec off posting there anyway, given that over 1/4 of all your posts are there.

Marcus.Aurelius wrote:

No, I think they're very matur......Ah f*ck it, I can't write that without seizing with laughter.

Yet, almost half your posts are there...?

Guys, if you think AH is stupid, immature etc. then don't post there. Otherwise, don't post a shít load there and then try to pretend you're too good for it.

Steve

AH is like the sofa, it's a place to chill.

You're taking this far too srsly Rb.

Marcus.Aurelius

Rb, for someone who posts a lot in AH, you know how messy it can be at times. There's a lot of sillyness in it, that's what it's for.

Incidentally, I would have imagined the vast majority of my posts are in Motors/Motors, BGRH, Feedback, and certain humour related forum rather than AH, which is a relatively recent venture on my part.

Steve

HTF do you reckon 25% of my posts are in AH BTW.

Karoma

SteveC wrote: »

Don't overestimate them either, easy mistake to make in AH. :pac::pac::pac:

I'm not sure that happens too often.


By all means, if it's not too much effort to implement give it a whirl in Feedback and see how it goes; there's only one way to be sure.
I just think it could make things worse in Feedback with inane rants backed up with "BUT I SAID DIS IS SERIOUS TRED!"; it may just prove to antagonize the OP and be a red flag to the rest of Feedback posters.

javaboy

You know those people who set the priority of absolutely every email they ever send to URGENT?

There's trouble a brewin'.

Marcus.Aurelius

Karoma wrote: »

I'm not sure that happens too often.


By all means, if it's not too much effort to implement give it a whirl in Feedback and see how it goes; there's only one way to be sure.
I just think it could make things worse in Feedback with inane rants backed up with "BUT I SAID DIS IS SERIOUS TRED!"; it may just prove to antagonize the OP and be a red flag to the rest of Feedback posters.

Agreed.

btw, AH is really growing on me, it's great for some light-hearted stuff, it's a great forum to post in! Cheers Karoma for not banning me yet!

Not that I'm going to give you any grounds on which to pursue it!

Steve

Karoma wrote: »

I'm not sure that happens too often.

I meant users, not gmods getting it wrong.

+1 with the rest of what you said.

Rb

Marcus.Aurelius wrote: »

Rb, for someone who posts a lot in AH, you know how messy it can be at times. There's a lot of sillyness in it, that's what it's for.

Incidentally, I would have imagined the vast majority of my posts are in Motors/Motors, BGRH, Feedback, and certain humour related forum rather than AH, which is a relatively recent venture on my part.

Yes, AH is sometimes silly. There's also some decent serious disussions there. It's After Hours, it caters for pretty much everything. It's one of the most used forums on the site and sure, it has an awful lot of morons posting there, but there's also a huge number of good/funny/intelligent/etc posters there i.e its a good mix.

But, it is what it is and has been that way for an awful long time so everyone should be aware of it now. I just get kind of tired seeing people slagging AH and then going off and posting there...I mean wtf..? Noones forcing you to post there, you've voiced your opinion that you dislike it/think it's full of morons etc...yet you continue to post there.
That's not all directed at you btw, you're not the first and definitely won't be the last to have a go at AH and then return to posting there.

SteveC wrote: »

HTF do you reckon 25% of my posts are in AH BTW.

Easy, hit Search and put your username in the username field, then select AH from the list of forums and select to display it as "posts" instead of "threads". It'll bring up the amount of posts you've made there yourself, then just look at the number of results and hey presto.

However, it only goes back 500, so if you've more than 500 then obviously it'll be more than 50% or whatever.

Marcus.Aurelius

Rb wrote: »

Yes, AH is sometimes silly. There's also some decent serious disussions there. It's After Hours, it caters for pretty much everything. It's one of the most used forums on the site and sure, it has an awful lot of morons posting there, but there's also a huge number of good/funny/intelligent/etc posters there i.e its a good mix.

I see your point, I didn't mean that it was completely off the wall, otherwise I wouldn't post in it much!

AlmightyCushion

This could lead to an explosion in the amount of posts containing the "This is serious cat, this is serious thread" lol cat.