Forum tone - let's make it more positive

J.pilkington

I'm really disillusioned by this forum lately. The amount of negativity from select posters is shocking and its dominating the forum. Whinging, giving out, complaining about everything and anything even if it doesn't affect them in any way. So much of the posts are bad news, seems like they trive in it. It really looks like a lot of positive contributors have moved on which isn't helping the pace. Looking at the first page of the forum over half the threads are whingefests full of bickering (me included as I try to pull whingers up)

While the city / society will always have challenges we need to celebrate success, it's good for the mind and soul. Galway is doing a lot better than many other parts of the country so let's be more positive.

- It's summer
- we have an amazing city with history / culture that other cities and towns are envious of(and a lot of locals take for granted)
- Galway city is the gateway to Connemara
- Galway has a great community spirit (ya who would have thought! which can easily be seen from all of the cultural events which are organised (through dam hard work) and successfully take place
- Galway won 2020 bid
- Races are starting
- Town is packed with tourists providing a huge boost to the local economy
- we have beeches 10 mins away
- we had good weather two weeks ago!
- hurlers and footballers are doing well which raises the spirits of plenty of the city / county
- Olympics about to start
- Arts festival was great

Etc etc

fergiesfolly

Galway is a grand place to live, bit it's no Utopia.
What's the point pretending it is?
Forums like these are a great way to vent frustrations and highlight issues.

Squeeonline

How OP views Galway


To be fair, I really miss living in Galway. Rose tinted glasses etc, but I had some of my best times there. It'll always be home.

endagibson

J.pilkington wrote: »

Olympics about to start

Where is this being held?

J.pilkington

endagibson wrote: »

Where is this being held?

Ill let you figure that out yourself. If you are still struggling then Google may be a help to you

timmyntc

J.pilkington wrote: »

Ill let you figure that out yourself. If you are still struggling then Google may be a help to you

What has the Rio Olympics got to do with Galway?

pure.conya

timmyntc wrote: »

What has the Rio Olympics got to do with Galway?

CAN YOU NOT JUST BE POSITIVE ABOUT IT?

/s

Mrs OBumble

How does a thread to give out about people giving out (aka not being positive enough) make the place more positive???

biko

J.pilkington wrote: »

Ill let you figure that out yourself. If you are still struggling then Google may be a help to you

It's commendable that you are trying to increase the positive vibe in the forum, but in doing so please lead by example.

endagibson

J.pilkington wrote: »

Ill let you figure that out yourself. If you are still struggling then Google may be a help to you

The only one that I'm aware of is happening in Rio. In Brazil.
Do you have any other positives for Galway? I hear the English Premier League will be starting again soon.

joeKel73

J.pilkington wrote: »

- Olympics about to start

This is the first I've heard of it. Has a traffic management plan been put in place and communicated to the residents? Have cyclists been adequately catered for in the traffic plan?? :mad:

Ah just kiddin'. Galway's such a great spot that we just need a good moan to keep us grounded.

ronnie3585

Why haven't cyclists and travellers been catered for in this thread? It's discrimination.

TerrorFirmer

Perhaps you should write a poem?

snubbleste

endagibson wrote: »

Where is this being held?

Track and field events at Westside anyway.

endagibson

The Tour de France finished yesterday. That was great for Galway. Very positive.

FortySeven

snubbleste wrote: »

Track and field events at Westside anyway.

Isn't that track too steep an incline for the Olympics?

snubbleste

FortySeven wrote: »

Isn't that track too steep an incline for the Olympics?

Challenging is the word you are seeking.

endagibson

The Baseball World Series will be starting in October. Another great win for Galway.

biko

Edit

Can we keep this positive and helpful instead of digs?

timmyntc

I can (kinda) see where you're coming from OP, however this is a discussion board. And moreoften than not, discussion will be a majority criticism. And since here we are nothing more than an echo chamber really with no ties to City/County Council, the majority of criticism will be of a negative nature. No point being nice about the councils shortcomings when you aren't actually in contact with them. Also being nice is totally uncool

Moo Moo Land

I love you all.

Your Face

I like things.

snubbleste

Day Lewin

Galway is beautiful. Lovely food. Lots happening in the arts. Always a good vibe. Nice friends live there. Medieval architecture.
In fact I'd love to live in Galway if I could afford the house prices...
and if it didn't rain so much, LOL
Definitely could do with more realistic traffic management, yes.
and for the love of all that's ancient, a bit of visual education in the Planning department wouldn't go amiss either.

There now- it's all about balance.

Arghus

Soft day, thank God.

beardybrewer

If you only want to talk to people who share your opinions go to the pub and chat with friends.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

I love living in Galway. It's a very safe city, cost of living is great, there's beautiful walks/hikes nearby, the chilled out pace of living really suits me, the pubs are great, the food has seriously improved since I've been here. It is a friendly place as well.

It's not perfect though, but it's great. This is a fairly snippy forum though for some reason. There can be a bit too much negativity, but at the same time it'd be nice to be able to say "I personally dislike aspect X of Galway" without all the replies being

"well aspect Y of Galway is great so you're wrong, Galway isn't the terrible shít hole you say it is now is it? "

"me and my five friends who all live in Galway love aspect X, so I conclude everyone in Galway apart from you loves it, you should shut up and be a bit of craic and you don't deserve to live in Galway"

"cycle lanes!"

maudgonner

endagibson wrote: »

Where is this being held?

The watersports events were going to be held in Lough Atalia, but apparently it's being paved over. I read all about it here.

Irish_Elect_Eng

Having lived and worked for years in Galway before moving out to "The Country" I genuinely love spending some leisurely time in the City each week.

The city, summer and winter, day and night is welcoming and as someone that travels quite a bit, that is most certainly not a universal thing.

Sure it has got problems, but everywhere has including the countryside :-)

Gaspode

As an outsider can I just say that I love Galway, the feel of the city, the nightlife, the people I've met there, just the general vibe about the place is great. From a visitors point of view it's a great city.
Every city on this planet (even Dublin!:)) has it's downsides, but on the scale of things Galway seems to have very few genuinely serious problems.

In terms of this forum, it's one of the busiest city forums on boards and generally a great place for Galway people to shoot the breeze. Any negative vibe (from what I've seen) is mainly down to people falling into the trap of attacking the poster not the posts. Keep things civil & everyone will get a lot more from the forum.

snubbleste

All hail the rain, making the grass green and banishing the vomit from the lanes

El_Dangeroso

timmyntc wrote: »

I can (kinda) see where you're coming from OP, however this is a discussion board. And moreoften than not, discussion will be a majority criticism. And since here we are nothing more than an echo chamber really with no ties to City/County Council, the majority of criticism will be of a negative nature. No point being nice about the councils shortcomings when you aren't actually in contact with them. Also being nice is totally uncool

Not always so! Look at the Limerick City forum. It doesn't have 1/3 of snark the Galway city forum does.

I think OP is highlighting a serious issue in this forum, there is an unreal amount of negativity which is disproportionate to how nice the city actually is.

Are there problems? Absolutely. But if the good didn't outweigh the bad we wouldn't have the shocking house-prices that we do.:D

I for one would like to see less of the posters that use this forum as their personal soapbox rather than contributing to a community.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

I think all the limerick people just have an outlet for their snark and aggression offline. Whereas the Galway people go around all day 'ah yeah great man, sound head, do you want a can, happy days' and then come on here and channel all their frustrated confrontational urges into highly charged squabbling about Eyre square/the council/motorists/cyclists/Spanish students/whatever you're having yourself

dr.bollocko

How's the grass on eyre square looking these days from a bike on a path in the traffic?

Eeden

Seriously, To me this forum seems to be getting increasingly sarky, to the point that I hesitate to post here. But I don't know if it's worse than other regional forums. It seems that there used to be a bit more crack in the past, and that now it's mostly griping.

galwaycyclist

Eeden wrote: »

Seriously, To me this forum seems to be getting increasingly sarky, to the point that I hesitate to post here. But I don't know if it's worse than other regional forums. It seems that there used to be a bit more crack in the past, and that now it's mostly griping.

I disagree as long as I have been on boards the Galway City forum has been a dysfunctional place to be avoided.

There has long been a culture of some using it as a place to attack people who lived in the city or wanted to make it a better place.

Much of the "debating" style was dominated by playing the man rather than the ball and by some going around accusing others of saying things they hadn't said and then attacking them for it.

I am quite clear in my own mind that the a key component of the problem was the moderators.

I think it is now improving rather than getting worse. I believe that the reason it is getting better is that there is an increasing number of city residents in here who are increasingly refusing to be bullied or shouted down.

biko

Should anyone have suggestions on way to improve the forum but would rather stay anonymous - PM me or one of the other mods and we'll discuss it amongst ourselves.

Damn, I miss the way this forum used to be.

biko

There were some great Beers back in the day.

snubbleste

Deleted User wrote: »

Damn, I miss the way this forum used to be.

It was a pasture field with cow dung every step. Is that what you miss?

beardybrewer

Hmm, compared to /r/ireland this forum is a breath of fresh air. There are a few topics which really touch a nerve with a few posters to the extent nobody can say anything positive (e.g. xmas market). While the odd thread can get a bit exasperating I certainly wouldn't want to increase the level of moderation. I refer you to earlier post that this isn't an echo chamber and what makes this place interesting is there are people with their own opinions behind the keyboard.

Obviously this forum needs one of the ol' standby topics to rally around. Quick, someone start a best breakfast roll thread.

Moo Moo Land

From my viewpoint, the tone is generally ok on this forum but there is a constant level of bullying between certain posters that tarnish some of the threads. I wont mention names but the bullies and bullied know who they are.

Mrs OBumble

Moo Moo Land wrote: »

a constant level of bullying between certain posters

Eh? What's your definition of "bullying" (sic)?

biko

Banter / bickering / bullying can be in the eye of the beholder.

Feel free to report any posts anyone think aren't on par and a mod will take a look.

galwaycyclist

biko wrote: »

There were some great Beers back in the day.

I think this comment goes to the root of the problem.

In my view, this forum often had the character of a bunch of guys down the back of some village pub. Or perhaps a group of lads beered up on a stag night.

Its not a village pub. It is a public forum for a University city with most possibly the most diverse population of any city in the country.

If the village pub crowd and the stag party no longer feel that this forum meets their needs then thats just too bad and they need to move on somewhere else.

biko

It is difficult for a forum to cater to everyone, but it shouldn't be difficult for everyone to get along.
And tbh, most do get along just fine in this forum.

Specifically about the Beers, this was a great way for the forum to gel. People are much less likely to be dicks to people they have actually met.

Discodog

I don't see any problem. The antagonistic threads usually involve one subject - traffic

El_Dangeroso

Discodog wrote: »

I don't see any problem. The antagonistic threads usually involve one subject - traffic

Surely you missed out on grass-gate 2016 then?

Discodog

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Surely you missed out on grass-gate 2016 then?

No but the forum would be pointless if every thread was about how great Galway is. Debate is good.

El_Dangeroso

Discodog wrote: »

No but the forum would be pointless if every thread was about how great Galway is. Debate is good.

Debate is fine, whinging, soapboxing and single issue posters sap the life of the forum and alienate people.

Mr_A

I be thinkin this forum would be better if you scurvy dogs all talked like pirates.

Arrrr.