The slow death of forums *see OP for Admin warning and update 28/02/18*

My thoughts relating to the movement of chat to a subjective forum;

At first I thought oh maybe but now I am against the idea. My concern is that three or four threads in a sub forum will simply be the death knell of the community that's been built. People are strange and when things get moved around they might not follow. This is what happened with the Interview thread when it was moved to The Cuckoo's Nest and then again moved to Nocturnal forum.

I question the motivation some of you have regarding the proposed move. Permabear you have been very vocal here and in previous feedback threads about the notion of cliques. Again what's so wrong with a group of people all getting along with each other? A group that's inviting to others and is kind and respectful. I'm sure if I wanted to get stuck in to the chat thread over on Sex and Sexuality there would be no issue and I could post away to my hearts content. Just as you do.

Maybe the perceived lack of diversity in After Hours is because of the long running thread on abortion. It's more suitable to the Politics Forum I believe so I will be proposing a move to there. After all there are many many themes existing in After Hours that could easily be blamed for "clogging up the front page".

GreeBo

mzungu wrote: »

I don't see the problem with chat threads on the front page of AH. If history repeats itself, if they are moved then they will most likely die a death in a sub-forum. I am not sure the argument that it is the same few posters keeping it on the front page is a reason to move it, for example, the Donald Trump thread in politics has been on the front page for donkeys years with (I presume) the same posters duking it out. Should that be moved to its own forum? Absolutely not. As a general rule, most long running threads will have the same people keeping it going. No harm whatsoever being done there.

A sub-forum may end up being the digital equivalent of being exiled to Siberia. Sure, I barely notice that there is a sub-forum on TGC, and the same may very well happen here. New posters may not know where to find it, and old posters may end up leaving.

Doesnt sound like much of a community so!

Also there are lots of examples where it flourishes as a sub-forum.
Especially since AH is itself a sub-forum of Social & Fun!


/edit
Dammit, ok definitely out now.

Boards.ie: Mark

Beasty wrote: »

In addition I have noted posts 386 and 388, where the topic of burgers was raised. I can now confirm though that we will not be incentivising new registrations with Big Mac vouchers, as we feel that may cause a bit of overload on the system with the re-reg trolls

After I spent all that time setting up new e-mails and accounts and all :mad:

Thanks everyone for your input so far; there's been plenty of constructive discussion, and some interesting suggestions and ideas. As Beasty has said, there will be an Open Discussion on how Feedback should work in the near future. One thing I will say is that the old format didn't seem to work for anyone. It's been said previously, and in this very thread, that the same complaints were raised again and again. That means Feedback wasn't working for you. And when it was used for less constructive purposes and general attacks, it wasn't helpful for us. Hopefully we can find something practical, functional, and productive.

Moderation is always going to be a contentious issue. For some, the site is overmoderated, for others, Boards is a haven for trolls. Moderators have a tough job, but (imo - and I must stress that it's my opinion and not a "so let it be written, so let it be done") do a great job and are an essential part of the community. There have been points raised that we can look at, for sure.

There's been plenty to take in that we can look at, but there's also been challenges like people feeling that it's not worth putting in the effort to create a thread, that there's not enough new content, and that how people communicate / debate has changed. In some cases, people have to be the change that they wish to see in the world.

When I joined, I was aware of little known sites like Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook, but I thought then and I still believe that Boards has some unique elements that sets it apart. Obviously, many of you feel the same way or you wouldn't be here.

Permabear

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Fr_Dougal

mzungu wrote: »

I don't see the problem with chat threads on the front page of AH. If history repeats itself, if they are moved then they will most likely die a death in a sub-forum. I am not sure the argument that it is the same few posters keeping it on the front page is a reason to move it, for example, the Donald Trump thread in politics has been on the front page for donkeys years with (I presume) the same posters duking it out. Should that be moved to its own forum? Absolutely not. As a general rule, most long running threads will have the same people keeping it going. No harm whatsoever being done there.

A sub-forum may end up being the digital equivalent of being exiled to Siberia. Sure, I barely notice that there is a sub-forum on TGC, and the same may very well happen here. New posters may not know where to find it, and old posters may end up leaving.

If 70% of the posts are coming from 20 posters the posters can choose to let the threads die or not, it’s not like they won’t know where the threads are. It only effects a tiny percentage of the AH posters.

If history repeats itself like Cool Vids and Pics, the posters will have a very successful sub forum.

The Donald thread that you mentioned isn’t a chat thread, it’s a discussion thread.

The type of chitchat that we see in these chat threads belongs in a whatsapp group or FB tbh, a sub forum or a single chat thread is a more than fair compromise.

Permabear

Permabear wrote: »

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I would absolutely agree with that and in fact I felt you were very unfairly treated on a thread here a few months ago. That's not the kind of forum I want to be a part of. The chatty threads are the complete opposite of being rounded upon and belittled.

Pac1Man

Permabear wrote: »

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Where does any of that exist in the chat threads?!

View those threads in isolation rather than what you think they represent as a whole.

pilly

GreeBo wrote: »

+1

PI is an excellently moderated, welcoming and helpful forum.

Is that a serious statement or sarcasm?

Permabear

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retro:electro

Pac1Man wrote: »

Where does any of that exist in the chat threads?!

View those threads in isolation rather than what you think they represent as a whole.

It doesn't.
Accusing people of bullying is quite the serious accusation. It seems like some posters would like to be afforded the liberty to bleat on to their hearts content about their own personal lives in as unbridled a manner as possible- but not afford others the same liberty they award themselves to maybe question, challenge or oppose their views.

It seems like anything other than praise or adulation is condemned as bullying. Maybe some people should either hold back in posting every nook and cranny of their personal lives or accept that people will assert their own voices too and question some points, not to mention query some apparent inconsistencies.

GreeBo

pilly wrote: »

Is that a serious statement or sarcasm?

100% serious.

retro:electro

Permabear wrote: »

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Just that you don't like the look of them and want them gone..

Permabear

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gifted

mzungu wrote: »

I don't see the problem with chat threads on the front page of AH. If history repeats itself, if they are moved then they will most likely die a death in a sub-forum. I am not sure the argument that it is the same few posters keeping it on the front page is a reason to move it, for example, the Donald Trump thread in politics has been on the front page for donkeys years with (I presume) the same posters duking it out. Should that be moved to its own forum? Absolutely not. As a general rule, most long running threads will have the same people keeping it going. No harm whatsoever being done there.

A sub-forum may end up being the digital equivalent of being exiled to Siberia. Sure, I barely notice that there is a sub-forum on TGC, and the same may very well happen here. New posters may not know where to find it, and old posters may end up leaving.

I mainly post on the "Where are you right now" thread.......Where did I find it on boards?....on the front page of AH....

retro:electro

Permabear wrote: »

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The paranoia is real..

And it didn't take you long to dole out the bullying line, as per. Puhlease.

Permabear

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GreeBo

Emergency Tea & Biscuits on standby.

Pac1Man

Permabear wrote: »

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Well, and with respect, how can you pass judgement on them?

The only mention of cliques was with regards to the chat threads. Stating that cliques promote a mob mentality and bullying without knowledge of said cliques is very disingenuous.

gifted

GreeBo wrote: »

Emergency Tea & Biscuits on standby.

TAE..for the love of God its TAE....:pac::pac:

Permabear

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pilly

dxhound2005 wrote: »

From the time of the water charges threads I have not seen anything as busy on AH as the "Lavhlahn" threads in Radio. They max out the 10K post limit ever 6 weeks or so.

Again, mainly 6 or 7 posters posting one liners.

pilly

Pac1Man wrote: »

Well, and with respect, how can you pass judgement on them?

The only mention of cliques was with regards to the chat threads. Stating that cliques promote a mob mentality and bullying without knowledge of said cliques is very disingenuous.

The Liveline Thread is one that's a complete clique with a mob mentality and bullying. There's even a leader.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

The existence of people in numbers greater than two calling out bullshít does not equal a clique.

There are many posters on AH with whom I agree on many matters, others with whom I disagree on most things and others more in the middle. My quoting, thanking etc patterns reflect that. That's just common sense. I'm also a current and previous member of some private forums. They're really not places where people gather and cackle "let's all go after poster x mwahaha"

Pac1Man

pilly wrote: »

The Liveline Thread is one that's a complete clique with a mob mentality and bullying. There's even a leader.

The chat threads are not like that though and they're the only ones on the chopping block.

GreeBo

Pac1Man wrote: »

The chat threads are not like that though and they're the only ones on the chopping block.

Tom Mann Centuria

Pac1Man wrote: »

The chat threads are not like that though and they're the only ones on the chopping block.

What chopping block?

pilly

dxhound2005 wrote:

I know dat, I know dat (insider reference). They all hate Joe Duffy but insist on listening to Liveline ever day and writing pages about how bad he is. I was invited not to post there any more for not toeing the party line.

Same here, can't be bothered anymore. If you don't hate Joe with the same level of hatred as you have towards Bin Laden then you're out.

Pac1Man

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

What chopping block?

Exiled might be a better word? Targeted even?

pilly

GreeBo wrote: »

Presumably they are responding to other posters and not just posting to themselves....thats called engaging in discussion...on a discussion forum.

If no one wants to engage them then they will stop responding, if people do engage then they are fully entitled to reply... thats a discussion.

If you dont like having to put up with the fact that someone has more to say on a topic than you would like...well I guess my heart bleeds for you.

But it's not engaging in discussion if you just take ten quotes from the thread and state categorically "wrong", "doesn't exist", "no".

That is not a discussion in any sense of the word whatsoever.

I don't think you've experienced the particular type of posting that people are talking about tbh.

Baggly

pilly wrote: »

Same here, can't be bothered anymore. If you don't hate Joe with the same level of hatred as you have towards Bin Laden then you're out.

Do you have any specific examples you can show us?