Has Boards.ie had any positives/negatives for you?

freshpopcorn · 25-04-2020 7:07pm #1

The minor one's would be I probably got some bargains from seeing them in Bargain Alerts and it gave me something to do also when I had nothing to do.
Another is it made me a relax about things. I might have got a little worked up over things a few years ago and mainly from seeing others get outraged over minor things it made me snap out of it.
Negatives would be I probably wasted to much time on here at times.

Has Boards.ie had any positives/negatives for you?

Trigger Happy · 25-04-2020 7:10pm

Have made a few decent friends on here and am an expert on the weather thanks to MT Cranium's posts.

Church on Tuesday · 25-04-2020 8:49pm

When things were fairly grim on a personal level a while back it was almost a social lifeline. Took my mind off things and helped keep me sane, even got the brain matter working again and lots of healthy debate helped, maybe got a bit too into some debates but there ya go

We can knock it all we want but it's very Irish centric in a way reddit can never really be.

Tom Mann Centuria · 25-04-2020 8:51pm

Bargain alerts has been great, got some brilliant bargains. Bargains alerts has been terrible, got some old sh*t I never needed or thought I wanted (at a cheaper price).

25-04-2020 8:52pm

Tom Mann Centuria wrote: »

Bargain alerts has been great, got some brilliant bargains. Bargains alerts has been terrible, got some old sh*t I never needed or thought I wanted (at a cheaper price).

Couldn't agree more.

maestroamado · 25-04-2020 8:54pm

its fine but the moderators need lighten up a bit...

s1ippy · 25-04-2020 8:56pm

Haha the negative one I have would absolutely blow your mind but I could be risking the same thing happening again if I detailed it. Have to say, the moderators really did me a favour. Sound skins.

banie01 · 25-04-2020 9:02pm

Bargain Alerts has cost me a fortune, but I have so much more cool stuff now along with even more tat that I never needed or ever will

At the lowest point in my life, boards , the P.I forum and in particular the then brand new bereavement sub forum helped me keep a hold on my sanity.
Had a lot of support from there.

Other forums such as watches and timepieces, crypto and others have all sparked and renewed interests across many fields.

Watches and timepieces is no place for the faint hearted tho, that's a corner of boards that'll lead to bankruptcy :pac:

Junkyard Tom · 25-04-2020 9:15pm

Boards taught me how to use apostrophe's properly

Ubbquittious · 25-04-2020 9:15pm

Boards is a great source of information and has helped me out of a pickle a few times especially the Car DIY / Boating forum. AH is a bit of craic too and have had a few good laughs from it. Went to a good few boards beers in the pre-creep days.

The bad is there's a good bit of fearmongering that goes on in certain forums mostly by armchair know-it-alls who can't stand to see someone else getting a job done and there's other sh1tehawks around too but once you learn to identify and ignore those you're away for slates really. Cant say I have any life long friends I met through boards but did chat to some nice people on here from time to time

This is it · 25-04-2020 9:26pm

Very few negatives to be honest. While I've very little contact with them now, sure life moves on, I made a lot of friends through boards over the years. One in particular that could never possibly know how grateful I am for how they helped me.

Plenty of nights out, boards beers, a trip abroad to stay with a boardsie I'd never met

and lots more.

I've learnt so much from reading various forums/threads. So many knowledgeable posters. Plenty of gobshytes too obviously

Saw behind the scenes and the difficulties mods, cmods and admin face. A positive and negative!

All in all, very positive. I've learnt to walk away rather than kick up much of a fuss anymore. It rarely does any good, so any negative is quickly forgotten.

maestroamado · 25-04-2020 9:39pm

s1ippy wrote: »

Haha the negative one I have would absolutely blow your mind but I could be risking the same thing happening again if I detailed it. Have to say, the moderators really did me a favour. Sound skins.

Maybe that's making my point. they are not there to do favors their job is to be fair.
Sound skins, you must know them personally as i would only say that of people i know, saying that i expect they good people.

I am not being negative at all, if someone creates a post i will give my honest view, i expect this this is what is to happen here.
If we all "yes men" it be closed in a week...

Oink · 25-04-2020 9:47pm

Met some decent folks thanks to Boards.
Got some sound advice about cars.
A while back when I couldn’t take Facebook anymore I just came back to Boards, and it felt nice and cosy.

On the other hand, there are just so many topics on Boards I do not give a monkey’s about, I wish I could just not see them at all. But it’s good that people are talking.

Leg End Reject · 25-04-2020 10:15pm

Positives - the wherers thread, the humour in after hours, the knowledge in a lot of forums I read for information but wouldn't have anything useful to contribute to.

Negative - a little bit of leeway would be nice in some threads. Real life is not a sanitised, PC haven and some people enjoy darker humour and humorous insults.

Strumms · 26-04-2020 12:15am

ive done quite a few works trips alone and boards has been great at being a boredom killer, at airports with 3 hours to kill, at remote enough airport hotels at bars just killing time and not knowing the local lingo... it’s been a great resource for staying connected. Making cabin fever less terminal.

What does boards do for us, give us...? It’s fun, entertaining, it’s educational and informative , it’s combative sometimes, a great bordom killer, it’s social it’s lovely.

negative, you find negativity everywhere if you look hard enough, I’d change who know... it’s not perfect, be boring if it was, it’s pretty fûcking great though..

26-04-2020 7:00am

Boards tends to have posters supporting every angle of an issue usually with the need to provide supporting information. That's useful because it provides alternative sources than the mainstream media which can often be very biased, or lazy fact-checking their own sources. Unfortunately boards, and the internet have evolved to encourage trollish behavior, or virtue signalling, so boards isn't quite as useful as it used to be. Still useful but iffy on a lot of subjects.

When I first started using boards, it was a wonderful place to develop the use of logical/rational thinking in discussions. There used to be more emphasis on proving your opinions to be true, rather than the "take or or leave it" attitude that is more common nowadays. So, for me, boards was a teacher to help me develop rational thinking, a place to learn patience with people seeking to get a rise out of me, and I also learned to type really fast (long posts being more common previously).

Overall, Boards taught me to argue in a logical manner without getting annoyed with every retarded objection from the wings.

Other positives. I like many of the mods, like Wibbs. Just incredibly good posters in themselves. A joy to read their posts.

completedit · 26-04-2020 9:51am

In a bad way it's made my thinking too nuanced. I notice myself second guessing myself more because I'm aware that there are always two or more sides to an argument. This is good in isolation but I don't have the on the quick thinking to be able to incorporate this into everyday life and I just end up overwhelmed.

LeYouth · 26-04-2020 12:09pm

Positives - lots of good threads

Negatives - the website is a bit slow!

s1ippy · 26-04-2020 12:12pm

maestroamado wrote: »

Maybe that's making my point. they are not there to do favors their job is to be fair.
Sound skins, you must know them personally as i would only say that of people i know, saying that i expect they good people.

I am not being negative at all, if someone creates a post i will give my honest view, i expect this this is what is to happen here.
If we all "yes men" it be closed in a week...

Nah I had to email them about somebody on the board from real life who was threatening me and they helped me out. Probably quite time consuming, hence why I say sound.

arybvtcw0eolkf · 26-04-2020 12:28pm

Positive, I feel I've become a lot more liberal as a result of discussions on boards.

Negative, bullies. I really don't understand how someone can take a dislike to someone they'll probably never know or meet and set about a campaign of bullying, its a bit weird tbh.

Other than that this is just somewhere to shoot the breeze. I think I've only gotten to know one boardsie through using the site, JupiterKid.. What you see of him here is pretty much what you find IRL (I hope I'm the same).

But I'll be perfectly honest too, if boards.ie was to disappear tomorrow I wouldn't miss it for a second.

DopeTech · 26-04-2020 12:54pm

I joined originally back in 2007 when I was 17, I've always enjoyed the Bargain alerts and tech forums but overall I think it was was just a nice place to spend some time and switch off for a while. Plenty of like minded people and interesting posts over the years. You really realise that we're all in the same boat and everyone is as insecure as the next person.

I think it's got gradually quieter over the years but I still check in on it. Always something of interest being discussed.

I think I got most out of the satellite and terrestrial forums over the years. It was fun playing around with different linux boxes and sharing downloads etc.

BA has also got me a good few deals over the years. It seems to have almost died off now though with the same few threads being updated but little in the way of great new bargains. Nothing on the same level as before anyway. I use HUKD first now before BA.

No negatives from me. It's changed over time but that's life. Everything has a shelf life. The younger folk will move onto something else.

Unearthly · 26-04-2020 12:58pm

Fantastic website. I've been on it since 2004. Naturally there has been some bad moments (mostly football forum related) but I get knowledge about various topics such as entertainment, weather, sport, jobs, property, work and even viruses

Now fix that 20 year old thread bug!

cj maxx · 26-04-2020 1:19pm

Only positives really.
I have burst out laughing at some posts, which brightens up every day.
Learnt a few new words.
Found solace with posters who agree/ going through the same thing as me.
The only negative really was a poster laughing at my spelling .;(
Even that had a good effect as I finally got reading glasses which I badly needed !
I thought I was over using boards but in 10 years I've 4k posts, while some have double that in months.
Anyway ,I don't pay attention to some random poster on the internet, if they don't agree with me

cj maxx · 26-04-2020 1:20pm

And I use too many !!!!!

Pac1Man · 26-04-2020 1:26pm

It does shock me to see the amount of time some people spend on here. Some have thousands of posts in less than a year or two.

Imagine where they would be if they directed that level of commitment into something actually worthwhile and productive, rather than wasting it on an Internet forum where people don't care nearly as much about your opinion as you think*.

*Don't worry, the irony is not lost on me.

26-04-2020 1:31pm

positives: Online equivalent of how people hehave towards strangers . This is a learning experience. Yes, EastEnders is not that far removed from reality.

negatives: Many Talk to forums have folded. a lot more one liner posts than there used to. Doesn't say much for the poster. some really good boardsies / mods have closed accounts for good.

khalessi · 26-04-2020 1:31pm

I have been on and off boards since the early 2000s, leave it for a while forget my name and rejoin. So back again for the last while and have to say I finally ventured into Forum Games and Werewolf which are brilliant, and everyone I have come across there have been so welcoming.

I love the variety of topics and variety of interests that people have, after hours can be fun,sarcastic, zany and humourous. I enjoy reading lots of different sections, and some are very niche, as you can learn from people on here and go looking for more info elsewhere.

Negatives, for the most part I find Boards to be a great site, but sometimes there are threads left to run which are mildy disguised bashing against certain sectors of employment and that should have a closer eye on it, .and some threads update so quickly hard to keep up as you have to update thread to see latest thread but it is a minor negative. Otherwise it is an enjoyable site

leggo · 26-04-2020 1:48pm

I started a business through here so there’s that. I find forums like PI have given me a good perspective on life and helped sharpen my understanding of the world, even if it’s through helping others and being able to work out stuff by putting it to paper to explain to someone else. I’ll do that for multiple things, so I’d produce podcasts and other stuff and debating things with others really helps me figure out how I feel in-depth about certain topics. Plus it’s awesome for killing time when I should be more productive.

The downsides are accumulating more lately unfortunately. When I was young and, I think, so were the majority of others on boards because the Internet was relatively new to most, this was a great progressive spot to get a sense of sanity. But as the forum has aged and not replenished with younger voices, unfortunately that’s been lost and replaced by a largely crotchety generation of ageing people. So every discussion becomes a gender war, casual sexism/racist is rampant and a lot of people have no interest in challenging their own perspective and just want to find things which reinforce their depressing world view. Boards to me has essentially turned from a positive, intelligent college kid into a bitter, angry auld lad sitting at the bar all day giving out that you can’t say anything anymore while being more concerned with looking into a pint than a mirror. Twitter is an over-correction too far in the other direction. So I find these days my online social experience is a case of trying to keep what I like from both while constantly ducking and dodging and avoiding preachy, idealistic college kids on one side and drunken angry taxi drivers on the other.

TLDR; the joys of your early 30’s...

Mister Vain · 26-04-2020 2:05pm

There has been some very funny threads about one night stands and golfing trips in Portugal that were entertaining to read. The threads on dating have been a real eye opener too. Sadly there are a lot of posters that take it way too seriously. The back and forth arguing with multi quoting is exhausting.

26-04-2020 4:57pm

I love Boards. Years ago when I was a lurker I felt a bit differently towards it. I remember telling a good friend that it seemed like a way for people to switch off from the world and not engage with others. Today I still believe for a few it can cause this state of mind and be an unhealthy place for them. There is no replacing human to human interaction. However my mind has been opened to Boards as a lifeline to so many. The kindness that I've seen shown on here and the sense of community is really lovely.

I have had my share of dark days and this place, AH and Forum Games in particular have been an amazing help. Loneliness is a terrible thing but thanks to Boards I've made great friends and even had the odd romantic entanglement

The negative isn't really a negative at all because it's my own doing. I find myself at times getting irritated by the most inoffensive and seemingly decent posters. Haven't a clue what it is about them. I get all riled up inside and want to say "I don't give a fùck about your x y and z". I don't of course so I just avoid those threads now.
It is a good example of "it isn't you it's me". And Jesus I know I'm certainly not everyone's cup or tea or coffee or whatever you like.

Oh and @Makikomi, I too have met JupiterKid and can attest to what you say. He is a sound auld skin

Sephiroth_dude · 26-04-2020 5:03pm

Deleted User wrote: »

. He is a sound auld skin

Any other boardies that you've that are sound auld skins hmmm ?

:-P

26-04-2020 5:06pm

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Any other boardies that you've that are sound auld skins hmmm ?

:-P

Hmm I'd have to think now.

:pac:

arybvtcw0eolkf · 26-04-2020 5:17pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Oh and @Makikomi, I too have met JupiterKid and can attest to what you say. He is a sound auld skin

Yea he's a cool guy. I had him down for a walk around where I'm based but unfortunately we were hit with a monsoon and he didn't get a proper look around.

We'll do it again no doubt but right now because of Covid civilians aren't allowed enter, and tbh we are very busy and the atmosphere isn't very good atm either, moral is very good but there's a reminder everywhere that we're looking towards defeating C19.

I know the infamous Degsy well but I can't remember if I knew him before boards.ie or through it, if anyone remembers Degsy he's a mad bastard on and off boards. Good craic.

retro:electro · 26-04-2020 6:36pm

Boards has definitely helped me acquire a more balanced outlook when it comes to a lot of topics. I love opening threads where you’re certain your mind has been made up before you even read the op, only to have it changed, or at least your perspective changed from reading various inputs by people from all walks of life. I like having my mind changed or my eyes opened to something, it’s important and it’s healthy and I definitely think the layout of boards and the way people can sometimes argue their side so well has helped me on that front. I try and carry that principle into real life when I’m presented with something, or when someone says something that I think is off the wall. There’s a lot of craic to be had too, if not stifled in recent times. But as long as the good people are still here then there’s craic to be had.

Negatives, ah.. I met one or two weirdos along the way and but sure we won’t talk about that. :pac:

The Crazy Cat Lady · 27-04-2020 3:43pm

boards is a great website

Postives:

information on a whole load of subjects
people here are nice and have become friends with a few people
distraction away from real life

The only negative is that I spend too time here

ILoveYourVibes · 27-04-2020 3:49pm

Most people are nice. Positive

Some people are crazy or at least cannot be civil. Negative.

People correct my grammar. Negative.

I tell them to shut up. Positive !

Ultrflat · 27-04-2020 7:25pm

So I'm a re-reg. I deleted my account over 5 years ago.

Positives, Boards help me put my self out there, I never was that out going or comfortable in my skin. I remember going to an AH beers, it was the truthfully a brilliant night out meet some wonderful people and some people who are still in my life. We chat from time to time. But ultimately boards taught me if you put your self out there people will most of the time embrace you.

Being a dyslexic it's helped improve my spelling and grammar. Sadly not my punctuation that still sucks. But hey, small steps.

I can find the place slightly overwhelming but ultimately there are plenty of good people on here, with life experience's and opinions you can take in and evolve your' own. And After Hours always has a thread you can giggle away too

27-04-2020 8:00pm

Made one or two decent mates years ago under different a/c,

one in particular who was unreal help during rough time in my life and helped massively during this virus aswell with lil things stressing me....and i cannot ever thank them enough

Negatives: im not sort to focus on these in any aspect of my life,but at a stretch most folks used be mates with rarely post anymore

and the humour about,isnt my type (but thats no flaw of anyone,just different type humour on my part)but fcuk it,live and let live imho

27-04-2020 8:48pm

I’m here longer than most but haven’t dived into it like some have. I enjoy the soccer thread, and AH is a great laugh sometimes. There are some great and conscientious posters here. Wibbs, Klaz, Raconteuse and some others are wise, and wear it lightly.

Other more ‘serious’ forums sometimes feel like platforms for nearly-men (or women) i.e., frustrated pseudo-academics, economists etc that haven’t quite managed to make a living out of their knowledge. I feel like there’s a better version somewhere else of what I’m reading.

maestroamado · 27-04-2020 9:30pm

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Most people are nice. Positive

Some people are crazy or at least cannot be civil. Negative.

People correct my grammar. Negative.

I tell them to shut up. Positive !

Depends on what we prefer.
Some nice people what you want to hear.
Most crazy people say what they think, is that bad?
Your grammer is waunderful...

27-04-2020 9:58pm

Deleted User wrote: »

There are some great and conscientious posters here. Wibbs, Klaz, Raconteuse and some others are wise, and wear it lightly.
.

Cheers! Hot pot and beers on me if you're ever in Xi'an.

cj maxx · 07-05-2020 8:26pm

It took me making an ass of myself to realise what boards is to me.
It's the Anti-Social media I've craved. I can rock up and be an anonymous prick or be ( usually I hope) an anonymous poster giving my 2 cents in a constructive way and helping out.
No photos,no having to 'like' posts.
If it wasn't full of pricks I'd be on all day

08-05-2020 10:24am

Positive by and large, unless a moderator takes a certain shine to you. I'd sooner walk on hot coals than egg shells. The irreverence of AH is a beacon these stifled days, feel an almost fraternal bond with posters thriving on black humour.

corks finest · 08-05-2020 10:29am

Mostly vv positive, great help at times ref advice for DIY/ car / tech etc, I missed it big time last week

Has Boards.ie had any positives/negatives for you?

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