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

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    #92
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    dudara wrote: »
    To get back to the original topic, I think the way the world is communicating and sharing is changing. And I don’t know if forums like Boards will be continue to be mainstream in this newer way of communicating. It’s nothing to do with moderation, I simply think that the age of structured discussion, like we have here, has passed its apex.

    I think forums will continue to appeal to certain people and certain interests, but looser, more fluid forms will probably be more successful over the next period.

    I have never really got in trouble with mods on this site, a yellow card maybe here or there over the years (I closed my original account) but 100% the over moderation on this site has hurt the site. There is some very biased moderation and what will get you banned on one sub forum wont get you banned on another, the appeals process is a joke etc.

    I have been using boards for over a decade now and I really like this site and dont wan't to see it go away but lets call a spade, moderation on boards is a joke and Boards has been told that by their users for years, that and new sites like reddit are much more user friendly.


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    #93
    Arghus
    Registered Users Posts: 14,344 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    jimbobaloobob wrote: »
    Maybe time to survey boards members on what they want and what might revitalise the forum.

    I wouldn't hold my breath.


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    #94
    OldMrBrennan83
    Closed Accounts Posts: 26,658 ✭✭✭✭OldMrBrennan83


    This post has been deleted.


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    #95
    SnakePlissken
    Registered Users Posts: 1,489 ✭✭✭SnakePlissken


    I blame End Of The Road.


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    #96
    the_pen_turner
    Registered Users Posts: 7,505 ✭✭✭the_pen_turner


    I think face book is the problem or at least what make face book popular is. it is the drive by culture of it. its a bit like driving down the street , you wind down the window and make some comments then drive on to the next post and do the same. there is no waiting around and having a discussion. people are too impatient and have fingers in too many pies.

    years ago most people only went to 2-3 forums but now its dozens of groups on facebook.


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    #97
    BowSideChamp
    Registered Users Posts: 272 ✭✭BowSideChamp


    SnakePlissken wrote: »
    I blame End Of The Road.

    What stops me from getting into debates on boards.ie is thinking to myself that if I saw this person walking down I wouldn't give 2 ****s what's their opinion.


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    #98
    SnakePlissken
    Registered Users Posts: 1,489 ✭✭✭SnakePlissken


    BowSideChamp wrote: »
    SnakePlissken wrote: »
    I blame End Of The Road.

    What stops me from getting into debates on boards.ie is thinking to myself that if I saw this person walking down I wouldn't give 2 ****s what's their opinion.

    You're a bigger man/woman than I.

    Though my post was somewhat in jest, I now avoid any thread wherein certain posters are involved as it just becomes a cyclical head melt.


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    #99
    Beasty
    Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 75,290 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    gandalf wrote: »
    Oh dear people are offering feedback in the thread, watch the mods lock it and slap their fingers in their ears, along with the admins and so called community managers and sing "everything is awesome" at the tops of their voices ;)
    And it's posts like this that drag threads off topic due to what appears to be a personal distaste perhaps down to someone not thinking the site is run like it used to be when it counted it's annual posts in the hundreds of thousands

    But don't let me get in the way of a good whinge gandalf


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    #100
    OldMrBrennan83
    Closed Accounts Posts: 26,658 ✭✭✭✭OldMrBrennan83


    This post has been deleted.


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    #101
    gandalf
    Registered Users Posts: 26,458 ✭✭✭✭gandalf


    Beasty wrote: »
    And it's posts like this that drag threads off topic due to what appears to be a personal distaste perhaps down to someone not thinking the site is run like it used to be when it counted it's annual posts in the hundreds of thousands

    But don't let me get in the way of a good whinge gandalf

    No it's posts like mine that highlight the head in the sand attitude exhibited by those in "charge" (and their fanboys) and their absolute fear of feedback from the users of this site.


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    #102
    millie35
    Registered Users Posts: 563 ✭✭✭millie35


    SnakePlissken wrote: »
    You're a bigger man/woman than I.

    Though my post was somewhat in jest, I now avoid any thread wherein certain posters are involved as it just becomes a cyclical head melt.

    Anyone remember Nodin?


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    #103
    Fr_Dougal
    Registered Users Posts: 9,167 ✭✭✭Fr_Dougal


    Too many Closed Accounts? Fine, remove the ‘Closed Account’ tag.

    Too much bad Feedback? Fine, restrict the be-Jesus out of the Feedback forum.

    You honestly couldn’t make it up.

    I miss the days when DeVore gave the place a steer.


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    #104
    Arghus
    Registered Users Posts: 14,344 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    Beasty wrote: »
    And it's posts like this that drag threads off topic due to what appears to be a personal distaste perhaps down to someone not thinking the site is run like it used to be when it counted it's annual posts in the hundreds of thousands

    But don't let me get in the way of a good whinge gandalf

    Reads like a very condescending reply on your behalf. The numbers don't lie: boards is in decline - but yet the important thing is to stick it to someone you don't agree with, for a few cheap points?


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    #105
    dav3
    Registered Users Posts: 1,671 ✭✭✭dav3


    Unfortunately we're all stuck here on the only forum on the internet, where we have to put up with thin-skinned delicate little flowers constantly whinging about not being able to say and do whatever they want, while paying absolutely nothing to use it.

    If only there we're other forums out there that people could use to talk sh*te in...


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    #106
    Necro
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 51,014 Mod ✭✭✭✭Necro


    One part of Boards that is certainly not dying is Forum Games and the Werewolf sub-forum. A quick look at the recent games there, and even the current D & D threads and there's an example of a sub forum bucking the current trend.

    As for the over moderation, I think people need to look at themselves more often than blame mods.

    Way too much word vomit. Threads on the same things over and over again, and the same morons arguing ad infinitum the same points.

    People mashing the keyboard with their heads and expecting a site to accept that as an opinion.

    Agenda driven bile and racist nonsense.

    The internet and places like Twitter, Facebook to a degree are increasingly becoming more and more horrible to read with nothing done to stem talk of a dangerous nature.
    If Boards continues to clamp down on that absolute rubbish I for one salute them. Would be too easy to conform to the norms of the web these days and allow this to become as lawless as other popular sites.

    And whoever made the politics.ie comment... Jesus H Christ please never let this place turn into that.


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    #107
    dxhound2005
    Registered Users Posts: 20,490 ✭✭✭✭dxhound2005


    Boards has been dying for a few years now. But it will never die completely. Because we will always have people who come along every now and again to tell us it is dying.

    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=57312184

    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=71460682

    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=89333673


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    #108
    Arghus
    Registered Users Posts: 14,344 ✭✭✭✭Arghus


    dxhound2005 wrote: »
    Boards has been dying for a few years now. But it will never die completely. Because we will always have people who come along every now and again to tell us it is dying.

    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=57312184

    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=71460682

    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=89333673

    It's true that boards' supposed death has been heralded a number of times before now and for a long, long time I would have said that a lot of that kind of talk was just that: talk - talk that wasn't actually borne out in the shape of what still seemed to be a very busy site. There's always been a sizable contingent of the userbase who whinge about everything and boards supposed death was for a long time just a manifestation of that.

    But I think the decline that has set in over the last 18 months to 2 years or so is undeniable at this stage.


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    #109
    Jobs OXO
    Closed Accounts Posts: 887 ✭✭✭Jobs OXO


    gandalf wrote: »
    Oh dear people are offering feedback in the thread, watch the mods lock it and slap their fingers in their ears, along with the admins and so called community managers and sing "everything is awesome" at the tops of their voices ;)

    Indeed. It makes no sense. How come the other thread was locked and this isn't?

    https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057822803/22/#post105663817


    This is de facto feedback. Why oh why was that forum gutted.


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    #110
    KyussB
    Registered Users Posts: 2,314 ✭✭✭KyussB


    It's a topic which has been done to death - and done so, because it's been a constant problem for years and years now - and management seems determined to do nothing about it, other than hide the 'negativity' of discussing it.

    At its core, the problem is that the attitudes and views of those running the site - the admins/mods - are going to stay the same no matter how the rules and all are tweaked - the site needs a complete reboot, to discard the people running the site, discard the bureaucratic system of rules that can't be consistently enforced, and start over with the lightest-touch moderation possible.

    Let the community lead the site, don't have a small cabal of moderators dictating the fucking flow of things - even if they mean well, scores of them are fucking things up all over the site.


    I think the corporate management that is still left, just don't give a shit about Boards or the community anymore - they're just interested in leveraging the base functionality of the site, for commercial purposes, and don't give a toss about the community, or truly open discussion.


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    #111
    The_Captain
    Registered Users Posts: 1,376 ✭✭✭The_Captain


    The place has had a reputation for heavy handed mods that kill debate for a long time. So if you want a serious discussion, you don't use boards.ie.

    That has led it to just being a place for moaning and passive-aggressive soapboxing.

    It's not just AH either. The sub forums can be very cliquey, anything disagreeing with the consensus is trolling, anyone asking a question is told to read the charter or do a search, anyone starting a new topic is told something similar already exists, anyone bumping an old thread is told not to bump zombie threads.

    All in all, it's an extremely unwelcoming place


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    #112
    Zerbini Blewitt
    Closed Accounts Posts: 171 ✭✭Zerbini Blewitt


    Arghus wrote: »
    If moderation is to blame for certain areas of boards avoiding becoming another cesspit of craziness along the lines of politics.ie, then long live moderation.
    I don’t post on p.ie but I have 80 people on ignore – across only three forums :eek:– just in order to be able to read the threads I’m interested in.

    Once I did that recently, it made p.ie readable; basically, the system is - you become your own moderator.

    Much better once you get the hang of it. The big benefit is:- the site stays dynamic (by having low levels of entry for posting) and the moderation regime is less in your face than the infuriating, mythering, nannying that goes on here.


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    #113
    OldMrBrennan83
    Closed Accounts Posts: 26,658 ✭✭✭✭OldMrBrennan83


    This post has been deleted.


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    #114
    dxhound2005
    Registered Users Posts: 20,490 ✭✭✭✭dxhound2005


    KyussB wrote: »
    It's a topic which has been done to death - and done so, because it's been a constant problem for years and years now - and management seems determined to do nothing about it, other than hide the 'negativity' of discussing it.

    At its core, the problem is that the attitudes and views of those running the site - the admins/mods - are going to stay the same no matter how the rules and all are tweaked - the site needs a complete reboot, to discard the people running the site, discard the bureaucratic system of rules that can't be consistently enforced, and start over with the lightest-touch moderation possible.

    Let the community lead the site, don't have a small cabal of moderators dictating the fucking flow of things - even if they mean well, scores of them are fucking things up all over the site.


    I think the corporate management that is still left, just don't give a shit about Boards or the community anymore - they're just interested in leveraging the base functionality of the site, for commercial purposes, and don't give a toss about the community, or truly open discussion.

    You have three posts. How did any of this affect you?


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    #115
    pq0n1ct4ve8zf5
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,070 ✭✭✭✭pq0n1ct4ve8zf5


    KyussB wrote: »
    It's a topic which has been done to death - and done so, because it's been a constant problem for years and years now - and management seems determined to do nothing about it, other than hide the 'negativity' of discussing it.

    At its core, the problem is that the attitudes and views of those running the site - the admins/mods - are going to stay the same no matter how the rules and all are tweaked - the site needs a complete reboot, to discard the people running the site, discard the bureaucratic system of rules that can't be consistently enforced, and start over with the lightest-touch moderation possible.

    Let the community lead the site, don't have a small cabal of moderators dictating the fucking flow of things - even if they mean well, scores of them are fucking things up all over the site.


    I think the corporate management that is still left, just don't give a shit about Boards or the community anymore - they're just interested in leveraging the base functionality of the site, for commercial purposes, and don't give a toss about the community, or truly open discussion.

    What you're talking about is effectively a different site then.

    Also, a group of like minded free spirited users tried to build that utopia of light moderation and rigorous debate over on voat. Shítshow.

    I don't think the site is run perfectly or anything and I'll air that opinion when it comes up but the actual obsession some people have with complaining about it and attacking it is fcuking weird. It's a bloody bulletin site.


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    #116
    JayRoc
    Registered Users Posts: 1,571 ✭✭✭JayRoc


    Ah, the place can be a bit of craic now and then. But it's hardly a professional website/forum?

    Sure I joined over a decade ago and the search function still doesn't work. I always assumed it was someone's hobby tbh


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    #117
    OldMrBrennan83
    Closed Accounts Posts: 26,658 ✭✭✭✭OldMrBrennan83


    This post has been deleted.


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    #118
    fits
    Registered Users Posts: 13,253 ✭✭✭✭fits


    Forums are better browsed on a desktop than a smartphone. And typing replies is a pita on the smartphone too. For me, that’s a lot of it.


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    #119
    tomwaterford
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,768 ✭✭✭✭tomwaterford


    fits wrote: »
    Forums are better browsed on a desktop than a smartphone. And typing replies is a pita on the smartphone too. For me, that’s a lot of it.

    The touch site is good on the phone IMO....but has nowhere near as many functions as the full site


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    #120
    looksee
    Registered Users Posts: 28,050 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    The really funny thing is that the small cabaal of people - the clique of complainers - who keep going on over and over about the sins and shortcomings of the site, for some reason stick around!

    There is a whole internet out there, surely they could head off and start a site that works the way they want it to? This site was started by a few interested people so many years ago (in internet terms) with no funds, no organisation, just themselves. If they could do it surely those dissatisfied with this site could do the same? You will know what pitfalls to avoid, what the people want, it should be a doddle.

    It was always the way, in any organisation, the biggest group of complainers, of people who criticised everything 'the committee' did, who carped and gossiped and did their best to break things up, were the people who never made any actual contribution to the organisation. Kinda sad really. Yes, the committee might get it wrong sometimes, might be a bit over authoritative at times, could not suit everyone all the time, but they were the ones who were actually putting in the time, discussing the options, trying to make the organisation the best it could be. While the 'experts' propped up the bar and whinged, then went home till next time.


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    #121
    Jobs OXO
    Closed Accounts Posts: 887 ✭✭✭Jobs OXO


    looksee wrote: »
    The really funny thing is that the small cabaal of people - the clique of complainers - who keep going on over and over about the sins and shortcomings of the site, for some reason stick around!

    There is a whole internet out there, surely they could head off and start a site that works the way they want it to? This site was started by a few interested people so many years ago (in internet terms) with no funds, no organisation, just themselves. If they could do it surely those dissatisfied with this site could do the same? You will know what pitfalls to avoid, what the people want, it should be a doddle.

    It was always the way, in any organisation, the biggest group of complainers, of people who criticised everything 'the committee' did, who carped and gossiped and did their best to break things up, were the people who never made any actual contribution to the organisation. Kinda sad really. Yes, the committee might get it wrong sometimes, might be a bit over authoritative at times, could not suit everyone all the time, but they were the ones who were actually putting in the time, discussing the options, trying to make the organisation the best it could be. While the 'experts' propped up the bar and whinged, then went home till next time.

    And this condescending post from a
    Mod just sums up everything wrong with the site.


This discussion has been closed.
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