LoneGunman
Expert Member
I figure some pruning of cr*p on this forum is justified. I mean for new arrivals (and some older forumites) there's way too much 'old pals and forumites swapping banter' type of messages in threads, and not enough 'hard info in an informative sequence that can be read easily'.
'Off-topic comments' are just that - 'off-topic'. Why do it?
You don't raise unconnected topics into other peoples conversations in real life, so why always do it online?
Just because you CAN say something, isn't a reason to always SAY IT. A little bit of self discipline and house training goes a long way, and its helpful to everyone.
I'm all for anarchy, but that doesn't mean 'chaos' - it means everyone being a little personally responsible and aware of the overall effect of their individual actions - and mindful of the reason for having 'separate threads for topics' in the first place.
There seem to be very few threads which don't have people chirping up and making unrelated comments, jokes, boasts - which take the thread off topic and into troll-territory.
The overall effect on the forum means in just about 70% or more of threads, you have to wade through a large quantity of people's personal off-topic statements, in order to get to the meat of the topic itself.
Like a classroom of kids all wanting to be the clever one with the best put-down, best boast, worst horror story, funniest joke.. Topics get interrupted and derailed with users unrelated comments - like kids do in the presence of adults having a conversation, when they aren't getting any attention.
I understand that the forum is social, and it provides folks with a social outlet as well as an information hub - but the Noise and Static often crowds out the Signal.
This place isn't a free-for-all, and its not a democracy - its a benign dictatorship run as a co-operative effort designed to provide information (and some online socialising) for a wide range of very different individuals, mostly joined together because of concern over the quality of service of their different Internet Service Providers.
If people can't restrain their immature urges to consistently make unrelated comments and what are in reality - troll-like actions - by 'derailing threads' with their 'look at me -look at me' motivated comments, that have no relevance whatsoever to what's being discussed, then I'm all for the Moderators pruning the rubbish out.
I don't see this deletion of rubbish as censorship, its not anything negative at all - its just the simple policing action needed to stop the people who lack the inner discipline to behave like decent Netizens, from putting so much of their noise and static over the signal of this forum.
I mean if you have a puppy that keeps messing everywhere, and refuses to be housetrained, then you have to limit its ability to go into the rooms you like and want to keep clean..
So arguing that the Bosses in this forum, should allow people to 'mess' where they like, (and thus gradually stink up the forum), isn't arguing for free speech - its the logic of people who seem to have already shown themselves to be incapable of giving this forum the respect it deserves.
So my gut feel is that Mods should just go ahead and systematically delete the rubbish and offtopic posts without entering into any debate about it at all. It's a no-brainer. And the forum will be better for it.
And the people who need to let us know their jokes, or unrelated thoughts, all the time, should make new threads for that - and leave the topic-driven threads untouched.
Dat be my thoughts on it. I was gonna post this elsewhere, in one of the threads already in existence - but it would have been 'off-topic'
'Off-topic comments' are just that - 'off-topic'. Why do it?
You don't raise unconnected topics into other peoples conversations in real life, so why always do it online?
Just because you CAN say something, isn't a reason to always SAY IT. A little bit of self discipline and house training goes a long way, and its helpful to everyone.
I'm all for anarchy, but that doesn't mean 'chaos' - it means everyone being a little personally responsible and aware of the overall effect of their individual actions - and mindful of the reason for having 'separate threads for topics' in the first place.
There seem to be very few threads which don't have people chirping up and making unrelated comments, jokes, boasts - which take the thread off topic and into troll-territory.
The overall effect on the forum means in just about 70% or more of threads, you have to wade through a large quantity of people's personal off-topic statements, in order to get to the meat of the topic itself.
Like a classroom of kids all wanting to be the clever one with the best put-down, best boast, worst horror story, funniest joke.. Topics get interrupted and derailed with users unrelated comments - like kids do in the presence of adults having a conversation, when they aren't getting any attention.
I understand that the forum is social, and it provides folks with a social outlet as well as an information hub - but the Noise and Static often crowds out the Signal.
This place isn't a free-for-all, and its not a democracy - its a benign dictatorship run as a co-operative effort designed to provide information (and some online socialising) for a wide range of very different individuals, mostly joined together because of concern over the quality of service of their different Internet Service Providers.
If people can't restrain their immature urges to consistently make unrelated comments and what are in reality - troll-like actions - by 'derailing threads' with their 'look at me -look at me' motivated comments, that have no relevance whatsoever to what's being discussed, then I'm all for the Moderators pruning the rubbish out.
I don't see this deletion of rubbish as censorship, its not anything negative at all - its just the simple policing action needed to stop the people who lack the inner discipline to behave like decent Netizens, from putting so much of their noise and static over the signal of this forum.
I mean if you have a puppy that keeps messing everywhere, and refuses to be housetrained, then you have to limit its ability to go into the rooms you like and want to keep clean..
So arguing that the Bosses in this forum, should allow people to 'mess' where they like, (and thus gradually stink up the forum), isn't arguing for free speech - its the logic of people who seem to have already shown themselves to be incapable of giving this forum the respect it deserves.
So my gut feel is that Mods should just go ahead and systematically delete the rubbish and offtopic posts without entering into any debate about it at all. It's a no-brainer. And the forum will be better for it.
And the people who need to let us know their jokes, or unrelated thoughts, all the time, should make new threads for that - and leave the topic-driven threads untouched.
Dat be my thoughts on it. I was gonna post this elsewhere, in one of the threads already in existence - but it would have been 'off-topic'
, but still so on!