I’ve bounced this idea off a few people in the past, and thought I should mention it here.
There are times when interesting discussions get sidetracked by people losing their tempers or being ‘not nice’. From a moderating perspective there’s always the difficulty of maintaining order without killing the informality and necessary frivolity that make the site what it is. Imposing ever stricter rules across the whole site would definitely be counter-productive.
All the same, there are times when some people find themselves wishing that smart-arse comments and cheap point-scoring were not allowed. So what’s the solution?
I thought that maybe there should be one forum where any topic can be debated under stricter rules than elsewhere. This idea is still a bit woolly and I’d welcome ideas on what the rules would be, but basically the picture I have is of a formal debating chamber where you have to be unfailingly polite and reasonable at all times. No swearing, no cheap shots, etc.
You can choose to ignore the flame wars and stay on topic.
It’s all up to you.[/quote]
You can, I can’t. It spoils the discussion.
I choose to ignore numerous discussions and several fora, and so do a lot of other people, because the whole atmosphere is too intense.
This “if you don’t like it then just ignore it” bullshit is starting to get on my tits. “If you don’t like it then do something different” sounds much more helpful, and much more in keeping with the idea of an inclusive community.
If you don’t want to participate in this then go do something else, like argue endlessly in IP. But don’t suggest that there’s no room at forumosa for people who have a different style. Make room for them instead.
Please respect that not everyone wants to do things your way, which is why the IP forum was created in the first place, the women’s forum too. I’m just asking if there’s a need for another forum catering to a different kind of person. Maybe there isn’t any support for this in the wider community, but the question is a fair one.
[quote=“Loretta”][quote=“Mr He”]I don’t see the problem.
You can choose to ignore the flame wars and stay on topic.
It’s all up to you.[/quote]
You can, I can’t. It spoils the discussion.
I choose to ignore numerous discussions and several fora, and so do a lot of other people, because the whole atmosphere is too intense.
This “if you don’t like it then just ignore it” bullshit is starting to get on my tits. “If you don’t like it then do something different” sounds much more helpful, and much more in keeping with the idea of an inclusive community.
If you don’t want to participate in this then go do something else, like argue endlessly in IP. But don’t suggest that there’s no room at forumosa for people who have a different style. Make room for them instead.
Please respect that not everyone wants to do things your way, which is why the IP forum was created in the first place, the women’s forum too. I’m just asking if there’s a need for another forum catering to a different kind of person. Maybe there isn’t any support for this in the wider community, but the question is a fair one.[/quote]
Cheers! :bravo: And good on you for recalling how the IP forum and Women’s forum were created
That said, we’re going to need a better sense of what people think if we can really try anything.
Folks, please post here your thoughts to Loretta’s idea for stricter posting rules in certain forums (new or old, or both?) We’ll discuss this further in our regular weekly admin meeting. Your views will drive and guide that discussion
OK, I thought that the forums here were for that, discussion, with the worst in name calling and so on filtered out. After all, that’s the purpose of those forums, right???
So if you say that measured discourse is impossible on forumosa, then well… Who screwed up? Admin? The moderators? Loretta and TC, I hope that you could start by stating what the problem here is, and then we could discuss how to make each forum a place for a measured discourse.
