What's up with the flounder forum?

The open forum is for anything. But so much gets moved to the flounder thread. Who decides? There is that warning beside the open forum title saying “Posts that are especially silly will probably end up in the Flounder Forum” But who decides that? There was a post about UFOs that I found interesting…but it was moved to flounder. I posted a link to a deep video about the meaning of life…and it gets moved to flounder. The video was neither silly nor trivial…and it might have sparked a nice debate. But now it’s in the trash…could someone be a little more specific on the kinds of things that aren’t allowed to be posted ANYWHERE on this site…and why short cute videos about existentialism also aren’t allowed. I thought China was the place for oppressive censorship… :s

How is it censorship, you tit? It’s still available to read, right? It hasn’t been deleted, right? If others think it’s worthwhile, it’ll stay alive in Flounder. As for your other whinge:

In other words, if the mod of the forum you originally post it in thinks it’s a flounder, it’s a flounder. You can’t complain that you don’t get fair warning either, because it’s written right there on the index page.

Here’s a violin playing for you, poor oppressed Mordeth! Fight the power! :unamused:

Tetsuo is right, it’s the moderator’s call (always has been)

What I do when I don’t agree with a moderator’s decision is to first PM that moderator and make my case. If the forum has more than one moderator, I’d PM all of them.

But if I do not believe I have a strong enough case, I won’t PM anyone.

Convince them, and you’ll probably see your post/thread returned. Chances are the moderator might seek advice from others in the private moderator forum, where it will be discussed. But remember, it’s up to the moderators to decide what stays and goes in their forums

It most certainly is not. It is a discussion forum. Discuss stuff there. Anything without real discussion belongs in the Flounder Forum. It’s not being censored - just moved to the appropriate place. Why do people take this as if it’s censorship or punishment or something? it’s not.

Brian

It most certainly is not. It is a discussion forum. Discuss stuff there. Anything without real discussion belongs in the Flounder Forum. It’s not being censored - just moved to the appropriate place. Why do people take this as if it’s censorship or punishment or something? it’s not.

Brian[/quote]

That’s the first intelligent answer I’ve gotten to this question. Thx, Brian.

So can you put links to amusing videos in flounder without reprimend?

[quote]
So can you put links to amusing videos in flounder without reprimend?[/quote]

Of course, so long as they’re not pornographic.

[quote]Anything without real discussion belongs in the Flounder Forum. [/quote]So where’s the discussion in [url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/celebrities-then-and-now/18223/1 post[/url] ? Eh ? Umm ? Well ? All I see are a few pictures. Seems you moderators are a bunch of pant-wearing food-munching typers. A post doesn’t need an essay critiquing the … er… thingy. It might have been better in another thread about funny movies, or in the “funny things” thread.
What is the open forum for if it’s not for things like this ?

[quote=“Big Fluffy Matthew”][quote]Anything without real discussion belongs in the Flounder Forum. [/quote]So where’s the discussion in [url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/celebrities-then-and-now/18223/1 post[/url] ? Eh ? Umm ? Well ? All I see are a few pictures. Seems you moderators are a bunch of pant-wearing food-munching typers. A post doesn’t need an essay critiquing the … er… thingy. It might have been better in another thread about funny movies, or in the “funny things” thread.
What is the open forum for if it’s not for things like this ?[/quote]
Open Forum is definitely the wrong place - Sports, Fun and Games is for all the cute stuff, jokes, funny mpegs, etc. I debated putting the celebrities then and now in SF&G, but thought that A&E would be a better place. If a mod wants to move it to SF&G, that’s fine by me. Open Forum is for discussion.

Can a post in the flounders be floundered. And so on, and so on, and so on, and …

[quote=“Bu Lai En”]Anything without real discussion belongs in the Flounder Forum. It’s not being censored - just moved to the appropriate place. Why do people take this as if it’s censorship or punishment or something? it’s not.

[/quote]

When your post gets locked it sure feels like punishment/censorship :cry:

A great post is a terrible thing to waste.

[quote=“Maoman”]Open Forum is definitely the wrong place - Sports, Fun and Games is for all the cute stuff, jokes, funny mpegs, etc.[/quote]That’s what I thought later, they do seem to belong better with “online quizzes and other fun stuff”, so wouldn’t it be better to move them there than flounders ?

[quote=“Tetsuo”]How is it censorship, you tit? It’s still available to read, right? It hasn’t been deleted, right? If others think it’s worthwhile, it’ll stay alive in Flounder. As for your other whinge:

In other words, if the mod of the forum you originally post it in thinks it’s a flounder, it’s a flounder. You can’t complain that you don’t get fair warning either, because it’s written right there on the index page.[/quote]

How is it not censorship sherlock, flounders eventually sink and are erased forever. You oughta know, half your posts get floundered. You can’t complain that you don’t get fair warning either, because it’s written right there on the index page…

That’s not censorship. Censorship would be if they were actively deleted. Censorship is an act by an authority figure or organization suppressing or removing material deemed objectionable. Flounders are not actively deleted by admin - they are relocated and expire over time. Unless you’re trying to say the board software is sentient and deleting Flounders it finds objectionable.

And as for your final sentence - what?

I think discrimination is a better word than censorship. Gus and I ask our moderators to be discriminating, to make value judgements, to assess worth. If the mods think something is amusing but has no real lasting value, it gets floundered. Obviously there is still a lot of stuff on the boards that has no real lasting value that doesn’t get floundered, so it would appear that the mods err on the side of caution.

A discussion on Alien life and UFOs got floundered. I guess what might be the most incredible discovery of our existence…is silly?

Maybe they need a new “Open open forum - For things that don’t belong anywhere else and one of the many mods on this site might find silly”

It’s called the Flounder Forum

It’s called the Flounder Forum[/quote]

Maybe they need a new "Open open forum - For things that don’t belong anywhere else and one of the many mods on this site might find silly AND where there isn’t a short life span imposed by mods who don’t agree with a certain posters point of view.

But why does every post have to become permanent record, anyway? If something is merely amusing or interesting for right now, why does it need to be on the site till the end of time? I think those threads that address some issue or offer some kind of advice are useful to retain as they add to the knowledge base here. But posts with links to videos that will stop working after a time, or amusing discussions really don’t need to be permanent record. I think there are some great laughs to be had in the flounder forum, but they don’t need to be part of the archives here.

That’s a good point Taosty, and I’ll agree with you. The problem is some topics aren’t trivial and still get put there. The one that started me off on this whole tangent is someone other than me writing about extraterrr…ummm. Aliens! And I was jump in with a serious story told to me by my late mother. And a little while later…floundered. What’s probably going to be the most significant scientific discovery in our lives…is worthy of only the flounder section? :noway: