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can the popularity contest threads stop?

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TallyMan
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21 May 2011, 4:45 pm

Meow101 wrote:
Just a suggestion...dunno if it would work. How about a subforum for all these flirting, popularity, socialization threads?


It's a good idea in theory, but I doubt it would work very well in practice. The "problem" is often that when friends post in "serious" threads that there is often some form of banter between them - I'm guilty of doing this myself. It can be hard to restrict one's comments so they are purely on topic without adding some extra "personalisation" to the posts. If people were told to stay strictly on topic and not flirt, banter, play, tease etc within those threads they would either ignore the rules or leave the site. People don't generally like being regimented, especially in their conversation habits. There is no simple solution to this.


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21 May 2011, 4:49 pm

TallyMan wrote:
Meow101 wrote:
Just a suggestion...dunno if it would work. How about a subforum for all these flirting, popularity, socialization threads?


It's a good idea in theory, but I doubt it would work very well in practice. The "problem" is often that when friends post in "serious" threads that there is often some form of banter between them - I'm guilty of doing this myself. It can be hard to restrict one's comments so they are purely on topic without adding some extra "personalisation" to the posts. If people were told to stay strictly on topic and not flirt, banter, play, tease etc within those threads they would either ignore the rules or leave the site. People don't generally like being regimented, especially in their conversation habits. There is no simple solution to this.


I'm 'guilty' too, but I don't feel guilty. If I'm seriously wrecking a thread, I hope someone would tell me. It would be a sad world if I couldn't have a wee joke now and then.


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21 May 2011, 4:56 pm

TallyMan wrote:
Meow101 wrote:
Just a suggestion...dunno if it would work. How about a subforum for all these flirting, popularity, socialization threads?


It's a good idea in theory, but I doubt it would work very well in practice. The "problem" is often that when friends post in "serious" threads that there is often some form of banter between them - I'm guilty of doing this myself. It can be hard to restrict one's comments so they are purely on topic without adding some extra "personalisation" to the posts. If people were told to stay strictly on topic and not flirt, banter, play, tease etc within those threads they would either ignore the rules or leave the site. People don't generally like being regimented, especially in their conversation habits. There is no simple solution to this.


It might work - I've seen it at some other forums who have it divided into "fun stuff" and "serious stuff", and inside "fun stuff" there is "the pub" which is subdidivided into further subforums:

Quote:
The Pub
Forum for relaxed, convivial conversation.
Content includes light sexual banter, innuendo and derails.
Derails may or may not be split - whatever works best.
Subforums: The Lounge, The Family Room, The Wake, The Bored Meeting, The Saloon & Drunk Tank, The coffeespray archive, Chucky's Place aka Santa's Hole



etc

http://rationalia.com/forum/index.php

However that might mean some work for Alex who is renown for his speediness ahem... Except if some other admins have the abilities to create subforums?
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21 May 2011, 4:57 pm

Meow101 wrote:
Just a suggestion...dunno if it would work. How about a subforum for all these flirting, popularity, socialization threads? I mean, there is a forum for political/religious debate...if anyone feels intimidated or put off by that, they can avoid that forum. That way it doesn't "take over" the site and people who want to participate wouldn't be denied their fun. If people want to try to join in, they can. If they don't they can just pass the forum by, as they'd pass by any other subforum that didn't interest them. Some people might visit now and then when they are doing better, but avoid it otherwise (I'd probably fall into that category).

Just an idea...

~Kate



I think I listed that once in a thread about subforum ideas.



TallyMan
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21 May 2011, 4:58 pm

Booyakasha wrote:
It might work - I've seen it at some other forums who have it divided into "fun stuff" and "serious stuff", and inside "fun stuff" there is "the pub" which is subdidivided into further subforums:


I suppose if there were enough of these pub type sub forums, like lots of mini chat rooms that it might work.


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21 May 2011, 5:03 pm

Moog wrote:
TallyMan wrote:
Meow101 wrote:
Just a suggestion...dunno if it would work. How about a subforum for all these flirting, popularity, socialization threads?


It's a good idea in theory, but I doubt it would work very well in practice. The "problem" is often that when friends post in "serious" threads that there is often some form of banter between them - I'm guilty of doing this myself. It can be hard to restrict one's comments so they are purely on topic without adding some extra "personalisation" to the posts. If people were told to stay strictly on topic and not flirt, banter, play, tease etc within those threads they would either ignore the rules or leave the site. People don't generally like being regimented, especially in their conversation habits. There is no simple solution to this.


I'm 'guilty' too, but I don't feel guilty. If I'm seriously wrecking a thread, I hope someone would tell me. It would be a sad world if I couldn't have a wee joke now and then.

i think most people do it to some degree (me included). it's when it takes over a thread that it gets annoying, i think. or the way that the same people come in and banter with their friends with hardly ever a serious contribution, even if the thread is intended to have a serious tone.

come to think of it, it's almost like some people are not able to perceive when they are derailing a thread. perhaps they can't see that they are allowing the topic to get completely diverted? or maybe... they know and don't really care? never mind, i have no idea.

i wonder how other forums deal with this, if topics are allowed to go off-topic to such a degree?


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21 May 2011, 5:05 pm

TallyMan wrote:
Meow101 wrote:
Just a suggestion...dunno if it would work. How about a subforum for all these flirting, popularity, socialization threads?


It's a good idea in theory, but I doubt it would work very well in practice. The "problem" is often that when friends post in "serious" threads that there is often some form of banter between them - I'm guilty of doing this myself. It can be hard to restrict one's comments so they are purely on topic without adding some extra "personalisation" to the posts. If people were told to stay strictly on topic and not flirt, banter, play, tease etc within those threads they would either ignore the rules or leave the site. People don't generally like being regimented, especially in their conversation habits. There is no simple solution to this.



I don't really care if people leave the site. If you don't like the rules, leave. That is what happened over at Babycenter when the group owners in the birthclub there decided to start enforcing the rules about personal attacks and disrupting the community and other stuff. Women there got all mad and hissy and threw a fit and some of them left while others started to troll by making threads to piss off the group owners. They get banned and come back and troll some more. Then they were bragging about it on facebook in the private group. It just reminded me of this place and Zomg about how members were getting banned so some of them were going back and trolling here or spamming. On Babycenter, those who got mad about it were the ones who loved to bully by making fun of people and posting spam in threads or putting people down, then they got pissed when they were told they couldn't do it anymore. So they either left or trolled. It just reminded me of elementary school where kids get upset when teachers make them follow the rules and then punish them when they break them. Same thing on Babycenter I saw. Then they got all pissy when they felt they were being treated like children. Duh, they were acting like children so they got treated as such.

God they're parents, grow up.



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21 May 2011, 5:09 pm

Meow101 wrote:
Just a suggestion...dunno if it would work. How about a subforum for all these flirting, popularity, socialization threads? I mean, there is a forum for political/religious debate...if anyone feels intimidated or put off by that, they can avoid that forum. That way it doesn't "take over" the site and people who want to participate wouldn't be denied their fun. If people want to try to join in, they can. If they don't they can just pass the forum by, as they'd pass by any other subforum that didn't interest them. Some people might visit now and then when they are doing better, but avoid it otherwise (I'd probably fall into that category).

Just an idea...

~Kate


I thought that's what the General Discussions forum was for.


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TeaEarlGreyHot
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21 May 2011, 5:10 pm

League_Girl wrote:
TallyMan wrote:
Meow101 wrote:
Just a suggestion...dunno if it would work. How about a subforum for all these flirting, popularity, socialization threads?


It's a good idea in theory, but I doubt it would work very well in practice. The "problem" is often that when friends post in "serious" threads that there is often some form of banter between them - I'm guilty of doing this myself. It can be hard to restrict one's comments so they are purely on topic without adding some extra "personalisation" to the posts. If people were told to stay strictly on topic and not flirt, banter, play, tease etc within those threads they would either ignore the rules or leave the site. People don't generally like being regimented, especially in their conversation habits. There is no simple solution to this.



I don't really care if people leave the site. If you don't like the rules, leave. That is what happened over at Babycenter when the group owners in the birthclub there decided to start enforcing the rules about personal attacks and disrupting the community and other stuff. Women there got all mad and hissy and threw a fit and some of them left while others started to troll by making threads to piss off the group owners. They get banned and come back and troll some more. Then they were bragging about it on facebook in the private group. It just reminded me of this place and Zomg about how members were getting banned so some of them were going back and trolling here or spamming. On Babycenter, those who got mad about it were the ones who loved to bully by making fun of people and posting spam in threads or putting people down, then they got pissed when they were told they couldn't do it anymore. So they either left or trolled. It just reminded me of elementary school where kids get upset when teachers make them follow the rules and then punish them when they break them. Same thing on Babycenter I saw. Then they got all pissy when they felt they were being treated like children. Duh, they were acting like children so they got treated as such.

God they're parents, grow up.


I care, and I think everyone should.


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TeaEarlGreyHot
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21 May 2011, 5:14 pm

hyperlexian wrote:
i think most people do it to some degree (me included). it's when it takes over a thread that it gets annoying, i think. or the way that the same people come in and banter with their friends with hardly ever a serious contribution, even if the thread is intended to have a serious tone.

come to think of it, it's almost like some people are not able to perceive when they are derailing a thread. perhaps they can't see that they are allowing the topic to get completely diverted? or maybe... they know and don't really care? never mind, i have no idea.

i wonder how other forums deal with this, if topics are allowed to go off-topic to such a degree?


Often times, I don't realize I'm off topic until someone points it out.

Also, when I was a forum owner, I locked any threads that went off topic unless the OP didn't mind. It seemed to keep people on topic, but it also ended up creating a lot of spin-off threads. The spin-off threads can become a problem.


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TallyMan
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21 May 2011, 5:17 pm

TeaEarlGreyHot wrote:
Also, when I was a forum owner, I locked any threads that went off topic unless the OP didn't mind. It seemed to keep people on topic, but it also ended up creating a lot of spin-off threads. The spin-off threads can become a problem.


I'd guess that one serious thread could spawn several spin off threads? This then leading to the "main" threads being lost amongst all the spin offs?


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21 May 2011, 5:19 pm

TallyMan wrote:
TeaEarlGreyHot wrote:
Also, when I was a forum owner, I locked any threads that went off topic unless the OP didn't mind. It seemed to keep people on topic, but it also ended up creating a lot of spin-off threads. The spin-off threads can become a problem.


I'd guess that one serious thread could spawn several spin off threads? This then leading to the "main" threads being lost amongst all the spin offs?


Correct. It can be tricky to draw a line and say "this is on topic, and this is not". The spin-off threads can end up spamming an entire board.


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TeaEarlGreyHot
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21 May 2011, 5:25 pm

I think it's also worth noting that if the platform for WP actually allows it, the sub-forums we have now can be split up rather than creating a whole new one.

Example... General serious discussions/General silliness or Adult serious discussions/Adult silliness.

I'm sure someone else could come up with better names than those, but you get the idea.


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21 May 2011, 5:41 pm

TeaEarlGreyHot wrote:
I think it's also worth noting that if the platform for WP actually allows it, the sub-forums we have now can be split up rather than creating a whole new one.

Example... General serious discussions/General silliness or Adult serious discussions/Adult silliness.

I'm sure someone else could come up with better names than those, but you get the idea.


Good point. Hale Bopp succeeds in this area by having both a random discussion and general discussion subforums. Maybe we rename ours e.g.,
  • Random discussion -> Random Chat
  • Members Only -> Serious General Discussion (for members only)
  • Adult Autism -> Random Chat (adults only)
  • In-depth +30 -> Serious General Discussion (adults only)


I'm not too keen on splitting WP up into even more subforums in case of dilution, which can result in people posting in the wrong places simply to get the traffic.

Also may I appolise for describing the first six pages of this thread as 'nonsense', I was rather tired at the time and didn't mean it:)


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Last edited by bucephalus on 21 May 2011, 5:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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21 May 2011, 5:41 pm

TeaEarlGreyHot wrote:
Meow101 wrote:
Just a suggestion...dunno if it would work. How about a subforum for all these flirting, popularity, socialization threads? I mean, there is a forum for political/religious debate...if anyone feels intimidated or put off by that, they can avoid that forum. That way it doesn't "take over" the site and people who want to participate wouldn't be denied their fun. If people want to try to join in, they can. If they don't they can just pass the forum by, as they'd pass by any other subforum that didn't interest them. Some people might visit now and then when they are doing better, but avoid it otherwise (I'd probably fall into that category).

Just an idea...

~Kate


I thought that's what the General Discussions forum was for.


General Discussions seems to be mainly about people talking about how autism affects them. The flirting/popularity/socializing threads tend to get moved to Members Only - I saw two that were posted in General in Members Only just yesterday.

If General Discussions turned into the social flirty scene where would the general supportive discussions about autism go - I mean the stuff that doesn't really go into the Haven?



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21 May 2011, 5:41 pm

TeaEarlGreyHot wrote:
League_Girl wrote:
TallyMan wrote:
Meow101 wrote:
Just a suggestion...dunno if it would work. How about a subforum for all these flirting, popularity, socialization threads?


It's a good idea in theory, but I doubt it would work very well in practice. The "problem" is often that when friends post in "serious" threads that there is often some form of banter between them - I'm guilty of doing this myself. It can be hard to restrict one's comments so they are purely on topic without adding some extra "personalisation" to the posts. If people were told to stay strictly on topic and not flirt, banter, play, tease etc within those threads they would either ignore the rules or leave the site. People don't generally like being regimented, especially in their conversation habits. There is no simple solution to this.



I don't really care if people leave the site. If you don't like the rules, leave. That is what happened over at Babycenter when the group owners in the birthclub there decided to start enforcing the rules about personal attacks and disrupting the community and other stuff. Women there got all mad and hissy and threw a fit and some of them left while others started to troll by making threads to piss off the group owners. They get banned and come back and troll some more. Then they were bragging about it on facebook in the private group. It just reminded me of this place and Zomg about how members were getting banned so some of them were going back and trolling here or spamming. On Babycenter, those who got mad about it were the ones who loved to bully by making fun of people and posting spam in threads or putting people down, then they got pissed when they were told they couldn't do it anymore. So they either left or trolled. It just reminded me of elementary school where kids get upset when teachers make them follow the rules and then punish them when they break them. Same thing on Babycenter I saw. Then they got all pissy when they felt they were being treated like children. Duh, they were acting like children so they got treated as such.

God they're parents, grow up.


I care, and I think everyone should.


Care about what? People leaving? Or care about popularity threads?