There is nothing that wrecks a good swimming related thread faster than getting into a discussion about message board etiquette. So here is a thread that people can use discuss topics related to what should and should not be posted on the message boards while allowing the other threads to stay on topic.
It seems to me that there is a spectrum of opinion on off-topic posting. On one end of the spectrum people think that threads are a mechanism specifically designed to allow people to carry on discussions on different topics and that we would all be well served if changes in topic were just done in new threads. On the other end of the spectrum people think that people should be able to post anything they want anywhere they want and that any suggestion to the contrary is censorship, a personal attack, or simply control freakish.
Pretty much everyone falls somewhere between these two extremes. Very few people object to a humorous quip inserted here and there in an otherwise serious discussion. Very few people would actually advocate that people be able to liberally sprinkle potentially offensive posts randomly through all the threads.
Have you ever been at a party where someone has decided that this is the right time and place to have a big argument or screaming match with someone? Has it ever contributed to the general enjoyment of the rest of the people there?
I would argue that posts that are essentially expressions of anger and/or are essentially personal attacks have no place on the board. They don't contribute anything positive and generally turn off 99% of the people reading the boards. Even if it seems that someone else has attacked you, does it really help anything to post an angry response?
I personally don't see the problem with starting a new thread when one wants to make an off-topic comment, a little cut and paste and/or a link makes it easy enough to carry the context into the new thread. Why is it essential to be able to carry on an unrelated discussion in a thread where some people are trying to carry on a discussion on a particular topic?
But I must say that I've noticed a marked decline in the overall quality of postings in the past several months. With the exception of Ande's outstanding threads, there are just not alot of good things happening on the forum on both a swimming and non-swimming level.
Have you noticed that alot of our best posters have disappeared? Mr. Swim Encyclopedia, Skip Thompson, is nowhere to be found. How about Terry Laughlin? Or Gull with his good medical advice? There may be other reasons why we haven't heard from them but could it be the quality of the recent postings?
I'm sorry you feel there's been such a marked decline overall. I see a lot more joking. I think some of the new posters are beginning swimmers and, as Ensignada said elsewhere, no one might know they are here if they didn't post a joke or a comforting comment or something else. They might not be able to post on a highly technical level right this minute. I'm sure they will quickly step up their SR posting. When I first joined, I asked a lot of questions and I feel like I can contribute a little more substantively now with more swimming experience. But I am not humorless. Although this whole discussion has made me feel that way.
Frankly, I spent quite a lot of time commenting on blainesapprentices' situation at college lately, giving comments on the "learn to fly" threads, discussing SR vs. SPL, sprinting, referring new posters to shoulder and other threads, commenting on SDK-ing and monofins and whatnot. I think if you wanted more SR posts, you could write some yourself? I also don't know if the rest of us are just writing for guests or infrequent posters? I didn't think that was my only audience. Usually I'm responding to people here posting.
As to Terry Laughlin, I am partly to blame for his apparent departure, and for that I am sorry. We had a terrible disagreement that spread over several threads regarding shoulders. He is on a self-professed "crusade" regarding shoulders and believes that virtually all shoulder injuries are due to technique flaws. I took him on squarely on that issue (even Gull agreed with me) because I believed that shoulder injuries could be caused by anatomy or overuse or other reasons. Neither of us would back down. I think perhaps he might have been used to be being deferred to, and I wasn't deferential. It's not really my nature, although I am happy to be respectful. Terry also made it clear that he prefers the TI discussion forum and wanted to spend time there. As to Gull, I do wish he'd come back, as does everyone.
As for the new avatars and signature, I think those have added a very funny and new dimension to the forum. Surely those could be ignored if you didn't want to read them? And I don't see what's wrong with poetry either as that thread is well known. Maybe there's just the one objector to that. As for frequent posting, I've heard that maligned as well, but I don't see that. As far as I could tell, there wasn't a post limit or a words per post requirement. Some are long and some are short.
As a wise person once told me, if life is always a bowlful of cherries, you could end up with just pits.
But I must say that I've noticed a marked decline in the overall quality of postings in the past several months. With the exception of Ande's outstanding threads, there are just not alot of good things happening on the forum on both a swimming and non-swimming level.
Have you noticed that alot of our best posters have disappeared? Mr. Swim Encyclopedia, Skip Thompson, is nowhere to be found. How about Terry Laughlin? Or Gull with his good medical advice? There may be other reasons why we haven't heard from them but could it be the quality of the recent postings?
I'm sorry you feel there's been such a marked decline overall. I see a lot more joking. I think some of the new posters are beginning swimmers and, as Ensignada said elsewhere, no one might know they are here if they didn't post a joke or a comforting comment or something else. They might not be able to post on a highly technical level right this minute. I'm sure they will quickly step up their SR posting. When I first joined, I asked a lot of questions and I feel like I can contribute a little more substantively now with more swimming experience. But I am not humorless. Although this whole discussion has made me feel that way.
Frankly, I spent quite a lot of time commenting on blainesapprentices' situation at college lately, giving comments on the "learn to fly" threads, discussing SR vs. SPL, sprinting, referring new posters to shoulder and other threads, commenting on SDK-ing and monofins and whatnot. I think if you wanted more SR posts, you could write some yourself? I also don't know if the rest of us are just writing for guests or infrequent posters? I didn't think that was my only audience. Usually I'm responding to people here posting.
As to Terry Laughlin, I am partly to blame for his apparent departure, and for that I am sorry. We had a terrible disagreement that spread over several threads regarding shoulders. He is on a self-professed "crusade" regarding shoulders and believes that virtually all shoulder injuries are due to technique flaws. I took him on squarely on that issue (even Gull agreed with me) because I believed that shoulder injuries could be caused by anatomy or overuse or other reasons. Neither of us would back down. I think perhaps he might have been used to be being deferred to, and I wasn't deferential. It's not really my nature, although I am happy to be respectful. Terry also made it clear that he prefers the TI discussion forum and wanted to spend time there. As to Gull, I do wish he'd come back, as does everyone.
As for the new avatars and signature, I think those have added a very funny and new dimension to the forum. Surely those could be ignored if you didn't want to read them? And I don't see what's wrong with poetry either as that thread is well known. Maybe there's just the one objector to that. As for frequent posting, I've heard that maligned as well, but I don't see that. As far as I could tell, there wasn't a post limit or a words per post requirement. Some are long and some are short.
As a wise person once told me, if life is always a bowlful of cherries, you could end up with just pits.
