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?
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Former Member
O.k. WARNING: This one might get aq bit long winded (even by my standards.....LOL!!) b/c I want to address several different issues that have been brought up here....So I will address them in outline format:
First: There has been concern brought up by a few (oldies and newbies alike) about whether or not the banter around here has driven off valuable old time posters. First of all, Old time posters do NOT carry any more weight when voting on issues in polls or in giving their opinions ...etc...than the newest of the nubile. I left for a year or so and came back (and I'm somewhat of an old timer)....People leave periodically for their own reasons...Peter left for a while b/c he said his bookstore wasn't doing well....then he came back. Sam Perry left for a while...but he pops in from time to time and seems very happy. GoodSmith hasn't posted much lately....and why is that such a bad thing...(just j/k John). Bottom line: Its pure speculation as to exactly why some people stop posting for a while....Its a major speculative leap to say that it has to do with any one thing or the other. Many of the posters mentioned like Gull or Terry (and possibly others) might have left in anger...but why does that necessarily have more to do with the personalities currently posting than their own personalities? Just b/c someone is an oldie from way back doesn't mean they have fewer personality flaws than anyone else IMO.
Second issue: Morgan pointed out that he felt many good SR threads and postings were going unanswered while NSR threads and postings were thriving. While I agree that a thread needs to stay MORE on topic than the swim camp thread (and we are going to work on that problem now...right folks?), I think this other issue Morgan mentioned is a different issue. My opinion is that people should have total freedom to choose what thread discussions they want to join and what postings they want to respond too. I try fairly hard to respond with support and enthusiasm to many of the newbie postings that clearly ask for help with swimming advise for the most part....But why should I feel a special obligation to join in a particular SR discussion if I'm simply not interested? If people don't want to discuss a topic and a thread dies...well then I say so be it....It is an infringement on the freedom to discuss what we want to discuss to say that we should feel a special obligation to reply to this posting or that....or join a thread b/c it is SR. I responded to Morgan's thread about the underwater MP3 player almost out of obligation (I felt) after reading his posting....truth is I don't know anything abut the topic....Sometimes I'm just not interested in some of the SR topics.
Last issue: Too much speculation about what causes potential new posters to join or causes them to turn away based on this discussion board. Karlene pointed out that there are lots of lurkers who never post and so she attributed this to the fact that the low quality posting was turning away new potential posters....How do we know that things would be any different if all the disussions were purely SR?? That is a purely speculative conclusion IMO.
The only thing we can go by is real statistical information (as limitted as that is)...For example, in the now closed Topics Poll thread from a few weeks back 17 posters voted that they prefer predminantly SR discussions....31 posters voted that they prefer at least some extra unrelated banter and humour....of those 31 votes, 18 posters voted for sexual innuendo and ribaldry in addition to the unrelated NSR banter. Now some have said that these polls shouldn't count b/c ONLY certain personalities will vote in these polls....I say thats hogwash....Thats like saying Bush shouldn't be president b/c ONLY certain personalities show up to vote at the Polls. This was an anonymous poll on a topic that was of importance at the time....If you didn't vote and now want to complain about the results saying they are not an accurate reflection of the posters wishes here...well thats your own fault then for not voting IMO!
Enough said,
Jim
p.s. Nice to see you're back again SwimONandOn....LOL!! Having a personailty switch again?...LOL! (just j/k now!)
O.k. WARNING: This one might get aq bit long winded (even by my standards.....LOL!!) b/c I want to address several different issues that have been brought up here....So I will address them in outline format:
First: There has been concern brought up by a few (oldies and newbies alike) about whether or not the banter around here has driven off valuable old time posters. First of all, Old time posters do NOT carry any more weight when voting on issues in polls or in giving their opinions ...etc...than the newest of the nubile. I left for a year or so and came back (and I'm somewhat of an old timer)....People leave periodically for their own reasons...Peter left for a while b/c he said his bookstore wasn't doing well....then he came back. Sam Perry left for a while...but he pops in from time to time and seems very happy. GoodSmith hasn't posted much lately....and why is that such a bad thing...(just j/k John). Bottom line: Its pure speculation as to exactly why some people stop posting for a while....Its a major speculative leap to say that it has to do with any one thing or the other. Many of the posters mentioned like Gull or Terry (and possibly others) might have left in anger...but why does that necessarily have more to do with the personalities currently posting than their own personalities? Just b/c someone is an oldie from way back doesn't mean they have fewer personality flaws than anyone else IMO.
Second issue: Morgan pointed out that he felt many good SR threads and postings were going unanswered while NSR threads and postings were thriving. While I agree that a thread needs to stay MORE on topic than the swim camp thread (and we are going to work on that problem now...right folks?), I think this other issue Morgan mentioned is a different issue. My opinion is that people should have total freedom to choose what thread discussions they want to join and what postings they want to respond too. I try fairly hard to respond with support and enthusiasm to many of the newbie postings that clearly ask for help with swimming advise for the most part....But why should I feel a special obligation to join in a particular SR discussion if I'm simply not interested? If people don't want to discuss a topic and a thread dies...well then I say so be it....It is an infringement on the freedom to discuss what we want to discuss to say that we should feel a special obligation to reply to this posting or that....or join a thread b/c it is SR. I responded to Morgan's thread about the underwater MP3 player almost out of obligation (I felt) after reading his posting....truth is I don't know anything abut the topic....Sometimes I'm just not interested in some of the SR topics.
Last issue: Too much speculation about what causes potential new posters to join or causes them to turn away based on this discussion board. Karlene pointed out that there are lots of lurkers who never post and so she attributed this to the fact that the low quality posting was turning away new potential posters....How do we know that things would be any different if all the disussions were purely SR?? That is a purely speculative conclusion IMO.
The only thing we can go by is real statistical information (as limitted as that is)...For example, in the now closed Topics Poll thread from a few weeks back 17 posters voted that they prefer predminantly SR discussions....31 posters voted that they prefer at least some extra unrelated banter and humour....of those 31 votes, 18 posters voted for sexual innuendo and ribaldry in addition to the unrelated NSR banter. Now some have said that these polls shouldn't count b/c ONLY certain personalities will vote in these polls....I say thats hogwash....Thats like saying Bush shouldn't be president b/c ONLY certain personalities show up to vote at the Polls. This was an anonymous poll on a topic that was of importance at the time....If you didn't vote and now want to complain about the results saying they are not an accurate reflection of the posters wishes here...well thats your own fault then for not voting IMO!
Enough said,
Jim
p.s. Nice to see you're back again SwimONandOn....LOL!! Having a personailty switch again?...LOL! (just j/k now!)
