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?
Parents
Former Member
I am happy to compromise and have done so by limiting my posting lately. I could care less whether you are man/woman, oldie/newbie, makes no difference to me. I'm happy for NSR banter but the stuff these days bothers me. I realize it doesn't bother others. There has been wine talk, lunch talk, hot tub talk, 100+ posts on movies, and then there was Valentine's Day Forum Massacre.
I have relented to the tide. I understand that NSR is fine. I recognize I have been a problem in the past. I have offended many. I'm still entitled to my opinion on the state of this place now. I do know that if I ever meet any of you folk I won't be embarassed by what I have posted.
Of course you are entitled to your opinion. Just like everyone is. I think you should compromise not by limiting your posts but by limiting the attacks. I did see the Valentine's Day poems, but since that was on a NSR well known swimming poem thread, why did you read it? And were they so bad? That's what I don't understand. I understand you don't like it. But why did you take the time to read it and know it was there? About the references to wine and lunch, those seem like personal attacks to me too. I think everyone knows who you are talking about. I guess those were just attemtps to lessen the tension on a thread everyone seems to think got sidetracked. I think it was sidetracked by you hijacking it right at the beginning after some recommendations were made? I'd look back to be sure, but I don't know if I have the stomach for it. Besides, I'm off to do my real life.
I am happy to compromise and have done so by limiting my posting lately. I could care less whether you are man/woman, oldie/newbie, makes no difference to me. I'm happy for NSR banter but the stuff these days bothers me. I realize it doesn't bother others. There has been wine talk, lunch talk, hot tub talk, 100+ posts on movies, and then there was Valentine's Day Forum Massacre.
I have relented to the tide. I understand that NSR is fine. I recognize I have been a problem in the past. I have offended many. I'm still entitled to my opinion on the state of this place now. I do know that if I ever meet any of you folk I won't be embarassed by what I have posted.
Of course you are entitled to your opinion. Just like everyone is. I think you should compromise not by limiting your posts but by limiting the attacks. I did see the Valentine's Day poems, but since that was on a NSR well known swimming poem thread, why did you read it? And were they so bad? That's what I don't understand. I understand you don't like it. But why did you take the time to read it and know it was there? About the references to wine and lunch, those seem like personal attacks to me too. I think everyone knows who you are talking about. I guess those were just attemtps to lessen the tension on a thread everyone seems to think got sidetracked. I think it was sidetracked by you hijacking it right at the beginning after some recommendations were made? I'd look back to be sure, but I don't know if I have the stomach for it. Besides, I'm off to do my real life.
