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
In years past things sometimes got heated here and feelings got hurt. It got out of hand and some, or at least one member got a life time ban. Life is to short for any of that and once feelings get involved and tempers flair it gets out of hand. The reality to it all is found in the fact that we are all bound by swimming and we may not agree or even like each other sometimes; but we are all swimmers.
Once they eat that last sandwich and drink that
last glass of wine at a guys wake dinner, he just
became another dead guy. We all hope and Pray
that we live long enough to see our kids grow up and
have children of their own. I have eaten that last sandwich
and drank that last glass of wine at many, many good friends
wake dinners over the years and I always wondered if mine would be any
different. The reality of it all is that it will be no different, except that last time I won't be driving home. My point....life is short....sometimes much to short....
Our world today has enough fighting, pain, sorrow and strife, so let us all attempt to find some good here and bring good here when we come to fellowship with our friends.
In years past things sometimes got heated here and feelings got hurt. It got out of hand and some, or at least one member got a life time ban. Life is to short for any of that and once feelings get involved and tempers flair it gets out of hand. The reality to it all is found in the fact that we are all bound by swimming and we may not agree or even like each other sometimes; but we are all swimmers.
Once they eat that last sandwich and drink that
last glass of wine at a guys wake dinner, he just
became another dead guy. We all hope and Pray
that we live long enough to see our kids grow up and
have children of their own. I have eaten that last sandwich
and drank that last glass of wine at many, many good friends
wake dinners over the years and I always wondered if mine would be any
different. The reality of it all is that it will be no different, except that last time I won't be driving home. My point....life is short....sometimes much to short....
Our world today has enough fighting, pain, sorrow and strife, so let us all attempt to find some good here and bring good here when we come to fellowship with our friends.
