I just finished an article I've been working on for quite some time on the subject of male blowhardery, political and religious rancor, and the various other items, from the sublime to the trivial, that so often provoke fits of moral outrage and antler cracking in our boneheaded gender. Not that women do not also indulge themselves here. But we guys, I think, are particularly vulnerable to being sucked into the bonfires of righteous rage.
All of this, I should add, preceded the recent "Troubles" (to borrow the Irish term) on our beloved forums.
I have heard whispers here and there that there may be some high ranking members in the powers that be who are openly urging the abolishment of these very forums so many of us enjoy so dearly!
Please, do not get me wrong here: I am not trying to stoke yet another conflagration of righteous rage, and I doubt seriously that our forums are truly imperiled.
However, I also think that it might make sense to consider, at least, some options for enhancing civility in what is already a generally quite civil forum (especially when compared with some of the other snark tanks out there.)
Two modest proposal for your consideration:
1. Encourage as many of us here as possible to use their real names as user names, and perhaps even enable these to be hyperlinked to the swimmer's "swimmer info page." Not only would this reduce the anonymity that provides cover to snarky comments (caution: this classic cartoon may offend some of you so click the link advisedly: www.penny-arcade.com/.../ ), but it would also allow us to actually get to know each other better.
2. I recall when various off-topic threads became enough of a problem that we instituted the NSR section of these forums. This has proven to be a pretty effective way to keep the main forum focus on swimming. People who want to discuss other topics now have a way to do so that doesn't bother swimming purists more interested in, say, the latest repairs for SLAP lesions or breathing patterns for distance events. Both the swimming and NSR forums, to be sure, are still expected to be civil and avoid the kinds of topics that so frequently lead to flame wars. With the demise of the technical suits, I fear we have lost the last and best source of swimming-related flame material out there. Naturally, those of us in the species Homo capitis iratus will almost always find new sources to go off on.
Hence my second proposal--a "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" solution. Add one more discussion area, tentative title The Wild West (unless, that is, our California brethren find this offensive), in which anything goes. This third forum should prominently post an "enter at your own risk" warning, along with the standard boilerplate about tolerating nothing criminal, etc. But other than such bare bones proscriptions, posters in The Wild West would be free to post anything they want about anything they want.
I suspect that after an initial flurry of rubbernecking, boredom would set in (spittle-dappled blather gets old quickly), and the audience for The Wild West would start to drop. At the risk of re-offending anybody with this cartoon-- take a second look if you dare! www.penny-arcade.com/.../ -- you will notice that having an audience, under the catalysis of anonymity, is critical in the conversion of an average normal guy into, well, I think I shall let the cartoon speak for what this conversion leads to.
So, what say ye all?
Real name postings?
The Wild West?
Both?
Neither?
Former Member
I'm glad the powers that be are looking into this issue. Several years ago I raised similar questions about the tone of this board, and I received several private e-mails from other USMS board participants who felt the same way. I also decided, when I was met with what I recall as derisive, public comments from some who are participating in this very thread, to drop my USMS membership altogether.
I think USMS should be trying to reach out to and encourage participation by a greater share of the "swimming community" (yes, that's a rather loosely defined group, but a shared interested would seem to bind folks together nonetheless), and the board should be serving that purpose more effectively. Having people post in their real names might help to keep in check the ego-gratifying and disrespectful excesses that seem to have permeated this board.
Why are you back? And why use an alias?
I saw this article on Slate today:
www.slate.com/.../
There are some good points (and even a reference to the same link that Jim made).
Posting a comment is a public act. You're responding to an author who made his identity known, and your purpose, in posting the comment, is to inform the world of your point of view. If you want to do something so public, you are naturally ceding some measure of your privacy. If you're not happy with that trade, don't take part—keep your views to yourself.
Although the general assumption here is "commenting on a posted article by a public author" rather than a free-for-all forum such as ours, there may be something to this point. If you make an opinion -- sometimes a pretty strong one -- public, shouldn't you declare yourself?
Is a little loss of privacy a good exchange for an increase in civility? I think the forum is usually a pretty civil place but I also haven't been involved in serious heated back & forth, personal attacks. In other words, others might have a pretty good reason to disagree with me on the level of civility here.
I saw this article on Slate today:
www.slate.com/.../
Although the general assumption here is "commenting on a posted article by a public author" rather than a free-for-all forum such as ours, there may be something to this point. If you make an opinion -- sometimes a pretty strong one -- public, shouldn't you declare yourself?
I don't agree with the other assumption in the article that one's "purpose, in posting the comment, is to inform the world of your point of view."
I'm glad the powers that be are looking into this issue. Several years ago I raised similar questions about the tone of this board, and I received several private e-mails from other USMS board participants who felt the same way. I also decided, when I was met with what I recall as derisive, public comments from some who are participating in this very thread, to drop my USMS membership altogether.
I think USMS should be trying to reach out to and encourage participation by a greater share of the "swimming community" (yes, that's a rather loosely defined group, but a shared interested would seem to bind folks together nonetheless), and the board should be serving that purpose more effectively. Having people post in their real names might help to keep in check the ego-gratifying and disrespectful excesses that seem to have permeated this board.
What are you trying to say? People on this board are rude or something?
UNC SUCKS. Does this count as a personal attack?
Evidence of questionable judgment perhaps. I can see why one would want to hide one's identity when posting such nonsense.
When I think about you American Masters' forum, the first thing that pops in my mind is certainly not disgrace or even excess of controversy.
I constantly refer your forum to people I know.
When I think about your forum, I think about all of you great posters (Chris, Allen, That Guy, Linsday etc) who are contributing to maintain what I consider to be one of the best sports forum currently available worldwide.
Keep up with the good work!
As for the nickname/real name dilemma, well, these options aren't mutually exclusive. I just updated my profile and signature to show my real name. I like the idea of using a nick (my nick) as it's available most of the time and I am always using the same nick on all forums where I contribute.
Thanks Solar! :wave:
but I also haven't been involved in serious heated back & forth, personal attacks. In other words, others might have a pretty good reason to disagree with me on the level of civility here.
UNC SUCKS. Does this count as a personal attack?
Evidence of questionable judgment perhaps. I can see why one would want to hide one's identity when posting such nonsense.
Chris, my screen name is not used to hide my identity. Ask Roger himself. My screen name is my name, esp. around these parts. In public, my friends dont come up to me and say "hey, (insert govt. required name) how are ya?" They go , "hey wookiee!"
When I think about you American Masters' forum, the first thing that pops in my mind is certainly not disgrace or even excess of controversy.
I constantly refer your forum to people I know.
When I think about your forum, I think about all of you great posters (Chris, Allen, That Guy, Linsday etc) who are contributing to maintain what I consider to be one of the best sports forum currently available worldwide.
Keep up with the good work!
As for the nickname/real name dilemma, well, these options aren't mutually exclusive. I just updated my profile and signature to show my real name. I like the idea of using a nick (my nick) as it's available most of the time and I am always using the same nick on all forums where I contribute.
I'm one of these Internet antiques who remembers when you could log into the GNU ftp server at MIT without a password, when you could send Jerry Yang an email asking that he add your web site to Yahoo!, and when people still knew how to spell "googol". I remember the day the Morris worm hit the net. Consequently, I've always been accustomed to using something like my real name. After all, back then there were no bad guys. There were certainly no advertisers on the net.
Which brings me to my question. I've apparently gone out of my way to make it easy for advertisers to lump (no pun intended) all my varied Internet activities together, so why do they still show me these muffin top weight loss ads??? Are they trying to tell me something?
