Is a New "Rule" Necessary?

[RichLB]

Serious Responses Only Please I've been hammering away at threads being redirected to private exchanges for some time - see the threads "What's up with SGT" and "Thread Continuity" for my reasons. I'm curious how others feel about it so up goes a poll. You can vote for up to 3 choices.

[Cees-Holland]

At this point I like to refer to this website: Click (The content is not important)

Look at the . What happens is that a one or more (trusted) people evaluates the relevance of a posting by giving it a Plus or Minus point.

Visitors can then choose whether or not they want to see "all" the posts or just the "relevant" posts, by hidden the irrelevant entries.

In this way everybody can say and see what they want.

I am not sure if there is any plug-in for this board though.

[Gaybutton]

I hope a lot of you will respond to this poll with comments - serious comments as RichLB requested. I'm stuck right in the middle of this and it would be very helpful to me to know what most of you think and what most of you want. I can't read minds, so I would really appreciate as much input from all of you as I can get.

[Dodger]

Not allowing personal inputs, or restricting those for using other members screen names would create an environment that would be about as interesting as reading a JC Penny catalogue.

RichLB, I usually find myself agreeing with your read on things, although differ with your opinion on this one. I thought I'd better say this fast in case the rules change.

Some threads just seem to naturally drift off topic with no indication of ill intent by those participating in the discussion. It simply goes off topic as the result of the braod range of diversity of our thoughts and perspectives. I see this as healthy discussion regardless of how many times the core theme of the thread changes. Some of the best posts ever written changed topics a dozen times over - but did so as a result of the free-flow of self-expression which is the real substance of any good topic and any good forum.

At other times a thread is intentionally derailed by some idiot with ill intent who either has an axe to grind with another member - or is simply insane, and believe me there are of few who fall directly in that category. There resides the fine line where I believe GB has found himself standing, and from his comments thus far, I believe this middle-ground is where he has decided to draw his line....and I couldn't agree more.

Allow the Board to evolve freely and it will creat a personality all its own, and a fun place for both - those who just enjoy the informational content - and the more active members who thrive more on the daily personal interactions. Both needs can be satisfied, although ridding the atmosphere of the "insane" at the drop of a dime would be essential. Not understanding this is what broke the camels back at SGT IMO.

GB, as far as I'm concerned you've done everything right so far and no more rules are needed.

[christianpfc]

For me, the board is fine as it is. However, I believe this thread belongs to "anything else" as it has nothing to do with Thailand.

[cdnmatt]

Responses should not contain the screen names of other posters.

But then this basically becomes a comment forum, and not a discussion forum. What's the point in participating in a discussion forum, when you're not allowed to mention anyone's names, or make any personal input?

Personally, I think the rules are just fine. No need to change them. If a topic veers off to a new discussion, then that's a totally natural discussion. It's up to the members, not moderators. If the members decide its something they'd like to talk about, then they'll talk about it. Same as if you're sitting in a restaurant with a bunch of people.

You just have to draw the line at childish, school-yard antics and name calling.

[RichLB]

It seems I'm in the minority so I will stop harping on it. Frankly, I hate to see the board becoming a kinder version of SGT, but the voters have spoken. Sigh.

[thaiworthy]

It seems I'm in the minority so I will stop harping on it. Frankly, I hate to see the board becoming a kinder version of SGT, but the voters have spoken. Sigh.

Don't feel bad. People know how you feel, now. If you start a thread, you could always state something in the first line. It won't stop it, but it may dampen it a bit. I think we're all reasonable people here (well, most of us anyway). If a thread does go off-topic, there's really no need for concern, it's human nature-- you can't blame people for that. Otherwise, it says a lot about a forum when members start respecting other members. I know I'll try. Why not give it that chance? You might be surprised.

[Bob]

We're in the early days of this new message board and we've got one or two posters who seemingly are jockeying for position and attempting to control how the message board progresses. That's okay, I guess, and I think the suggestions are being made in good faith; nevertheless, it's GB's board and, while I'm sure he's open for suggestions, why don't we just let him run it? And, if you don't like how things are progressing on the board, why not send a PM to GB and discuss it privately with him?

One, two, or a few seemingly don't like posters who interject the usual humor (juvenile or not), don't like us referring to each other by screen name, and/or don't like threads going off on or including other subjects. I can understand that but I also think those rules don't square with how the vast majority of us have engaged in message board discussions in the past or, for that fact, how most people engage in just normal conversation.

The "serious only" banner, I thought, was created to accommodate most or some of those concerns. So, if you want a professorial thread experience, use the banner and I think most of us will try to honor the spirit of that banner within that thread. But, as to other threads, why not lighten up, not attempt to impose any sterile rules everywhere else, and just let GB pipe up if he feels there's a problem (god and buddha knows that GB isn't shy in that regard!).

[bao-bao]

To save both writing and reading time I agree with Dodger, PeterUK and thaiworthy on this one - Dodger made some especially good points. The "relevance" idea cees suggested doesn't mean much to me when I see it on other opinion sites, but it's an interesting thought.

Threads stray off topic reasonably often. What irks me is when they're shoved off topic and derailed completely. A side comment is a natural part of a dialog and a conversation can resume, but abusive rants can spoil things.

If Gaybutton is even-handed and can maintain an unbiased moderating style this board will flourish. If not, it will become another board where those who like it stay and those who don't will either leave or - as in the case of SGT - continue their acts of e-terrorism until it collapses and many walk away from it.

Am I disgusted when someone starts kissing ass and blathering on and on in absolutes (i.e. a single post that names three restaurants as "best") that make their opinions nearly meaningless? Of course, but I'm a big boy now and can ignore their online personalities and skip over their posts when I'm not looking for entertainment from their - ahem - unusual usage of English.

There are enough rules, quantifiers and qualifiers already, thank you.