It does seem to have bits missing because references are made to stuff that's not there. My point is that when I first started posting on here, internet forums were new for me. (This is still the only one I visit regularly - perhaps I should get out more ) Anyway, when there was all the talk of moderation, I never really understood what the fuss was about. Looking back at that thread now, I can see how much things have changed for the better.
There's a real split in forums between useful, if slightly conservative ones like this, and those that give everyone the opportunity to sound off. The latter may look like fun at first but end up like Lord of the Flies, passive and not-so-passive aggression, concensus reality of an arbitrary nature with everyone going walkabout in each other's heads. About once a year I look at housepricecrash forum. Now that is watercooler politics taken to its extreme. I always come away shaking my head at the future for humanity. Are people really like that? Forums certainly bring out the worst in people.
glueman wrote: Are people really like that? Forums certainly bring out the worst in people.
It's the anonymity that offers protection, however, whilst I don't know anyone who posts on this forum (as far as I know) I still would not wish to incur your displeasure or wrath. I wouldn't dream of telling you all how often your views are wrong (mine are right of course) and occasionally when I've typed a comment and re-read it I press the delete button rather than risk being misunderstood or misinterpreted. That said, we are adults and a frank exchange of views is a healthy thing
Yep, I think it's a combination of the anonymity and the fact that this is such an unnatural way to communicate - no body language, no facial expression, no alteration of tone, etc. I like to believe that despite the aggressive appearances that some people give on some forums, that if you were to meet them in real life, the majority would be perfectly normal and likable people.
And I wouldn't criticise other forums where things are a little more 'no holds barred' - I use several such myself, they can be fun if you don't take the 'vigorous banter' too seriously. But, I think that different people prefer different styles, and so we ought to have a style that suits everyone. Hence, this forum is a little more 'conservative' than others because some of us prefer a place where we can partake in robust debate without fear of being flamed or insulted if someone should not agree with us. Thanks should go to a certain person not far away, who I won't name to spare his blushes, for demonstrating that such an ethos can work and that there is a place or it.
And, of course, it is very much the online public face* of the CTC - so it has to maintain a certain non-aggressive ethos. The old forum, of massed flaming and certain now departed members, hardly painted the CTC in a good light and caused much upset. Thus we make no apologies for erring on the side of caution.
But, at the end of the day, a forum, no matter what its moderation policy, is only as good as the people on it and the posts that they make. We are lucky to have a fine group of participants on the CTC forum.
*despite the excellent website that the CTC has it's notable that google searches will often offer you several entries on this forum before they take you to the CTC website!
Forums are like empires, they have a rapid growth phase, a period of stability, growing disenchantment and warring factions before being swamped by barbarism. I've noticed a tendency for forums - not just cycling ones - to become more atomised as user's expectations of what the internet can and cannot deliver become apparent. I mentioned HPC because that appears, at least superficially (and sporadic lurking is all they'll get from me) to be an example of the trolls becoming the policemen until the whole thing becomes the stuff of Alice in Wonderland. Neither is HPC the only example of the lunatics taking over the asylum.
glueman wrote:Forums are like empires, they have a rapid growth phase, a period of stability, growing disenchantment and warring factions before being swamped by barbarism. I've noticed a tendency for forums - not just cycling ones - to become more atomised as user's expectations of what the internet can and cannot deliver become apparent. I mentioned HPC because that appears, at least superficially (and sporadic lurking is all they'll get from me) to be an example of the trolls becoming the policemen until the whole thing becomes the stuff of Alice in Wonderland. Neither is HPC the only example of the lunatics taking over the asylum. A weird business this internet.
glueman wrote:Forums are like empires, they have a rapid growth phase, a period of stability, growing disenchantment and warring factions before being swamped by barbarism. I've noticed a tendency for forums - not just cycling ones - to become more atomised as user's expectations of what the internet can and cannot deliver become apparent. I mentioned HPC because that appears, at least superficially (and sporadic lurking is all they'll get from me) to be an example of the trolls becoming the policemen until the whole thing becomes the stuff of Alice in Wonderland. Neither is HPC the only example of the lunatics taking over the asylum. A weird business this internet.
????
???? Take a dull British subject (house prices but could be any number of domestic obsessions, the weather for instance) and mull it over ad absurdum with proliferating acronyms and flame wars and pretend it's a normal communication medium. I'm not suggesting the cost of houses is unimportant but the level of churn suggests it isn't really about prices but a projection of everything that's wrong with people's lives processed through the medium of house price inflation. That's true of so many forums, not just house prices or bikes, if they're allowed a completely free hand. They go a little mad.
I'm a bit of a forum tart - there are 3 I use regularly and others I may visit on occasion. This is the most tightly moderated of the three - but that is OK (I just have to remember not to swear... ) it is quite a genteel place. Maybe it is notable that the off-topic forum here is called The Tea Shop, and has a thread about model trains, while the rock climbers call theirs The Pub and argue vehemently about politics and religion (I stay away from those threads) and the triathletes just call theirs Off-Topic (and would rather talk about training anyway...)
(The rock climbing forum has an amusing bug in its swear filter. You can post any swear word unflitered, but Wastw*ter, or Derwentw*ter, get bleeped, as shown...)
The only forum I've ever been banned from was a model railway one. It was Bedlam in finescale. Now there's a layout idea! Asylum light railways are quite popular. The banning offence was not taking the whole thing (or the people) seriously enough.
Last edited by glueman on 16 Mar 2010, 12:56pm, edited 1 time in total.
) Anyway, when there was all the talk of moderation, I never really understood what the fuss was about. Looking back at that thread now, I can see how much things have changed for the better.
