kwhite

WOW I have sat here this morning and read every word of this. There are some great points being made. There are also some I do not agree with. I love this board. I am pretty new but I have made good friends (I think). I don't mind hearing of bad things in people's lives. That is what makes us humans. And the ability to help someone with advice or encouragement makes us friends. The "rose colored glasses" board idea is unrealistic in my opinion. If all I wanted was quilting help then I would stick to YOUTUBE and the like, but here I can get both help and "human interaction". I don't really like the segmentation that has been going on but I see the need for it. I don't like the idea of a few policing all of us but again I see the need. More rules would make more problems. My view is that we don't sometimes see that things are getting out of control. Things look different from inside of a situation then they do from outside so.....

Admin you would like some suggestions on making this a better board. Well here are mine:

1. You need tools. Like caution flags. If something is taking a bad turn then throw the caution flag on to show the posters that they need to check themselves. Maybe three levels before a deleted thread. Then no one is blindsided by a deleted thread. They would know it was coming. If someone doesn't agree with the caution flag they can take the point up off line with you one on one through a PM.

2. A calendar. If you can put up a calendar and the posters can choose to enter their BD's or anniversaries and the like for others to view and send best wishes via diaries or PM. One stop shopping as it were.

3. A "stay at the top" option for a limited amount of time on a new thread. A check box that if checked would alert a moderator to review for approval. If approved it would stay at the top for X amount of time and if not it would just be another normal thread.

I know all of these thing require more work for you in the beginning, but I think they may make the moderators job easier in the end. Plus it would be more fair for all I feel.

I think the Moderators do a marvelous job and I would not want that job for myself. Thanks

k3n

Firstly, thanks for giving us the opportunity to have our say openly on the board.

With regards to jokes and banter crossing a line, the problem is, ‘being offended’ is such a personal thing that it’s difficult to second guess others’ reactions (outside the obviously offensive such as sexism, racism and the use of foul language). I can tell a certain joke to my DH but wouldn’t tell the same joke to my mother, for example, but I KNOW them so am able to judge better. Here, the audience is so wide that it’s impossible to judge how everyone will react. Maybe create a SINGLE ‘café’ for joke telling and banter where of course there are still limits in place to meet the family rating of the site but that those who don’t appreciate this kind of humour can avoid – something between the chatroom and the main board. This tends to happen anyway as exchanges shift from one person’s diary page to another. Maybe if this was introduced, the diary pages would run more like bulletin boards and become more manageable.

When the PDA was introduced, I was one of the first to open my own thread. I’ve lately asked for it to be removed. It just wasn’t working for me. I felt it took too much time to check round all the threads of everyone I consider my friends – everyone seemed ‘scattered around’ and I lost that sense of community. I also feel that because most of the banter has moved to PDA, the personality of the board as a whole has changed and I don’t like the change. I do see the advantage of PDA, for example with the current machine training that Gai refers to. PDA is a tool, it’s up to us how or if we use it. But it shouldn’t be used as a ‘dumping ground’ for everything that someone thinks doesn’t ‘fit’ on the main board.

Removing GCC from Recent Topics is fine I think. It ensures the focus remains on quilting but is available to those who want to chat about other things as well. I do feel that some of the decisions regarding relevancy and what has been moved to PDA have been wrong. I LOVE to see photos of where others live, their locale, their gardens, their pets etc. It’s one of the big pluses of being such an international board. Maybe the answer is stricter guidelines about thread titles, so the content is immediately obvious eg ‘My Garden’ or ‘My Newborn Grandson’. That and the poster’s name gives everyone a clear choice as to whether they’ll find that interesting.

IMO Mare Stare should NOT be in PDA. It is the most viewed thread on the board, many friendships have been formed there, the polls have attracted lots of participants and have resulted in fabric being shared all across the world. It is FAR more than ‘one person’s horse’ as has been stated. And it’s only ONE thread ! Thank you Terri for your offer to moderate that thread in future – it’s very generous of you and I for one support that idea.

With regards to what you term ‘negative posts’ – yes I have read things on here that have made me very upset. But this is a community and we all live in the real world. Bad stuff happens to people. And a lot of people draw a lot of emotional support from their friends here on the board, support which is freely and generously given. It also soothes me enormously that I am given the opportunity to ‘do something’ when I hear of someone in need – make a block for a joint project, send a card or whatever. Isn’t that sharing and community effort one of the most wonderful features of this board ?

As for the ‘attention seekers’ – I think most of us are smart enough to spot those a mile off. And who’s to say they’re to be criticised for WANTING a little attention anyway ? The internet is the only link to the outside world and chance of friendship many people have. If the ‘bad stuff’ is moved to one section, I think this will only serve to ENCOURAGE more of this behaviour. It’s like offering a special place just for attention seeking ! I had no problem with it being in GCC. Again, maybe more accurate naming of thread titles would alleviate the problem.

As for posts being deleted – of course that will happen from time to time. The only thing I would like to say is that I trust the judgement of Admin and the moderators to remove stuff that steps over the line. I hope that if I write a post and someone complains that my post is not removed merely as a reaction to a complaint. To me that says ‘the complainant’s feelings and opinion have more value than yours’ – and that just isn’t fair or right.

crossginny

I've been thinking about some things for some time.
I've been wishing for subheadings under the main headings:
for instance it would be nice to have subheadings under the main heading where posts about:
how to choose a new sewing machine;
questions about choosing long arm machines;
quilting basics;
applicique techniques;
piecing techniques--hand/machine could be further subheadings

Then when someone opened the main topic area, they could choose a specific area --AND we might have fewer posts that ask the same question over and over....... : ) and posts would be easier to find......and you'd certainly have fewer to slog thru to find the particular question you need an answer to.......because you'd only need to search thru ONE sub area rather than EVERY post in a given current section.

In the recipes section, subheadings could be just like you find in cookbook:
main dishes;
desserts;
side dishes, etc

the same principle could be applied to the General chit chat section
if there were subheadings, it would help one choose if they wanted to cruise thru a particular sub-area or not.........
for instance:
if there were a Prayer requests sub area, those who object to prayer would not have to enter, they could just go right on by to the Joke section or a Good News section, or a YOU NAME IT section! : )

In the long run, it would create fewer pages in the lead headings and would make things easier to find.

Just my 2 cents' worth.

Ginny

bearisgray

what is "troll rate" ?

Who decides what is funny/amusing?

I think George Carlin, Bob Newhart and Jeff Foxworthy are hilarious. I don't much care for the Marx Brothers or the Three Stooges.

I think Two and a Half Men is sometimes funny - but often not in very good taste.

I think the human/animal body is an awesome, wonderful creation - but some of the functions are considered taboo for general discussion - or at least some words used to describe them are - but some of the situations are funny - at least to the observer!

A lot has to do with the words selected - a different image comes up with each of the following: fluffy, chubby, curvy, robust, flabby, obese, gross, fat, overweight- etc.

I think some of the old age/senior citizens things are funny (I'm 68) but some of the situations depicted aren't funny at all - example: why am I here and what was I doing? sort of jokes - or body malfunction/dysfunction jokes -

Some of them are in the "If I wasn't laughing, I'd be crying" category

bearisgray

Personal postings

quiltingcrazy (sorry if I got your nickname wrong) wrote a long post about her ADHD and other things - it was informative and got a LOT of positive response - was it FUN reading it? NO. Am I glad she posted it? YES

I would never have bothered to look for it in the PDA -

If there is only one thing I would like people to change - that would be to put more info in the Subject line.

Examples: My Mom Died, Everything Went Wrong This Morning, How Do I Miter a Corner, Mini Horse Pictures, Funny Video Link about Cats, which ruler do you prefer?

Would it be possible for the moderators or Admin to change the subject line?

kluedesigns

wow, who knew there was such an issue on the forum.

i have pretty thick skin and can take care of myself on forums. i have to say i fall into the camp of "don't read it".

if you look at my history, i mainly stay with quilting topics - it takes 2 seconds to scan "read new messages since my last visit" and i open up the topics that appeal to me.


have people used the forum to promote/grow there quilting business without paying admin to do so, no doubt

have some jokes gone to far, no doubt

have some hospital pics been to graphic, no doubt


rules can be made and they will be broken but that doesn't mean you shouldn't make them and enforce them.

you already have enough rules, enforce them, if the offending people don't stop cancel their account - its that simple.

use the 3 strikes your out rule. this will give everyone fair warning and stop the offending behavior rather quickly.

billswife99

I'm really new here and don't feel like my input is worth alot but I would have to agree with K3N all the way. It is confusing now. She said the things I wanted to and I wish I could articulate like her.

I am one that had my post moved because it was in the wrong place. My only issue with that is that I finally had to ASK if it was posted wrong before I could get an explanation and have it moved. It seems everyone else knew I had posted wrong because I didn't get a single comment till it was moved. A simple pm would have been all I needed to correct my mistake. Most of us are not babies and are willing to learn how to use the forum properly without being offended.

I really love this board! I have come from one that is slowly dying off and all the traffic here is wonderful to see. One of the best parts is the Recent Topics for me. It's the one I lurked at before joining here. I wish it had a second page so I wouldn't miss anything. There is so much to see here! I hope you find the right solution soon. I can't imagine how difficult it is to keep us all in line. I'm sure all of us are here are willing to work within the new guidelines as soon as we learn the ropes.

k3n

Thanks Jenell! :D I'm glad you call me 'articulate' and not 'verbose'!
I was worried I wrote too long a post - that is actually an edited version that I worked on most of the day! :D

Admin

That's true. But the negative topics seem to spawn more negative topics by other users. The more bad stuff some people post about their lives, the more bad stuff others start to post about theirs. So the problem of sheer volume arises. It's one thing to talk about rose colored glasses, but it's a completely different thing when over half of the topics in GCC are about real bad problems.

It seems that it's one way of the other. Either not have them at all or have the section flooded with such topics.

The same is with jokes. Joke posts seem to spawn more joke posts. And things get out of control quickly.

Please keep the above point in mind. It's the core of the issue. Not who gets offended by what!

I'll consider it. Thanks.

Yes. That's why I think discussing what's allowed and what's not is pointless. Making it completely G-rated would be as good as completely closing down the section.

How does spotting the attention seeker solve the problem of flooding the section?

Until every single user on the board starts ignoring the attention seekers, they will continue posting. And you know that's not going to happen.

So the fact that you can spot those a mile away doesn't really address the problem.

Nothing wrong with that, if it's just one person doing it. In a vacuum, most things seem like no big deal. When you multiply it by 100, then you start to see a potential problem.

I don't see a problem with people actively seeking attention inside their own PDA dedicated topic.

Those who like the poster's content can continue reading it. And those who don't, never have to open that ONE topic ever again.

The problem is solved.

It's a rather unique case. But I agree, it would be OK to stay in GCC if we proceed with the next round of changes.

The more I think about it, the more I become convinced that it's the topics that "inspire" similar new topics are the root of the problem. And with mare stare, it's not likely to happen.

If we were to get a flood of "cat stare", "dog stare", "elephant stare" and "turtle stare" inspired by the mare stare, we would have seen it posted by now :)

I don't think we'll be able to decide on a standard for jokes.
It's about quantity.

One really spicy joke might be more amusing than 20 G-rated ones flooding the section.

So trying to set some allowed rating won't do much good, aside from the content most people would agree is inappropriate.

I already ask people to write descriptive titles for their topics. But that's more to do with the Main section. It's really much better to have a title "How Do I Miter a Corner" than "help me". Yet, people seem to ignore it.

As for the GCC, I don't think titles would help much.

Imagine opening the section and seeing the list of titles:
- My Mom died
- I Wrecked My Car and Now in a Wheelchair
- I Just Got Fired With No Severance
....
....
and another 10 titles like that.

You might not want to click on them to read them. You've been warned about the contents. That part is solved. But if you keep seeing titles like that day after day, eventually, you'll probably stop coming to the GCC section at all.

Again, it seems to be about quantity.

I'm afraid that might plant some fear into people's minds and deter many from posting at all.
As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure that people who would refrain from posting would be people who are least likely to cause any problems. While those who are the "worst offenders" would be doing it anyway.

If someone is oblivious to the fact that their posting negatively affects other users and the board as a whole, warning them won't do much good. They simply won't know it's about them.

And those who do keep the readers in mind, don't let their own posts get to far on their own, without any strikes.

bearisgray

as far as "negative/downer" postings go -

it seems that the nightly news has been going on for years and years and years - and it hasn't been cancelled yet - and people still seem to tune in (I tune out, and my husband falls asleep, but he turns it on)

it seemed to me that the "tag-along" postings were meant in a "hey, you're not alone" way - or "I've been there, done that - so I can really relate" way

maybe I'm incorrect in that line of thinking??