Forum Advice

[Luna Bliss]

It's all Ceka's fault....she is a RABBLEROUSER like no OTHER!!   😉

Edited August 9, 2022 by Luna Bliss

[Seicher Rae]

11 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I talk about politics here mostly when, for some reason or another, it comes up in conversation.

And that's one reason why this new rule change isn't likely to see me abandoning the forums -- although there's certainly a likelihood of my posting less in GD if the place becomes as dull as I think it might.

Same. In fact, if politics comes up I generally will make a few remarks and leave. There have been a few notable exceptions. I do have a few hot topic buttons that can get pushed.

I think politics comes up sideways in a lot of your posts, Scylla. ("Define 'politics'!" "No!")

It isn't the no political discussion rule that has me eyeing that door that worked so well for a few years. The dullness is already here, and rapidly increasing. The "SL ONLY" is a killer for a GDF (although totally appropriate elsewhere in the Forum, imho). 

I don't know why people are also dragging up OLD open threads, whether that's an attempt to get those topics shut down forever, or what. I am not wired to think up or play those kinds of machinations.

[MoiraKathleen]

27 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

I look at this page https://community.secondlife.com/online/?filter=filter_loggedin and see that really there isn't that many following this thread anyway as most are reading something in other parts of the forum which must be more exciting and then begs the question of why the Lab and various critics posting in the thread, have an issue with some of us entertaining ourselves with a more political or other controversial sort of topic. For those of us who are not builders, creators or developers, this is our entertainment and if they would stop shutting threads down before we have had our say, they wouldn't get restarted elsewhere

Unless you have that page of who's online up all the time, and are checking it every few minutes, I don't think that gives an accurate indication of how many people have been reading a particular thread (or threads in a particular section of the forum).  I tend to read through most of the threads from most of the forum sections via the 'unread content' function.  

[Rowan Amore]

5 hours ago, Tommy Linden said:

Hey there! Now that I have returned from my vacation, I wanted to pop in and provide an answer to this question. You are correct in that we do encourage everyone to keep the images tasteful in the adult section. I see in fact that you recently posted an image there and that is a great example of what is to be considered tasteful. We understand that some people may wish to share their intimate moments that they had with others, but some things are better kept to themselves, or between those involved in the moment.

I will say though, much like with any other type of moderation we do on the forums, if someone posts something that is determined to be inappropriate, we would let you know, no ones at risk of being out right punished for an honest mistake, or lack of knowing that they shouldn't. We have always taken an educate first, action later (if its needed) approach to the moderation here on the forums.

I hope it was an enjoyable vacation and thank you for your response.

I look forward to your own post in the thread.  😉😇

Edited August 10, 2022 by Rowan Amore

[Seicher Rae]

As far as "take the discussion inworld" (interesting and ironic stance coming from a discussion forum, but oh well) or taking to Discord or Twitter or another message board...

I attend discussions inworld, as I have posted. That is a totally different animal, altogether, from a Forum thread. It is like comparing tomatoes and oranges, where, ok, technically they are both fruit but otherwise pretty different.

The same thing with Discord. I belong to a few "brand" Discords, and rarely look at them. I belong to a SL music club's Discord and there is "forum-type" banter there but from a very limited pool, and it isn't a busy channel. So, again, not the same thing. I don't use Twitter, so can't comment to that. Other forums? I've looked at over the years and just don't "feel" them.

This place is kind of unique, for a lot of reasons. Hm, might have even been a recent thread about that...

[Luna Bliss]

2 hours ago, Kiera Clutterbuck said:

But remember, we (the residents) pay their salary, and if they do things that make too many people unhappy or reduce important participation inworld then it could be detrimental to all of us.

Ima give that poor Quartz overtime pay for having to deal with us ruffians!    

[Persephone Emerald]

3 hours ago, Seicher Rae said:

[snip]

Someone (Scylla?) mentioned "cantankerous" posters and I have to say, that's what I've been noticing upon my return. Being gone a few years gives me a little perspective and somewhat "new" eyes.

A few years ago I left because there were vendetta ARs going on in a flurry—to the point where I received a few days inworld suspension and the forum isn't worth that risk, the political threads were out of control, I put 12 people on my "mute" list, which I considered an indication of "enough is enough." However, we also had some nice, supportive community threads going on which were great for quite a while until "someone" had to come in and mess things up.

That's what I'm seeing here, in general, now. Only not just one or two someones but a herd of them. I'm not talking about people I disagree with either, I'm talking about cantankerous cranks whose sole purpose just seems to be to cause trouble, cause strife, cause stress... basically trolls. The ratio of these folks to relatively benign posters appears to be on the increase, which I find interesting and ironic considering the new rules seem to be about creating some kind of harmony? Or something?

[snip]

I think these people are unhappy in their real lives and get a perverse pleasure from making other people unhappy too. This forum is probably an easy target for them because they think some of us are easy to manipulate emotionally. It's like a game of The Sims for them, except real people are their sims. Wind us up and watch us self destruct. What fun!

[Persephone Emerald]

3 hours ago, Ceka Cianci said:

I understand and I totally sympathize with you and the others.. I think many felt blindsided by the changes..

I was expecting something to come down..There was just too much fighting going on every single day in here..

A thread gets locked and before the day is out another would take it's place and wouldn't take long before there was people going at it again.

When every day ends up looking like a Sunday thread it's just a matter of time..

As fast as things change out of world and in, Nothing surprises me anymore.

I think when people go into those types of discussions that have never ended well here and keep repeating the same mannerisms that have never worked in the passed.. It's just asking for the hammer.

Progress comes through change, not spinning wheels in the same spot.

So maybe since there was no change in the approach, we ended up with change put on us instead..

I can point at them and ignore my other three fingers pointing back and me, but I know better.

 

Which finger do you use to point at them?

[Persephone Emerald]

3 hours ago, Seicher Rae said:

So, based on Rowan's comments about how to make the Olivia Newton-John thread within rules, over the past few days I have wondered about the following (for various reasons that may or may not be obvious). And these are not just spurious topics, as in I'm kinda serious:

1) How does SL affect your mental health and/or your mental health affect your SL. For example, I don't get PTSD triggered inworld, but I have been in the forums. Also, on BDSM lifestyle sims where they have discussions, this topic comes up, SL, mental health, BDSM. There are inworld support groups for mental health. Etc.

2) How has inflation affected your SL. (It has mine.)

3) How does religion factor into your SL. (I've visited inworld schuls.) And/or spirituality? I sometimes do meditation in a group setting inworld.

4) How does politics factor into your SL? (I attended a voting party in Bay City as we watched Trump win office.)

Basically covering the topics of religion, money, politics and health...  You want discussion? As far as I can tell, in that context we could talk? I rarely start threads, and other than the cat thread, there's historically a good reason why I don't. I stink at it.

All good questions deserving threads of their own. We can still have good discussions with SL woven into the topics.

[Kathlen Onyx]

12 minutes ago, Persephone Emerald said:

All good questions deserving threads of their own. We can still have good discussions with SL woven into the topics.

Good luck with that.

[Persephone Emerald]

2 hours ago, Prokofy Neva said:

[snip]

An hour is plenty; I used to make some half an hour. If people follow the techlibs rule of "speak N times" where "N" is a function of time of the meeting divided by number of participants, it can work but I generally found it worked fine. And the best thing is, it generated a more coherent transcript to post and most people favoured posting it.

2 hours ago, Arielle Popstar said:

Prob is then only those well versed in a topic will "talk" and leave no chance for those who might be a little slower in thinking and or typing and like to research a little before expressing themselves. 

I used to go to a Salon at Basilique in SL. The host running the event had to keep us to strict guidelines such as 5 minutes to post our comment and 5 minutes for others to comment or ask questions. The topic was posted ahead of time, so people had time to think about it. Of course, if one were not ready to speak at the beginning of the session, they could be skipped until others had spoken. 

It was a somewhat interesting but also contrived experience. The summary at the end by the host invariably summed up her own view and ignored those that differed from hers. It did allow us to learn the views of other residents, but there was no debate. 

[Prokofy Neva]

1 hour ago, Persephone Emerald said:

I used to go to a Salon at Basilique in SL. The host running the event had to keep us to strict guidelines such as 5 minutes to post our comment and 5 minutes for others to comment or ask questions. The topic was posted ahead of time, so people had time to think about it. Of course, if one were not ready to speak at the beginning of the session, they could be skipped until others had spoken. 

It was a somewhat interesting but also contrived experience. The summary at the end by the host invariably summed up her own view and ignored those that differed from hers. It did allow us to learn the views of other residents, but there was no debate. 

In running meetings in RL, I have stuck to a 2 minutes rule in which, taking a tip from an old Trotskyist friend, I would tell people that they didn't have to ask a question as such, and could make a comment, but it could only be 2 minutes. And the old comrades would come with their "theses" printed on 3 x 5 cards.

In SL, I find you don't really need to do that, precisely because people can type while another is talking and put it in chat.

There used to be a group called "Thinkers" in the early heyday of SL which was the much-desired salon of the intelligentsia, such as it was at the time. The people who formed the nucleus of the socialist sim Neufreistadt (later the Confederation of Democratic Sims) were the drivers of it, led by Gwen Llewelyn. A version of this remains on the mainly-defunct Philosopher's Club in Penan which is even more esoteric than it was.

They scripted a Speaker's Box, like in Hyde Park. So you right-clicked on got on that box. It then unseated you after 2 minutes, I believe.  

Edited August 10, 2022 by Prokofy Neva

[Silent Mistwalker]

7 hours ago, Istelathis said:

Thanks to the hypergrid, we are all pretty easy to find especially with an online searchable database.

Huh. Imagine that. I'm on a list somewhere I've never been.

That's just my silly way of saying I have never been on the hypergrid, so I'm not in any kind of searchable database. I'd better not be. If I am, the excrement is subject to being flung into the rotating blades. 

[Silent Mistwalker]

6 hours ago, Arielle Popstar said:

really there isn't that many following this thread

I don't follow any threads. I still find the threads I want to read the old-fashioned way. From the list!

[Istelathis]

24 minutes ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

Huh. Imagine that. I'm on a list somewhere I've never been.

The hypergrid has you Silent!

j/k, the database I was referring to was regarding those who want to be found.  Although, practically speaking we are all on a list somewhere 😨  Those episodes of Robotech I have been watching for the past hour on youtube are being recorded somewhere.  I think if it doesn't already exist, our own patterns of expressing our thoughts could be easily leave a predictable pattern on the Internet of which could be easily pieced together, much like a fingerprint which could be traced throughout all of our anonymous accounts in completely unrelated platforms.

Buuut - as to not derail this thread and cause an absolute lockdown of an interesting yet unraveling conversation, it is imperative that I try my best to retain a semblance of the OP and bring this conversation back to the track it was intended for, which is not to take bait - to keep the subject on focus, keep our minds off of political arguments, etc, which is incredibly difficult to do with free flow conversation.  Not to say you have left bait for me to take, you just left more interesting dialogue that would otherwise have been appreciated

 

These mental gymnastics of the new rules have me twisted in knots. 

Edited August 10, 2022 by Istelathis

[Scylla Rhiadra]

3 hours ago, Persephone Emerald said:

I used to go to a Salon at Basilique in SL. The host running the event had to keep us to strict guidelines such as 5 minutes to post our comment and 5 minutes for others to comment or ask questions. The topic was posted ahead of time, so people had time to think about it. Of course, if one were not ready to speak at the beginning of the session, they could be skipped until others had spoken. 

It was a somewhat interesting but also contrived experience. The summary at the end by the host invariably summed up her own view and ignored those that differed from hers. It did allow us to learn the views of other residents, but there was no debate. 

For about 2 1/2 years, I ran "discussion groups" for the SLLU Feminist Network. Numbers would vary from week to week, and might be as small as 4 and as many as a dozen. They were very unstructured -- I'd announce a topic in advance, and then, although I "moderated" a bit, people just . . . talked. It worked pretty well because we were a fairly collegial, like-minded group. I, and the others, learned interesting things, but as much as anything else, maybe, it was about bonding as a group who shared certain values and interests.

And in a sense, that was its biggest limitation. They were certainly valuable in their own way, and also very enjoyable -- but we were, undoubtedly, a bit of an echo chamber. It's not that there weren't disagreements and alternative perspectives being presented, but we were all starting from the same place: we believed in the importance of feminism, of social justice, and so forth. And the fact the group was a sort of affiliate of the SL Left Unity group meant, too, that we were all pretty left-wing in politics. (There as a bit of overlap with members of the CDS, which Prok mentions, for that reason.)

What this forum, and venues like it that are "open" discussion boards offer is a place to hear from a really wide range of perspectives. There is no ideological and theoretical "position" held in common here -- quite the contrary. So it's emphatically not an echo chamber. And that can be really invaluable. I can't think of another discussion venue, outside maybe of Twitter (and not even there, really: one's engagement there is always at least somewhat filtered) where that is true.

[Seicher Rae]

7 hours ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

I don't follow any threads. I still find the threads I want to read the old-fashioned way. From the list!

I don't think I've ever followed a thread. 

[Seicher Rae]

7 hours ago, Istelathis said:

Buuut - as to not derail this thread and cause an absolute lockdown of an interesting yet unraveling conversation, it is imperative that I try my best to retain a semblance of the OP and bring this conversation back to the track it was intended for, which is not to take bait - to keep the subject on focus, keep our minds off of political arguments, etc, which is incredibly difficult to do with free flow conversation.  Not to say you have left bait for me to take, you just left more interesting dialogue that would otherwise have been appreciated

 

These mental gymnastics of the new rules have me twisted in knots. 

Nothing really to add to this, except "this ↑ "  and I feel like I should include a quote of the OP in every post I make and do some contortions to make it fit exactly on point. Twisted in knots and exhausted, indeed.

ETA: But that, too, will pass as there are fewer and fewer posts in which to participate.

Edited August 10, 2022 by Seicher Rae

[Silent Mistwalker]

11 hours ago, Istelathis said:

The hypergrid has you Silent!

j/k, the database I was referring to was regarding those who want to be found.  Although, practically speaking we are all on a list somewhere 😨  Those episodes of Robotech I have been watching for the past hour on youtube are being recorded somewhere.  I think if it doesn't already exist, our own patterns of expressing our thoughts could be easily leave a predictable pattern on the Internet of which could be easily pieced together, much like a fingerprint which could be traced throughout all of our anonymous accounts in completely unrelated platforms.

Buuut - as to not derail this thread and cause an absolute lockdown of an interesting yet unraveling conversation, it is imperative that I try my best to retain a semblance of the OP and bring this conversation back to the track it was intended for, which is not to take bait - to keep the subject on focus, keep our minds off of political arguments, etc, which is incredibly difficult to do with free flow conversation.  Not to say you have left bait for me to take, you just left more interesting dialogue that would otherwise have been appreciated

 

These mental gymnastics of the new rules have me twisted in knots. 

I know the feeling all too well. There's nowhere else to go and now they [the Lindens] expect me to live up to my name. It's one thing to choose to be silent, quite another to be forced to be silent.🤐

Edited August 10, 2022 by Silent Mistwalker

[Ceka Cianci]

18 hours ago, Persephone Emerald said:

Which finger do you use to point at them?

If I'm pointing across the room it's usually my trigger finger..  If a finger is aimed up, I'm usually pointing with the back of my hand and finger.