Have the forums changed?

[cirleen]

40 minutes ago, Ingrid Ingersoll said:

Literally every thread gets locked and there are 7 active posters.

Is there a people limit? I placed a bet that this would last ten pages. I suppose we could do CPR and bring it back to life, let's not do that, but I did put in a good linden plug for the moles.

[Alwin Alcott]

1 hour ago, Ingrid Ingersoll said:

Literally every thread gets locked and there are 7 active posters.

the cause is mostly obvious, those active posters are nearly always the same ones, one or two are feeders to get off topic, and the rest is just a matter of a little patience to get it locked.

[QuietEventide]

Threads do seem to get locked.
I was about to post something in the "deserted Gor" thread ... but found it had been locked ... can't really see why, but hey, censors know better than I do.

I've made a few posts the last few days but I also find myself thinking "what am I doing here?"

In the real world there are now many areas where (poor) people are obviously not allowed to speak their mind. So they keep silent, because what else can they do? And they retreat to their own backyards (if they have one).

In SL, we are probably retreating into personal bubbles too.
Ban lines go up - in more ways than one. It is inevitable.

I'll take the servant's exit when I leave... 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

Surely we can discuss the state of the forums without trashing the community here, or singling out individuals or so-called "coteries"?

We are a collective, and the dynamics between posters, regular or occasional, and the "rules" here are a complicated ongoing and evolving dynamic that, whether good or ill, cannot be laid at the door of a half-dozen or so people. We are a culture and a community, and we all contribute here; suggesting otherwise is wandering into a sort of bargain-basement version of conspiracy theory.

She can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't imagine Cirleen (or Aubrey, for that matter!) intended this thread to become an opportunity for the expression of grievances, resentment, or criticism of an imaginary "clique."

Let's please keep this about us, and not use it to point fingers at "them."

Edited July 30, 2023 by Scylla Rhiadra

[Alwin Alcott]

39 minutes ago, QuietEventide said:

 can't really see why, but hey, censors know better than I do.

the subject was left in the desert pages earlier, and have a look at the last two pages  .. didn't get back on subject.

Edited July 30, 2023 by Alwin Alcott

[Alwin Alcott]

35 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Let's please keep this about us, and not use it to point fingers at "them."

but in the light of why threads get locked.. it is a  "them" who are in 90% of the locks reasons.
they seem to know exactly how to suck and feed, but keep out of the danger of penalties.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

17 minutes ago, Alwin Alcott said:

but in the light of why threads get locked.. it is a  "them" who are in 90% of the locks reasons.
they seem to know exactly how to suck and feed, but keep out of the danger of penalties.

I made a joke about this with reference to one poster earlier. I went looking for it in order to redact it, because it was unfair, Happily, I think that Quartz had already removed it.

I get why it can seem as you describe. But despite that post (which I regret), I truly don't believe this is true. We have some people who are maybe more combative than others -- that number maybe even includes me -- and it's arguable that those people frequently get heated enough that threads become toxic, quarrelsome, and so get shut down. But that's not the same thing as actually consciously sabotaging threads.

Or maybe I'm misreading you, and that is not what you're suggesting?

Edited July 30, 2023 by Scylla Rhiadra

[InnerCity Elf]

17 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

Perhaps it would be a good idea for anyone logging in to the forum to ask themselves "what mood am I in at this time, and what is my purpose for posting today"? 

Probably. I suspect, there'd need to be a banner with that reminder that you actively need to click away any time you visit the forum, or even per thread...

Then again, even then, the people who really make the posts that make you wonder the most, probably would wholeheartedly click "yes, I'm only here to discuss, ask for or give advice, related to SL, ... (or whatever such an official banner would say), in an amicable , or at least polite, way, and not just to put others down, so they'll feel more miserable than do I, or to..."; and of course, many people would only read it once, perhaps, and just quickly click it away, and enter perhaps in an even worse mood, as they already were forced to an unnecessary click more...

😅 

PS: I just questioned my motive today, and I fear it's about 99% procrastination with a 1% sprinkle of wassup in the forums

_______

I can't find it now, but I saw a post where someone mentioned that there's no "welcome/self-intro" thread. Such a thread might indeed help new forum users, as (hopefully) only people who'd genuinely want to take the time to drop by and just say hi, or leave a helpful tip or two if the OP asked for it, especially if they feel too shy to just jump into ongoing threads, would go there. It also might help them to connect to other newbies.

On a forum that I went to a lot, I had kind of a policy for myself that I'd first respond to two or three of the newbie threads that had zero or very few replies, yet, before moving on to the (juicy) threads of my interest.

Of course, many of those threads were essentially just a long list of "hi, welcome", and  "hi, I'm new too", but it probably does help new people if their first interactions are positive, and that they even get interaction.

Even if maybe their first post in a "real thread" doesn't go so well, from that welcome/intro section, they already know that there are both other newbies just like them, and also some oldbies who aren't so scary 👻

Edited July 30, 2023 by InnerCity Elf
part of a sentence was missing, it was there in my head, but apparently didn't get relayed to my typing appendice...; 2nd edit: PS

[Ted McGregor]

31 minutes ago, Alwin Alcott said:

but in the light of why threads get locked.. it is a  "them" who are in 90% of the locks reasons.

Threads get locked by moderation only. That's 100% statistically true. Discussing moderation is prohibited.

I understand you point at those responsible for derails which eventually force moderation to act.

You might have a point there. For that one thread I take full responsibility. No matter how much others tried to whine about it's 'unfairness'. Which was of course counteracted upon by moderation again.

That is how 'it' works here.

Edited July 30, 2023 by Ted McGregor

[Zalificent Corvinus]

22 minutes ago, InnerCity Elf said:

that there's no "welcome/self-intro" thread.

Actually, there IS/WAS such a thread.

You won't see it, because one day, after several hundred pages, it got randomly moderated from "Making Friends" into the wrong sub forum "Events", where nobody looking for it would ever find it, left there for some months, then randomly moderated into General, where due to months in the wilderness, it arrived well off the current active thread list and was further ignored.

It was almost as if *somebody* WANTED to kill off an "Introduce your self and make friends"  thread that didn't break the rules and was exactly where it was supposed to be, in "Making Friends".

 

Go figure.

[Sid Nagy]

7 hours ago, Alwin Alcott said:

but in the light of why threads get locked.. it is a  "them" who are in 90% of the locks reasons.
they seem to know exactly how to suck and feed, but keep out of the danger of penalties.

In 90+% of the cases everything that is important or worth reading about a threads subject is written within the first 3 to 5 pages of a thread. Than almost every tread starts wandering off, people start to repeat themselves.
Around page 10 most threads have outlived their usefulness completely IMHO, as far as the informative part is concerned. It is how forums in general work, not only this one.

It shows in this thread as well.
The content of the last few pages has already hardly anything to do with the OP. 
It is all "we the good ones" blaming "them the bad ones" that threads get closed at the moment. But this is derailing and attacking others as well, isn't it?

"The good ones" aren't any better or worse than "the bad ones" IMHO.
It is the nature of every forum, about every thinkable subject all over the Internet: People trying to win the Internet. 

Forums in general attract people who want to discuss, vent their opinions. If a thread gets boring because everything is said already, people start to wander off.

Edited July 30, 2023 by Sid Nagy
Added a few things.

[Orwar]

   Yay, the original @Sid Nagy has returned! 

   The forums have just changed for the better! 

[InnerCity Elf]

1 hour ago, Zalificent Corvinus said:

Go figure

Trying to, but can't get to a result. Such a thread (or rather section, as indeed, intendes for newbies, it should be easily visible as its own top category) would be good traffic? 

It's an interesting point in regards to this thread's topic, as that definitely is an objective change in the forum, if a formerly well findable thread gets buried where nobody will look for it.  That thread would look very OT to me in Events. Of course, I don't know how big an effect such a thread/section has, but it can't have been a good change in regards to newbie retention in any case, and most forums seem to have such a category, or at least most if not all of the forums I visit.

[Ted McGregor]

So a Buddhist monk decides to buy a bite at a stand. He buys the food and patiently awaits. The seller at the stand gives him his food and just smiles and nods.

"Where's my change ?", the monk asks demandingly.

The food-seller replies : "Change comes from within."

[cirleen]

2 hours ago, InnerCity Elf said:

I can't find it now, but I saw a post where someone mentioned that there's no "welcome/self-intro" thread.

Here it is, it's still in the People topic under Make Friends.

 

[Zalificent Corvinus]

22 minutes ago, cirleen said:

Here it is, it's still in the People topic under Make Friends.

Nope, that's a different thread, not the one I mentioned at all.

That runs to what 166 pages? the one it tried to replace ran to hundreds of pages over years and years.

[Ingrid Ingersoll]

5 hours ago, QuietEventide said:

I've made a few posts the last few days but I also find myself thinking "what am I doing here?"

I think a lot of other people do too, including myself, then just leave. 

Edited July 30, 2023 by Ingrid Ingersoll

[Ingrid Ingersoll]

6 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Surely we can discuss the state of the forums without trashing the community here, or singling out individuals or so-called "coteries"?

Why not if it's actually a problem?  That being said killing off threads and ending conversations that are often still pretty respectful is entirely a moles decision and no one else's. So it's their problem ultimately. 

Countdown to lock!

Edited July 30, 2023 by Ingrid Ingersoll

[Ceka Cianci]

The forums were pretty quiet before the shutdowns going on around the world.. I mean you had activity and some political talk because of the orange guy, but  in 2020  more and more got cooped up into their homes, more and more came to, or back to second life and the forums.. The forums became more active during the covid period than they had been in a good while..

During that period and being able to talk about real world things.. Many things became mostly about the RL  rather than SL in this section..

I think with LL cutting off the real world discussions, those that came here for that and those that got used to that, kind of faded themselves out.. Also being almost 4 years later, many may be going back to what they were doing , or found something else to do rather than be in the forums or second life as the world started to open back up and become more active again..

That's my, just waking up and starting my first cup of tea on a Sunday morning, theory.. Which that and 50 cents wouldn't get me a cup of tea anywhere these days.. Hence me making my own.

hehehe

 

[Luna Bliss]

9 hours ago, cirleen said:

21 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

their very purpose for being is evident in every post.

but why not do it the other way around, just show your personality and jump in and not care at all about making a fool of oneself as I did. And continue to do. I like it, it's fun.

Not quite sure you're understanding what I meant by that, so I'll elaborate a bit more.

 People post, and they have a purpose for doing so, an objective, whether they are conscious or their motivation or not.  Often, so much of human behavior remains at a subconscious level unless we make an active effort to be mindful.

And so, there is an objective every person has with each post, even you, and even if you choose not to be aware of it as you post. I don't see anything wrong with posting that way, and it can be quite fun and playful. I only see this more subconscious way of posting as a problem if someone is using the forum as a way to dump their anger on others, tear others down, or act in a generally disruptive manner.

[Luna Bliss]

5 hours ago, InnerCity Elf said:

PS: I just questioned my motive today, and I fear it's about 99% procrastination with a 1% sprinkle of wassup in the forums

lol same here

and why am I telling you this?

nvm...I need to go do something   

[Ceka Cianci]

7 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

Not quite sure you're understanding what I meant by that, so I'll elaborate a bit more.

 People post, and they have a purpose for doing so, an objective, whether they are conscious or their motivation or not.  Often, so much of human behavior remains at a subconscious level unless we make an active effort to be mindful.

And so, there is an objective every person has with each post, even you, and even if you choose not to be aware of it as you post. I don't see anything wrong with posting that way, and it can be quite fun and playful. I only see this more subconscious way of posting as a problem if someone is using the forum as a way to dump their anger on others, tear others down, or act in a generally disruptive manner.

My objective to post is, it's really good finger stretches! \o/

Oh ya!  I'm feeling the burn this morning.. Good stretch everyone, gooood stretch..

[Luna Bliss]

I also came to the forum today to discuss, in a couple of IM's here, some important stuffs, but find myself too spacey to do so, and wondering if I really want to get into all that in depth today.

[BillFletcher]

8 hours ago, Ingrid Ingersoll said:

Literally every thread gets locked and there are 7 active posters.

Yes, but those seven each have a ton of alts. So it feels like there are so many more. Actually seven different viewpoints is more diverse than RL.

[BillFletcher]

1 hour ago, Ingrid Ingersoll said:

I think a lot of other people do too, then just leave. 

and then come back as an alt.