Something is definitely going scewwhiff on this forum..and Im getting thoroughly fedup with it!
Topics are started ..and they seem to get going..then it gets disrupted..then turns nasty!
This forum isnt just for Info..which we all need and appreciate at times...but also for fun and some lighthearted banter.
Subjects 'get off the ground'..then they are brought to a shuddering halt..why?
A topic was taken off in recent weeks...
And..althought I never quite understood what went on..having missed some of the posts there....it had never happened before!
I dont think this place has been the same since...are people afraid to voice their real opinions?
It has now spread over to 'Jokes'...Im really worried
Lot of our old regulars have disappeared ..oh I know some are on hols...but this place just isn't the same anymore.
Seriously thinking of giving it all a big break.......sad Ellie

Please don't be sad Ellie, be mad or bad or glad but not sad, way too passive for you. Start a fun topic or find that "shag fest" Gerry was referring to - I seemed to have missed it


Mads x

Ellie, dont get sad- get drunk

Matt

Don't place too much store in subjects that have limited appeal.

you are right ellie..its gone downhill in recent times sad to say

Ellie, I would not worry about it if I were you, its all part of a natural finding process - this is still a baby forum with a bit over a year and close to 500 users.

I get the impression, that there are a few people out there who do not agree with the way this place is run.
For instance, there are definetly people who dont like the fact, that I am moderating. Which self-loving, middle-aged brit likes the idea of being watched over by a 25 year-old, opinionated german (cries of disgust - what, he's german!!??!? )?
I say go ahead, call me immature, have a go at me if you must, but at least I dont whine about a hikacked post, irrelevant topics or the fact that I am bored - if I am bored, I disconnect and go paint a house or something. I most certainly will NOT surf around looking for posts to delete or people to tell off for going off topic.

I mean, we are talking about an online forum which is free for all - Ellie, are you really going to let yourself get pulled down by a few miserable people who wake up in the morning wondering what they are going to moan about that day??

Life's too short to be miserable.

P.S. I was going to send this as a PM, but I changed my mind and decided to voice my opinion instead.

Ah-ha, the not-so-mysterious G

He’s right, Ellie, there’s nowt to worry about

Hi Gambrinus, to some extent I have to agree with Mr Angry(Mr Nasty more like). Your reply does generate a lack of maturity and lack of confidence. My father who was a 'Desert Rat' left the army hating any nationality that was not born in south London, this attitude I was forced to grow with because I thought he was right, but having to leave school at the age of fourteen I was fortunate to learn in the best university in the world, the streets of South London. I was not allowed to hide behind things like a mediocre education or blame others because they had a better schooling or they were different in colour or nationality. I can assure you that I am not in any way adverse to you being overseer of this forum because you are German, I couldn't care less, what I do object to is that you would prefer to entertain hijacking to people who offer and give help, and speak their mind, this to me is unforgivable. Please protect the right of constructive critism of long winded postings that are, to put it mildly, bloody boring. Keep at it mate, I wouldn't want the job

Germans My local butcher in Germany always wanted me to try out his meat, his chopper looked lethal but his smile and the look in his eyes was very tempting Oh, and German driving instructors - well, what can I say - got me through the test first time and they love shouting faster

Oh Brother
Here we go.Below waist level once more.Now this is juvenile.
Well said eco/spider. Though I do agree with you,I wouldn't want the job either and I wish Gambrinus good luck.

I think aspects of the forum have deteriorated. What annoys me is when a serious topic gets hijacked with irrelevent jokes.

Sure have jokes and general banter but why not start them as a separate thread?

Any open forum needs moderators and I have sympathy for anybody doing this. Without them you run the risk of a whole site being shutdown for legal reasons if somebody make an inapproriate posting.

The important thing with any forum is to get the right balance of topics and users.

life is LIFE !

I rarely enter into these sort of debates, but I've just bitten deep into a lemon, trod on the cat when I got out of bed, and haven't had sex for a long time, so here goes:

Internet forums are a new(ish) medium for discussion and we're all learning and adapting to a whole bunch of new rules of etiquette. We all have different views on what is appropriate, what is right, and worst of all, how a forum should be run or conducted. I find this aspect (the deabte) of the forum illuminating, amusing and one of the joys of watching - and occasionally posting - regardless of how offensive or otherwise the postings are. Yes, I mean that

Just read some of the comments above here, and you'll see a range of opinions about moderators. Some want the moderator to "control" the way the forum is conducted, others lay into the moderator for imposing his or her views.

I say its the community that defines the "rules" just as its society at large that determines "good taste". And so, just as in society, we need a police force to control the minority fringe who offend against the majority, so we need some control over this forum. The problem is that a police force have a set of laws to guide them, whereas here we do not and therein lies the problem.

Some members of the community would like to define the laws themselves and they state that vehemently in their postings. Great. Have you ever watched live parliamentary debates (in any country) when politicians are debating laws of the land and are immensely rude to one another. So it is here. Its healthy debate and its debate with emotion.

Up to now, we have not arrived at any laws of right and wrong, what can be posted, what cannot, and in which categories or even in response to which other postings. This is the youth of Internet forums, its a benefit of anonymous postings and in my opinion, its healthy and fun.

However, there are also some regular members of this forum who have, by osmosis, created a community among themselves (can I say ourselves?) and in doing this have evolved a sense of belonging, ownership and propriety. These posters are typically not anonymous (its not hard to find out who I am in real life - similarly many others!) and have a slightly different slant on the forum. I think this is what perhaps prompted the start of this topic (although I don't want to put words into Ellies mouth or keyboard ).

And so we have a potential disconnect between regulars creating a community, and occasional anonymous posters who still treat this like any other Internet forum. The price of growing up.

And finally, let me stop soon please.... I'd bet money that the moderators on this forum have exercised their delete key on a remarkably small number of occasions. The opportunity to moderate and control excessive abuse of societie's rules is one I support. I am confident that those with the authority exercise this power extremely cautiously.

e-richard wrote:haven't had sex for a long time, so here goes

Hey Digger, was that the only phrase in all of my outpourings that you understood ?