Perhaps this thread should be moved to the Pit before long…
Seems to be doing OK right here. Start another thread in the pit if you need to start swearing. That’s what everyone says is supposed to happen.
Sorry, I was trying deadpan humor. Which does not communicate well over the 'net.
I think we could go one better, and erase all pit threads after 2-3 days.
Then you could still have the venting, but not the gloating and long-running grudge matches and vendettas.
As an added bonus, since there would be no permanent addition to the post counts, people wouldn’t be as tempted to just pile on with insults but nothing else to add.
Maybe you two would like have threads deleted on a massive scale, but I’m going to take a WAG and say that most people wouldn’t.
If someone attacks me, I don’t want that to go away in two days. Then they can claim they never said it, and it’s my word against them. New people don’t know what went on, there’s no evidence of who started a fight, it’s chaotic and annoying.
Here’s Lynn, in the thread you linked to barflyer:
That makes sense to me.
Also, barflyer’s contention that Ed has a sockpuppet seems bizarre and paranoid to me.
–John
You don’t need to keep anything for there to be “proof”.
Just print it out and keep it in a “proof file”. Also, I’m guessing that any IP invited to view the “shameful” goings on in the actual thread would quickly realize that the non-troll threads were by far the worst. I notice the really inflamatory or racist/threatening stuff gets expunged in hours, so what’s being saved is the milder stuff.
Barflyer has posted to 25 ATMB threads, 0 in comments on Cecils Columns, 0 in Mailbag Answers, 12 in GQ, 0 in GD, 17 in IMHO, 20 in MPSIMS, and 7 in the Pit.
Which can only lead us to the conclusion that:
- Firstly, he seems to devote a lot of time to how the board works/is run - as said, in a very paranoid manner;
- Secondly, he likes pointless stuff;
- Thirdly, he apparently posts in GQ as well;
- Finally, he seems to have a HO.
Combine that with the Zotti/Concrete shite, and we’ve got a nice overall conclusion: barflyer is unimpressive in terms of his additions to the board, and is an overall nut.
You’re welcome.
Well, as the thread-starter, I would say that I don’t consider myself that new or low-posting. I’ve been around for about a year, and have around 500 posts. I don’t keep track, I don’t know that it means much, but there it is for those who care.
Upon reflection, I should have been clearer. I DO enjoy the rants against society, the bewailing of our common fates, the voices crying in the wilderness–all of these are a part of the Pit, and a good part.
But I think that flame wars are unhealthy, fan the flames higher, beneath us, undignified, and quite often vile. If anyone were to call me (in ernest) some of the things that others have been called, I would consider renouncing my pacifism. And no, some of the people flamed have not deserved it. Remember the threats some loonie made against DavidB (among others)?
THIS should still have a place here?
If I had the power (and I know that I don’t, I would let people know that flame wars would result in their banishment from the SDMB.
Bucky
I don’t know, Bucky, maybe we’re just more tolerant around here. We have The Pit, in part, so we can ‘roast’ each other in the comedic sense of the term: An outpouring of insults against an undeserving fellow meant in jest. Now, I know that a truly mean-spirited roasting of a moderator, administrator, or member can be a hallmark of a troll, it generally ends up being somebody who’s had a long day and just wants to vent before they throw a lamp against a wall. All of these ‘I’m calling you out’ threads generally make me laugh, because some of the insults leveled against people are amazing. The sheer artistry of a well-crafted rant, the beauty of a literate, well-spoken insult, and the sheer comedic value of a classic ‘zing’ cannot be disputed, and should not pass into the dark night. I agree with the various moderators, administrators, and regulars around here, by far the majority of the contributors to this thread: Without The Pit we would have unquenchable flame wars springing up in various serious fora. This would cause mass bannings, closures, and deletions. It would increse the moderator turnover rate (zero now, in these peaceful times) and foster an atmosphere of fear in the SDMB. I’m glad I wasn’t around for the AOL SDMB. The Pit is an advancement born out of lessons learned in those days.
For what I hope is the last time:
If you don’t like the Pit, don’t go there.
Sheesh. Do you make as big a fuss because some like vanilla and others dig chocolate? Do you yell at the cashier at the market because she says “paper or plastic?” It’s a big ol’ world and there’s all kinds of people and everybody’s different. If you want your likes and dislikes tolerated you have to be willing to tolerate someone else’s as well.
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator
If you don’t like it, start your own board and make your own rules.
< giggling furiously >
Well said Tuba!
Now that sentiment I agree with heartily. Go spend more time in the «Comments on Mailbag Answers» forum or the «Comments on Cecil’s Columns» forum!
That would be easier if people didn’t post things about you in the pit, and then when you don’t respond come to where you are posting to “call you out” in such a way that the pit has now climbed out of its area again.
Pit stuff in the pit, fine. Pit stuf outside the pit, not fine.
I think TubaDiva is right, but doesn’t go far enough.
If you don’t like the pit, don’t go there. If you like the pit, respect the other forums and refrain from hijacking to impugn people, or start thread in other forums to speculate on people.
Don’t try to hang your problems on me.
You’re the paranoid ones.
I never said Ed was concrete. I never said it was ominous or wrong for Ed to use sock puppets.
You said that.
Or don’t you know what paranoid means, even?
I’m not threated by anything.
I simply found out why Ed likes the pit. He posts there.
Buy you are paranoid, certainly.
You hunted down my posts, to prove…what?
That you don’t know what the statistics mean?
That I have posted here 25 times means I start at the top of the list when I look for thing to read.
And since I have 125 post, that’s 1/5, or very close to even for this forum.
You have NO CONCEPT of how the board works, and you call yourselves oldbies? Don’t think so. Sounds like you were born yesterday.
NOBODY posts a lot in the Cecil and mailbag forums.
WHY don’t people post a lot in Cecil and Mailbag?
Because few of us have done more research on the shroud of turin than the researchers.
That doesn’t mean we haven’t read every thread there. Just that we couldn’t think of anything to add.
If I don’t comment on the mailbag it
And don’t say I was complaining when I came to this forum.
If you’ll notice, almost every one of my posts here was helping someone who was having trouble figuring out how to do something or find something.
I’m not anti-board policy and I resent you trying to make everyone who disagrees with you a “rebel”. I’m quite happy here. If you aren’t happy with happy people, that’s your problem, so don’t try to make it theirs.
If you don’t like comments about the message board being anything but whole-sale approval, don’t read them. And hey, if you don’t like America, leave it!
I am suggesting that the flame wars serve no good purpose for anyone, that they are unhealthy, and that they cause problems and pain. Why have a forum for comments if the answer is on this level? Expalin why I’m wrong or ignore me, but this just seems silly.
Bucky
You’ve now moved beyond asking questions and into the realm of complaint, which means that this thread moves from About This Message Board to The Pit.
We have genuinely tried to address your concerns and nothing is going to please you short of closing The Pit. That’s not going to happen.
I’m sincerely sorry we don’t run this board to suit you.
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator
First of all I don’t get this “unhealthy” thing. How is anyone’s actual or metaphorical health in jeopardy by the existence of the Pit?
Secondly, we don’t encourage flame wars. In fact we warn posters when thy start getting too personal or too nasty. We lock the ugly ones and have deleted the particularly caustic ones. Look on the SDMB front page. Below the BBQ Pit it says “If you gotta flame, do it here.” The tone suggests that it’s not something that we encourage at all. It’s similar to the line under Great Debates: “This is also the place for … (if you feel you must) witnessing.” We don’t encourage witnessing in GD, but if people feel the need to, that’s where they should do it.
Third, saying that the very existence of the Pit encourages flame wars is like arguing that the presence of an ashtray encourages people to smoke.
And finally, very little of the Pit’s content are actual flame wars. Like I’ve said in this thread previously, some people just need to vent about their jobs, their ISP, the pervert on the N train. This isn’t a display of “bad tempers” as others have claimed, it’s a very normal human need to get some minor annoyances of their chests. And as a result, people with similar bad experiences get to compare stories and bond and laugh about it a bit. That sounds healthy to me.
So the thread ends up in the very place it was complaining about, eh? Ironies of life, and all that.
For the record, I like the Pit, and I think it works reasonably well as it’s intended to. Nobody is forced to show up there if they don’t want to go.
Alpha, I think you are a wonderful mod, as are the other pit mods, but I disagree here.
Just last week you allowed some pretty nasty name calling, I know, I was the one who got called a cunt several times by one of the other posters here. Not one comment was made by a single mod about that gratuitous insult. :rolleyes: It got a little nastier than that, and was still allowed without comment, however instead of responding I felt that letting it die was the better course. Care to comment on your lack of comment there?