Here are some things that are worth mentioning. First, many of us like this place just the way it is. It serves our needs quite well, and we do not find any difficulty finding the correct place to post anything that we wish to discuss. In other words things are quite functional just the way that they are. Moreover, many folks have a years long history here, and may feel somewhat protective of the current format.
Couple that with your “I’ll just find somewhere better” response to the posts where folks were explaining why things are quite fine the way that they are and ,I hate to say it, you are coming off as a bit of a jerk.
I joined back before the IMHO days. Back then, we had MPSIMS and GDs. That was it. IMHO was started for basically what you are suggesting.
I do sort of believe that there should be someplace to post about death of a loved one, illness, divorce, etc. that isn’t MPSIMS. Those threads are far from Mundane and Pointless.
Many of the threads in IMHO should be in MPSIMS. That would leave some space for conversation.
However, I don’t think the atmosphere of IMHO is really conducive. It’s hard to change the atmosphere of a forum once it’s established.
I do think that conversation threads could go in GD, though. Not all threads in GD are debates, though a wise OP is one who makes it clear from the get-go that it’s not a win/lose argument.
I think it’s a good idea. One problem with MPSIMS is that its frequented mostly by a certain subset of the membership. Others of us wander in there from time to time, but if there’s a major announcement by a member, it could be easily missed.
And what subset would that be, Lib? Just because sometimes someone doesn’t want to change the world, just talk about something or laugh about something doesn’t make them any less of member of this Board than anyone else. If you are afraid of missing something, then you’ll just have to drop in more often over there.
Cricetus, if you want the tone “elevated” in IMHO, then elevate it. All it would take is a few members having a calm discussion about a topic. If snipers and drivebys were ignored, they would rapidly lose interest and leave the thread alone. Then the discussion could continue as warranted. I don’t see what is wrong with GD for this, though. We are never going to have a set of folders that cover every situation to a “T” and satisfy all of us, so we make do. As it is now, we could combine the two “Comments” furums into one without missing a beat or throwing anyone off track when they are trying to track a topic down.
My $.02 worth. Money back if not completely satisfactory.
Speaking of breaking news stories inciting threads, might that be a category deserving of a separate forum? As it is now, one story can generate threads in two or three of the forums depending on the OP’s slant. There’s also been some criticism voiced in the Pit about “today’s outrage” threads and whether they’re truly Pit material.
So, what do you think? Should the Dope institute, say, a “Hot Off The Presses” forum? Would that work as a way to keep the other forums better focussed on their own categories?
That sounds pretty viable. It would need to be topics worthy of serious discussion wouldn’t it? Rather than something current that belonged in Mudane. Links to interesting articles, news stories, and video clips. I’ve enjoyed those kinds of threads. Wouldn’t it deplete GD and the pit though?
How would you keep it current? If somebody posts new information on a news event that happened last month, or last year…
Well, you see what happens when we don’t check post dates around here already! This thread started back in March. I also think it would compete with IMHO, CS and the Pit. But on the other hand, it would also tend to cut down on the clutter of multiple threads on the same topic. On the other hand, multiple threads can have multiple foci. On the other hand…
You could have a time limit on what constitutes “Hot off the presses” and then new threads for updates which could include links to the other thread{s}
