I’m not so interested in the flirting threads and sex threads, but I have nothing against them. However, I ADORE TMI threads. I call them NEI (Not Enough Information) threads, cuz I loves me some grossness. SDMB would not be the same without them!
Banned? No. Label them? Not necessarily, unless the person knows it’s about flirting, TMI or sex.
Most flirting are spontaneous and unforeseen. Some are displays of wit written out. IMO, I don’t think flirting is a negative thing, but a fun thing. If he or she is not hurting anyone and if it’s good-natured, I would not want to impede a person’s right to self expression and person’s right to make him/herself smile. If I come across something I don’t want to read, my eyes are very good at skipping over the words–whether it’s about politics, physics, sex, biology, geology, poop, pets, sympathy, bitching, or the socio-economic status of minority groups.
No! That would be like banning sex, TMI and flirting, period. All those things contribute to life, IMO, and those who don’t want to read them, don’t have to.
So next time a thread goes pear-shaped with flirting and one of the come-backs is you lot just want flirting and sex threads banned we can simply refer them to this thread? Well, based on the self-selecting few who posted here anyway ;).
I was getting irritated with being told that we wanted them banned.
Duke, it wasn’t flirting, it was a simple observation. TBH that’s probably one of the divisive issues in the community which is linked to flirting and crush list threads. It appears to always be the same names who appear on them and it’s a bit high school for me.
No, No, a thousand times, NO!
The TMI threads serve to show that no matter how disgusting your affliction is, someone else’s appendage can take on a life of it’s own! Besides, it’s our sworn duty to gross out Coldfire on a regular basis.
Ah, Primaflora, I knew full well you weren’t flirting. I was trying to draw out the irony of how flirting, or the belief that it’s going on, can appear in a thread not necessarily intended as such. Hence the futility of labeling flirting threads at the OP stage. I suppose, anyway.
As for the same names appearing in flirting thread…it’s all the same with “Who’s your favorite Doper?” threads. They always make me feel bad, because there are a bunch of great people here who rarely get mentioned in them. Frankly, to me all the Dopers are my favorites, except for JDT.
No, no, a thousand times no! We here in Chicago vote early and often.
I don’t participate in threads like that very much, but I do read them once in a while. Those of you who have met me (and those who haven’t, for that matter) probably don’t realize just how shy I really am, and threads like that are a great way to a) engage in some relatively harmless and low-risk banter, which helps me gain confidence for doing it in real life (I tend to freeze up in social situations where I don’t know anyone; it’s good practice for real-life icebreaking); and b) reassure myself that lots of my fellow geeks engage in the same kind of banter, and really, nobody explodes. (Well, literally, anyway. What y’all do in the privacy of your own homes is up to you.)
I’m pretty sure I’m not alone on this board in the IRL shyness thing. If online flirting can help people gain self-confidene to interact with actual human beings in real life, then it’s a valuable public service. Honest interchange is rarely a bad thing.
My ears were burning, again, and this time my name wasn’t even mentioned.
I stand corrected. You and the others didn’t literally call for a ban. You just want to impose impossible conditions on the continuation of such threads.
As Duke correctly pointed out, it’s not possible to predict when flirting is going to start up. It can happen in almost any type of thread in IMHO and MPSIMS. And, at any point in the thread. Sometimes it’s brief, sometimes it takes over a thread, if the OP doesn’t object. A lot of the time, it comes and goes, as the actual topic flows around it. So, there’s no way people can label all the threads it may occur in.
You’ve made it clear you can’t tolerate flirting in unlabelled threads. It should be clear that it can’t be labelled. You object, for reasons that escape me, to quarantining them in their own forum, where you could easily avoid them. Flirting isn’t going to stop, just because you object; it’s human nature. So, what do you propose, as a solution?
Oh, and the “circle jerk” comment was extremely rude, as even a self-confessed prude would know. Personally, I have my doubts that a genuine prude would even know such a term, let alone use it.
I don’t mind seeing the occasional flirting in a thread, especially if it’s on-topic and entertaining and doesn’t hijack. However, I avoid exclusively flirting, or hijacked threads.
The TMI and sex threads can stay as they are almost always entertaining in some way.
I don’t want any subject banned, really, but a few guidelines wouldn’t go amiss; there’s a certain stage where the perpetrators should ‘take it offline or to email’, and then there’s the aforementioned hijacks, as examples.
/B Davebear B/, you’re so cute when you get all your little feathers all ruffled up in anger.
OK – gee I can’t be a real prude if I know rude words like circlejerk :rolleyes: point taken.
So to follow your logic here – it’s all about you, you, you! If anyone’s talking about flirting or sex, it’s Davebear! Because in the long history of these boards, before the arrival of Davebear, we never had flirting or sex? Is that right? Dec 2002 saw a revolution on the boards? News to me.
I didn’t say Davebear because I was talking generally, not specifically. If you wish to assume the mantle of circlejerker, go ahead! Knock yourself out! But you’ll find I didn’t say Davebear = circlejerker because I’m not that rude in this forum.
I think there’s a general agreement that labelling flirt threads in advance isn’t as easy as labelling the TMI threads but not hijacking threads to flirt is pretty simple. There’s a lot of relationships on this board which are carried out in email or IM or chat or whatever.
I don’t think that’s what was meant, though I could be wrong. I thought Primaflora meant that any threads whose sole purpose is to flirt/be TMIlike should be labeled as such. Because, of course, you’re right - that kind of post can crop up anywhere. We don’t need a big can of Raid to get rid of them like they were bugs.
What was so rude about it? It was no ruder than saying such threads can degenerate into orgies, which they often do. The problem usually occurs when people hijack a thread that was begun with other intentions. That kind of thing would be nice to curtail, because it goes against the respective OP.
You must have serious self respect issues if you automatically equate “circle jerk” with “Davebear” - a person can’t be a circle jerk. He can, however, be, a jerk in a circle. 
I guess it will also come as news to you that bears have fur, not feathers. And, everyone who’s read the thread that spawned this one knows exactly who you had in mind when you started it. Troll, much?
I thought, perhaps, you were capable of discussing the issue rationally. I’m not the least bit upset over this issue, actually. Because, I consider it your problem. If you’d actually read one of my posts, for a change, instead of reacting with blind rage to my very presence, you might have realized that. Too much to ask, apparently. So, I’ll leave you to it.
Good lord. Ok so I’m trolling now. Whatever.
No, the question was asked as a general question, not a specific question because I genuinely didn’t have a person in mind in the particular. I was curious whether there were any people participating on the boards who wanted to see the flirting/TMI/sex threads banned because there were claims that these people existed. Seriously, Davebear, you’re just one of many people on the boards and what’s happened with you has happened with others in the past.
And, yeah, good spot, bears do have fur. Ooops. Just insert fur where I so brilliantly wrote feathers and it’s all good
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It’s against board rules to accuse someone of this on the boards.
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Asking people for their opinions is not trolling. You might need a lesson on what that actually is.
With all due respect:
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You have insulted people in this forum. If that’s your definition of discussing an issue “rationally,” then I’m glad I don’t subscribe to your dictionary.
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If you take a moment to step back and examine what other people are saying to you, you’ll notice others feel it is you who are “reacting with blind rage.” You’ve offered very little in the way of serious discussion.
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Many of your posts in this and the other, related thread seem to indicate you don’t have a strong capacity for analytical perusal. You seem to have a real problem with these threads being banned, even though no one has suggested that they be banned. You also seem incapable of discussing this rationally, choosing to namecall and attempt to belittle others. Which would be a lousy way to prove your argument no matter what; it’s even more puzzling in this particular forum, which is not the place for flaming or even heated arguments.
Davebear, the insults, name calling, argumentative postings and “troll-outings” you’ve given us in this thread are to stop now! This is IMHO, not the BBQ Pit, so if you can’t repect others opinions in this forum, you are welcome to go elsewhere.
To the rest of you, if you have a problem with the way someone is posting, the best thing to do is continue the conversation as if the offending post was never made and e-mail the mods. Do NOT respond with like nature-that’s our job.
Dan the man - at the risk of continuing a subject that might be better left alone. I think you made some very good points. I too get irritated when people try to belittle others and call names under the guise of persuasive argument.
Sometimes maybe it’s best just to agree to disagree respectfully.
I’ve done it too - (although in the Pit) on this same subject.
Absolutely not. I’m all for them as long as they remain in the proper forum and are clearly labeled.
Thanks, mipiace. 
Those flirting threads do serve quite a purpose here, and I would be quite remiss if I didn’t mention, in the interests of full disclosure, that I patronized many o’ flirtin’ thread, especially when I first started posting. I think they’re a good way to break the ice in terms of posting here.
Funny, I emailed the mods, and the only response I got was a public smackdown by one of them. Is that how it’s supposed to work?