How I would change the SDMB (for the better, IMO)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

This is not a “proposal” for a board restructure, or anything else like that, as I know that not everybody would agree with me, and it’s not my board to change, etc. This is only the ramblings of someone that has had too much time on the boards lately.

About This Message Board - This forum would stay mostly the same, but would be the new place for (formal, non-flaming) complaints about the moderators and administrators.

Comments on Cecil’s Columns / Comments on Staff Reports - These two forums would be merged. They’re just not that different.

General Questions - This is the bread and butter of the SDMB, and IMO the most important and relevant forum. Nothing would be changed.

Great Debates - The “no-flaming” rule here would be slightly relaxed, for reasons listed below.

IMHO - Pointless. Rambling. Waste of resources, attracts “chatters”. This forum would be done away with.

MPSIMS - All the pointlessness of IMHO but with 33% more drama. This forum would be done away with as well, or at least regulated much more strongly to prevent some of the extrondinarily pointless threads, the flirt threads, and 90% of the game threads.

The BBQ-Pit - Another haven for drama and angst. The best pit threads are usually just Great Debates with more swear-words, so I say we “hybrid” the two forums, making Great Debates 90% GD and 10% pit. Formal, well-written complaints about other members could go in GD as long as they didn’t get out of hand.

I would give moderators the ability to ban socks and trolls on sight (if they can’t already, I’m not sure), as this seems to be a very large problem lately. Almost every guest I’ve seen lately is a blatantly obvious sock puppet or troll. Also, the same amount of moderators that we currently have would be kept on hand, depsite having less forums, so as to keep the place tidier.

That’s all for now, I might revise or amend later.

2

So, we keep the fora you like, and the rest of us be damned? Can we have Cafe Society, at least?

3

In My Humble Mundane Pointless Opinion MPSIMS and IMHO are what keep this message board alive. Without them about 80 percent of the membership would clear off, and the remaining would not be enough to keep the surviving forums as active as they are.

If I could change the boards I’d allow avatars. For now that’s all I’ll do.

4

Yes. The Cafe stays.

5

Cisco Do you realize your OP is rather insulting. (I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt)

Here’s an idea that might suit both of us - How about MPSIMS,IMHO, and CS break off and form their own vbulletin board, with instant membership for all dopers.

6

Eh, if you do away with most of the chattering and playfulness, you’re really going to limit the demographic this board appeals to. With fewer members, you’re going to have fewer resources to answer GQ questions, engage in Great Debates, etc, and the place will lose much of its appeal.

IMHO, something isn’t a waste of resources if it puts butts in the seats.

7

Heh. Get rid of IMHO, MPSIMS, and the Pit, and I’d never bother to come to the SD. I check out General Questions every once in a while, and almost never go to Great Debates. So with all due humility, Cisco, I think your plan sucks. :smiley:

8

I like the idea that in GD you have to stay civil.

To me the difference between a GD debate and a Pit debate is like the difference between the BBC and Fox news.

If you don’t like a forum why would it bother you that it even exisits?

9

I think I looked at the other forums a couple times my first year on the board. Virtually all my posts, however, were MPSIMS.

My life has enough general questions and great debates without coming to a message board. What I need more of is the mundane and pointless. It’s relaxing.

Besides, MPSIMS, The Pit, and IMHO are the forums where personality and social interaction (such as the web allows) are practiced and available for study. Life is not just about facts. Life is a lot more fun when you understand, or at least are exposed to, other peoples ideas and desires. Not much of that going on in GQ.

My suggestions to improve the board: Strike-through editing (the original text is visible, but struck through); Different levels of membership based upon participation and general eruditeness (we had a nice contest for these, didn’t we?); And the ability to post pictures in threads.

10

Each to their own Cisco. I for one can do without GD and the Pit. They serve no purpose in my life. And so I don’t enter there very often.

I often read IMHO and MPSIMS.

Clearly there are enough people who like each of the forums that the forums should stay as they are.

11

Don’t mean to keep adding to this thread but this is how my brain works.

Anyway, the problem with GD is that it’s too religious and political. To non-American dopers most of the forum is virtually foreign. MPSIMS, IMHO, and CS (the latter, due to the international success of US entertainment) are internationally compatible.

12

Dump Cafe Society and MPSIMS and I’m gone like the wind. GD is a waste of electrons, but doesn’t bother me because i very seldom venture there. Merging the two forums on columns is a good idea, because they are the lightest traveled.

Nope, Cisco. Looks like this one crashed and burned at the end of the runway.

13

Of course. One does not meddle with perfection.

14

I love that this board doesn’t have avatars or picture-posting capability. Not that many people here are twelve-year-olds who would paste some huge horrendous blinking thing at the bottom of every one of their posts, but I prefer boards as text-only as they can be.

I do wish we could edit our posts, though.

15

Well, we have enough jiggery here, but not enough pokery. So I’d add more pokery. As you know, you can never get enough pokery.

16

Good thing for me that you don’t run things, Cisco:wink:

17

I thought that was the point. Keep that crap out of the forums where people want to have civil discussions.

Como what?

As for my two cents, I think that everytime someone makes a post, they should pay me a dollar. Just because.

18

‘Commo’?

I mean all the political stuff in GD is American politics. It’s foreign to we non-merkins, so we can’t really join in.

19

You could start your own debates, like on harmonization within the EU. Then the Americans would feel left out, and everyone is happy.

20

Change the name, BDSM would be much more fun.