The Straight Dope Message Board consists of 13 forums.
You mean other boards? Yes. The SDMB has little control about what you do on other Boards.
But as was discussed here for this potential Forum, you would not be allowed to drag that issue into other SDMB forums.
What if that issue bore a direct impact on the other forum? Say someone posted in the Safe Zone that they were struggling with schizophrenia, and then somewhere in the Pit were arguing that they were subject to government surveillance and it’s wrong not to take them at their word. Is bringing up their schizophrenia and how that damages their credibility a personal attack?
You are, yes.
I would think so, but I am not a Mod. I think that context would be critical.
Well, that wasn’t helpful. Could you explain what you meant?
I apologize for the confusion. In this context I considered a message board to be a type of forum (as opposed to, say, the local convention center or a chat room). Only RickJay can clarify what he meant.
~Max
If you want to rip into someone for stuff they say in non-Safe-Zone-forums go ahead, within the rules of those forums. If you don’t like the rules of the Safe Zone, were such a thing to exist, so what? Don’t read it.
Don’t you think this sort of undermines the rationale behind creating a safe zone?
Imagine going to a support group where the therapist/group leader tells you,
"Feel free to tell me whatever ails you. Neither I nor anyone else in this room will make fun of you or belittle you here. We are only interested in your mental wellbeing.
But behind the glass screen are a number of people who may listen in if they please, and are allowed to make fun of you for what you tell me."
Talk about a chilling effect…
~Max
NP, once you explained I understood, and it isn’t like there there are rules for what is called what.
If they say it outside the Safe Zone, it’s fair play, just as if you say something outside therapy, it’s not a secret between you and your therapist. What’s so confusing about the phrase “stuff they say in non-Safe-Zone-forums”?
Evidently my reading comprehension fails me, sorry.
~Max
And now I see your last post, that’s the answer I was looking for. Believe it or not, your first reply wasn’t clear to me on that, that’s why I asked.
Then we have a problem of people posting in the SZ over problems that seem major to them, but the rest of us consider excedingly minor. The only way to prevent this would be to have some kind of gate keeper deciding which problems are big enough. I dislike both options.
I don’t understand why this would matter.
Personally I don’t think having such a forum is necessary, mind you (I think there are better solutions to the issue of people being offensive about personal issues) but if it existed, why would it matter if someone posted what you thought was a minor problem? Is it that it’d be too full? That sure isn’t a current problem with any forum we have.
I think in this case, no harm no foul? If it’s a pattern of frivolent topics that belong in MPSIMS let the mods step in by closing the topic and suggesting they open a new one in MPSIMS.
~Max
Remember when a vegetarian poster started a thread that name “Buckeyes” for a candy offended them? Now, try to imagine how much worse it seems in contrast to ‘I was raped’ or ‘I have Alzheimers’
I know what is is.
It was meant to show what kind of useful and lively conversation a safe zone begets.
Not really what happened.
It’s been a while, I admit my memory may be off.
Had to search, this was way before my time. OpalCat didn’t start a thread, the fiasco emerged in an existing thread. Not going to offer my detailed analysis of a 13-year old message board drama here, but I don’t think this would happen in any proposed safe zone.
~Max