It may help if the uninformed peruse the origin stories, as told by the great prophet ScissorJack (who has since changed name because Giraffarians have the attention span of - hey how come no-one brought cake? I really like cake. Where is cake?
Quoteth the prophet, all give cake to the prophet, hail cake and wombats:
The Founding Myth of our people is that long ago we lived in a faraway land, ruled by a harsh Priest-King named Zoh-Tee who issued strange, ruthless edicts, and forbade the people from saying The Word That Shall Not Be Said, or indeed anything else he didn’t like on a given day. The people grumbled mightily under this burden but stayed their hands from rebellion, for fear that Zoh-Tee and his minion high priests would cast them into darkness from which there would be no return.
Then one day a former high priest named Ghi-Rhaf, kindlier than the rest of his brethren, found that he could no longer watch the people groan under the lash, and he spread the word of a small island he had found far to the West, where the people could laugh and play as they once did, and where there was no word That Could Not Be Said. And some of the people rejoiced, and took to the boats and set sail for this far off land, while others who remained scoffed at tales of this paradise of Ghi-Raf, and foretold a dire fate for those who left, while Zho-Tee in his palace gnashed his teeth and cursed until his priest-kings trembled and lashed the people all the harder.
And here the Myth of Ghi-Raf ends, though some speak of another island far to the east where others of the people fled, but instead of peace and freedom found only quarreling and misery, but little is known of them: some say they have died out, others that a few sad remnants live on, and others dismiss it as a tale fit only for children. All we know is that we live in peace in the land of Ghi-Raf, welcoming those who come to join us, for still small rafts come from the land of Zho-Tee. And in our daily prayers we rejoice that we can say (shortened to protect the easily offended).
Many of the Moderators here post over there at least semi regularly. As an Admin over there, I’d say that we are on very good terms with most of the staff over here. There has even been a very occasional real life serious issue where we’ve worked together. The few staffers here who were weirdly antagonistic about the GB have all moved on.
Sure, but personal experiences vary. I’ve lurked there from time to time, and I don’t find it friendly. My personal impression is that it’s a mean place. From some of the other posts in this thread, it seems that some other Dopers have the same impression.
But that’s the beauty of the intertubes - there are different places for different people. Different strokes for different folks, YMMV, IMHO, and all that.
As I said in an earlier post in this thread, I’m not aware of any personal critiques of me over there. But it’s possible to watch a place for a while and conclude that it has a mean culture, even if I’m not personally mentioned.
I’ve never seen you mentioned there. Your criticism of GB is nearsighted. It’s like someone lurking here and judging the entire board because there may have been a mean post, or two or fifty, in the pit.
Well that’s good. Back in the days of the split, there were some people on this board, who also moved over there, who openly bragged about having spreadsheets containing information and posts by a number of members. I recall mentioning an unpleasant side effect of a medicine I had taken in the past and having someone use that information, years later, distorted in the worst way, of course, to insult me on both boards. That’s where I got the “13 year old middle school girls” impression of a group of posters.
I’ve got no beef with Giraffe Boards. People have different preferences and I respect that. The reality of the Straight Dope is we are a corporate owned board which means our rules must be strictly enforced or the board is at risk of being shut down. I don’t find any of these rules particularly onerous and I personally find the board rules reassuring rather than restrictive. But I get that not everyone feels that way. I never experienced the carefree days here, either, so I can’t draw any comparison and have no nostalgia for the good old days.
I think (I’m saying this with no secret moderator insight) that one of the reasons we discourage off-board drama is because rivalries are unnecessary and we like Giraffe and respect what he’s done there. There’s no reason to facilitate the idea that we are somehow enemies. Snits between individual posters run the risk of becoming some kind of loyalty test for either board, and I just don’t think we want that.
I joined GB when it first started, but there wasn’t much traffic at the time so I wandered away. (Has this changed?) The fact that there are fewer rules makes it more uncomfortable for me, personally. I’m sensitive to negativity in a way that many are not. Some people find slinging insults to be recreational fun, I always feel guilty when I do it. One bad exchange will wreak havoc on my mood that day. If someone tells me I suck on the internet, it’s as upsetting as if an acquaintance said it to my face. I’ve learned to manage myself in the Pit in such a way as to generally avoid insulting and being insulted, and I never have to worry about it outside of the Pit. The Straight Dope has become my comfort zone.
Not saying I’d never participate on GB again, just that the looser boundaries and unknown culture serves at least somewhat as a deterrent. It’s not a statement of relative quality, just a statement of personal preference.
I ageee with pretty much all that Spice Weasel said, as usual (he said, in a pathetically obvious attempt to suck up to a mod ).
I was here for the “carefree” days, and back then I completely avoided the Pit. It was not a friendly place at all, and the meanness there slopped over into the other forums.
I think that two of Ed’s best moves were the language restrictions on insulting other posters in the Pit, and changing the rule that had allowed mods to be pitted for their moderating discussions.
I personally don’t like a place where people are intentionally mean to each other, and the language restriction sends the message that even in the heat of the Pit, there are standards of respect for other poster that must be observed.
And, I never understood why mods, who volunteer their time, could be pitted in harsh terms for doing their job. The rule that if you have a critique of a mod decision, take it to ATMB is a good one, in my opinion. (I’ve been on another board where any criticism of a mod was insta-ban; I think the ATMB is a very good balance.
So overall, if the GB is an attempt to re-create those features of the early days of this board, that explains why I’m turned off by the GB - because those were precisely the features of this Board in the early days that bothered me the most.
13 year old girls who bully in packs and follow a select few as if they’ve actually earned their leadership role. Grade 8 is supposed to be a learning experience, not a template for the rest of your life.
).