Splitting General Chat?

[thunderchildobs]

Is it possible to split the General Chat forum into "General Astromony" and "Social Chat"?

Where General Astromony is anything (vaguely)related to some aspect of Astromny and Social Chat is for everything else.



(Complaining about weather goes in Social chat)

[LewisM]

Why not just create a separate forum called "The Minefield" where anything goes? Unmoderated, have at it. We did that with one of the forums I was admin for for 15 years... it got so civilised (yet full on) as to self-moderate!

Seriously, I don't think we need it. I fail to see where people cannot simply ignore something they don't want to read. Don't like the thread, move to one you do. Simple really.

[LewisM]

Brian3 and I could start a "Taunt the dealer" sub-forum :)

[Octane]

And, a special sub-forum in General for Renato. :poke: :poke:

H

[clive milne]

I'd be happy if the mods just censored antisocial behaviour (or restricted access to those habitually guilty of it) rather than banning intelligent debate on subjects that attract them.

To me, it's like banning food from your house because you don't like mice.

[casstony]

The 'minefield' forum is a good idea but it would still need moderation I think, just to keep it from getting nasty.

[Kunama]

The problem is that the mods are busy just keeping the show running and when they do intervene or close a thread, it only takes a day before another near identical thread is started.

Contentious issues like religion, politics, climate debates tend to polarise the membership and that does nothing for the enjoyment of the forum, nor does it make the forum appealing to new members.

Some here are hellbent on starting topics just to create disharmony, perhaps a few weeks absence would benefit them.

As for the recent NBN and Global Warming debates .......... :mad: :shrug:

[LewisM]

True all that.

[clive milne]

I also feel a degree of cognitive dissonance.
..... that discussion of a well established aspect of planetary science should be censored as a matter of policy on an astronomy forum (ostensibly) to protect the sensitivities of a demographic that doesn't actually participate in these discussions when it would be more consistent with the objectives of this forum to simply ban the 5 or 6 people responsible for 98% of the anti social behavior.

[astroron]

I voted NO.
If you don't like a thread,Don't read it. "Simple"
There are other forums to discus astronomy on iceinspace
Why start another one. :shrug:
Cheers:thumbsup:

[PM_ME_URANUS]

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=19

[iceman]

^^^ what he said

[hotspur]

firm no from me,all these special interest forums have general chat.I think a lot of people take some things far too seriously-with relgious/politic etc chat.TOS here state its not on anyway,and what good does it do?-what does it achieve?-apart from people getting flustered.

These forums are suppose to be generally exchanging information and helping people out with similar interest.Over the years I have meet some great people,they have helped me greatly,and I have helped them-people I would never have known,without a general chat forum in various forums.

[graham.hobart]

Nope- leave it as is.
I like the swashbuckling to and fro and I have learnt a lot about different issues from the info presented here. Plus I get a good laugh occasionally.
It seems to be well self censored if someone gets out of hand anyway.
Now, about them polar bears......

[mental4astro]

Ney from me.

This is what makes the General Chat forum so good. People can ask astro or social questions, and others then select what they want, as what happens in other fora. To chop it up only creates more head aches for the mods, and doesn't actually solve anything for us - as Ron said, there are already specialized fora to make contributions to.

General Chat I would say is the one forum that gets the most traffic out of all of them. Chopping it up only divides us more.

[astroron]

@ Graham
Now, about them polar bears..
Do you mean the ones from Antartica:question:;)
Cheers:thumbsup:

[graham.hobart]

:rofl::rofl::rofl::tasdevil::D

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum!!

[GrahamL]

Unmoderated or anything goes forums in my experiance plain don't work :)

giving those who can't play nice a corner of the sand pit to do what they like,well that works briefly, before they start slinging sand all over the place again and everyones crying.. :)

I do see the need for the sub forums that pop up over the years , general chat ?,, I can't see much wrong with it , like Ron says a topic or poster you have an issue with ,just skim over it . :)

[Nikolas]

I can see both sides of the argument but as a general rule, and I'm speaking from experience as I am a mod of 15 plus years on Australia's biggest motorcycling forum, that unmoderated forums don't work with a large membership base. We have a forum called "the pub" where people can discuss anything they like so long as they behave and don't become abusive or condescending.
There are other forums that allow anything goes and they are more or less self moderated but in those circumstances most of the people know each other on and off the forums.
On this forum we do have people who are well educated on the whole so the ego to sensitivity factor is higher than some other forums.
(how do you become a mod here?)

[multiweb]

That would be a first! :rofl:
In reality such a forum would fall into anarchy then create a singularity and suck in all the adjacent forums. It would be the end of IIS then the world as we know it. :eyepop: :P

[Ric]

Ney from me.

There are plenty of other forums out there to cater for every taste and whim.

Cheers

[tlgerdes]

I said no as well. Like Ron indicated, if you don't like the topic, don't read it, don't post in it, it will die quick enough.

Plus, if we got rid of all the non-astro topics in the general section, it will be a very boring place.

Look at the current diversity

High Pressure Water Washers (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=125562)
what are you drinking right now (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=125502)
Any Paleontologist/geologist here? (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=125098)
Is this true (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=125588)
iPhone battery life?? (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=125485)
Paypal (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=125493)
Amusing Signs (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=125601)
I DETEST false/misleading advertising (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=125113)
Inside AE2 4,30 today abc24 (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=125488)

I think 15 of the current threads, including this one, on the first page are non-astronomy related.

We come here as we gather under a common interest and discuss topics of interest to us. I love reading all the chit chat. I though, like others, do not like the personal negativity that people show when they don't agree with an opinion. As soon as you make the negativity against someone personal, you belittle only yourself.

[GeoffW1]

Wait....what? Fora? :lol:

[mental4astro]

Geoff, have you already forgotten your year 7 latin? Tch, tch, tch... :rolleyes: :lol:

[rustigsmed]

less common latin loanwords will no doubt be rendered with an 's' in the plural form, latin in school went the way of the dodo in what the 1970s 1980s? You can kiss your cacti good bye! Actually typing in cactuses and funguses doesn't register as spelling mistakes. forums also appears to be acceptable. :)

[julianh72]

I pretty much thought that was what "General Chat" was for!

It doesn't worry me if there are some astronomy-related posts in "General Chat" - and if someone does post something that really belongs in a more specialised sub-forum, the poster is usually advised to post there anyway.

[GeoffW1]

I got 30% in Latin. The teacher used to say

"White, I wish I had a stone bow to shoot you with"

I still don't know what he was talking about :confused2:

[AstralTraveller]

He ended a sentence with a preposition. Clearly he wasn't an English teacher!

[rustigsmed]

I think you'll find that rule in the English language is a myth.

[GeoffW1]

He was at the time with me quite upset :rofl::rofl::rofl:

If any of you were at North Sydney Boys' High in the 60's or later on at Peakhurst High, this was 'Eric' Baume.

Cheers

[AstralTraveller]

I'd never heard of a stone-bow either but a bit of research suggests the situation is worse than you feared. Apparently he thought you were a bird or perhaps a small furry animal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet-shooting_crossbow
http://www.todsstuff.co.uk/crossbows/stone-crossbows.htm
http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_experiments/bulletbow/bulletbow.html

___________

BTW I'd also think we shouldn't split general chat. The 'problem' threads can be easily ignored. Or secretly watched ... if you like blood sports :D.

[OzStarGazer]

I thought his name was Orion!

[peter_4059]

How about out a weekly word & post limit?

[el_draco]

What bloody Polar bears ????

Shhhhhh! Renato may hear you :rofl::rofl::rofl:

Eh, you get someone trying to push the point to much and the mods do their job.... (I don't have an issue with that). It goes quiet for a while then the same guff starts up again. Generally, I ignore it, but I'll stand up to tripe every time. Not doing so, leads to a dark age. :rolleyes:

I vote No

[Hagar]

I'm a no.... Another sub group will only be somewhere else to hide peoples real thoughts. If you don't like a thread after the first visit don't come back to it. Funny those who ***** the most have the highest post count in the thread. It is easy to get engrossed in a discussion but that just makes it interesting. If everyone behaved it would be boring.

[rally]

No from me too.
Limiting any forum exclusively to one theme tends to make it less vibrant - yes there are problems from time to time with some feathers ruffled, members expelled, misunderstandings created and offence taken - but thats all part of it really.
We have moderators to manage that with checks and balances.

I actually enjoy reading the occasional few off axis rants and even find some of the insults and sarcasm entertaining !! - it usually all gets sorted out in the wash. ie to say that the offenders are generally held accountable one way or another.

What I don't like or don't agree with, I dont have to open or at least arent forced to continue reading, I certainly dont need to post or get involved and if I feel strongy enough I can simply remove those from my viewing access.
If I feel even more strongly I can always send the moderators a message expressing my concerns.
Thats about 5 or 6 levels of choice or management prior to total censorship !

Anyway - we already have first hand experience with an IIS offshoot that created the South Celestial Pole forum for this exact stated reason - to be able to freely express themselves - in ways that would not have been permitted here.

Their public forum was all of that, but the secret clique/s in hidden password protected subforum/s where anything could be said and anyone could be slandered to their hearts content were apparently something else.

It essentially self destructed.
No need for us to do that.

[RAJAH235]

Another No vote.
Being a moderator on the mozillaZine fora, I/we find that most of the friendly
discussion is not too bad but we do get the occasional "nutter" who likes to stir-the-pot.
They are usually dealt with very quickly & if they persist, can end up out of the sand pit with a week off.

Regs, L..

[AussieTrooper]

No.
There are plenty of sections of Astro topics here, and one general forum.
There would be very few astro topics that don’t fit into one of them.
As has been said repeatedly, if you aren't interested in a topic on the general forums, don't post in it.

[GeoffW1]

Haha,

I recall a Biggles adventure (from about Yr 3) which had polar bears in Antarctica.

Cheers

[speach]

It's already split general chat and all the rest.

[blindman]

Absolutely!

do not to click on vote if you are not sign in (as I did) and you will get message:
already voted - go back or something like that

[AussieTrooper]

Not surprising. It's only in the past 30 years or so that the penguins finished eating the last of the Antarctic Polar Bears.

[alan meehan]

ahhh Biggles my favourite stories ,jolly good chaps damn hun shot all the polar bears ,I say no
AL