Does it ever bother you when you start a thread to have a serious discussion, and.... (1 Viewer)

[Paul_D]

... it descends into a 'this sucks, that sucks', 3 word post suck-fest dead-end. Light hearted threads are great. But the key attraction of this site for me, is that serious discussion is possible. So why is it so rare?
Btw, I'm not referring to any specific thread at the moment.

 

[Paul_D]

You got me.

 

[John Stone]

There are still some wonderful discussions here, but I do feel that the HTF has become more "usenet-like", which is unfortunate. Personal attacks, worthless "thread farting" and rude comments are becoming rather common. I think the moderators, for the most part, do a very good job in what is mostly a thankless position, but some of them are obviously biased in performing their duties. I guess with a community of this size these types of problems are inevitable.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Andy Rooney "Does it ever bother you ..." style threads suck!
Regards,

 

[Ted Lee]

i guess i'm on the fence with this one. for the most part, most of the discussions i've been in or that i've started usually stay "on track".
but then i've posted threads like "what kind of shorts should i wear this summer?". i don't really expect any serious responses there.
so, i suppose it depends on the subject matter. another problem is that there's a lot of comedic elements here. i think ht fans typically have a somewhat 'whacked' sense of humor anyway.
i suppose with so many people here, it'll be nearly hard to keep a discussion totally on-track or serious. i guess a little levity is okay, but if it really bugs you, maybe you could say something like "only serious replies please"...but that would probably be a red-flag for receiving even more goofy answers.
heck...what am i talking about anyway....???

 

[Michael Reuben]

I think the moderators, for the most part, do a very good job in what is mostly a thankless position, but some of them are obviously biased in performing their duties.

I would sincerely encourage anyone who has a problem with a moderating decision to take it up directly with the HTF Administration. I did so from time to time before I became a moderator, and my concerns were always treated politely and seriously.

All of us are reachable through email or PM.

M.

 

[Steve Christou]

Paul I know what you mean, I started reading and enjoying the post-Oscar discussion thread today, and it wasn't long before a gang of LOTR bashers descended on the thread, and with short one sentence posts started bragging on how LOTR didn't deserve any awards anyway, and how glad they were it didn't win any major awards. (or did I dream all this?) Hmmm anyway I started skimming thru posts fast after that, looking for members that I knew and respected.
The way I see it if a member is going to suddenly blurt out that they think 'Citizen Kane' is a steaming pile of dogpoo, than why not give a good reason why you would think that, not the usual 'its my opinion and I'm entitled to it' remark, otherwise the rest of us will with good reason not think very highly of your opinions in the future.
Well I tried and failed to inject some humor into the above post, sorry guys.

 

[TonyD]

yes that bothers me.

i recently started a thread that was going well until 1 person came in to insult a specific gruop of people in the thread.

i sent a note to the mod asking for that person to be spoken to and asked for the thread to not be closed but it was anyway.

my problem is that a good subject can get closed because of one bad person and thats a shame.

 

[Frank Anderson]

my problem is that a good subject can get closed because of one bad person and thats a shame.

Tony,

While I am not familiar with the thread you are referring to I can say there had to have been something else wrong with it for it to have been completely closed. There are other options available to us such as deleting a post or editing it.

Again, encourage anyone who has a problem here to contact anyone with the HTF Administration. I don't believe any of us are "biased in performing their duties."

 

[JasenP]

It's amazing how well the traditional pissing contest has translated into an electronic form. I have seen threads that grow to five pages in 10 minutes because of a truly stupid argument that broke out in the middle of a discussion. It really burns me.

 

[John Stone]

I don't believe any of us are "biased in performing their duties."

Are you seriously telling us that no moderator has ever taken into account the poster's "stature" when making a mod decision? I'm not saying that most mods do this, but clearly some posters are given more latitude than others.
For the record, I've never been "moderated" so it's not a personal thing, just an observation.

 

[Cees Alons]

John,

It's not totally unavoidable.

But it works both ways: some people have worked themselves into the centre of our radar field, and all they have to do is THAT, to cause the axe to fall.

More often, though, what you think is leniency, is actually oversight: moderators read threads over and over, but cannot avoid not seeing some posts, more often than we wish, especially when "threads ... grow to five pages in 10 minutes because of a truly stupid argument"!

Cees

 

[TonyD]

tony, While I am not familiar with the thread you are referring to I can say there had to have been something else wrong with it for it to have been completely closed. There are other options available to us such as deleting a post or editing it.

frank i wasn't complaining that my thread was closed. (well i guess i really was)i'm sure the mod did what he was supposed to do. i just felt that instead of closing the thread maybe something else could have been done.