That's pretty much my feeling, too. I "Forum Jump" to General Chat and most of the time I see a list of threads that are either (1) political rants I have no interest in even reading or (2) mindless and usually adolescent babble I have no interest in even reading. Occasionally, I'll see something with the name HodgedUp or Crazy_Rob or yfs1 next to it and have a look. Most of the time I think I hear Officer Barbrady yelling, "Nothing to see here. Move along. That? That was a pigeon."
Dead on! Or another one about some election going on at another forum. We don't care! If we cared, we'd be at that other forum. I'd actually rather they NOT be about world peace. But couldn't they at least be amusing? Amen, Brother Hodged!
I really don't see the harm in these types of threads. I love this forum because of its diversity, seriousness and great webmaster information. I think that it is why a lot of others stay on - not all of course. Do you all want another forum area for a serious discussion area? Or perhaps a spam area - which I have in a forum that I run to keep some of the fun in a "special" area.
I'm glad I'm not the only one to notice this annoying trend. I feel the same way about only hitting threads that a handful of people have posted on. To me there's a difference between threads that are meaningless, but people are actually saying something in, and threads that are meaningless and people are just typing gibberish. Sure I've posted in a few of those, but to me there's really no entertainment of value. I mean who remembers anythinng that you post in them?
This forum is liked, because it doesn't allow anyone's opinions to dominate. There is no over-moderation. That is what's great. There are people here who are miserable and want this community to go down the same path as many have. They don't get it. I do respect people like Hodgeup and WRMineo's opinions though and maybe we need to be more considerate.
What you are saying is correct. However, what happens is that the threads which have the substance are lacking one important point compared to the other threads - big participation. Because unless others participate, the other good threads die their own death. to keep them alive, the members need to constantly keep on adding new meaningful posts to it. it's easy with the fun(useless) threads but not with the substance threads. The key is to get other members more involved in these threads. I think we shud ban Ninno from the fun threads and make him post only on the substance threads from now on
I like DP and that's the reason why I had to get serious for a moment which makes like the third time on this forum when I have. I just didn't want to look at DP a couple of months from now and think "Wow I used to post there before it became a forum for posting games". I noticed this "trend" and had a few other people actually mention it, but I didn't think much about it except for 1)thinking there aren't many threads I want to post in on General Chat and 2)some of the people's posts that I really like to read aren't posting very much any more.
I'm mostly staying out of Chat. One of the advantages is that some of the members I find most annoying mostly stay IN Chat. One of the disadvantages is that some of the most amusing members also post mostly in Chat
The General Chat forum description: I hear what everyone is saying and I will not be a bit more thoughtful on these types of threads. But I think there is place for both and I don't get that feeling just yet but I haven't posted in the General Chat until I saw those silly posts . Me thinks these types of things comes in waves - comes and goes - but I am sure the mods will clamp things down if it really gets out of hand.
The difference to me on the "fun" threads and the "substance" threads are that the fun threads are the equivalent of playing minesweeper versus going out with friends for dinner. Sure there is more participation in the post padding threads. It's easy to post in them. It takes nothing and it really adds nothing. The "substance" threads actually make me feel something. I feel for someone if something bad happens to them or if they need help on something. I actually laugh out loud on posts and message them to people with a message like "check this out". When's the last time you did any of that when someone posted "^has a long sig" ? People have pointed out that the reason for a forum is to have a community feeling. That’s what the “substance†threads give me. It tells me about people’s views, their living situations, what’s going on in their lives, and more about who they are.
I think I just need threads where I can chime in with my random posts and derail them or something. I can't do that if there's nothing in the threads. Go back to substance threads so I can go back to my old posts.
You mean he's raising your blood sugar levels? I don't get it... My suggestion: If you can't be informative, at least be FUNNY! Note: "Funny" and "puerile" are not the same thing at all.
I'm with you Hodge and I'm horrified it has been you of all people who has had to bring this up. I find myself skimming over more and more threads (I use the 'new posts' search). Where possible, I'll post, but you're correct, the thread needs a bit of substance for there to be something to post about.
er, er, er..... OK, I'll go try to be good and go make an interesting thread. Though odds are, fryman and minstrel will be POd!!! On the other hand, if we had that wacko board, then all these threads you intelligent humans hate (ie the fun and most populer threads!!) would be hidden down in the Wacko board!! *Goes and makes that interesting thread.*
Yeah, it is getting rather annoying. You guys may wake up one day soon and all the posts you ever had in General Chat (historically and going forward) might not count towards your post count.