Sex and Sexuality forum.

Abrasax

I read the thread above but it doesn't give any reason why the general populace aren't allowed access.

Was it ever open to the peeps?

Are we not to be trusted? It seems a bit early '90s to me.

A troll nightmare? Then give users with a certain amount of posts access, I dunno say a 1000 or 3000+, and then deal with trolls on a case by case basis.

Flirt-alert overdrive? More than poor Doc has to deal with already in AH? Infractions and bans for persistent flirting?

And why the 18 year old age limit if there are no porn links and the ages of consent are 15 and 17 in Ireland respectively?

Just curious. Thanks.

WindSock

I think it is more just a privilage to entice people to subscribe.

Rabies

WindSock wrote: »

I think it is more just a privilage to entice people to subscribe.

And it keeps those with a trollish nature out.
Not just limited to subscribers i think, mods have access too.

S&S isn't a perk of subscribing. Its just something that goes along with it and can be removed if you're a dick.

Abrasax

Rabies wrote: »

And it keeps those with a trollish nature out.
Not just limited to subscribers i think, mods have access too.

S&S isn't a perk of subscribing. Its just something that goes along with it and can be removed if you're a dick.

But was it ever open to registered members?

I think it should be an access request forum.. Keep trolls out.
It's a pointless forum as it is.

Abrasax

Deleted User wrote: »

I think it should be an access request forum.. Keep trolls out.
It's a pointless forum as it is.

I noticed people saying not much happens there, in the thread above.

Perhaps it's the lack of users that lends to it's tameness.

The Hill Billy

Abrasax wrote: »

And why the 18 year old age limit if ... the ages of consent are 15 and 17 in Ireland respectively?

I don't think so.

Insect Overlord

S&S is a waste of a forum. I check it out maybe once or twice a week, see that there are only 3 updated threads, and then leave again without posting. It's often run in a similar enough style to P.I. so there's very little room for casual or conversational posting, which is fairly off-putting once the novelty of access wears off.

AckwelFoley

The internet isnt somewhere i personally would seek to add to my sexual prowess.

OutlawPete

It's a waste of time.

Forum should be closed or made into an access request forum for all members.

Or perhaps make it a sub-forum of PI (with access request approval).

When I was a subscriber, I popped in once or twice to S&S and near choked on the cobwebs, the place is like a morgue.

There are more sexual threads in AH in a week than there is there in a year, let alone taking post count on the threads into account.

My name is URL

Abrasax wrote: »

I noticed people saying not much happens there, in the thread above.

Perhaps it's the lack of users that lends to it's tameness.

An odd forum indeed. I can't read it, makes me feel uneasy.. like watching a porn and realizing that your aunty is in the background doing ungodly things

Nevyn

Insect Overlord wrote: »

S&S is a waste of a forum. I check it out maybe once or twice a week, see that there are only 3 updated threads, and then leave again without posting. It's often run in a similar enough style to P.I. so there's very little room for casual or conversational posting, which is fairly off-putting once the novelty of access wears off.

It's not run in a similar style of pi at all.
There was a time when there was a lot of casual posting in it and then people complained as it excluded people and so the forum ebbs and flows.

Current the policy for the S&S forum is on the list to be discussed by feedforward, I have been trying for the last 10 month to have it reviewed and it just doesn't seem to be a priority at all.

The S&S forum was set up before there was the ladies lounge, the gentleman's club and the cleraisl and hormones forum and as a result there seems to be a lot more threads about sex openly on the site then when it was first setup.

Frankly I have over the last year given up on reporting threads in the likes of those forums and in AH which according to current site policy should be in the S&S forum, some where along the line that policy was never told to new mods so they don't move the threads and allow them to run on, so we have the thread on sex toys in the ladies lounge.

There have been feedback threads on this in the S&S going back as far as September 09 asking for the policy to be reviewed and there just doesn't seem to be the will do to it.

Originally the reason for restricted access was to stop trolls, kids and jurnos and people who are easily offended reading the content and then making a fuss. The forum was created 22-07-2005 after many arguments and was set up by the then admins with the restrictions or else it would not have been created.

I don't like how things are but I can't change them until there is a review of the policy.

Mimikyu

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Aidric

You ain't missing owt OP.

Abrasax

Aidric wrote: »

You ain't missing owt OP.

I've no particular compulsion to share my sexual peccadilloes with the nation, just curious why I can't.

AckwelFoley

If those involved would like to have a more "active" forum (the definition of active is subjective) i would think it would be a good idea to perhaps have the forum by request only, similar to the ways other forums operate

Nevyn

I think if those who do have access and wish to have a more active forum then they should post in it themselves.
There is plenty of scope to talk about sex and sexuality with out it being sharing personal experiences.
Those who do not have access can find the current copy of the charter and the current remit of the forum here.
http://wiki.boards.ie/wiki/Board:Sex_/_Sexuality

WindSock

Why is it only restricted to subscribers and mods though? Surely there are plenty of non subscriber, non trollish regulars who could bring more to the forum?

Nevyn

The reasoning behind it when the forum was created was to try and ensure that no one under the age of 18 could get access as to subscribe as a credit card and paypal account was needed.

Sharpshooter

WindSock wrote: »

Why is it only restricted to subscribers and mods though? Surely there are plenty of non subscriber, non trollish regulars who could bring more to the forum?

Mods usually would not take it upon themselves to troll or post porn.

Same with Subscribers, if they have invested money to read the forum they are least likely to troll it imo.

Insect Overlord

WindSock wrote: »

Why is it only restricted to subscribers and mods though? Surely there are plenty of non subscriber, non trollish regulars who could bring more to the forum?

I think it comes from the time (before 3-V cards and Paypal) when people could only subscribe to Boards by credit card. It was assumed that a credit card was proof of adulthood/being over 18. The idea was to keep the innocent little kiddies from reading about sex on the Internet. With new systems in place for payment, however, that method of age-proofing is pretty much redundant. Trouble is, as Thaed said above, the question of what to do with the S&S forum has unfortunately been over-taken by bigger site-issue in the last nine months.

Edit: Woah, I should really have refreshed the page sooner

Nevyn

More likely to keep thier parents and other outraged "won't someone think of the children" from seeing it and lamenting children seeing it.

Rabies

I think the forum should re read access for everyone.
Some good advice good be there for minors. Better they had the info than none at all.
Then everyone else should be able to join via normal access requests.

Abrasax

I understand that the site may have issues with parents complaining about what their children have seen but if a user is permitted to use/view the forum on the proviso they're over a certain age, surely it's not the fault of the site if that user has lied, about how old they are, to gain access. ?

WindSock

Sharpshooter wrote: »

Mods usually would not take it upon themselves to troll

You'd think so. I guess sometimes, it happens though..
But that still doesn't mean certain established users are more likely to troll, than a mod or subscriber.

Terry

Thaedydal wrote: »

More likely to keep thier parents and other outraged "won't someone think of the children" from seeing it and lamenting children seeing it.

That's a policy I agree with.
all it takes is one Sunday world article and the whole country would be up in arms.

The issue of sex and the internet is still a very new concept, and to have an Irish site openly talking about sex is something that is still abhorrent to Joe Duffy's audience.

As much as we would like to openly discuss our favourite positions, or which method of contraception suits a certain individual, we have to remember that the most vocal people tend to be the most sexually repressed (and probably have no children of their own).

Abrasax wrote: »

I understand that the site may have issues with parents complaining about what their children have seen but if a user is permitted to use/view the forum on the proviso they're over a certain age, surely it's not the fault of the site if that user has lied, about how old they are, to gain access. ?

You could then argue that there should be stricter measures in place to prevent people lying about their age.

I know I'm coming across as a doomsayer here, but I'm just trying to be realistic. I'd love to see open discussions on sex as much as the next person, but the last thing we need is for over-protective parents pushing to have this site listed as unsafe, which could lead to it being blocked in schools, colleges and offices. It's too valuable a resource for that to happen.

In the past we have had 15/16 year old mods, who would have had access, and they didn't turn out to be rapists and paedophiles, or any other type of disgusting sexual deviant that Duffy's team of spinsters would have you believe will come of unmarried teens who know about sex.

Then again, the country has come on leaps and bounds since the 80's, so maybe I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong.

Also, AH is never the place for discussions on sex.
You would be better off showing a teenager some porn and telling them that is how sex happens, even if it is a fantasy.

Mimikyu

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sickofwaiting

This 'think of the children reason' for not having the S&S forum available to non-subscribers is ridiculous. It someone under 18 wants to look up sex on the internet the last place they are going to try and get their kicks is on boards.ie. They will be going straight to the hardcore porn. Then there is the fact that there are lots of threads on sex all over boards anyway, not to mention there have been lots of threads where people talk about drug taking and freely admit they take illegal drugs. No problems there, and there have has never been one column/news report in the national media that dealt with 'people talking about sex/drugs on boards.ie'. The reason being there are much much bigger scandals out there for the national media to deal with than a complete non-issue such as a people talking about sex/drugs on the internet.

This is Ireland 2010, not 1955, you'd think we'd have thrown off the auld sexual repression at this stage but it seems it is still alive and well here in official boards.ie policy. If this was any other country in Europe you can be sure a S&S forum on the national online discussion messageboard (if they have one) would be just another forum like any other. Typical Irish approach to sex here.

For god sake they are mere words on a forum, completely harmless, especially when you consider that on the net videos of completely crazy disgraceful filth are only ever two clicks way.

Nevyn

Terry wrote: »

In the past we have had 15/16 year old mods, who would have had access,

They had their access removed and were fine with it.

Captain Morgan wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Don't know if that is technically possible.

Dav

I'm putting it on the list for Feed Forward and will try bump it.

Abrasax

Dav wrote: »

I'm putting it on the list for Feed Forward and will try bump it.

Cheers Dav,

Whilst this leaves the status of forums future where it's already been for the last 10 months, according to THaedydal, I hope this thread stimulates further debate among the powers that be.

Thank you and goodbye,

Abrasax.