Forum tone - let's make it more positive

El_Dangeroso

timmyntc wrote: »

I can (kinda) see where you're coming from OP, however this is a discussion board. And moreoften than not, discussion will be a majority criticism. And since here we are nothing more than an echo chamber really with no ties to City/County Council, the majority of criticism will be of a negative nature. No point being nice about the councils shortcomings when you aren't actually in contact with them. Also being nice is totally uncool

Not always so! Look at the Limerick City forum. It doesn't have 1/3 of snark the Galway city forum does.

I think OP is highlighting a serious issue in this forum, there is an unreal amount of negativity which is disproportionate to how nice the city actually is.

Are there problems? Absolutely. But if the good didn't outweigh the bad we wouldn't have the shocking house-prices that we do.:D

I for one would like to see less of the posters that use this forum as their personal soapbox rather than contributing to a community.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

I think all the limerick people just have an outlet for their snark and aggression offline. Whereas the Galway people go around all day 'ah yeah great man, sound head, do you want a can, happy days' and then come on here and channel all their frustrated confrontational urges into highly charged squabbling about Eyre square/the council/motorists/cyclists/Spanish students/whatever you're having yourself

dr.bollocko

How's the grass on eyre square looking these days from a bike on a path in the traffic?

Eeden

Seriously, To me this forum seems to be getting increasingly sarky, to the point that I hesitate to post here. But I don't know if it's worse than other regional forums. It seems that there used to be a bit more crack in the past, and that now it's mostly griping.

galwaycyclist

Eeden wrote: »

Seriously, To me this forum seems to be getting increasingly sarky, to the point that I hesitate to post here. But I don't know if it's worse than other regional forums. It seems that there used to be a bit more crack in the past, and that now it's mostly griping.

I disagree as long as I have been on boards the Galway City forum has been a dysfunctional place to be avoided.

There has long been a culture of some using it as a place to attack people who lived in the city or wanted to make it a better place.

Much of the "debating" style was dominated by playing the man rather than the ball and by some going around accusing others of saying things they hadn't said and then attacking them for it.

I am quite clear in my own mind that the a key component of the problem was the moderators.

I think it is now improving rather than getting worse. I believe that the reason it is getting better is that there is an increasing number of city residents in here who are increasingly refusing to be bullied or shouted down.

biko

Should anyone have suggestions on way to improve the forum but would rather stay anonymous - PM me or one of the other mods and we'll discuss it amongst ourselves.

Damn, I miss the way this forum used to be.

biko

There were some great Beers back in the day.

snubbleste

Deleted User wrote: »

Damn, I miss the way this forum used to be.

It was a pasture field with cow dung every step. Is that what you miss?

beardybrewer

Hmm, compared to /r/ireland this forum is a breath of fresh air. There are a few topics which really touch a nerve with a few posters to the extent nobody can say anything positive (e.g. xmas market). While the odd thread can get a bit exasperating I certainly wouldn't want to increase the level of moderation. I refer you to earlier post that this isn't an echo chamber and what makes this place interesting is there are people with their own opinions behind the keyboard.

Obviously this forum needs one of the ol' standby topics to rally around. Quick, someone start a best breakfast roll thread.

Moo Moo Land

From my viewpoint, the tone is generally ok on this forum but there is a constant level of bullying between certain posters that tarnish some of the threads. I wont mention names but the bullies and bullied know who they are.

Mrs OBumble

Moo Moo Land wrote: »

a constant level of bullying between certain posters

Eh? What's your definition of "bullying" (sic)?

biko

Banter / bickering / bullying can be in the eye of the beholder.

Feel free to report any posts anyone think aren't on par and a mod will take a look.

galwaycyclist

biko wrote: »

There were some great Beers back in the day.

I think this comment goes to the root of the problem.

In my view, this forum often had the character of a bunch of guys down the back of some village pub. Or perhaps a group of lads beered up on a stag night.

Its not a village pub. It is a public forum for a University city with most possibly the most diverse population of any city in the country.

If the village pub crowd and the stag party no longer feel that this forum meets their needs then thats just too bad and they need to move on somewhere else.

biko

It is difficult for a forum to cater to everyone, but it shouldn't be difficult for everyone to get along.
And tbh, most do get along just fine in this forum.

Specifically about the Beers, this was a great way for the forum to gel. People are much less likely to be dicks to people they have actually met.

Discodog

I don't see any problem. The antagonistic threads usually involve one subject - traffic

El_Dangeroso

Discodog wrote: »

I don't see any problem. The antagonistic threads usually involve one subject - traffic

Surely you missed out on grass-gate 2016 then?

Discodog

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Surely you missed out on grass-gate 2016 then?

No but the forum would be pointless if every thread was about how great Galway is. Debate is good.

El_Dangeroso

Discodog wrote: »

No but the forum would be pointless if every thread was about how great Galway is. Debate is good.

Debate is fine, whinging, soapboxing and single issue posters sap the life of the forum and alienate people.

Mr_A

I be thinkin this forum would be better if you scurvy dogs all talked like pirates.

Arrrr.

dr.bollocko

To be honest there are a few regular posters that show up to have a bit of an old moan in every thread and it ruins the buzz.

We all know this to be the case. It's taken a happy interesting place and turned it into yet another enclave where you think twice about posting. For example this post.

And while it does just make the good folks not come back because these people are wilfully constantly moaning and griping and bitching all the damn time, it's not something you can really moderate out bar some sort of "fûck off you buzz ruining dick" rule.
And again, I know it's not necessarily useful to point this out, but this is the problem as I see it.

galwaycyclist

biko wrote: »

Specifically about the Beers, this was a great way for the forum to gel. People are much less likely to be dicks to people they have actually met.

Let me correct that - it might be a great way for those who go for the beers to "gel" but the people who go for the beers are by no means "the forum".

If the people who go for beers see themselves as "the forum" and others as "not the forum" then that illustrates the problem right there.

If we are to understand that on this internet forum your protection against mistreatment depends on physically meeting people then that underlines the view that there is a core problem with the moderators.

Gremlinertia

I am usually fairly hesitant to post in the Galway city forum because i find debate to be more argumentative and robust than just debate.. Nevermind agreeing to disagree, never seen that happen.. I frequent a few other regional threads and have to say i don't usually see the same level of sniping. That said, this is a very informative forum with local news and issues covered as soon as they arise. I think what puts me off most is the poster vs posters stance that seems to happen a lot. I don't post anywhere expecting to have to energetically defend my stance while being sniped at..

TerrorFirmer

galwaycyclist wrote: »

If the people who go for beers see themselves as "the forum" and others as "not the forum" then that illustrates the problem right there.

If we are to understand that on this internet forum your protection against mistreatment depends on physically meeting people then that underlines the view that there is a core problem with the moderators.

That's not really what he said though and it's not fair either. I haven't met the vast majority of posters that frequent the Galway forum but I find most fairly agreeable. There are a few however that I personally think are always dragging down the tone reliably in pretty much every thread they post in.

When was the last proper beers? Almost a decade ago I would say? Even at that, almost all of the people I met at that don't even post here anymore. You mentioned the 'the village pub crowd' as a root issue - but I think you sort of want to believe this as opposed to actually think it is the case. It just isn't a thing.

There really are just some very negative posters here, that's all there is to it, there's no great conspiracy or external undermining going on. Some people, I think, have very thin skin as well. What often gets flagged as abuse and bullying isn't really much more than strong opinion at loggerheads with the opposite opinion. Now, this is actually a site-wide problem at the moment and the Galway forum is nowhere near as bad as some of the other ones for the ultra left wing PC brigade...but some people really need to develop thicker skin.

Few trigger words like 'traffic', 'bypass', 'cycling', 'city council'. As soon as I see those words...

El_Dangeroso

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

That's not really what he said though and it's not fair either. I haven't met the vast majority of posters that frequent the Galway forum but I find most fairly agreeable. There are a few however that I personally think are always dragging down the tone reliably in pretty much every thread they post in.

When was the last proper beers? Almost a decade ago I would say? Even at that, almost all of the people I met at that don't even post here anymore. You mentioned the 'the village pub crowd' as a root issue - but I think you sort of want to believe this as opposed to actually think it is the case. It just isn't a thing.

There really are just some very negative posters here, that's all there is to it, there's no great conspiracy or external undermining going on. Some people, I think, have very thin skin as well. What often gets flagged as abuse and bullying isn't really much more than strong opinion at loggerheads with the opposite opinion. Now, this is actually a site-wide problem at the moment and the Galway forum is nowhere near as bad as some of the other ones for the ultra left wing PC brigade...but some people really need to develop thicker skin.

Few trigger words like 'traffic', 'bypass', 'cycling', 'city council'. As soon as I see those words...

I was all ready to agree with you and thank your post and then you ruined it with the term 'PC Brigade', aw man, so close!

beardybrewer

dr.bollocko wrote: »

To be honest there are a few regular posters that show up to have a bit of an old moan in every thread and it ruins the buzz.

We all know this to be the case. It's taken a happy interesting place and turned it into yet another enclave where you think twice about posting. For example this post.

I was tempted to nod along with this, but it's the people who stop posting because of the moaners that ruins the forum.

A forum is a microcosm of society, like people you work with you don't get to choose. Statistically when you get more than 10 people together 30% of them will be ****. As in life, you don't let the moaners and whingers take what's yours.

Moo Moo Land

beardybrewer wrote: »

Statistically when you get more than 10 people together 30% of them will be ****.

80% of statistics are made up on the spot.

Eeden

beardybrewer wrote: »

... it's the people who stop posting because of the moaners that ruins the forum...

I actually don't understand the logic behind this. It's not the dicks that are a problem, it's the people who can't/won't engage with the dicks?!?

Arghus

Regarding the beers: I went to some back in the day, and I never got the sense that people who were there were about fostering an "us" versus "them" attitude. Far from it: they were just a bit of craic and symptomatic of a time when the forum was a busier place. Even back then it would have been only a fairly small minority of posters who would go in any case.

Having a problem with them is a case of trying real hard to be bothered by something that's completely harmless.

galwaycyclist

Arghus wrote: »

Even back then it would have been only a fairly small minority of posters who would go in any case.

Exactly - which is why the language used by the user Biko is disturbing and raises serious questions.

Having a problem with them is a case of trying real hard to be bothered by something that's completely harmless.

There is perceived to be a problem with this forum and has been for a long time. This thread is the latest attempt to address the situation.

It is reasonable in the circumstances to look for the source of the issue. It may be that the majority of the attendance at a beers night were there in good faith and had no agenda. But if the moderators start treating their new beer buddies as "the forum" then there is still a very very obvious problem.