Site is a graveyard - How can boards save itself? [Threadbanned users in 1st post]

The beauty of Boards is that it had so many sub-forums that became the goto discussion portals for loads of niche communities.

A new user coming to the forum would no idea these subs exist & without new posters they just wither & die.

Perhaps archive some of these older dormant forums then simplify the directories, give the site a cleaner look & make it far easier on the mods.

In that case, there are numerous examples of muppetry as in 'misrepresenting arguments & dodging questions' in ongoing threads in CA. Funny thing is that the main perpetrators are at it often & openly and not a sign of any censure.

So clearly interpretation of muppetry is quite subjective?

As to being 'abusive', don't you run into the same problems? In that some people are fairly thick skinned whilst others take offence at the drop of a hat. I take little regard of dismissive/ abusive comments but others are readily insulted.

Frankly, I've no idea how moderators can sensibly arbitrate on such matters. And in that case, light touch modding as mentioned by someone else seems to make best sense.

no one is under any obligation to answer a question on boards- that’s been the way for decades now but still people insist on badgering people if they don’t answer their question - only the other day i was badgered 3 times to answer something - considering the tone of the user I ignored them 3 times - had someone simply asked me politely I would have been fine about it - people think if they quote a post demanding a reply they’re untitled to it- they’re not

if that's the case its demise is imminent then.

Yes, the on-boarding is daunting. The helpdesk forum seems to be used as a "newbie ask a question and we'll direct you to right place" to fill that gap.

What if there is no right or wrong in a discussion? Or if the evidence is controvertible?

It just then becomes 'I'm right 'cos I said so'.

Then you agree to disagree.

The problem is, people come into debate forums not to debate or learn about different viewpoints, but to vent and push agendas.

Couldn't agree more. One of boards problems are those who insist their views are correct. Other posters are lost to the thread and then they are left to talk among themselves.

did you just get a compromised password message from Google? I did just about an hour ago - I don’t think it was about boards per se though

I actually addressed your point carefully. There is hardly a subject where evidence is not debatable at some level. Perhaps it's true in the case of some mathematical conventions but not in the real world. The world is not black & white, right or wrong, good or bad, evil or holy - it's shades of these things. So your claim is fallacious.

The only relevance of this is that no one should presume on any thread that they are wholly right and others are wholly wrong.

Fact is most people think they are right and based on today's media they are told they are always right and everyone else is wrong.

Boards in reality is whats boards always was, is it a graveyard? no

Will it massively improve in membership? probably no

Could it in future? very possible

Should boards change? I say no

Whats the point? you end up chasing something which you will never be and lose the point of it in first place. Which has killed many websites.

Boards should never try to be a twitter, which is a cesspool and always will be.

No… consider the posters argument as stated above

"Despite what some would like to claim on most subjects there is a right and a wrong and that is established through facts and evidence. If one party refuses to acknowledge this then they are not in a discussion but are preaching."

They claim that most threads/debates on boards can be resolved through the idea that there is a right and a wrong and that is established through facts and evidence. Others can judge the value of this argument as well but as far as I'm concerned that is straightforward dogmatism and should have no place on boards. And just who is preaching here?? Certainly not I. Keeping an open mind is always advisable.

So we shall leave it there and agree to disagree.

There is no fear that with the banning of posters that one poster describes , (and I think they are vastly under selling themselves on their understanding of being a dick btw ) , that that thread will become an echo chamber for the left ..the opposite is true .

It is a draw for trolls and reregs on top of regular posters by its nature ,..right vs left .. and those who are convinced their opinions are the only correct one , with constant pile ons on posters who post against the narrative.

It has to be said that there are some very good balanced posters there also , but they are not the issue . Any reasonable discussion is destroyed by posters who constantly dump links and try to bait other posters , insulting and discussing other posters and generally ' being a dick .'

And it isn't all on the side that furze99 is asserting .

Hence they trigger moderation .

Without good moderation any differing opinion would be bullied from that thread .

There is nothing amiss at all with the moderation on Current Affairs , that is just the opinion of those who cannot ever accept that they are ever uncivil or break the charter .

The mods do a very fair job , just not enough mods on that busy forum to see all the abuse that some posters get Reporting is sometimes the only way to highlight the trolling and harassment of a few posters on the thread

One of the nastiest things is the way posters perceived to be on the opposing side are discussed between others , labelled and otherwise persistently trolled with incorrect statements being attributed to them on order to bait and inflame .

Saying people are ' thin skinned ' and 'easily insulted ' is subjective. The same posters who dole this treatment out would find it unbearable if happening repeatedly to themselves every time they post .Its harassment and an attempt to silence other posters and /or bully them from the thread .

I think what has occurred on that thread is that those who persist posting against the narrative are the more stubborn individuals who refuse to be ground down ! And who are very careful how they post because they know that they will and are being reported for the slightest thing .

So saying all the reporting is on one side is untrue … both sides have had warnings and bans .

.Do I think Boards is dying ? No but death by a thousand cuts might be the future because of the Vanilla issues.

There is a thread on feedback for those bugs which Mike comes back to regularly to update but it is very slow going and as soon as one issue is sorted it appears to cause another .

As for younger posters ..I don't see too many having the interest to discuss politics but would have thought football , gaming , and after hours would attract more .

As a rule I only frequent for Music and Home and have seen very little overt moderation on these sites and yet they still roll on . Not so busy on the Home front since the changeover , don't know why .

People tend to be happier and amicable on these threads, and agree to disagree .

So I suppose CA and Politics just are difficult because people tend to take it so seriously.

Maybe that's the key takeaway ..we should all relax a bit ?