Dauphin said:

I agree with what you said.There were many questionable topics posted on the "General Discussion" forum.We're all guilty of this (remember YOUR thread devoted to Prince's cock?...lol...).In fact,I used to complain about this,and I was strongly in favor of thread limits (which Ben eventually started doing).But after awhile,I began to loosen up and just enjoy the craziness of it all.If I didn't wanna read the offensive threads,I didn't have to.But it's all part of the "community".Prince fans are crazy,bizarre,silly,and alot of fun to converse with,and the "GD" forum reflected this.If you check out the "General Discussion" forums of ANY fansite,you will find the same kind of silliness.Last year,Madonna's official site had several different forums on their message board,including a "General Discussion" forum.There were also forums devoted to her music,to her tour,etc.Guess which forum was the "most active"?

There is a reason why the "General Discussion" forum on this site was the most active forum.Nobody can discuss just Prince 24 hours a day,all the time.I mean,how many times can we analyze the 'TRC' and 'ONA' CDs? Prince's career has slowed down in recent years.There isn't always alot of "news" coming from his camp.Hell,the news page on THIS site is sometimes not updated for several days.

DavidEye said:

I had the same evolution. At first, I thought there were too many threads intended to be funny. Of course, I said so and got flamed for it. Not too worry... I always wear flame-retardant clothes in the GD forum. I even provided a philosophical basis for it all One thing that pissed me off was that reacting to some of that humor in a critical way was viewed as a "personal attack" by some, when for me it was just like giving a thumb down to a stand-up comedian. I thought that a little criticism might be just what is needed, because without it, the self-indulgence factor just keeps growing.

But eventually I somewhat embraced it I figured that if most people were coming to the least topical forum to read and post "drivel", then it must be that it's what people enjoy. No one was forcing anyone to go there, including myself.

I still think a lot of funny threads suck big time, but hey... I can skip. I also still wish that rating some of these efforts and the "characters" that are always "on" would be more acceptable. The way I see it, it's a bit like an ecosystem that has no predators.

In any case, like you I relaxed. Maybe the solution is to have no GD forum at all. After all, we didn't need one in the old Org. When there is no designated place to post whimsical threads, they are spread out in different forums, harder to find, but still there.. and their proliferation is somewhat discouraged by the more topical posters in the different forums... though I have no doubt one of the forums would become a favorite for those threads no matter what name it has. How do you kill what seems to be the most popular kind of topics? You can't... unless you don't mind spending your time locking and deleting to preserve the topicality of specific forums.

On that note, why can't Ben rely on more people for administration or proactive hosting? There are some very sensible folks here and I'm sure a couple would be willing to pitch in. If that happens, moderators/hosts should have a generic nickname and not the one they use when they post. This would create some distance and maybe depersonalize the decisions in the eyes of the users. It would also make the moderators less shy about intervening, since their moderator personality would be distinct from their regular one.

Just sayin...
[This message was edited Thu Jun 20 5:00:56 PDT 2002 by Aerogram]

Sounds good Aero.

I don't know, it sounds like the humorous threads are getting a bad rap. They are what give this site a sense of community. They were the ones where the least flaming went on and that made people comfortable about being here! Hell, my daily routine was to read the paper and then check to see if Billy or KS (or Lleena ) posted!

What about all those threads where people would just post random off-topic news stories -- both a link to something from Slate or whatever and then the text too? -- pages and pages of stuff from some news source without any commentary at all?

I mean c'mon, like this place is someone's personal Drudge Report! I mean unless you are smart enough to actually comment on the items and introduce and sustain a discussion on the issue that just seems kind of like intellectual masturbation to me.

People keep talking about nonsense topics. There are many different kinds of nonsense in this world.

Damn I'll never embrace that kind of shit.

Also, I would NOT trust anyone else except Matt or Ben or VJ to moderate these forums, despite these recent events!

2the9s said:

Well now 2the9s there are plenty of people capable of moderating the site. Once we are all "singing from the same hymn-sheet" and there are enough people keeping the site running without being heavy handed, things will get a lot better.

As for nonsene topics ... I personally would ONLY participate in a thread that was utter nonsense. I don't come here for the intellectual stimulation you know

ian said:

me neither, although I'm always happy when I find it -- and I do sometimes. But the idea of certain people moderating this site makes me shudder! I don't mean you of course, but then I'm biased in your favor.

DrD said:

DrD

yesterday said:

Your hypocrisy is disgusting.


Then start your own site where you can make the rules. The GENERAL Discussion site is described as get wild, get freaky, let your head bop...
Most of the Prince oriented threads are in the music sections and news section. Nobody makes anyone go to the GENERAL Discussion area to read the dumb posts there.

2the9s said:

Too late...I've been moderating since '96, and I ain't quittin' now!

kevin said:

::: Or Kevin... Sorry!

2the9s said:

Actually, I think we are going to end up getting some help from someone that has been a prince.org member for a very long time (in fact, he was an old PPML - and maybe PML member.)

We have drafted some "Moderation Guidelines" that we intend to have for us to use, and eventually publish...

It would be best to publish the guidelines first, but we want to see how the guidelines would work with the current forum and moderators before publishing them.

kevin said:

1995, even.

kevin said:

Not the Kiigster I hope? He can't be trusted. Mark my words.

Nah... See, we can't all be that funny, and the inanity factor of humor is just naturally high. If there's masturbation to be found on this site, it's there. This doesn't mean it is found nowhere else...

Personally I find general news to be worthy thread topics compared to the "What is the length of Prince's ___?" type of thread. I realize they are not the most original idea, but they have generated some interesting discussions. I agree they should come with a comment, but in general, news item speak for themselves and the comments are made during whatever discussion ensues (if any). Just look at the Prince news...few real introductions by the submitter, and the discussions are often skeletal.

The fact that humor threads don't have as much flaming as other types is hardly surprising -- most people are much more likely to argue when discussing "seriously" than they are while joking with their friends. As for popularity, humorous threads are easy to reply to compared to say, a thread on the origins of the universe. Most replies are short and emoticoned and sometimes amount to not much more than glorified chat.

I like a bit of everything really, like most people. Just because I don't think every thread (mine as much as everybody else's) is great doesn't mean I'm frowning at it all...
[This message was edited Thu Jun 20 18:54:27 PDT 2002 by Aerogram]

Yeah...what you said, Aero!

Essence said:

Right, that Essence chap is first up against the wall!

ian said:

Oh great! Now we'll have all football threads!

2the9s said:

I don't really like football, I just support my country and enjoy the world cup After the finals I'll be quiet for another 4 years I promise!

ian said:

Ooooh Sailor! Shouldn't we at least date first?

i saw a nice football news item the other day. It was about a team that relaxed buck naked together before a game.

Aerogram said:

If only they played buck naked too