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Thread: Why I leave the forum every day

  1. #1

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    MS SQL Powerposter szlamany's Avatar
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    Why I leave the forum every day

    I used to keep this page open 24/7 - always looking around for new threads - checking on who's around and asking what questions.

    Now - when I see the daily blast against Trump for the same old sorry group of losers using the same old re-hashed BS I just close the page.

    Bye, bye

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  2. #2
    ex-Administrator brad jones's Avatar
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    Re: Why I leave the forum every day

    Quote Originally Posted by szlamany View Post
    Now - when I see the daily blast against Trump for the same old sorry group of losers using the same old re-hashed BS I just close the page.

    Bye, bye
    I'm not sure I understand the point of your post here in feedback.

    Why not just stay out of Chit Chat, or even just out of the few threads on politics that are in chit chat? It looks to me like there are two threads there on politics versus all of the other threads across the forum on tech topics.

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  3. #3
    PowerPoster Arnoutdv's Avatar
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    Re: Why I leave the forum every day

    I never visit Chit-Chat, to much local US orientated and not of any use for visitors from other countries.

  4. #4

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    MS SQL Powerposter szlamany's Avatar
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    Re: Why I leave the forum every day

    Quote Originally Posted by brad jones View Post
    I'm not sure I understand the point of your post here in feedback.
    Because it's in the activity stream - it gets seen.

    And it's posted by the same people active in the same threads where we are trying to help folk.

    At this point months away from January 20th I now know the opinions of these people to the point where I do not want to be in any thread with them.

    With activity on the forum nothing like it was 10 years ago - even 5 years ago - seeing those one-sided political threads listed in NEW POSTS - makes me sad...

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    ex-Administrator brad jones's Avatar
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    Re: Why I leave the forum every day

    Quote Originally Posted by Arnoutdv View Post
    I never visit Chit-Chat, to much local US orientated and not of any use for visitors from other countries.
    Out of curiosity, what types of topics would be more 'global' to chit chat about?

  6. #6

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    MS SQL Powerposter szlamany's Avatar
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    Re: Why I leave the forum every day

    Quote Originally Posted by brad jones View Post
    Out of curiosity, what types of topics would be more 'global' to chit chat about?
    Those threads stopped being chit chat a long time ago. I was very active in those political threads at first - looking for interesting conversation. It's not conversation - it's angry people re-posting things over and over again.

    It's more chit - certainly not chat

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  7. #7
    ex-Administrator brad jones's Avatar
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    Re: Why I leave the forum every day

    Quote Originally Posted by szlamany View Post
    Because it's in the activity stream - it gets seen.
    ahhh... I tend to focus more on the 'new posts' option than the 'activity stream'. That filters down the level of noise I see.

  8. #8
    ex-Administrator brad jones's Avatar
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    Re: Why I leave the forum every day

    Quote Originally Posted by szlamany View Post
    It's more chit - certainly not chat
    I'll take a look at the threads later today. If that is the case, then it is likely time to close the threads.

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  9. #9
    PowerPoster Arnoutdv's Avatar
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    Re: Why I leave the forum every day

    I also only use "New Posts", with the focus on VB6 and Office (because VBA looks a lot like VB6)

    Out of curiosity, what types of topics would be more 'global' to chit chat about?
    Nothing special, but I find those political threads to dreaded :-)
    It sometimes looks more like a lounge for the long time members who only post in this forum.
    But I'm not complaining at all, I understand the need for a more free forum, but some moderation can be necessary, especially when people get offended.

  10. #10
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    Re: Why I leave the forum every day

    I sort of agree those threads are a drag. I let myself get sucked back into one recently but my experience on VB Forums has been much better when I forget General is down there and I'm not tempted to click inside. This is self-imposed, that isn't sarcasm.

    This particular US election is a very passionate thing for many people on all sides of the political spectrum. There are a lot of issues at the forefront that people feel very strongly about. A lot of them are issues that don't lead to friendly discussion.

    I have more fun when I stick to VB discussions, and I'm way less likely to lose my temper.
    This answer is wrong. You should be using TableAdapter and Dictionaries instead.

  11. #11
    ex-Administrator brad jones's Avatar
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    Re: Why I leave the forum every day

    There is no 'winning' a political or religious discussion. As such, the only way they work is if people are open minded and respect everyone's views and opinions. We don't have to accept or agree with those views or opinions, but do need to respect that we can each have our own for whatever reason, and that we therefore need to let others have theirs. Because people tend to forget this basic rule of courtesy, most political discussions on our forum end up getting closed due to complaints.


    Edit:
    In the words of a very famous movie..... The only way to win is to not play the game!
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  12. #12
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    Re: Why I leave the forum every day

    Yeah, I had a lot in my post I edited out about how I prefer LD-debate style political posts.

    One side tells their story. Someone asks them questions to try and expose weaknesses, they answer. A different side is told. That one's cross-examined. Rebuttal, rebuttal, game over, everyone goes home, the people who heard the cases decide for themselves who made their points the best.

    There's no way to really facilitate that on a forum, and what ends up happening is like an infinite cross-examination. It'd be stupid to close threads after like four posts, or insist that people wait "their turn" to make a statement. But without that moderation, there's soooooo much temptation to not stop until someone changes their mind or concedes defeat. But neither of those were really ever the purpose of opening the discussion.
    This answer is wrong. You should be using TableAdapter and Dictionaries instead.

  13. #13
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    Re: Why I leave the forum every day

    I like the political threads and think a certain level of confrontation is healthy. The problem is keeping that confrontation polite and constructive. As Brad says, just remember the basic rules of courtesy: I've got my opinion, you've got yours, they may not be the same but both can still be valid. I'm allowed to criticise your opinion but I shouldn't criticise you... and you owe me the same courtesy.

    I think we need to be really careful about our tone in those threads too. In other threads we can get away with poking a bit of friendly fun at each other and can be fairly sure it'll get taken in the spirit it was meant. But in the politics ones our friendly jibe is likely to be received as a mortal insult. So be careful about being a little snarky and be ready to say sorry when someone does take offence at something we never meant to be offensive.

    Nominally I'm the mod for Chit Chat (although we all muck in, of course) and I've got to tell you that when those threads start up I meet them with a certain amount of dread because I don't like to be heavy handed and I know I might have to be - but I always contribute to them because I like a good debate. And they're still a lot less grief than the old VB6 vs .Net threads. Now they could get hostile.

    I do think that things were a bit better when we used the World Events forum for these kind of conversations rather than the main Chit Chat forum. The people who went into World Events tended to be a little more seriously minded than those who only frequent Chit Chat. If folks want I could start moving those threads into World Events and see if it helps. I'm cautious about doing that because World Events has become a bit of a graveyard lately and I suspect the threads might just die but what with Brexit, Trump, upcoming UK elections, ISIS etc there's enough news in the world at the moment to resurrect WE.




    @Brad, I don't use either the activity or the new threads pages but a simple solution might be to filter chit chat out of those feeds.
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  14. #14
    Administrator Steve R Jones's Avatar
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    Re: Why I leave the forum every day

    Quote Originally Posted by brad jones View Post
    Edit:
    In the words of a very famous movie..... The only way to win is to not play the game!
    There's another good old saying -> "Never argue with an idiot. They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience every time."

    I'm a member of another site that has two OT sections. The second one is called the DEBATE Forum. Anything goes except porn pics and references to others family members. It's pretty much the same guys beating each other up day after to day. If asked why they do it - they probably don't even have an idea


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