Bring Back the Community threads

[Time Like Lightning]

He's not breaking any rules as far as I know.

Does he not like the new format? Evidently that's a violation.

We don't bring up Twilight.

Excuse you.

[Marc Lombardi]

I like his posts. I wouldn't befriend him, but I like the cut of his jib.

I've gotta be honest. I haven't seen posts from anyone here yet who I find unpleasant. That's definitely a nice change of pace from many forums (and from my prior limited CBR interactions).

[Marc Lombardi]

We don't bring up Twilight.

I normally wouldn't either except I just watched those "Bad Lip-Synched" videos on the Twilight movies and they're on my mind.

[thecrimson]

I've gotta be honest. I haven't seen posts from anyone here yet who I find unpleasant. That's definitely a nice change of pace from many forums (and from my prior limited CBR interactions).

I haven't met a bad person in my times in the many off-topic threads. People I disagreed with, sure, but never someone I hated.

[Yeoman]

As a direct response to your post, here is what one of the Admins/Mods posted in the very first post of the CBR Chat thread (for clarity's sake):


Now, the point that I think you're missing is this line:.

And I think you're missing that this is quite literally the fourth time I have seen this attempt to force all the CBR groups together. It has never lasted more than six months, and one of those times was so bad it ended with several dozen long term posters banned or walking away.

It doesn't work.

People form social groups. And new comers to those groups will be eyed with suspicion. This is human nature. It's even more so human nature on the internet.

What you're now going to see is people making long unofficial chat threads. Not on purpose, they are just going to evolve into that. That's what happened on Rumbles with the original Soap Operus. And then, under current policy, those threads are going to be closed. And all that's going to do is breed distrust between moderators and posters. Which creates a hostile environment. Which leads to exactly the kind of posts this was done to stop. It will not stop those kinds of posts. It will foster them.

Many of you are sitting there rolling your eyes at this. You're thinking it's over-reactionary doom saying at best. I have seen this happen. I have seen this happen on CBR.

[Marc Lombardi]

And I think you're missing that this is quite literally the fourth time I have seen this attempt to force all the CBR groups together. It has never lasted more than six months, and one of those times was so bad it ended with several dozen long term posters banned or walking away.

It doesn't work.

People form social groups. And new comers to those groups will be eyed with suspicion. This is human nature. It's even more so human nature on the internet.

What you're now going to see is people making long unofficial chat threads. Not on purpose, they are just going to evolve into that. That's what happened on Rumbles with the original Soap Operus. And then, under current policy, those threads are going to be closed. And all that's going to do is breed distrust between moderators and posters. Which creates a hostile environment. Which leads to exactly the kind of posts this was done to stop. It will not stop those kinds of posts. It will foster them.

Many of you are sitting there rolling your eyes at this. You're thinking it's over-reactionary doom saying at best. I have seen this happen. I have seen this happen on CBR.

You raise some very valid points. I suppose that the difference here is that CBR as a whole is now operating under a completely different mindset (or so it appears that was Jonah's intent). His "manifesto" or whatever you want to call it seemed to be very heartfelt and I get the impression that these changes are in place for the long haul, frequent posters and the ways of old be damned.

[Yeoman]

You raise some very valid points. I suppose that the difference here is that CBR as a whole is now operating under a completely different mindset (or so it appears that was Jonah's intent). His "manifesto" or whatever you want to call it seemed to be very heartfelt and I get the impression that these changes are in place for the long haul, frequent posters and the ways of old be damned.

While his reasons for doing so may be different, this is largely the same approach I saw last time. Which was by far the most ugly of the attempts at forcing everyone together.

If he can make it work and pull out a miracle to make an island of sanity on the internet, more power to him. But so far, the people I recognize that I see leaving are exactly the people I would most want to keep here.

[Marc Lombardi]

While his reasons for doing so may be different, this is largely the same approach I saw last time. Which was by far the most ugly of the attempts at forcing everyone together.

If he can make it work and pull out a miracle to make an island of sanity on the internet, more power to him. But so far, the people I recognize that I see leaving are exactly the people I would most want to keep here.

Then maybe wherever they're going is gonna turn into an even better place. Or they'll take some time to cool off and come back (assuming they haven't freaked out to the point of getting banned already).

[Lycaon pictus]

Then maybe wherever they're going is gonna turn into an even better place. Or they'll take some time to cool off and come back (assuming they haven't freaked out to the point of getting banned already).

Why do you hate the subforum specific chat threads? I don't consider myself an old poster by any means. I've only been here about a year, and I'm frustrated as hell with the Mega Chat Thread. The other smaller threads had their own rhythm, and community and in-jokes, and regulars, like any social group. I miss X-cres, and it looks like the rumblers and Ritas and everyone else misses their clubhouses too.

So what's your deal, man?

[Marc Lombardi]

Why do you hate the subforum specific chat threads? I don't consider myself an old poster by any means. I've only been here about a year, and I'm frustrated as hell with the Mega Chat Thread. The other smaller threads had their own rhythm, and community and in-jokes, and regulars, like any social group. I miss X-cres, and it looks like the rumblers and Ritas and everyone else misses their clubhouses too.

So what's your deal, man?

No "deal." I just understand where CBR is coming from with this new policy and as someone without a dog in this race I guess it's just easier for me to acclimate to the new rule. I also generally understand that forums like this one are not my property so I have learned to abide by their rules and not take offense when the people who operate the board decide on changes like these.

[Lycaon pictus]

No "deal." I just understand where CBR is coming from with this new policy and as someone without a dog in this race I guess it's just easier for me to acclimate to the new rule. I also generally understand that forums like this one are not my property so I have learned to abide by their rules and not take offense when the people who operate the board decide on changes like these.

Of course a forum isn't our property. But if CBR switched to a new format that crashed everyone's computers, people would be upset and complain about it. Does that make the users "entitled"? I don't think so. CBR has a forums section for the specific purpose of operating as a social media site. If an update makes things less convenient, users will complain.

In this instance there's some hard feelings because it isn't just a matter of an impersonal software update not working well. This is a change meant to specifically alter the way people talk to each other on the social media portion of the site.
"No, no. We want you to interact like this."

[Alvarez]

"No, no. We want you to interact like this."

They have every right to dictate that.
It's their forum... not ours.

[Marc Lombardi]

Of course a forum isn't our property. But if CBR switched to a new format that crashed everyone's computers, people would be upset and complain about it. Does that make the users "entitled"? I don't think so. CBR has a forums section for the specific purpose of operating as a social media site. If an update makes things less convenient, users will complain.

In this instance there's some hard feelings because it isn't just a matter of an impersonal software update not working well. This is a change meant to specifically alter the way people talk to each other on the social media portion of the site.
"No, no. We want you to interact like this."

But their change didn't crash your computers or do anything to physically affect you. This isn't a software update -- it's a change in policy. It's not altering the way you talk to people. It's altering the audience to whom you speak. The same people you're looking to interact are still here (assuming they haven't stormed off in a hissy fit). Nothing is stopping you from talking about stuff. The only thing they're stopping you from doing is labeling yourself as a particular member of a group that they don't want existing anymore. This is about inclusion and not exclusion.

[gregyo]

I think what Lycaon was asking is why our dissatisfaction bugs you so much.

[Lycaon pictus]

They have every right to dictate that.
It's their forum... not ours.

Right. So I feel like this sentiment keeps coming up. I believe I already ceded the point that the forum is not the users physical property, yes? I even had a nice analogy explaining the psychology behind someone complaining about changes in a Not Their Property web space.

If I threw a party, but then told everyone I invited that they had to wear the specific costume that I picked for them, it would also be my "right". If they don't like it, they don't have to come to my party, obviously. But the salient point is, why in this hypothetical case am I being such jerkoff? Why?

But their change didn't crash your computers or do anything to physically affect you. This isn't a software update -- it's a change in policy. It's not altering the way you talk to people. It's altering the audience to whom you speak. The same people you're looking to interact are still here (assuming they haven't stormed off in a hissy fit). Nothing is stopping you from talking about stuff. The only thing they're stopping you from doing is labeling yourself as a particular member of a group that they don't want existing anymore. This is about inclusion and not exclusion.

Well I would say the means by which they alter the audience to whom we speak is by changing the way we talk to people. You've been in the Chat Thread, so I'm sure you've noticed that aside from Munchking's valiant effort, a lot of the posts are just people shouting into the wind, trying to find other posters they recognize, or strings of conversation that had long been buried.

As I said, people have hard feelings about this change because it is directly trying to control how they interact on a social media site. I agree with the civility rules, absolutely. I never took issue with them. This is not the same as policing profanity or flame wars or something. This is locking a group of people into a room (or a single thread) and telling them to play nice.

I don't know how else I can explain it. I just want to say that it's unfair to paint the complaints as "entitlement". I don't feel entitled to X-cres. I feel annoyed that the thread was removed because the Admins didn't think we were mingling fast enough on the community thread. It strikes me as unnecessarily controlling. And it's unfortunate, because I've enjoyed posting here in the past. I'm trying to go along with the new rules, but I don't like the mindset behind this change, and I think the big chat thread is too much to keep up with.