Forum Definition

[MikePA]

Perhaps it's the logic courses I had in college moving from the subconscious part of my brain to the conscious part, but with all the new members in TBN I thought it might be good to note this forum is called 'Off Topic & Just For Fun'. So, any postings must be both 'Off Topic' and 'Just For Fun' and religion and politics, while certainly 'Off Topic' on a tractor board are not typically 'Just For Fun'. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Just a glance at the headlines reveals there's no lack of 'Off Topic' items to dicuss, but there are very few headlines that are 'Just For Fun'. Tractor related topics are enough to 'enflame the passions' /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif on occassion so please make sure your posts fulfill both requirements of this forum.

 

[rf33]

Mike,

I noticed that a thread has been removed from this forum, and although I understand we must be cautious as to not get into flame wars, it seems to me that this was perhaps a little too preemptive a move. I agree that the primary purpose of this board is not to discuss political issues, but perhaps a light hearted jab at a public figure is not so extreme as to warrant thread deletion? I hope my comments are not out of line here, but I think that we must strive to make this an open place to discuss various issues. I know that I have a bad habit of speaking and or posting before I have fully thought things through, and for that I appreciate both the moderators and the "edit your post" function, but I just wonder how and where we draw the line?

 

[GarageSmoker]

I moderate a forum on another subject and I can tell you from experience that sometimes you can tell when thread has the potential for heading south on you. At that point you have a decision to make... let everyone get pissed at each other, or just at you.

Quite frankly it depends on how I feel on a given day what approach I take. I do know that it doesn't do any forum good to have it's frequent posters ticked at each other, though.

Just my 2 cents, and worth no more than that;

GS

 

[Muhammad]

I have never been a fan of political discussions taking part even here in the off topic forum, but quite a few have been left to be played out... unfortunately, some have gotten more heated than others, and that is exactly what we want to avoid.

 

[rf33]

I guess that does make alot of sense. I think that I had the feeling that the thread started off on the wrong foot too, but knowing this group, I expected it to be a lighthearted discussion of some really off topic material. Oh well, no harm done, just wondering where we draw the line.

 

[Boondox]

I think past experience has given those who have been here a while (like the moderators) a pretty good feel for what spells trouble and what is generally safe. I come here to learn about tractors and implements, and to share the social benefits of hanging out with others who have similar interests.

Just like at my home, I know some of my friends hold views different than my own, and so take pains to ensure when I invite them to my home I do not broach topics that might be sensitive to them. It's an "In the name of friendship, let's not go there!" sort of thing.

Pete

 

[rf33]

Well put Pete. I generally come here to discuss tractors, implements and to share thoughts and feelings with the rest of the group. I have just noticed alot of caution taken lately due to a couple of threads gone bad, and have seen a couple of other boards go too far (in my opinion) in the past to become so worried about offending anyone as to remove useful posts which had any opinion to them at all. (Not that the thread removed from here had any useful info though/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif) I think that you are right on the money though with your caution with your friends too, I have a few friends who I know better than to broach certain topics with also.

 

[rf33]

Muhammad, I certainly respect your decisions to remove certain threads which have gone bad, and am thankful that the members here have generally been respectful of the feelings of others. I guess I have missed some of the threads which have gone bad in this forum, and so perhaps I am not fully aware of the dangers in letting these threads continue.

BTW thanks for keeping this site going, it really is a great resource for those of us who like to talk about tractors, especially the green ones/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif.

 

[MikePA]

Ron, your comments are not out of line. I read the original post (when it was the only post) early this morning. I stared at it for a while, debated removing it, then decided to see where it headed. By the time I checked at lunch time, it had been removed. And while I wasn't the one that removed the thread, I agree with the action. It had headed down hill fast, probably because it started out with the kind of inflammatory words and ideas that political threads typically conclude with.

While I am concerned with off topic threads turning into flame wars, I'm just as concerned (perhaps more concerned) with the energy and time of the TBN members such threads can consume. All of us have a fixed amount of time and energy we can devote to TBN, and I think assisting our fellow TBNers to buy, fix, improve, etc. our tractors is a much more productive use of our time and energies.

 

[glennmac]

Re: Forum Definition--Yuck, and a Suggestion

What a bunch of namby-pamby, political correctitude, bureaucratic piffle.... Now we've even gotten posters to tiptoe around when discussing the generic question of whether a certain question can be discussed.... The kudzu-like growth of this forum has little or nothing to do with the censoring activities of the administrators. It has everything to do with the significant amount time that creative members spend here trying to formulate or reply to topics in educational, scholarly, artistic, clever, humorous and otherwise entertaining manners..... Sometimes these same people like to discuss or argue politics, religion or sex. They would rather do that with TBN friends they respect than with complete strangers on another forum.......I propose something else. Completely forbid religion, politics and sex in the OT&JFF forum, but split it off into a completely separate RPS forum dedicated only to those matters. Allow only registered members to post in the RPS forum, and leave it completely unmonitored. Then, let members who wish to do so rip each other to shreds on RPS if that is what they want to do. For everyone else who doesn't want to be bothered with these subjects, all they have to do is ignore the RPS forum........Wouldn't this this satisfy everyone's concerns?