DocHeb
Veteran Member
My opinion of the two components you've brought up:
1. "Off topic" - is it really possible to be too far off topic? The entire spectrum of tractor mayhem is represented in the other forums. Muhammad has added multiple new forums in the 15 months I've been here. If I spend 1 hour a day, that means I will have spent 2 full weeks on this site in a year. Posts are getting pretty hard to keep up with, and I must be selective with what I'm involved with. If you look at the percentages, I read 100% of the New Holland forum (since I'm probably going blue), about 80% of Attachments, 20% of the rest of the general forums, diminishing to <1% of OT&JFF. The low percentage of OT&JFF is the result of point #2. Its nice knowing that most of the fluff&stuff is in one place so I can safely ignore it while on my path to Compact Utility Tractor Enlightenment.
2. "Just for Fun" - If my initial impression of an originating post is "stupid", or "insulting" or "not-worth-my-time-and-probably-not-worth-anybody-else's-time-either", I'll never open it again after my initial post reading. After a while, I don't even open some individual's threads, and there are several people who's replies I always skip over as well. This reminds me of when Howard Stern (the "Shock-Jock") was the scourge of the social police and in the news. His marketing studies pointed out that his critics listened to the show more minutes a day than his supporters. The critics wanted to police the show, so they listened intently for the next terrible thing he was going to say. This thrilled the advertisers since their products got more exposure. If something isn't fun, don't read it. The worst thing you can do is try and debate with the good-taste-impaired, they'll never "get it" despite your arguments. Let the thread die.
In the end, I think the current system works well, considering what it costs me. The ability to ignore the stuff I want, and bouncers to keep the private club safe from the blatant hooligans.
1. "Off topic" - is it really possible to be too far off topic? The entire spectrum of tractor mayhem is represented in the other forums. Muhammad has added multiple new forums in the 15 months I've been here. If I spend 1 hour a day, that means I will have spent 2 full weeks on this site in a year. Posts are getting pretty hard to keep up with, and I must be selective with what I'm involved with. If you look at the percentages, I read 100% of the New Holland forum (since I'm probably going blue), about 80% of Attachments, 20% of the rest of the general forums, diminishing to <1% of OT&JFF. The low percentage of OT&JFF is the result of point #2. Its nice knowing that most of the fluff&stuff is in one place so I can safely ignore it while on my path to Compact Utility Tractor Enlightenment.
2. "Just for Fun" - If my initial impression of an originating post is "stupid", or "insulting" or "not-worth-my-time-and-probably-not-worth-anybody-else's-time-either", I'll never open it again after my initial post reading. After a while, I don't even open some individual's threads, and there are several people who's replies I always skip over as well. This reminds me of when Howard Stern (the "Shock-Jock") was the scourge of the social police and in the news. His marketing studies pointed out that his critics listened to the show more minutes a day than his supporters. The critics wanted to police the show, so they listened intently for the next terrible thing he was going to say. This thrilled the advertisers since their products got more exposure. If something isn't fun, don't read it. The worst thing you can do is try and debate with the good-taste-impaired, they'll never "get it" despite your arguments. Let the thread die.
In the end, I think the current system works well, considering what it costs me. The ability to ignore the stuff I want, and bouncers to keep the private club safe from the blatant hooligans.
