What the - happened?

[RZ1029]

Topic title pretty much says it all. What's caused the somewhat rapid downhill snowball formerly known as the debate forums?

[Vagrant0]

Too many topics, too many discussion points at once, too many heated opinions and sentiments of one falling into the other. People not staying much on topic also contributes. At least that is normally what does it.

[Deleted472477User]

I'm not one for Forum Nazis (people who lock threads just because they don't like them, you dare not speak to the mods at all, ever, and so on, like a certain site we all know) but maybe here in the Debate forums it could be a little more strict. Just a thought. I see too many instances of attacking the poster and not the post, thread derailments, and so on. I mean no offense to the mods here--they keep it under control as much as possible.

 

It might help to give a three strikes and it's locked sort of policy. So, say Brad and Janet are debating 'Breath Mint or Candy Mint'. Brad is getting pissed because he thinks Janet is full of it, and so he snaps, "Well, just no less than I'd expect from your type". Strike one for rudeness. Before Janet replies, Rocky comes in with "well, all this talk about candy is making me hungry, do you guys like snickers bars?" Strike two, off topic. Finally, Janet sees Brad's snotty reply and fires back one of her own. Strike three, thread is closed.

 

It's just an idea, and not foolproof, and not being a mod I know I carry no weight, and I apologize if I'm stepping on the mods' toes. :ohdear:

[marharth]

People throw around insulting replies and we derail topics like crazy.

 

I can say that I am one of the people at fault for going off topic a lot, sorry for that.

 

I agree with what nyxalinth said, a strike system to lock topics would help a lot.

[Lisnpuppy]

Most of us are intelligent adults...why should Dark0ne and the Mods mind us like little children?

[Deleted472477User]

Most of us are intelligent adults...why should Dark0ne and the Mods mind us like little children?

 

 

*shrugs* Just an idea. If they do something like it, fine. If not, I won't be bothered. Sometimes everyone gets treated like children because of the few who do just to keep things in line. I've seen it in the workforce long after that sort of behavior should have stopped.

[grannywils]

This is one of those deals, again, where everyone has a point of view, and they will all differ to some extent.

 

Here is my take on it. The Nexus Forum has a section called "Debates". I went to Wikipedia and looked up a quick definition of debates: "Debate or debating is a formal method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion. Though logical consistency, factual accuracy and some degree of emotional appeal to the audience are important elements of the art of persuasion, in debating, one side often prevails over the other side by presenting a superior "context" and/or framework of the issue, which is far more subtle and strategic".

 

Okay, what I have found is that our Debates section has become in many cases too personalized, too vitriolic, and too much about "winning no matter what". There was a time when I looked forward to reading posts on the various threads. Now I have come to dread it. Certain posters always intrigued me with their thoughtful, clear cut posting, and others did not. Those others do, however tend to be the most vocal. I would always watch for certain posters and avoid others like the plague. There is no question that we are drifting off topic more and more frequently than we used to. And again, I could be wrong, but it often seem as though there is a small group that tends to lead us off topic more than others. I have not done a study on this, so I may be way off the mark on that one.

 

Sometimes the subject matter is fascinating to me and at others it seems forced. But that is neither here nor there. That part is simply a matter of personal taste.

 

I do agree whole heartedly with LisnPuppy when she says that we are intelligent adults here. The whole moderating of the forums stuff does sort of confuse me. By the same token, we do unfortunately have a minority of posters who seem to require a bit of moderating. I have actually begun to "self-moderate". I just leave a thread when it becomes out of control or ridiculous. This is unfortunate, however, as sometimes they are threads that interest me; but have been taken over by posters who post within posts, within posts, within posts, etc., making it impossible to follow and extremely irritating.

 

The reality for me is that one of the areas of the Nexus that I used to enjoy the most has become the one that I now avoid the most. It is rather sad to see this, but there you are....

 

 

[HeyYou]

This is one of those deals, again, where everyone has a point of view, and they will all differ to some extent.

 

Here is my take on it. The Nexus Forum has a section called "Debates". I went to Wikipedia and looked up a quick definition of debates: "Debate or debating is a formal method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion. Though logical consistency, factual accuracy and some degree of emotional appeal to the audience are important elements of the art of persuasion, in debating, one side often prevails over the other side by presenting a superior "context" and/or framework of the issue, which is far more subtle and strategic".

 

Okay, what I have found is that our Debates section has become in many cases too personalized, too vitriolic, and too much about "winning no matter what". There was a time when I looked forward to reading posts on the various threads. Now I have come to dread it. Certain posters always intrigued me with their thoughtful, clear cut posting, and others did not. Those others do, however tend to be the most vocal. I would always watch for certain posters and avoid others like the plague. There is no question that we are drifting off topic more and more frequently than we used to. And again, I could be wrong, but it often seem as though there is a small group that tends to lead us off topic more than others. I have not done a study on this, so I may be way off the mark on that one.

 

Sometimes the subject matter is fascinating to me and at others it seems forced. But that is neither here nor there. That part is simply a matter of personal taste.

 

I do agree whole heartedly with LisnPuppy when she says that we are intelligent adults here. The whole moderating of the forums stuff does sort of confuse me. By the same token, we do unfortunately have a minority of posters who seem to require a bit of moderating. I have actually begun to "self-moderate". I just leave a thread when it becomes out of control or ridiculous. This is unfortunate, however, as sometimes they are threads that interest me; but have been taken over by posters who post within posts, within posts, within posts, etc., making it impossible to follow and extremely irritating.

 

The reality for me is that one of the areas of the Nexus that I used to enjoy the most has become the one that I now avoid the most. It is rather sad to see this, but there you are....

 

 

 

So, what you are saying is, the debate section here has become just like the US congress? :D

[grannywils]

You could say that, HY, 'cept they are much better behaved :tongue:

[HeyYou]

You could say that, HY, 'cept they are much better behaved :tongue:

 

They ARE??? Coulda fooled me. :D