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Site reality check..

Started by AllPurposeAtheist, July 14, 2014, 10:25:31 AM

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SGOS

Some people just like to fight.  They may do it at home in real life with their partners.  They come to the internet and pick fights.  Maybe they see the internet as a good place to pick fights without getting a black eye or a bloody nose.  Wadayagonnado?

Fidel_Castronaut

I read the conception thread, and I see that was a catalyst for some debate and flaming on here.

And I have to ask, come on guys and girls. It wasn't event a rape thread!

I also see that a given member left, which I find sad. I often disagreed with them, and we had our own flaming threads throughout the years, but we still ended up being decent friends even though we disagreed.

Incidentally I agree with aitm. Forums wax and wane, members come and go. Let's face it, an atheist forum is never going to be a place full of rainbows and gumdrops where everyone gets to play with fluffy kittens. People grow a thick skin, and eventually learn to accept and challenge things they dislike on the board, and as a result the board changes, naturally. 
lol, marquee. HTML ROOLZ!

the_antithesis

A few short weeks from now, we'll forget all about this.

Hydra009

Quote from: Bibliofagus on July 14, 2014, 12:53:12 PM
Yeah, but how often do you crap and shit?

Kidding aside (leo is awesome), a few thoughts:

I was a new member once. And I joined because at that moment AF.com was the most feisty environment around. There was light moderation, idiots lasted longer here than in other places so I got to read more clever responses to them. And more mods used to just participate more in these threads so everybody was on the same page in a way. I'm reading too little 'Still not done with the idiot, oh well carry on' posts from moderators. Instead I read a lot of 'Goodbye idiot - hammer'.
As someone who lurks through the 30+ page troll threads or watch them seemingly antagonize the regulars for weeks and gunk up the top threads with a bunch of crap threads, this is a welcome change.  I like debates with theists and crackpots as much as the next guy, but we really don't need to indulge the complete idiots as much as we have.

Hydra009

Quote from: Fidel_Castronaut on July 14, 2014, 03:07:18 PMI also see that a given member left, which I find sad. I often disagreed with them, and we had our own flaming threads throughout the years, but we still ended up being decent friends even though we disagreed.
Agreed.

QuoteIncidentally I agree with aitm. Forums wax and wane, members come and go. Let's face it, an atheist forum is never going to be a place full of rainbows and gumdrops where everyone gets to play with fluffy kittens. People grow a thick skin, and eventually learn to accept and challenge things they dislike on the board, and as a result the board changes, naturally.
Or endure and outlive what they dislike.

the_antithesis

Allow me to tell you something.

I do not see me family anymore because the relationship was poisonous. It was poisonous for a lot of reasons, but the worst part of it was my mother. Her role was to try to make peace whenever a disagreement came up. She did not make peace. She simply shut down the conversation. That's not peace. Peace is when disagreements get resolved. Nothing is resolved if people are not allowed to talk.

I have been on rather heavily moderated forums and they remind me of my mother in this regard. Trying to keep the peace by not allowing peace to happen.

Social dynamic requires people to have their fights so they can work out the social hierarchy and come to understand one another better. It's what Bruce Tuckman called the "storming" stage. The very nature of an internet forum is that we will always, always, always be in the storming stage. There is a constant stream of new people coming in who need to work out how they fit in with the group, and the group needs to figure that out, too. One such site would give you a warning if they judge your post is too short. That website need to just delete their forums because they do not understand how they work and do not deserve to have one.

Moreover, this is an internet forum.  It is a disposable form o socializing. People come and go as they please. Nothing that happens here really lasts very long. We're all mostly here because we are bored and have nothing better to do with our time. All of us.

Shiranu

I apparently missed something :/.

I haven't particularly found this forum very toxic,  but that kinda scares me because it makes me wonder if I am one of the instigators :/. If I am, seriously... just tell me to stop being a douche.
"A little science distances you from God, but a lot of science brings you nearer to Him." - Louis Pasteur

Hijiri Byakuren


Quote from: Shiranu on July 14, 2014, 04:18:00 PM
I apparently missed something :/.

I haven't particularly found this forum very toxic,  but that kinda scares me because it makes me wonder if I am one of the instigators :/. If I am, seriously... just tell me to stop being a douche.
You and I have had some rather epic disagreements in the past, but a douche you are not.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk. Titty sprinkles.
Speak when you have something to say, not when you have to say something.

Sargon The Grape - My Youtube Channel

aitm

we have all had epic disagreements, Shir and I, well actually Shir mostly ;] called me lots of bad bad things on a Treyvon Martin thread, but we got over it, I still like the shit outa him but we can get pissy with each other if'n we want to. Naturally he is still wrong of course.......
A humans desire to live is exceeded only by their willingness to die for another. Even god cannot equal this magnificent sacrifice. No god has the right to judge them.-first tenant of the Panotheust

StupidWiz

Quote from: Solitary on July 14, 2014, 10:32:27 AM
I don't know who you are talking about, but I miss Sabrina the Witch that was here before on the original forum. And I know others that I don't see here now, which is sad. Like you, I considered them friends like you are to me. Well said by the way.  :butt: :biggrin2: Solitary
Yea, I miss her as well. :(
... To teach superstitions as truths is the most terrible thing. The child mind accepts and believes them, and only through great pain and perhaps tragedy can they be in after years relieved of them. - Hypatia

Hakurei Reimu

I haven't found this forum toxic, either. However, I came from SDN forums where the "storming" anti was talking about above is not only tolerated, but encouraged to some degree, and a lot of my habits followed. I suppose that I expect people to have figured out that the internet is a wild west and to have your asbestos underwear on at all times. Also, as my sig says, I can sometimes be ill-tempered and I bite.

I would ask people to have the rolled up newspaper ready in case I'm biting someone I shouldn't be biting. :wink:
Warning: Don't Tease The Miko!
(she bites!)
Spinny Miko Avatar shamelessly ripped off from Iosys' Neko Miko Reimu

Hydra009

Quote from: Shiranu on July 14, 2014, 04:18:00 PMI haven't particularly found this forum very toxic,  but that kinda scares me because it makes me wonder if I am one of the instigators :/. If I am, seriously... just tell me to stop being a douche.
You're not, as far as I know.  You make your case and you're firm about it without being close-minded.  I like that.  I respect that.  Even when I disagree.

Now, deliberate dishonesty...that stuff really is toxic.  Very few of us really exhibited that, fortunately.

Moralnihilist

What I think is there have been several disruptive additions recently to the forum. Firstly, and most obvious, is the troll infestation. The other thing is that people are taking themselves too seriously.
Science doesn't give a damn about religions, because "damns" are not measurable units and therefore have no place in research. As soon as it's possible to detect damns, we'll quantize perdition and number all the levels of hell. Until then, science doesn't care.

aitm

Like many of you, I want the occasional whack job to stumble in...I mean..who the fuck wants to hear about skeletal' rim jobs again....... but gang when one walks in the place and you give em 23 pages...don't tell me you want the trolls to go away... you give em lobster and filet.
A humans desire to live is exceeded only by their willingness to die for another. Even god cannot equal this magnificent sacrifice. No god has the right to judge them.-first tenant of the Panotheust

Hijiri Byakuren

Quote from: aitm on July 14, 2014, 08:31:25 PM
Like many of you, I want the occasional whack job to stumble in...I mean..who the fuck wants to hear about skeletal' rim jobs again....... but gang when one walks in the place and you give em 23 pages...don't tell me you want the trolls to go away... you give em lobster and filet.
I have to agree with this. If y'all didn't enjoy having trolls around, more of you would follow my example and just hit the ignore button. You don't, and in fact go out of your way to respond, so clearly any talk of getting rid of the "troll infestation" is greatly exaggerated.

The ignore button is there so we can deal with trolls on our own, folks. Use it.
Speak when you have something to say, not when you have to say something.

Sargon The Grape - My Youtube Channel