I haven’t been around here very long. The opinions I express here are certainly are not directed at anyone or any specific conversation. Actually, I haven’t even fully read this thread, I simply wanted to express my thoughts to the Admin on the subject he posed, so here goes...
One board cannot be everything to everyone — however one forum owner can obviously be too generous.
There are multitudes of boards available where people can enjoy conversations, get information, find support and advice in areas that deal specifically with topics that do not add value to a quilting board: coping with illness and loss, parenting, diet plans, relationship issues, finances, religious, political, and so many other issues. The reason many of us are not currently on those boards is that we do not wish to read about those topics or even to sift through them. I can see that these topics could be included within some conversations here, but only as it relates in some way to the quilting world. Also, there are PMs available for carrying on off-topic conversations with one’s friends here.
Too much extraneous content dilutes the value of this board.
I am concerned that as the membership grows, so will the unrelated content which could turn this board into a place where we only vaguely recall sharing our quilting ideas. If unrelated or overly personal content continues to grow exponentially, into possibly the majority of discussions or Topics folders here, then the survival of the Board could be threatened. Potential new members may come into the site and see the content as too off topic, too personal, or too complicated by the array of folder and sub-folder choices. Those people may choose not to read on, not to drill down, and certainly not to join in or contribute. That could easily bring the Board to stagnation, and threaten its survival.
So what to do…having an endless list of rules and regulations creates an atmosphere in which most of the discussion centers around those rules and regulations, so that doesn’t work. Having multitudes of sub folders for off-topic threads only further complicates things so becomes ineffective.
What about considering simplicity? Eliminate the sub-folders. Keep Chit Chat but please DO moderate that area to prevent it from being misused, as it currently seems to be. If that requires too much moderator work, then consider doing away with it as well. It just may be in the best interest of the Board, and easiest to moderate, by simply keeping it true to its purpose: a quilting forum.
I personally would like to see Chit Chat continue if possible, there is much to enjoy there. I enjoy the personal contributions of the members on everything from where they live to their cute pets. However I definitely agree with what several others have said here — threads on sad topics, personal tragedies and the like is something that is hard to bear, and it brings me down even seeing those subject lines. I feel bad because I cannot respond in meaningful ways and there is nothing I can do. I want to, I need to enjoy my time here and to have it be inspiring, not emotionally draining.
As far as posting jokes, news events, announcements, etc. those threads, in my opinion are much like pollution — not needed here and no value added. There are places for that: jokesforum.com for entertainment, ap.org for news, and facebook or twitter for personal announcements, and many more.
I believe that the members would understand that providing the server space and the moderator hours to attempt make this board everything to everyone is unrealistic and likely detrimental to its purpose.
Thanks for allowing me to convey my opinions, and thank you for providing a quilting forum.