Originally Posted by Admin
as far as "negative/downer" postings go -
It's not just the fact that they are depressing. Life is life.
But negative topics tend to fill the entire section.
So far, I've seen three types of topics that spread out of control:
- Overall personal negative stuff
- Prayer requests
- Jokes
And I'm not talking about a thread spinning out of control. I'm talking about many different people creating similar threads of their own and flooding the section.
On it's own, neither one of those is a big problem.
But imagine the GCC section consisting primarily of those topics.
If we didn't do anything at all, that's what would happen. And we did a lot to stop such topics from spreading long before the introduction of the PDA section.
So if you think there weren't any problems in GCC a few weeks or months ago, that's because we've been enforcing many of the rules meant to keep the section balanced. It just wasn't as visible as it is now.
Can we please concentrate on the part I posted in bold instead of talking about who gets offended by what and who complained and so on. This won't help us find a solution.
I want to figure out how to keep the "contagious" topics from flooding the section without restricting the communication any more than necessary.
This is the tough part of discussion that everyone seems to be avoiding.
I have read through this whole thread, several times and I think what Admin is saying has a lot of validity but at the same time it is a big change for the board. I understand that many people would be unhappy to go to the Chit/Chat section and see the first 10 topics are about death, illness, job loss, etc.... But, the friendly, caring and compassionate nature of the board has been what has captured and drawn people from being lurkers to members. From the time that I have found the board to now, I have watched the members go from being polite and friendly strangers, to friends, to what we now refer to as an extended quilting family. When you have 7000+ members, there are going to be a lot of these type of life issues occuring daily. This is a group of quilters, who have a history of banding together during the bad times. It may be through uplifting or sympathetic posts, community quilts, PM's, emails, whatever we as individuals felt was right or that we wanted/were able to do. With the membership rising it is becoming more prominent, and will increase even more as the membership continues to rise.
How do we be compassionate and caring to other members, without infringing on the rights/feelings of other board members or potential members who visit this site? If a board member is having surgery, has an illness or a loved one has passed, for example, could a locked statement be written in the Chit Chat section? It could be submitted/approved by a Moderator. Because of the amount of members, it could be information restricted to the member and immediate family. Then if anyone wants to respond, they could do so in the member's Personal Diary and Announcement section of the board. Prayer requests could also be discussed there, in a more private setting. (If Admin is okay with that) However, the question arises, how many times can a board member submit during a one year time frame? For example, if every member posted 3 times a year, that would be 21,000+ posts of this nature. Realistically ofcourse, not every one does post about these situations in their lives, but if you allow one, you have to allow all 7000+ members the same opportunity too. And is it fair to ask one, two or three Moderators to keep track of 7000 members and their share of these types of messages? We would HAVE to be willing to police ourselves, and be reasonable in how often we use this post. Some life events could be PM'd to those you are closer to on the board,or placed in the PDA section, saving the more serious events for the Chit Chat section.
Please don't get me wrong, I am not saying that I feel these messages should NOT be posted. But Admin has asked us for suggestions on how to fix this issue and I hope that we can brainstorm and come up with a workable solution. If we can't, I guess it would be fair to say that all of these types of announcements will be restricted to the PDA section of the board.
As to the Jokes and joking around, if we are being asked to keep it cleaner and tone it down, than I think we should. If Admin and the moderators feel it has gotten out of hand at times and has brought it to our attention, then we need to be responsible and follow their rules and guidelines. We like to feel that we are all a part of the board, want a say in some aspects of it, but the bottom line is that Admin owns it, so it is my opinion that we need to respect his wishes and final say. We also need to remember that it has been mentioned before that Admin needs to keep this site "clean" so that there are not any problems with referrals and links to this board. That is a small request and easily honored......
As to Happy Birthday wishes, I hope that we can continue these in Chit Chat. There really are not all that many posted, and it is nice to be able to say Happy Birthday in a group fashion to our members.
I would like to see newborn announcements stay in Chit Chat...quilter's like to brag about their newborn children and grandchildren. Again, a statement in Chit Chat, pictures and discussion in the PDA section.
I don't know what to say about pet pictures, I enjoy looking at them, I know some don't...but the amount of views some get and as clearly labeled as most are it would be easy to bypass these if you are not interested. I would like to see them remain in the Chit Chat section.
I do want to thank you for allowing mare stare to remain in Chit Chat. I know that many members watch the topic without leaving any replies. I also acknowledge that we do need to be more careful about the topics discussed during the stares. I know that I have forgotten that children and young adults do come to our board and I need to be more diligent in remembering that.
I appreciate being able to be a member of this board, I appreciate all of the hard work that goes into running it, and I also appreciate the opportunity to say my piece about this issue. Thank you Admin, Patrice and Shadow for all of the time and work that you put in to keep this board going for us all.