Error There Has Been!

[East Coast Hustle]

I suspect that if I offered up an idea that turned out to be mostly useless, your criticisms might be phrased more tactfully, so why is that courtesy so frequently NOT extended to the very people we rely upon to keep this board from stagnating (IOW, fresh blood)?

Is there an example of a community where this does not happen? Is it even desirable - at what point does the energy required to approach an "ideal" meritocracy outweigh the benefits?

wut.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

the problem with your line of reasoning is that I'd rather have a board with 10 people who actually DO stuff and have discussions that are more than the same superficial shit everyone else is talking about (and FWIW I'd consider you one of those people) than a board with 2000+ people posting 90% youtube links, rephrasing of blogosphere-generated armchair politics, and reasons to waste their time harassing smaller, less significant forums.

If you want to influence my thinking, you're not going about it the right way.

also, if you can step back a bit you'll probably notice that I'm not saying everyone needs to be nice to noobs, just that, as in almost all other areas of life, constructive criticism usually yields better results than pointless dickishness.

Um, yes.  Like public dressings down concerning public dressings down.

Well, have it your way, ECH, because I'm done arguing about it.  

Johnny, knock yourself out.

[East Coast Hustle]

anyway, my laptop battery is gonna die but I have tomorrow off so I'll be back to see what kind of shitstorm I've stirred up here. Anyone else that is disappointed in the direction this board is taking but doesn't want to be publically flogged for saying so is welcome to PM me with the understanding that your confidence will be kept. I'd be interested in knowing how many other members feel the same way I do.

I know this: I've received enough PMs already in the last few months about this that I felt the need to finally address it in spite of my initial attempt to not give a shit what you spags are doing with the board.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

anyway, my laptop battery is gonna die but I have tomorrow off so I'll be back to see what kind of shitstorm I've stirred up here. Anyone else that is disappointed in the direction this board is taking but doesn't want to be publically flogged for saying so is welcome to PM me with the understanding that your confidence will be kept. I'd be interested in knowing how many other members feel the same way I do.

I know this: I've received enough PMs already in the last few months about this that I felt the need to finally address it in spite of my initial attempt to not give a shit what you spags are doing with the board.

I see.  An anonymous quorum.

I see precisely where this is going.

[East Coast Hustle]

you can expect a knock on your door at midnight any time now, I'm sure.

or, y'know, it could just be the internet and I could just be trying to gague whether or not I even want to bother continuing with this site.

but yeah, probably the secret police thing.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

you can expect a knock on your door at midnight any time now, I'm sure.

or, y'know, it could just be the internet and I could just be trying to gague whether or not I even want to bother continuing with this site.

but yeah, probably the secret police thing.

Continuing?  You've been here about 10 times in the last year.

Fuck it.  I'm not arguing about this.  I have enough stress IRL, with work and whatnot.  Do as you please.

[Golden Applesauce]

Need a punching bag in a forum because in real life you are nobody?

Ah, I didn't know we had a celebrity with us today?

He's a SOMEBODY!

Quite right!

[Captain Utopia]

I suspect that if I offered up an idea that turned out to be mostly useless, your criticisms might be phrased more tactfully, so why is that courtesy so frequently NOT extended to the very people we rely upon to keep this board from stagnating (IOW, fresh blood)?

Is there an example of a community where this does not happen? Is it even desirable - at what point does the energy required to approach an "ideal" meritocracy outweigh the benefits?

wut.

To evaluate each noob fairly, as to not have "benefit of the doubt" responses proportional to established reputation, you need to approach a meritocracy. The nearest communities I can think of would be scientific, and even then there are plenty of examples of misguided estimations based on reputation. Also, as that evaluation procedure is a lot of work and not as much fun - it goes directly against our social tendencies - it requires a clear and demonstrable motivation otherwise it won't be adopted.

Speaking of motivation, this site may have its harsh corners, but I can't imagine another scenario which would have so quickly motivated me towards introspection to try to figure out why I received the reactions I did. A rainbows and hugs approach would have been more pleasant, but I would have learned less. I would also note that I received plenty of constructive criticism from folks who would also be flaming me before and after.

And what happened with JohNyx? He posted an idea which wasn't received well, in a way which raised some heckles and he started getting some flames. So instead of stating his case eloquently and walking away, he dove straight in.. tried to give as good as he got and just kept restating his case MORE LOUDLY. If you don't stop to consider how your audience will react to what you have to say, and you're not presenting anything new in your argument, then how is that different from trolling? I have empathy for him, because it's not a pleasant experience, and it's really hard to think straight with what seems like the entire thread chaffing your ass.. but in hindsight he shouldn't be surprised.

So I don't think it's as simple as grumpy fuckers fucking with stupid fucks, and it's not as orchestrated as an initiation, but it does seem to be a spontaneous communal reaction which both unites/sustains the community and protects against the infinite horde of theoretical ideas with no practical use, and the types of people they inhabit. There are many different models a community can take, but I think this is a very healthy one.

I think we all share, to some extent, a frustration that much of the obvious stupidity in the world might be eased with the proper application of some Discordian philosophies and approaches. And I read some of that frustration as concerning a preference for talking about stuff, rather than doing stuff out in the real world. But I also think we haven't struck the right idea, or the right platform yet - I think we're getting closer at a decent pace though. I dunno - I see a lot of exciting things happening here - I'd be cautious about changing the chemistry.

Ah shit, nothing more to say, just wanted to avoid the flames for doing a 5-paragraph essay.

[Iason Ouabache]

This thread is fucking retarded. I hate all of you.

[Triple Zero]

anyway, my laptop battery is gonna die but I have tomorrow off so I'll be back to see what kind of shitstorm I've stirred up here. Anyone else that is disappointed in the direction this board is taking but doesn't want to be publically flogged for saying so is welcome to PM me with the understanding that your confidence will be kept. I'd be interested in knowing how many other members feel the same way I do.

I know this: I've received enough PMs already in the last few months about this that I felt the need to finally address it in spite of my initial attempt to not give a shit what you spags are doing with the board.

Damnit ECH, if you want to change the way the board works I'd rather have you do it publically. By participating and voicing your opinion, for instance.

Personally, I'd be happy if people kept down the fluff content like zillions of youtube links (often without so much as a description or even a title) and the livejournal stuff (even though I do care about the people posting their personal stuff, it's not what I come to PD for, nor is it the reason why I looked up "discordian forum" in Google, years ago), but then again, I can skip that (although I'm way too nosey/interested to skip the personal threads).

And about the way we seem to treat new blood. I think you're not paying attention. For every n00b that gets bitchslapped because they're a twat, there's five that silently join our ranks. The twats just make the most noise of them all.

[Pope Pixie Pickle]

i joined in July, sans lurkage, I've had some negative responses, but I know when I've been being a dick.

[AFK]

And about the way we seem to treat new blood. I think you're not paying attention. For every n00b that gets bitchslapped because they're a twat, there's five that silently join our ranks. The twats just make the most noise of them all.

I have to agree with this.  I'd say about a year after I joined, I had figured out who was who.  If you gave me a name, "Verthaine, oh yeah he's the guy from New Orleans who writes those amazing pieces."  I'd know who he/she was.  In the past year, we've had quite a large amount of new blood and there are names that I still don't quite remember.  I see a post from someone who has a few hundred posts and I wonder where was I for the first few hundred.  I really don't think there is any kind of epidemic of running people off. Or scaring other n00bs off.  And I think that thread that TGRR started a week or so ago, Hey LMNO, is testament to the fact that, yeah, we might have a fair amount of LiveJournal fluff on the boards (isn't that what Apple Talk is for?), but we can also roll out (fairly quickly I might add) some very impressive shit. 

[Cain]

I wish PD could put 10% of the effort it did into, say, causing chaos at Goldman Sach's corporate HQ that it does into these terminally boring hissy-fit threads.

[LMNO]

This again?

Really?

[Faust]

For anyone just tuning in now and doesn't want to read the last eight pages here are some highlights

• JohNyx wasn't all that interesting or annoying before this thread
  
• Every response he made in this thread had a jab after it, some justified, most not.
  
• JohNyx WAS becoming annoying by responding to this thread but he bowed out quite a number of pages ago.
  
• The jibes continued
  
• ECH and Roger started arguing about how best to handle these situations but the same issue remains, when someone presents something annoying how much do they need to be pulled up on it? JohNyx posted about five times in this thread, but there are around seven pages solid of attacks on him, is this excessive? When does it become too much.
  

I've been in ECH place several times over the last year or so in this exact argument and I am rather tired of it so I am not going to enter the fray this time.
But commenting on the bit ECH posted about dressing down the community I think is exactly what we need. No one is perfect and we need to be called on our mistakes no matter what, even if we are an established member of the community or whatever.