Recently, there's been a high "gossip" factor in discussions on the forum.
Some people have said this is a Good Thing - keeps things lively, better than Corrie, etc.
Some people have said this is a Bad Thing - exposes too much seedy underbelly* of the business, makes the forum a more depressing place, etc.
Personally, I don't have a strong opinion either way. And in the end, people will talk about the stuff they want to talk about; trying to influence the shape and topics of discussions will not usually succeed.
However, my feeling is that the structures and mechanisms of the forum could be tweaked in some way, to better deal with this sort of discussion, and I wondered if anyone had any suggestions along these lines?
For example, would a members-only "Gossip corner" subsection be useful?
Any other ideas / suggestions?
I think it would be an excellent idea, for those who find it good value can read it and those that aren't interested in the politics of it all don't have to go there.
I think it should be a 'FOMO Phobia' section (fear of missing out) with the subtitles:-
Boxing Ring/Take It On The Chin
Gossip/What I Have Heard Section/True Or False
For What It's Worth/In My Opinion
.........just something for you to mull over
I think that, apart from the dance/technical section, this forum is about gossip. There's nice gossip "did you know that, after trying for 4 years, JivingLady26 (made up name) was having a baby?" and there's malicious gossip "JivingLady26 is pregnant, Andy McG (invented character ) is the father". There's even bragging gossip - "I've had sex with JivingLady26 ". And then there's promotional gossip "I will be having sex with JivingLady26 on Sat 26th Nov - who'd like to join us? Tickets £12 in advance, £15 on the door - if available ".
So, what exactly will the new "Gossip" section offer that's not already provided?
Well, it's just one suggestion - and I'm not speaking with my mod hat on here, either.
But something like a separate member-only section would both allow people to unsubscribe from that section, and it would also keep it away from non-members / Google / etc., whilst retaining it as a discussion area for those that wish to use it. Like any other section, really.
It's just one idea - I'd be interested in hearing any others.
I vote for spell check on the forum
Gossip is generally thought to be a good thing as people are kept in the loop.
If a particular piece of gossip is erroneous, people can work together to sort out the truth, but they couldn't if everything was swept under the carpet.
Countries and regimes are always trying to clamp down on gossip.
ie. Mao, Hitler, Stalin, etc., It gives them a firmer control.
Recently, many posts have disapeared into thin air, before I have had chance to read them.
And that's just the ones i know about.
I thought it is one of Franck's tactics to make sure posters are online as much as possible, to be sure they will not miss gossipy posts.
However the mods quote the forum rule against naming and shaming.
If rules are to be changed, will naming and shaming be allowed?
Last edited by Astro; 5th-October-2008 at 04:29 PM.
Hmmm, I wasn't expecting a Godwin quite so early on...
Unfortunately, some posters tend to break the rules - they post abusive comments, for example. We have to deal with these, and we always have; there's nothing new in that.
I can tell you that there's been no more post-deletion in the past month or two than normal, however. Possibly people are commenting on it more? Either way, this isn't really relevant to the discussion.
Please understand - I'm not trying to make this thread a general discussion about moderation, I'm trying to see if anyone has some structural suggestions for dealing with the problem I outlined in the original post.
I suspect not; personally I think it's right that N&S is banned, this is merely an extension of the basic rule:
However, if you think that changing the rules would cater for the problem, fine - how, exactly? Personally, I think if we abolished these rules, we'd get much more abuse, and upset more people. Although on the plus side, us mods would have less "playground monitoring" duties.The basic ground rules for discussions on the Ceroc Scotland Forum are simple: be polite, use common sense, don't break the law.
The bottom line is most people like to gossip. Some people more than others. Some people are so good at it they don't even realise when it takes over their existence!
I think we all gossip from time to time. Especially the females amongst us. As for is a new area on the forum a good idea? I think it probably would be but do wonder how you would go about moderating it.
Good luck.
Use firefox , right click in a text box and select "spell check this field".
see here
Brilliant justification there Can we call this loop "GLOB" (Grand Loop of B0ll0x) (tm) ?
er...no. Thats "free speech" i think you are thinking of. Gossip is idle tattle tattle, rumour and basically unsubstantiated b0llox which drives an industry of toilet-paper like celeb mags.Countries and regimes are always trying to clamp down on gossip.
ie. Mao, Hitler, Stalin, etc., It gives them a firmer control.
You probably didn't need to read them then. In the main all recent deleted posts have been allegations about David Bailey, Leotards and Argentinian Dwarves. None of which were true. Apparantly.Recently, many posts have disapeared into thin air, before I have had chance to read them.
And that's just the ones i know about.
Somehow I really don't think that is Francks mission statementI thought it is one of Franck's tactics to make sure posters are online as much as possible, to be sure they will not miss gossipy posts.
Yes you would say that wouldn't you. And the fact that you do say that in that ever so subtle fascist tone speaks volumes
The first rule of moderation is...er...I've forgotten.Please understand - I'm not trying to make this thread a general discussion about moderation
He did actually have a SPECIFIC Godwin in mind See Here
I just can't understand why naming and praising is permitted (though discouraged by the Chief Grumpy Moderator) but naming and shaming is not permitted. Seems a bit inequitable to me.
I'm not sure - as I said, the "new section" idea is just one suggestion, it'd be the simplest one to implement, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea. For example, one obvious downside is that this section would encourage / implicitly sanction "gossip". Although, the counter-argument to that is that the Outside area doesn't encourage Outside posts...
There's every possibility that there's no need for any structural changes, also - I just wanted to float some suggestions, and see what others thought.
I don't think anyone has ever been sued for naming and praising someone!
As for gossip... one man's (or woman's) news or discussion is another person's gossip.
How on earth would you define gossip? People would post something (e.g. Sinner's exclusion or Fletch's praising threads) as news or a feel good thread, others would respond, it would degenerate into what the mods consider gossip... and then they'd upset everyone by moving the threads to the "Gossip Corner".
Ah ha - have just seen through DB's cunning plan - he wants more threads to move about
Personally I can hardly be bothered to post now 'cos of the rubbish that seems to pass for the general stuff that appears.
But a stray asterix has piqued my interest. . . .
Was there to be some definition or explantation of the word underbelly that failed to meet the DJ seal of approval there or what?
Hmmmmmmmm. . . .
Are you a mason or somat DJ?
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