The Demise of Two Forums

[Epigonos]

After over twenty years of posting on this site I have come to the conclusion that’s it time and more that The Lounge and The Political Forum be killed off and buried.

 

The Lounge: There was a time when this forum was a catch all for multiple interesting topics. Those days are gone. With the addition of forums like: Men’s Health, Personal Finance and Investing, What’s Cooking and Remembering Daddy what is the point of The Lounge. As far as I’m concerned it has become a repository of mostly meaningless trivia. When all these additional topics were available on The Lounge, we could find multiple topics in ONE forum that interested us.

The Political Forum: In the United States from its very inception, as a nation, politics has been a raucous, riotous, blood sport. If you do not believe that then you simply do not know U.S. history. Simply look back at the shenanigans that took place during the writing of the U.S. Constitution between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. Look back at the Presidential Election of 1804 possibly the dirtiest presidential election in U.S. history. Look back at the fist fights and cannings that took place on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in the last two decades prior to the Civil War. Look back at the verbal fisticuffs that took place in Congress after World War I during the debate over joining the League of Nations. It now seems that the moderators would like to turn The Political Forum into a tea party for little old ladies. Just as an example lets say I post something in The Political Forum that prompts another poster to come back calling me “a god damn stupid fucking asshole Republican”. Why should I or, for that matter, any other poster or posters give a tinkers damn. This is an anonymous site, and we DO NOT know each other. Why should I give a damn what someone I don’t know, don’t respect and don’t give a shit about thinks or says about me. Guys grow up, develop a thick skin and if you find that impossible to do then stay the hell out of the Political Forum.

This is not, for me a matter of simply NOT liking change. If change, in my opinion, changes things for the better I’m all for it. If, however, change is simply for change sake I think it is worthless. In these cases I DO NOT see how they have improved the site.

Edited August 16, 2022 by Epigonos

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

1 hour ago, Epigonos said:

After over twenty years of posting on this site I have come to the conclusion that’s it time and more that The Lounge and The Political Forum be killed off and buried.

Isn't it ironic that this post was made in The Lounge?  That's the point of the lounge!   New topics that don't neatly fit another category start here.  I believe Monkey Pox discussion started in The Lounge before it became a hot topic and moved to Men's Health.

 

What is gay men's favorite flower to plant with their hot shirtless gardener?  I don't know where else to ask that question but The Lounge

[mike carey]

5 hours ago, Vegas_nw1982 said:

What is gay men's favorite flower to plant with their hot shirtless gardener?  I don't know where else to ask that question but The Lounge

Sounds like that belongs in the Fetish forum!! 😃

[Luv2play]

6 hours ago, Vegas_nw1982 said:

Isn't it ironic that this post was made in The Lounge?  That's the point of the lounge!   New topics that don't neatly fit another category start here.  I believe Monkey Pox discussion started in The Lounge before it became a hot topic and moved to Men's Health.

 

What is gay men's favorite flower to plant with their hot shirtless gardener?  I don't know where else to ask that question but The Lounge

I started the thread on Monkeypox in the Men's Health Forum, not the Lounge.

[Luv2play]

8 hours ago, Epigonos said:

After over twenty years of posting on this site I have come to the conclusion that’s it time and more that The Lounge and The Political Forum be killed off and buried.

 

The Lounge: There was a time when this forum was a catch all for multiple interesting topics. Those days are gone. With the addition of forums like: Men’s Health, Personal Finance and Investing, What’s Cooking and Remembering Daddy what is the point of The Lounge. As far as I’m concerned it has become a repository of mostly meaningless trivia. When all these additional topics were available on The Lounge, we could find multiple topics in ONE forum that interested us.

The Political Forum: In the United States from its very inception, as a nation, politics has been a raucous, riotous, blood sport. If you do not believe that then you simply do not know U.S. history. Simply look back at the shenanigans that took place during the writing of the U.S. Constitution between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. Look back at the Presidential Election of 1804 possibly the dirtiest presidential election in U.S. history. Look back at the fist fights and cannings that took place on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in the last two decades prior to the Civil War. Look back at the verbal fisticuffs that took place in Congress after World War I during the debate over joining the League of Nations. It now seems that the moderators would like to turn The Political Forum into a tea party for little old ladies. Just as an example lets say I post something in The Political Forum that prompts another poster to come back calling me “a god damn stupid fucking asshole Republican”. Why should I or, for that matter, any other poster or posters give a tinkers damn. This is an anonymous site, and we DO NOT know each other. Why should I give a damn what someone I don’t know, don’t respect and don’t give a shit about thinks or says about me. Guys grow up, develop a thick skin and if you find that impossible to do then stay the hell out of the Political Forum.

This is not, for me a matter of simply NOT liking change. If change, in my opinion, changes things for the better I’m all for it. If, however, change is simply for change sake I think it is worthless. In these cases I DO NOT see how they have improved the site.

I disagree with your suggestions as I find both the Lounge and the Political Forums to be two of the most interesting forums on the site. 

As well, I think this thread should have been posted on the Site News Forum, not the Lounge. Last week I suggested on that forum that This Day in History threads be moved out of the Lounge as they were cluttering up the Lounge and pushing out other topics to back pages. Radio Bob saw fit to act on this suggestion and I thank him.

[+ poolboy48220]

I like the lounge. I save it for next-to-last (the legacy gallery is last 🙂 ) I avoid the political forum.

[+ nycman]

I just avoid the forums that I don’t like.

It’s easy to set up a "new items in forums I read" tab. 
That way I don’t even "accidentally" wander into 
forums that hold little interest to me. Personally,
I try to avoid the politics and gallery forums, but 
I’m sure others enjoy them.

Edited August 16, 2022 by Kevin Slater
criticizing mods

[Cooper]

Administrator’s Message. 

Gentlemen, The topic is “The Demise of Two Forums”. Please stay on topic. If you have any questions for the moderators, submit them to the Ask A Moderator Forum. 

🙏 

Cooper

[maninsoma]

1 hour ago, nycman said:

I just avoid the forums that I don’t like.

It’s easy to set up a "new items in forums I read" tab. 
That way I don’t even "accidentally" wander into 
forums that hold little interest to me. Personally,
I try to avoid the politics and gallery forums, but 
I’m sure others enjoy them.

That's what I do.  I generally don't even look at the Politics forum.  I know some people enjoy arguing even when it's obvious that no one is actually listening to views that don't 100% align with what they already think, but I have very little patience for that.  That being said, I don't mind not reading most of what gets posted here since it's similar to another forum I regularly visit that's devoted to a different subject).  I'm used to just scrolling through the subjects to see what's new and then only opening a tiny percentage of them to actually read them, viewing the rest as background noise.  I realize that just because it's noise to me doesn't mean everyone else isn't interested.

[+ keroscenefire]

I hear what you're saying with the lounge. I do think that many interesting conversations that would be here previously are now elsewhere.

Something that has happened in my opinion is that the Ask the Provider forum has become a bit of a catch-all "questions about hiring" that are not necessarily directed to providers. Which is fine, but maybe some of that could be more in here. 

I think the Deli should be pretty specific to information about actual providers and more general questions about hiring get drowned out pretty quickly there. I think a question about like RM issues or like what makes a good overnight or general questions like that might be better in the Lounge, but maybe I'm in the minority on that. 

[Bucky]

But where would we discuss the demise of @Epigonos??  🙃

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

14 hours ago, Epigonos said:

Guys grow up, develop a thick skin and if you find that impossible to do then stay the hell out of the Political Forum.

💯 Agree.

I do wish that some contributors could make an argument using more logic and less name calling, if only to make it easier for the reader to try to see their point of view.  Still, I've learned to skim past the lengthy name calling posters and try to read posts that give some new insights that I never considered before

 

[+ DERRIK]

guys

I am grateful that several folk have stepped up to the plate to moderate each forum

I am sure the "politics" forum consumes a lot of time/ energy / hard feelings

While I might not always agree with moderator decisions - it easy for us in the grandstand to yell at the ump and coach

 

as I recall - DADDY did all the heavy lifting

Now we share the load (pardon the pun)

[EZEtoGRU]

42 minutes ago, DERRIK said:

guys

I am grateful that several folk have stepped up to the plate to moderate each forum

I am sure the "politics" forum consumes a lot of time/ energy / hard feelings

While I might not always agree with moderator decisions - it easy for us in the grandstand to yell at the ump and coach

 

as I recall - DADDY did all the heavy lifting

Now we share the load (pardon the pun)

First of all...I'm not sharing any load.  I want it all for me🤪!

Secondly, the key to keeping the politics forum at least somewhat civil is having clear rules and then ensuring rule-breakers face consequences.  As long as that is happening, I'm quite happy for the politics forum to remain.  Things seem to be running quite well right now.

The summer break from the politics forum turned out to be helpful.  I personally have adopted a new approach now.  I simply do not engage with posters I consider baters and trolls.  Whilst I have put no-one officially on the ignore list, I am effectively ignoring them and their posts.  I have seen enough of their views and beliefs on the politics forum.  I don't consider their contributions to be of value to me and I have no reason to read the same comments they make endlessly.  Why bother even reading their input and then getting into an on-line yell-fest.   

[+ WilliamM]

18 hours ago, EZEtoGRU said:

First of all...I'm not sharing any load.  I want it all for me🤪!

Secondly, the key to keeping the politics forum at least somewhat civil is having clear rules and then ensuring rule-breakers face consequences.  As long as that is happening, I'm quite happy for the politics forum to remain.  Things seem to be running quite well right now.

The summer break from the politics forum turned out to be helpful.  I personally have adopted a new approach now.  I simply do not engage with posters I consider baters and trolls.  Whilst I have put no-one officially on the ignore list, I am effectively ignoring them and their posts.  I have seen enough of their views and beliefs on the politics forum.  I don't consider their contributions to be of value to me and I have no reason to read the same comments they make endlessly.  Why bother even reading their input and then getting into an on-line yell-fest.   

@bigjoey makes valuable  contributions as do many other members.

[BluDay]

The Lounge is one of the few forums I visit here. I understand there are new forums for specific interests, however when new people join a site like this, they will look for the general discussion area. Here, it is the Lounge. 

I don't know how much traffic the others get, and where it may be minor banter here, that is the point. The other forums have a topic, this is the one place open to allow members to joke, vent, discuss, and so on. Interaction by members not posting in the same forum will be here. 

I think closing this forum will reduce the number of new participants as it raises the work for entry, and dissatisfy the current membership as it's the open hangout place. 

[rvwnsd]

On 8/16/2022 at 6:27 AM, Cooper said:

Administrator’s Message. 

Gentlemen, The topic is “The Demise of Two Forums”. Please stay on topic. If you have any questions for the moderators, submit them to the Ask A Moderator Forum. 

🙏 

Cooper

Moderator's Note: Just wanted to remind everyone of what @Cooper wrote in his message. Please remain on topic and refrain from making commentary about other members. 

Thank you

[leeper]

One of the beauties of the Forums is you only have to read things that you think might be interesting.  The rest you can ignore.

[jtwalker]

There are only a few forums on here that I read, I skip the rest.

I don't like the political forum, but I think it may be necessary.  Some people need a place to rant, or they'll explode all over the other forums.

[AroydeeMahk]

On 8/18/2022 at 5:50 PM, jtwalker said:

There are only a few forums on here that I read, I skip the rest.

I don't like the political forum, but I think it may be necessary.  Some people need a place to rant, or they'll explode all over the other forums.

I new here as a member but not new as a visitor.

I agree with this and just want to add that it is good to keep those kinds of silly posts from there in one place because that way it is easy to forget that they exist.

[Epigonos]

Gentlemen to prove my point regarding the Lounge look at the shrinking number of post in this forum. Also look at the extended time elapse between responses to threads. Take the top five post to threads today. Number one 19 minutes, number two 25 minutes, number three 3 hours, number four 3 hours and number five 16 hours. These time elapses would never have been this long before the introduction of the current multitude of forums. Again I say dump the Lounge

[RadioRob]

The problem with "dumping the lounge" is that it would mean if a topic did not fit perfectly into something already pre-created, it could not be posted.  The Lounge has generally been the "catch all" for conversation.  

New forums are added when over time the moderators see a large number of topics on a specific area.  The cooking forum and sports forum were examples of this.  There was enough interest in being able to peel these areas out.  

Simply having fewer posts in the Lounge is not a bad thing.  Instead, the question becomes is there less OVERALL total posting.  When excluding the Legacy Gallery, the number of posts per day is generally pretty consistent within about 5% when looking over the last year.  Based on that statistic, we're not losing a whole bunch of people posting because of too many forums.  

With that being said... if you don't like needing to look for content in different logically grouped locations, you can choose to combine all forums into one single display if you like.  

From the homepage...  simply choose the "Fluid" view next to the "Start new topic" button.  

That will change your view to combine posts from all forums (or whatever forums you select) into a single view like the following:

But no...  we're not going to be dumping the lounge or the political issues forum.  You're welcome to not use those forums if they don't make sense for you, but there are enough people here that it makes sense for them to remain.  

[+ Lucky]

Of course we can't dump The Lounge. Where else could I ask an important question like "Have You Ever Made An Escort Cry?"

It's not just fewer posts in The Lounge, it's the decline in the intelligence of the posts. That's my opinion.

As for the Politics Forum, I get so edified by the rational and sane arguments. Who can resist?

[+ WilliamM]

On 8/16/2022 at 6:08 AM, Luv2play said:

I disagree with your suggestions as I find both the Lounge and the Political Forums to be two of the most interesting forums on the site. 

As well, I think this thread should have been posted on the Site News Forum, not the Lounge. Last week I suggested on that forum that This Day in History threads be moved out of the Lounge as they were cluttering up the Lounge and pushing out other topics to back pages. Radio Bob saw fit to act on this suggestion and I thank him.

Posted a while ago. I agree. Sure there are not interesting discussions every day.  By the way, I would be interested in who made an escort cry. Escorts have a very difficult job.

[+ Charlie]

I was a member here on 9/11/2001. Where else than the Lounge could one post about it that day? One needs a forum to post about subjects that don't fit in any of the other designated fora, even if there are not many posts made there.