10-28-2013, 12:41 PM
Pre Face - At first when I saw that the Chit Chat thread was locked, I was going to attempt to make around ten threads with a different subject. Such topics would only include short posts such as "I had a good burger", "Work was bad today", "I found some money!", "Time to do homework", and so on to prove my point. While I still humor the idea, the admins, mods, and members have done no ill will, so I decided to abandon the plan and to avoid being snarky or snide. I decided to include this little section as I was pretty excited about it. However, I will attack the issue with a more direct, formal, and civilized way so that every one can give their opinion.
Let me first say that I respect the mods and admins of the site and they're pretty good with keeping this place in tact. That being said, the latest action to lock the chat thread is something I really don't approve of and that I would like reversed. Personally, I believe it was unneeded and unnecessary for something so harmless to the forum and the members. To be frank, I think it will do the opposite of what was intended, which was not a bad thing really.
As a moderator of two active forums and a person who browses many different forums, the most active thread is usually the Casual Talk/Chit Chat/Current Thoughts thread, which I'm sure everyone here knows. What's the appeal of this topic? Why do so many people love it? Well, within the limit of not posting a bunch of spam, one can just talk about whatever comes to mind or those little daily events in their life. There's no fear of "derailing" a topic if a conversations is switched and the whole thread is usually very relaxed. Sometimes someone may bring up a certain video game or show and there might be conversation about this. Honestly, there's no problem with this as can just do little chatter and be done with it, and then move on. If the chat were to be taken away, then the option you suggested would result in many threads over the smallest shows/topics/discussions which would clutter the forum. There would also be less incentive to check and comment as they would have to get through all the topics just to see it. While I understand not wanting to have restrict the forum to only a few threads, doing this will cause just as worse damage and have the same effect.
The chit chat threads binds everyone together (including the animu obsessed nut like me) rather than dividing them off into certain sections of the forums. This connection between the members is what makes it special and if this were to be taken away, part of that would be lost and some may eventually lose interest. Part of this is going off my experience with another forum where this happened, so it's not exactly unheard of, no matter how corny it sounded.
If someone wants to talk in depth about a certain topic, then they can feel free to make it still without having the chat thread. While I understand that the forums have not been as active, can you truly say that the fault of it is due to just one thread, let alone a harmless one like this that's on other boards and has done nothing but add conversation? For those who feel otherwise, feel free to correct me, but there's never really been huge problems on this forum, especially compared to all the sites I go on. The chat thread is welcoming and nice, which many newcomers first check out and is what has a high chance of making them stay. There's no conflict in the thread and as said before, only does good which is what really makes me wonder why the thread was locked in the first place. I can honestly say that I probably wouldn't check the forums as much if that were to happen and I'm sure a few others may feel that way. I don't mean this as a threat as if the thread were to remain unlocked I would still post around, but it wouldn't be as frequent due to the sillyness and the fun of just chating would be gone.
Finally, let me ask a question to the admins, mods, and members. Would you prefer the site to have more posts and topics in the loss of the current members having less fun and enjoyment?
If you feel otherwise or just want to share your opinion on the matter, go on ahead.
Let me first say that I respect the mods and admins of the site and they're pretty good with keeping this place in tact. That being said, the latest action to lock the chat thread is something I really don't approve of and that I would like reversed. Personally, I believe it was unneeded and unnecessary for something so harmless to the forum and the members. To be frank, I think it will do the opposite of what was intended, which was not a bad thing really.
As a moderator of two active forums and a person who browses many different forums, the most active thread is usually the Casual Talk/Chit Chat/Current Thoughts thread, which I'm sure everyone here knows. What's the appeal of this topic? Why do so many people love it? Well, within the limit of not posting a bunch of spam, one can just talk about whatever comes to mind or those little daily events in their life. There's no fear of "derailing" a topic if a conversations is switched and the whole thread is usually very relaxed. Sometimes someone may bring up a certain video game or show and there might be conversation about this. Honestly, there's no problem with this as can just do little chatter and be done with it, and then move on. If the chat were to be taken away, then the option you suggested would result in many threads over the smallest shows/topics/discussions which would clutter the forum. There would also be less incentive to check and comment as they would have to get through all the topics just to see it. While I understand not wanting to have restrict the forum to only a few threads, doing this will cause just as worse damage and have the same effect.
The chit chat threads binds everyone together (including the animu obsessed nut like me) rather than dividing them off into certain sections of the forums. This connection between the members is what makes it special and if this were to be taken away, part of that would be lost and some may eventually lose interest. Part of this is going off my experience with another forum where this happened, so it's not exactly unheard of, no matter how corny it sounded.
If someone wants to talk in depth about a certain topic, then they can feel free to make it still without having the chat thread. While I understand that the forums have not been as active, can you truly say that the fault of it is due to just one thread, let alone a harmless one like this that's on other boards and has done nothing but add conversation? For those who feel otherwise, feel free to correct me, but there's never really been huge problems on this forum, especially compared to all the sites I go on. The chat thread is welcoming and nice, which many newcomers first check out and is what has a high chance of making them stay. There's no conflict in the thread and as said before, only does good which is what really makes me wonder why the thread was locked in the first place. I can honestly say that I probably wouldn't check the forums as much if that were to happen and I'm sure a few others may feel that way. I don't mean this as a threat as if the thread were to remain unlocked I would still post around, but it wouldn't be as frequent due to the sillyness and the fun of just chating would be gone.
Finally, let me ask a question to the admins, mods, and members. Would you prefer the site to have more posts and topics in the loss of the current members having less fun and enjoyment?
If you feel otherwise or just want to share your opinion on the matter, go on ahead.