a suggestion for reorganizing the Community forums

Polls should stay in Census. Social Threads I'm more apathetic about; I do think they tend to foster cliques, but at this point, they don't particularly bother me either.

 

Cliques exist whether you have social threads or not. This just happens, I think. The way to break down the "clique" stereotype, like Everton said, is bust on up in there and make yourself heard.

I think people tend to navigate towards those they know best, but that doesn't mean they will ignore everyone else. Once we stop expecting the JCC to be the big dinner table everyone sits at and accept that overall we're a community, the better off we'll be. Just like any community, groups break off in certain areas, but come together again in other areas. I can name five cliquey things about the JCC right off the top of my head: social threads, games, "rememberance" threads (i.e. the "good" ol' days stuff), sports threads, threads dealing with specific parts of the world.


None of those bother me. If like-minded people gather there, so be it. It isn't like it isn't mirroring society. Yes, I get annoyed when there's four social threads on the first page, but that's not the social group's fault. That's my problem. How do I deal with it? Go post in a thread that *I'm* interested in. I'll be talking to some of those folks in other threads.


Edit: I haven't posted ONE thing today that I didn't have to go back and edit because I can neither type or spell.

 

I have been seeing a growing trend of this or that threads, and as a mod myself...if it continues, I'll be tempted to send some of them to Census, as it's a form of abuse to start a thread like that at the frequency that has been happening in the last few weeks.

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Games that are basically social threads should stay in JCC!

Anyways, polls belong in census. we have a nice mixture of topics across the ENTIRE JC. Senate topics, JCC topics, SW topics, EU topics, etc.

This seems to be about getting crappy stuff (in your opinion, epic) out of JCC. Which i just dont think is going to happen. The only thing that might happen is a forum crack down on that type of stuff, but honestly the jcc mods seem to be loosening lately (which i dont have a problem with) so I'm betting your odds of success are prettttty low.

 

I agree with the English football club on this issue.

 

Social threads can be quite cliquish, there's nothing from stopping people from posting in them. I hardly doubt any new person would be told to get out(unless they're disruptive).

But polls should remain in Census, the thought of everybody being able to make polls makes me cry inside.

 

"I hardly doubt any new person would be told to get out(unless they're disruptive)."

I thought it was against the rules to ask people to leave a thread, even if they're disruptive.

About the polls and games being in census, it took me a bit to get used to but I really like it that way. Plus it then gives me a reason to hang out and check out a few polls and tournaments.

 

It's against the rules to cause trouble in response to trouble. If someone is being disruptive in a thread the correct course of action is to contact a mod, and not take things into your own hands... as that could result in both parties hitting trouble.

Additionally, if someone tried to post in a thread and was treated badly... told to scram and so on, then the people in trouble would be the ones trying to defend their e-exclusivity.

 

to expand on Everton's point - at times people think someone is causing trouble and flaming them. However, they weren't actually causing trouble, and now you've been banned for responding.

It's always best to contact a mod to get an 'official' opinion on what's acceptable or not.

 

actually, I agree with epic. It's not just 3 or 4 of them, it's half the page (or at least it looks like it). JCC is "fast-paced" (even though it has slowed down in the last year) because all those active social (and similar) threads push down the random ones, which, I agree, are much better for the community. Personally, I'd love to see the forum epic proposes. The only bad part about it would be taking away polls from Census, which I wouldn't want to happen.
I'd rather have all the organzied games in JCC (again) than all those chatty threads. The only reason I supported games being in Census (... did I ever say that? If not, at least I thought it) was because I thought it would free up the first page of JCC. It barely did.


oh and "it has worked for years" should never be an argument against something. Doesn't mean it's perfect. (I hope nobody finds an instance where I've used it )


Also, if you did this, JCC would truly be a forum of epic proportions

 

I'm not sure why these social/game threads are a big deal. If we take them out is the JCC magically going to fill with different threads? Is this so we can track non-social/game threads more easily? It's not like the forum is going to fill up with quality threads as soon as those threads are moved - it will still be the same forum that gets the same threads as it did before - only now they'll just stay longer on the first page.

It's a forum designed for people to have fun, the social threads are a part of that. New users find some of those threads - including fan clubs - and join in the discussion. Yes, some of those social threads are cliquish but that doesn't mean other users don't join in. I've seen many newbies join in quite a few of the "cliquish" threads and they're completely welcomed. Moving these threads to another forum is akin to saying, "You guys are just clutter, get the hell out of our forum." It's totally against the nature of the JCC to boot them out.

The non-structured game threads are the same way. They're a place people blow off steam and, yeah, sometimes +1. But again, it's part of the JCC. There's nothing wrong with responding to a "mindless" thread every once and awhile.

As for the polls back in JCC - please no. The novelty may wear off after a month or so, but that's doubtful. We have too many new users who come in and start redundant threads, I can't even imagine what would happen if we gave them polls.

 

Equally... simply saying that something 'could work in a different way' is no reason to change it. 'It's worked for years' no matter how easy it is to label it an cheap reponse, is often a very good reason to preserve things. When something is wrong, clear and present danger, - and there is nothing actually wrong here, only a mild distaste for the nature of some JCC threads (an issue that will forever be kicking around) - then 'it's worked for years' is clearly a dodge... but that is not the case here. It has worked for years... and guess what?... if something has worked well for such a long duration, is that really a BAD thing? I don't understand how you can use it as such a negative. I'm not saying we shouldn't examine things periodically... but there's a big leap between examining something to establish there's not a disaster imminent, and assuming that a dramatic change is *obviously* the way to go. And also... what exactly is perfect, d'you think we could get a concensus on that?

When it comes down to it, the JCC is such a wide ranging forum, with such a varied userbase, there is *always* going to be a contingent who have ideas on change - whether it be with genuine cause or simply putting out a theory as they while away the last few hours of a Friday afternoon.

I propose we dismantle the JCC and give each user their own forum. That way they can only make threads they like and consider worthwhile / beneficial to the way they want to enjot the place. I am going to make a thread about Everton, one about Star Trek, and one about the misadventures of my Cat. Others would be welcome, but only if they agree to put 'Blue is best' in their sigs.

 

It's not about things being BAD for years, it's about how it might be 'better', possibly, maybe. Okay, just for two people so far, I know, but don't hang me because I happen to like a Comms idea for the first time in 3 years...

 

There is no identifiable need to move social threads. All there is is an observation that social threads are a popular part of the JCC.

 

need? Of course there is no need. If we're talking about need, then I'll immediately agree that it has worked for years and doesn't need to be changed.

And while "If it ain't broke don't fix it" is also true like so often, I still see how the forum could potentially be even better. Maybe not to enough people and apparently definitely not to the mod team, but maybe.

Actually... what oh so great important effect do social threads have on the forum? Because... never going into them... I have no idea what that could be. Unless they cause most of the traffic.

 

*blows whistle*


I think we've established that social threads have a place in the JCC as it stands now. We'll always look at the best make-up of a forum and try to do what's best at that time. Forums change and grow, and if the need arises to change things, we'll certainly look at it again. So please continue to give us feedback on it.