Can we have a thread here to discuss the current lounge rules?

[9mmCensor]

Think before posting - ask yourself, is this really how I want the site that I love to be seen on the internet world? And would I want my name tied to a thread that displayed this post? If you think of how your post will reflect our membership and goals, it would keep sex squid pics and mindless meme floods and random nonsensical posts out of the forum (just as they do in any other forum on this site). This would still allow the insider jokes amongst a few friends (not everything has to appeal to the world or be understood by them) - such as rc's reference to friends after a gathering, or even CG's power thread (which I actually 'got' without being a DBZ person). These show friendship, camaraderie, and togetherness - not to the exclusion of others, but in celebration of the friends we've made here. It would have prevented some of the stupider threads that have lived unchecked for so long.

I have seen forums, and think it is certainly an idea to think of, where the social general discussion is hidden from most n00bs. Usually with a post limit, you allow n00bs to learn the community in the core forum, before accessing the social forum, where community knowledge gives meaning and a place for social banter. Don't let just anyone see the nudity or ninja love or whatever, let that be for those who are _part_ of the community... active members from within. We should after all try to attract people to our core forums, rather than attract people to our hawt bodies and senseless ramblings.

 

[L2R]

The other hand in this is the moderation - which has historically proven to be clique-ish and operating with a single mind on what (or more often who) is allowed to be posted. This is being addressed, though some members may not see it yet. The recent mod addition was of someone who would not be influenced by any particular clique and has shown independent thinking. And before he was added, the mods have actually had very conflicted discussion on what threads or posts ought to be edited or left alone. Point being, they don't all see things the same, and they do try to verify against the other mod perspectives before taking action.

Just an addition to this point. Due to timezone issues inherent in the global community, intra-staff communications can sometimes take more time than what is ideal.
This can result in questionable edits and closes. Since we do indeed see things differently, we have, many times in the past, reversed a decision to close or unapprove posts or thread on further discussion.
So, if you feel that you have been unfairly edited or closed, once again i say with emphasis, plead your case, and it will be reviewed, and if appropriate, reversed.

 

[-Guido-]

Lol thats why I mostly post at night... Mostly...

 

[TheLoveBandit]

I have seen forums, and think it is certainly an idea to think of, where the social general discussion is hidden from most n00bs. Usually with a post limit, you allow n00bs to learn the community in the core forum, before accessing the social forum, where community knowledge gives meaning and a place for social banter. Don't let just anyone see the nudity or ninja love or whatever, let that be for those who are _part_ of the community... active members from within. We should after all try to attract people to our core forums, rather than attract people to our hawt bodies and senseless ramblings.

This has been considered by the admins, and ought to remain in the realm of options, but what killed it before is twofold. First, the only realistic means of limiting access is by post count as you've noted - but that would keep out someone fully capable and desired for such a forum (either BL savant, or a new account for a past member) while at the sametime allowing someone like CG* who whores up whatever public version of the lounge exists That postcount limit would be arbitrary, but it would be fair as it would apply to everyone. The second issue is that it wouldn't address the actual content on the site. Yes, insider stuff is kept behind closed doors - but would that forum still have the same crappy threads? If so, you've only delayed the time before people are exposed to it, and their view of the site then changes at that point - rather than knowing what we're all about from the get go. Plus you'd leave whatever public version as a completely bland place (I'm imagining Aus Social as I've never been there but have an idea considering how it's been referenced in this thread).

Perhaps hiding the forum altogether, leaving no public version? But it still doesn't address the content, it only hides it - the original problem remains unaddressed. But it may be worth trying even on a trial basis for 6-9 months. I'm just having trouble grasping if it would actually change anything. But (how many buts in a row have I started sentences now? Shows how conflicted I am on this, eh?) I'll point it out to the admins again for consideration at the very least.

For reference, we've also considered hiding ALL the social forums in an effort to ensure our core forums were being shown to the public. But it has been made clear that the community aspects of our site are a key to what makes us attract new members - we're not a reference book on a shelf, we're a living, breathing, playing group of real people with real lives who are more than just drug users - we're an example of what safe drug use can be, something that the public needs to see and many people such as yourselves need to know about beyond 'drugs are bad, mkay?'.


*CG has been used as a reference on this solely because I can count on one hand the number of members who've shot their postcount up THAT fast in THAT short of an amount of time. It is not meant in a derogatory way. CG, I'm just tugging your nuts gently on that, not actually punching them.

 

[-Guido-]

*CG has been used as a reference on this solely because I can count on one hand the number of members who've shot their postcount up THAT fast in THAT short of an amount of time. It is not meant in a derogatory way. CG, I'm just tugging your nuts gently on that, not actually punching them.

I am honored to have you fondling my balls.

This one time I made 150+ posts in one day and I got PM'd by a few Bluelighters. They told me to stop posting and go to bed.

 

[9mmCensor]

First, the only realistic means of limiting access is by post count as you've noted - but that would keep out someone fully capable and desired for such a forum (either BL savant, or a new account for a past member) while at the sametime allowing someone like CG* who whores up whatever public version of the lounge exists That postcount limit would be arbitrary, but it would be fair as it would apply to everyone. The second issue is that it wouldn't address the actual content on the site. Yes, insider stuff is kept behind closed doors - but would that forum still have the same crappy threads? If so, you've only delayed the time before people are exposed to it, and their view of the site then changes at that point - rather than knowing what we're all about from the get go. Plus you'd leave whatever public version as a completely bland place (I'm imagining Aus Social as I've never been there but have an idea considering how it's been referenced in this thread).

1) Yes post count is going to be just an arbitrary ticket into the community. And people could just postwhore to get in, but if they are postwhoring somewhere else, they will likely be caught by the vigiliant staff that keep this place in tip top shape. If people that are capable and desired for the forum, they can easily wait a little bit, and take the time to contribute to the community on the focus forums, to gain access or for the odd instance could be granted it by request.
2) This thread has over 220 posts, but we still don't have a way to fix the problem. Run some damage control, limit the chaos for now. And phase in the changes, gradually, to make the change. Lets face it, a social forum like the Lounge is difficult to administer, because its scope is so broad, and its topics so touchie. Take the time, to roll out change, and work on perfection. Revolutionary change here is going to be too shocking, we need evolutionary change, brain storm, try things, fail, try try again and get it right. I don't expect to find a solution here that suddenly fixes the Lounge. I do think that everyone here, can work towards making it a better place. Its just going to take time.

The Lounge is alot more shocking, if you don't understand it. Taking the time to understand the community and getting to know the members, will give context to the Lounge. A n00bs point of view, isn't what you want to first look at the Lounge. Leave the Lounge private, until people have reached the post quote to access it.

 

[delta_9]

how come we can make all these changes to the lounge, but we can't get that damn soda machine in CD I've been bitching about for months?!!!!!!

I got fucking cotton mouth!!!!!!!!!!

 

[zephyr]

Everything is Fengtau's fault anyway.

 

[MazDan]

(I'm imagining Aus Social as I've never been there but have an idea considering how it's been referenced in this thread).

I am not quite sure what peoples problems are with Aus social and why it seems to be used as a land mark quite often.

Personally i consider it an extremely well run forum and would love to see something similar on a global basis.......maybe not quite as strict but certainly not as lax as the lounge. (not that i have a prob with the lounge, its just not my cup of tea as it was.)

But I do think its a bit rich to be suggesting that aus social is something no forum wants to be like.

And yes I realise that TLB its not u saying this.

 

[L2R]

mazza, consider the two forums like nsw and qld during state of origin. no one will even admit to the other's virtues.

 

[TheLoveBandit]

Yeah, I think the comparisons to AusSoc is because the LOUNGE has trouble finding someone it could consider it a 'peer' - I don't believe there is any real harm intended with comments (even from LOUNGE diehards). I think it's more of a tongue-in-cheek reference.

 

[5-HT2]

I'd like to make one more point without slogging fully back into the debate. So much of this discussion has revolved around improving the image of the Lounge and injecting some decorum into the place. Therefore, I'd like to ask who our target audience is. If it's the general public, or even n00bs who are unfamiliar with the site, then aren't the nudie threads a little inappropriate? Not that I don't love it, but it could very easily be regarded as sleazy and exploitative. Also, there is the issue of not being able to verify the age of the posters. Now, if access to The Lounge (and perhaps other social forums as well) was restricted to people who had built themselves up and gotten a feel for the community, this type of misconception wouldn't be as much of a potential problem.

 

[SA]

This train of thought of restricting access to The Lounge to seasoned bluelighters only is working under the assumption that it is new members who cause most of the problems. I highly doubt that is the case. The nudie threads, that's another story...

 

[DarthMom]

for those who worry about the lounge being elitist or cliquey, blocking it to noobs would make that even worse.

 

[5-HT2]

This train of thought of restricting access to The Lounge to seasoned bluelighters only is working under the assumption that it is new members who cause most of the problems. I highly doubt that is the case. The nudie threads, that's another story...

Actually, I think the train of thought about restricting Lounge access is a response to The Lounge hurting the image of BL. In this context, I don't think the nudie threads are "another story."

The trolling is a different matter, and I think it has been conflated with broader image problems of the Lounge (though they do overlaps somewhat). Below, I list several tiers of people, from most to least specific, who might be concerned with the image of the Lounge:

• current Lounge rats
• former Lounge rats
• seasoned BLers who haven't really frequented the Lounge
• n00bs
• lurkers (this probably includes a lot of the internet drug discussion community)
• the general public

In the context of The Lounge's image among the more general categories of the population, I think most of the trollish behavior has been relatively harmless compared to other threads containing adult, violent, and explicit content.

As I stated previously, I'm going to try to stay out of the portion of the argument that involves trollish behavior and Lounge moderation, but I would like to know what the main objective is here. If it is to improve the image of the Lounge so that it doesn't make the rest of the site look bad, then I think the solution will have to be more drastic than if the goal is just to curtail trolling.

 

[9mmCensor]

This train of thought of restricting access to The Lounge to seasoned bluelighters only is working under the assumption that it is new members who cause most of the problems. I highly doubt that is the case. The nudie threads, that's another story...

Delaying n00bs from seeing the lounge isn't to protect the lounge from the n00bs causing problems. Its to prevent the general public, and n00bs from seeing what happens within the community's social forum, until they have become an active part of the community. Its to stop people from seeing something that they likely aren't going to understand, because the context requires you to understand the people within it and the trends of the community.

Think of BL as an island, a tourist island. The inhabitants of the island are the current posters here. And the lounge is a locals only pub. No tourists are allowed in the locals pub, not because some local is gonna hurt the tourist, but because the tourist would understand what happens in the pub and it would scare the tourist from the island. We want the tourist to come to the island, and become a member of the island so they can come to the pub and kick it, we just want them to become a member of the island first, and come to the pub with some understanding of the community.

for those who worry about the lounge being elitist or cliquey, blocking it to noobs would make that even worse.

Its a barrier to entry. Sure, but its easy to get in, if you belong and want to be there. Just make a few posts, and contribute to the community and start becoming a BL, then you can see all of what BL has to offer.

 

[zephyr]

Yeah, I think the comparisons to AusSoc is because the LOUNGE has trouble finding someone it could consider it a 'peer' - I don't believe there is any real harm intended with comments (even from LOUNGE diehards). I think it's more of a tongue-in-cheek reference.

It is, but it still very over moderated and over edited. The threads are far more interesting before they are mopped up and participation in them dives down to zero after they are edited. Whats the point in bothering if you can't post what you actually think? Jeez, most people aren't that uptight IRL, should be no different on line.

But thats just my opinion and I don't consider myself a regular of that forum.

Lounge is kinda shuffling in that direction as its a little more uptight these days-

but its still my favourite forum.

 

[michael]

historical note: there was a time when people thought that needing 1000 posts to have an avatar was the most horribly restrictive rule ever in the history of the earth.

seriously.

another historical note: every now and again the lounge gets out of hand. back when i had a say in such matters, my solution was to always first try and PM these people and ask them to stop whatever it is they were doing (usually wearing down every freakin' thread with the same shit).

i can count on the knuckles of my penis how many times this worked. in case y'all are of the few blers who haven't seen my tremendously humongous penis, there aren't any knuckles. eventually this would escalate into being warned a couple times and then a message from me saying "you're on probation, seriously knock it the fuck off."

this worked SLIGHTLY more often. very very slightly.

well, maybe you're one of the few that enjoys whatever is causing this current round of drama - i'll note that there are very few people who seem to want these memes in every single thread repeatedly over and over (did that seem redundant enough?), at least who are willing to speak out about it publically. these people i will point to the thread i once posted (indeed it was once a lounge announcement) entitled 'how to postwhore and not look like a jackass.' try it on for a change, particularly the part about trying to keep things fun for everyone - not just yourself and your 3 other friends.

i will also note that whenever this comes up, there is always someone who complains about how their right to free speech and creativity is being stifled and whatever is happening is a horrible blow to free expression and yeah! but i can't give any examples of how anything i wanted to say was stopped and damn the man...

forgive me if i seem jaded, but i've been through this far too many times already.

 

[axl blaze]

I was waiting for you to post here, michael. I think I remember that thread "how to post whore and not be a jackass."it would do us all well if you linked us to it here.

 

[GenericMind]

I'm not going to pretend that I've been around long enough to tell you how you should run your forums, but I will say I think the Lounge is fine the way it is. It gives the boys a place to play while the other forums, the focus of Bluelight, are conducted relatively unhindered. If you take that away what's being complained about now will just spill over into all the places it shouldn't be.