Enough. Reform the lounge already

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féminin_grâce said:
Hear, Hear!! Thank you for the courage to speak out! This site of the lounge gives a bad name to the whole Bluelight forum, nothing less then a porn site at times, and even some of the avatars should be banned. I am a visitor tot the country I am at present, and I use the library to get to Bluelight. They monitor Internet usage and they shut the browser the minute I get on the Bluelight site. Each time I read posts a certain avatar comes on, that should only be allowed to be on porn sites. There are children on the adjoining computers also and I find myself covering the screen. How discraceful, to be allowed all this on this forum.
The members should not be allowed to have such total freedom to act in such a way that it disgraces the whole of the forum.
I am only using the forum because there are very educated and intelligent people getting into worthwile discussions and it makes it viable also when it is harm reduction advise to people who are endangering themselves using drugs. But pornography and going out of control with what they want to do of the forum has made me wonder who runs the show, the forum or the members. Without rules to follow people become animals.
Place some rules, and remove the pornography!!
Well said Fjones!!!
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Have you ever heard of free speech?
 
People who have problem with Lounge make me sick. Those who complain contribute nothing. Should do Bluelight favor and leave.
 
Nibiru said:
Words cannot express how I have come to feel about this argument.

FACEPALM.JPG
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What he said.

21 off-topic and/or abusive posts removed.

Fjones: you are making a complaint about people arguing with you in the Lounge in exactly the same manner as you make posts in the Lounge that cause people to argue with you. Your first post was not exactly very diplomatic or constructive and then you responded to That Guy like this:

Fjones said:
Useful input from one of the failures himself. Nicely done sir. Thanks for contributing.
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Nice going. :|
Fjones said:
WHY THE FUCK DOES A HARM REDUCTION SITE, and a great one at that, have a cesspool like the lounge?
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Why does a harm reduction site have a forum for discussing films? Or music? Or legal issues?

Some people have been banned recently. Let's see if that makes a difference, shall we?

Oh, and everyone else: remember this is a thread ABOUT the Lounge; it isn't the Lounge itself. :|
 
The argument that those who don't like the Lounge should just stay away from it is completely and utterly useless. No one should desire change because there are a few who don't think that things should change? I hope the people making this "argument" don't apply it to other aspects of their lives such as government or civil liberties for example.
 
purplefirefly said:
The argument that those who don't like the Lounge should just stay away from it is completely and utterly useless. No one should desire change because there are a few who don't think that things should change? I hope the people making this "argument" don't apply it to other aspects of their lives such as government or civil liberties for example.
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You're applying an intrusion on rights to reading a forum? These two things are completely different.

Do you think I should complain because I have no interest in nudie pics that I should push to have it removed from the Lounge? What kind of intrusion of rights and enjoyment happens when I just don't click the link? Do I need to click the link? Is it in my face and forcing me to read it? Is the nudie thread causing me harm in some way? Am I forced to read the nudie thread when I come to BL?
 
Arnold is right, Fjones you have been depressed for quite sometime and this isn't helping your depression. I think CBT therapy can work wonders for you, but you have to be willing to do the work. Don't worry about this issue anymore, it will be okay
 
Lysis said:
You're applying an intrusion on rights to reading a forum? These two things are completely different.

Do you think I should complain because I have no interest in nudie pics that I should push to have it removed from the Lounge? What kind of intrusion of rights and enjoyment happens when I just don't click the link? Do I need to click the link? Is it in my face and forcing me to read it? Is the nudie thread causing me harm in some way? Am I forced to read the nudie thread when I come to BL?
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So when people post and people verbally assault them then that's okay? The person being assaulted doesn't have to post, but the assaulter doesn't have to post either.

The street goes both ways.
 
^Anyone is free to post what they feel is appropriate in any forum. If you dont like what you see, post what you think should be good lounge content. If others think that post is good, it will get appropriate responses. However if you post dumb shit, that will also get the appropriate response.

Depends on how sensitive you are.
 
purplefirefly said:
So when people post and people verbally assault them then that's okay? The person being assaulted doesn't have to post, but the assaulter doesn't have to post either.

The street goes both ways.
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Perhaps my idea of verbal assault and yours are different. When I post on a forum and people say "Hey, you're a dumb fuckhead." I can't say I particularly like the comment, but how does that really affect me other than bruise my ego? If someone on a forum thousands of miles away tells me that I'm a stupid fuckhead, yeah it sucks, but it doesn't hurt me.

I'm not saying that all the forums should be chaos. The focus forums are well moderated and I wouldn't be here much if every one of the forums were filled with Lounge crap. But that is the beauty of being on a forum where there are options - play and laugh and verbally beat each other up a bit or keep to the focus forums where the talk is moderated and more serious.

The BL experience is completely your own. If you don't like porn, you don't go to a porn site. If you don't like chaotic forums, you stay away from those forums. If you don't like anything on the internet, you just don't go there. There is nothing lost by you and they are not intruding on your experience.
 
^Indeed.

The lounge isn't a substitute for real life interactions or therapy. Those just seeking encouragement or blind praise are simply barking up the wrong tree.

With regard to "verbal assault", the lounge has actually been far nicer over the last few years than was previously the case. I regularly go there and have not seen a classic "assrape" for a long time.

Again, the lounge is not "g" rated.
 
purplefirefly said:
The argument that those who don't like the Lounge should just stay away from it is completely and utterly useless. No one should desire change because there are a few who don't think that things should change? I hope the people making this "argument" don't apply it to other aspects of their lives such as government or civil liberties for example.
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I agree with this. If we really believe that argument, why have mods at all?

Don't like spam? Don't read it.
Don't like someone racially insulting you in CE&P? Don't read it?
Don't like off-topic posts? Don't read them.
Don't like someone posting sources? Don't read them.

Let BL be exactly what people want it to be.

Of course, then it will be the lowest common denominator, because it takes far more time to create something useful than to post copypasta or memes or "lol faggot", so the latter will naturally drown out the former.
 
Infinite Jest said:
I agree with this. If we really believe that argument, why have mods at all?

Don't like spam? Don't read it.
Don't like someone racially insulting you in CE&P? Don't read it?
Don't like off-topic posts? Don't read them.
Don't like someone posting sources? Don't read them.

Let BL be exactly what people want it to be.

Of course, then it will be the lowest common denominator, because it takes far more time to create something useful than to post copypasta or memes or "lol faggot", so the latter will naturally drown out the former.
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redundancy.

i'm a snowboarder and, in common with all ski resorts i have visited, the one at which i work asks people to follow the responsibility code.

item #2 in the responsibility code is: "People ahead of you have the right of way. It is your responsibility to avoid them."

item #4 in the responsibility code is: "Whenever starting downhill or merging into a trail, look uphill and yield to others. "

clearly, if people always did #2, there would be no need for #4 and vice versa.

people have a huge amount of control over their own bluelight experience and choosing to avoid a forum which mostly angers them is one way to address the issue. i know if i'm flicking through the channels and i come across a show i dislike, i change the channel - it's much better for my blood pressure than continuing to watch a show i don't even like while shouting at the tv about how much i dislike it :)

if, however, there's a genuine desire to change things, then engage in the process and work towards change. there have been some significant changes in the way bluelight operates since i've been a member so it does happen. saving up months of anger then throwing a temper tantrum here or elsewhere has never been a particularly constructive way to address any issue.

alasdair
 
The problem with Bluelight is that although it claims to have a specific mission - one of harm reduction - parts of the board have never really got accustomed to the fact that its role has diversified. It's no longer the underground band that catered for a few people in the know, it went mainstream and developed into providing a range of social features for disparate groups of people. Bluelight is the Coldplay of drugs boards. Sorry, but it's true. There's nothing wrong with that... it probably reaches more people that way and gets information "out there" far more effectively. But this will ensure two facts with an absolute certainty:

  1. That Buelight will periodically experience an inferiority complex - a biannual mid-life crisis of sorts where certain members seemingly endure some sort of existential crisis over the destiny of Bluelight and feel the need to place the weight of that burden on others in the most patronising and disdainful way possible. This is prompted either by a senior member suddenly becoming evangelical about preventing the supposed impedance of harm reduction (which never lasts that long) or by some relatively new member whinging about harsh treatment in a forum they barely know (which also results in people banging the harm reduction drum just as enthusiastically... and just as fleetingly).

  2. Diversification and opening yourself up to a wider audience also means that you get a larger number of people who represent you - whether you like it or not. A percentage of them will not be here to talk about drugs or the meaning of life, but to instead banter with eachother and behave like children. Consequently, they might not be to your taste... and that's fine. But the forums are big enough for us all to get what we need without being outraged at everything we don't agree with. So a few people are offended by specific content... big deal! I manage to move in and out of the Lounge (and other forums) and avoid engaging in the crap while focusing on the quality. I don't find it that difficult. In fact, I like the fact that we have a broad community that tolerates asshattery enough to make the board constantly entertaining - no matter what mood I'm in.

    So what, exactly, is stopping anyone else from achieving this feat of commonplace internet navigation? Apart from their need to contribute to the burgeoning "offence industry" where we're encouraged to be angered and bitter over the slightest deviation from what we think is correct?
Get the fuck over the fact that Bluelight caters to a lot of very different people. And while these people sometimes cross the line, the existing staff does a good job of keeping it contained in a comparatively small part of the site. If you want homogeneity and top-down authoritarianism, go to Drugs Forum... and flush your sense of humour down the toilet while you're at it.
 
^^^ so true. I think the mods (and others!) need to stop worrying about the Lounge. Obviously, if someone is posting stuff about rape, murder, child abuse etc etc, That's not cool! But some trolling is to be expected.
 
tambourine-man said:
The problem with Bluelight is that although it claims to have a specific mission - one of harm reduction - parts of the board have never really got accustomed to the fact that its role has diversified. It's no longer the underground band that catered for a few people in the know, it went mainstream and developed into providing a range of social features for disparate groups of people. Bluelight is the Coldplay of drugs boards. Sorry, but it's true. There's nothing wrong with that... it probably reaches more people that way and gets information "out there" far more effectively. But this will ensure two facts with an absolute certainty:

  1. That Buelight will periodically experience an inferiority complex - a biannual mid-life crisis of sorts where certain members seemingly endure some sort of existential crisis over the destiny of Bluelight and feel the need to place the weight of that burden on others in the most patronising and disdainful way possible. This is prompted either by a senior member suddenly becoming evangelical about preventing the supposed impedance of harm reduction (which never lasts that long) or by some relatively new member whinging about harsh treatment in a forum they barely know (which also results in people banging the harm reduction drum just as enthusiastically... and just as fleetingly).

  2. Diversification and opening yourself up to a wider audience also means that you get a larger number of people who represent you - whether you like it or not. A percentage of them will not be here to talk about drugs or the meaning of life, but to instead banter with eachother and behave like children. Consequently, they might not be to your taste... and that's fine. But the forums are big enough for us all to get what we need without being outraged at everything we don't agree with. So a few people are offended by specific content... big deal! I manage to move in and out of the Lounge (and other forums) and avoid engaging in the crap while focusing on the quality. I don't find it that difficult. In fact, I like the fact that we have a broad community that tolerates asshattery enough to make the board constantly entertaining - no matter what mood I'm in.

    So what, exactly, is stopping anyone else from achieving this feat of commonplace internet navigation? Apart from their need to contribute to the burgeoning "offence industry" where we're encouraged to be angered and bitter over the slightest deviation from what we think is correct?
Get the fuck over the fact that Bluelight caters to a lot of very different people. And while these people sometimes cross the line, the existing staff does a good job of keeping it contained in a comparatively small part of the site. If you want homogeneity and top-down authoritarianism, go to Drugs Forum... and flush your sense of humour down the toilet while you're at it.
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Excellent post.
 
alasdairm said:
item #2 in the responsibility code is: "People ahead of you have the right of way. It is your responsibility to avoid them."

item #4 in the responsibility code is: "Whenever starting downhill or merging into a trail, look uphill and yield to others. "

clearly, if people always did #2, there would be no need for #4 and vice versa.
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These are great analogies.

Now lets apply it to the lounge more clearly.

What would you do if in example item #2 the people ahead are constantly riding very slowly.

Or in item # 4 the people behind are screaming abuse or covering you with snow as they "safely" go past?



Well thats sort of what happens in the lounge.

Not everyone snowboards at the same speed and some are a lot more agressive than others.




Should you now stop snowboarding?

Maybe become one of the slowboarders?

Become an abuser?

Or should the powers that be step in and take some control so that everyone can enjoy the slope?

Of course in a perfect world everyone would be considerate of others, but unfortunately those days are well and truly gone it would appear.
 
MazDan said:
These are great analogies.

Now lets apply it to the lounge more clearly.

What would you do if in example item #2 the people ahead are constantly riding very slowly.

Or in item # 4 the people behind are screaming abuse or covering you with snow as they "safely" go past?



Well thats sort of what happens in the lounge.

Not everyone snowboards at the same speed and some are a lot more agressive than others..
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i didn't quote those code items to be analogous of the lounge, rather to address simon's point about suspending rules altogether. i was simply showing that moderation on the part of both staff and users go hand in hand (the same way rule #2 and rule #4 go hand in hand).

i feel that i am responsible for my own enjoyment of the lounge just as i am responsible for my own enjoyment of the slopes.

alasdair
 
I'm gonna have to say to TM that was a great post Ive never seen bl brokendown so well. That sums it up, I think anyone who feels the way fjones does should read this, it would be impossible for them to be so self centered afterwards.
 
alasdairm said:
i didn't quote those code items to be analogous of the lounge, rather to address simon's point about suspending rules altogether. i was simply showing that moderation on the part of both staff and users go hand in hand (the same way rule #2 and rule #4 go hand in hand).

i feel that i am responsible for my own enjoyment of the lounge just as i am responsible for my own enjoyment of the slopes.

alasdair
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lol, nice sidestep.
 
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