THE EXAM THREAD WHERE I STUCK MY FOOT IN MY MOUTH Retitle: Puppies are cute — Page 2

Again, let me restate AGAIN.

1) It's not about wasting my time reading threads (with misleading titles or not) that I could not give a crap about. It's about how quickly the endless student related topics quickly push the non-student related topics off the front pages. It's not about 20 seconds of my life, it's about whether or not the board is capable of holding the interests of people from all sorts of walks of life, with various notions of what's interesting or not.

2) CLEARLY there is enough interest and action in these types of student issues posts to support a lively very special section of the board. Think of it as a special place, a specific magical place, where appropriate people can share all the laughter and all the tears of student life. Whether they're currently students or not.

3) And Emcee, what exactly are you afraid of that you would write:

"Right. Because people are always so willing to go out of their way. Everyone's that f*cking generous."

Are you saying that you agree with me that these topics are not interesting enough that they would be ignored if they didn't dominate the Off Topic Board the way they so often do? You seem mighty invested in that idea. Why? What is the harm of having a specific place where a self-selected group of people can decide whether or not they're interested in Student Issues and contribute with wild abandon to it?

What is it you don't think will work about the idea? What is your investment in making sure that topics that couldn't possibly interest certain people are in fact seen by them? And why do you refuse to see that it can be frustrating to not find anything to contribute to on a front page of Off Topics that are almost nothing but students issues?

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I agree that there is a lot of junk that clutters up both boards, there are many many threads I do not read that do push what I may like back. But that is not singularly caused by student threads, the problems you present will be present no matter what. If this is a Broadway message board it seems whatever is not related to Broadway is off-topic so if I miss it, or don't like it. Too bad for me. I always go a few pages back to see if anything interesting has been discussed anyway.

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Ah-HA!

You write, "It's just as frustrating on the other side of the spectrum, for someone younger to read a thread and have no idea what's going on as it is for someone older to read something and just have no interest in it and be bored by it - you don't seem to see that, as you accuse me of refusing to be able to see YOUR frustration."

This is where your argument actually supports my idea. What has happened in the evolution of this board over the last year or so is that there has been a fairly large influx of younger people to the board and the fact that student issue posts have come to dominate the off-topic board has led to a noticeable exodus of posters who apparently have no interest or feel that they have nothing to contribute to a board that is so dominated by students issues.

At this point, dear Emcee, the older posters and people who posted here for quite a while and who are still here, are in the minority. I am asking you to put aside the fact that you are in the majority and understand that the off-topic board just doesn't have much room for older posters any more.

The creation of a Students Issues Board would make more room for everybody. If you think this is just the way the board has evolved and let the tyranny of the majority drive off people, fine.

My suggestion is so much less nefarious than you make out. I am sure there ARE a few older people who give a **** about the student issues and would like to contribute/advise on a student board. I'm wondering if you're thinking younger people would be too lazy to click to the off topic board to do some of that cross generational learning you lament would be lost if a students board existed?

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Just wait until the kiddies are ALL out of school next month for the summer.

Namo and I posted at the same time...

What I have to say to your twist of my argument, which I'm sure shall proceed to be twisted as well, is that the existence of this board is not primarly to talk about anything and everything that occurs in our lives, but about theatre. It's something that seems to have proven itself as something that intelligent individuals can converse rather openly about, without so much regard to or emphasis on age. The problem that's coming up on the OT board is an unfortunate result of that mingling, and goes to perfectly show that it can't happen in all types of discussion. BUT, I still don't think that's a reason to have to separate the younger people because some find them a bother. YES, I'm still in the younger age ballpark, but regardless, it's terribly unfair to shut out a whole group of people who, for the most part, CAN contribute very well to discussion in the subjects for which this board exists. Can't you percieve what it's like to be told "well, yes. I'll talk to you about theatre, but anything else in your life... I just don't really give a damn!" It's an issue of perspective, but a complete closed-minded slap in the face.

And yes, I do believe the younger generation to be just as lazy.

Edit - Rath, that's like having one thread for everyone who loves Wicked. In theory perfectly rational, in practice not at all. If you find someone who wants to make that work, more power to you. I just don't think separating the board is the solution for it, no matter how irritating some people find it. Again, an issue of perspective.

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Updated On: 5/5/05 at 01:11 PM

Thank you for seeing what I am saying, Rath. I was about 30 seconds from breathing into a paper bag.

The idea of single threads related to finals is a good one, but people want to start separate threads about American History, Pre Calculus, Surviving the Holocaust (Studies), etc.

A Students Issues board would be the perfect place for an unlimited number of such posts. It would actually go a LONG way towards slowing the burial of non-student-issues-related topics on the off topic board. It just would.

If, however, the exodus of people who aren't interested in the students topics is not something anybody gives a **** about, fine. It's not the first time in history a majority would drive off a minority by any means.

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What I am saying is not to just let the older people go but if you don't like something don't try to fix it by segregating that historically has been a very big problem as well. Act up, create threads, bump threads, be proactive! I don't read student threads and would never start one, but the idea that they need to go because other stuff disappears is not the solution, One thread for them all would be a good idea, but I am sure most people don't know that idea was floated.

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That's just like the "be nice to newbies/Wicked fans/everyone" threads. It's not going to catch on.

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All right, I am going to try this one more time.

Can you try, TRY to understand what it is like to click on the Off-Topic Board and see it dominated by Students Issues posts? A person who has no interest in that sort of thing would (and many apparently have) come to the conclusion that this is not a place for them. And they'd go elsewhere.

And I knew there would be the suggestion to start threads of interest, but that simply doesn't work because those threads get buried very very quickly by new threads posted about school, class, tests, driving lessons, etc. It DOES create a segregation, one in which people not interested in these things feel as if they have no place here. And due to the dominance of the students who want to post so many posts about these topics on this board, that is a fact.

WHY this is such an impossible concept for some people to grasp is beyond me. What is the investment in some people to make sure that everybody gets to wade through these apparently limitless student topics?

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namo, perhaps if you applied your same logic to the multitude of people who have left BWW because of your negativity and the "pile-on" mentality of some on this board to follow in those footprints others would be more receptive to your idea.

as you've told many a poster, if "you cannot handle it" perhaps you have larger issues than simple postings on a message board.

you remind me of my 10-year-old niece who cries and whines anytime the other kids don't want to play the game SHE is playing so she goes stomping off because no one wants to do what SHE wants to do...

maybe it is time you took another sabbatical

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Updated On: 5/5/05 at 01:34 PM

RobbO, it's really impossible for me to respond to anything you write because I am unable to filter out the intense dislike I feel for you. I actually feel revulsion when I see your screen name in a thread, so I'll opt out of any reaction to your post. Thanking you in advance for your understanding in this matter.

Penguin, what I am saying is, the atmosphere is created by the list of topics. So if somebody uninterested in student issues sees an entire front page of nothing but student issues, then they might rightly decide, "Oh, this isn't the place for me."

That's fine, if that's what people want. But the creation of a Students Board would allow specific room so that the students can get their "angst" out and other people feel there is space to talk about non-theater, non-student related posts.

It's not nefarious. It's not "let's drive off the kiddies."

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I have no more to say, I see your point but can't quite agree. It's been fun though, maybe I'll get a "penguin should be put down with tranquilizers thread?"

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This not-nefarious thing really is open to interpretation. Now we're just going around in circles.

A person who has no interest in that sort of thing would (and many apparently have) come to the conclusion that this is not a place for them. And they'd go elsewhere.

People aren't coming here because of the draw of our OT forum, in theory - they're coming because it's a Broadway forum. THAT is how they should be dictating whether it's a place for them or not, almost, in essence, making the conglomerate of the OT board a completely moot point.

I'm going to go with penguin and say that I can SEE your side, but I don't agree, and I'll keep pushing my point of perspective on this. It's not something the two sides are going to see eye-to-eye on, and it's really getting usless to keep this on.

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