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Stormy or calm?

All Acting Regiment

18:55 / 21.02.06

Now, I'm going to start with a quote from paranoidwriter, but of course this isn't just about him and shouldn't be taken as such. The quote is:

Can somebody with more barba-credibillity than myself please help make this stop? It's getting out of hand, no?

Haus, Flyboy, Shadowsax, etc: at the risk of sounding annoying, may I suggest you all back away and come back to the threads in question when you've had plenty of time to cool off and have enough distance from the threads to re-read them with fresh eyes and calmer minds? It's worked for me in the past. Honest.

Now- putting to one side for a moment the issue of "having a break", this quote got me thinking. How "calm" do we want the 'lith to be? Or do we like lots and lots of to and fro? Is it even an issue?

And such like. This is quite a vague area, so feel free to run your interpretations.

*

22:26 / 21.02.06

I find it pretty easy to avoid the storms by doing exactly what PW did... leaving the threads which are unproductively stormy before I feel I've wasted too much time. On the other hand, when I'm in the mood, reading the stormy bits are entertaining and, occasionally, educational.

*

22:28 / 21.02.06

[run autoconvert $last_sentence: english]

ONLY NICE THINGS

22:37 / 21.02.06

I can find that stormy threads or people can drive me to research more and think harder. Unfortunately, at the moment we're getting basically the same storms - ego-driven and not very interested in discussion, fixating on individuals and driven by essentially Daily Mail ideologies, which are not very interesting to challenge or to watch being challenged. I miss the good old days of quality fights. God, even Leap had enough vitality to drive you on to better things.

22:40 / 21.02.06

I don't think its a question of stormy or calm but, as Haus alludes to more of a question of being thoughtful, interesting and engaging...

Goodness Gracious Meme

22:43 / 21.02.06

Agreed. The recent 'storm' over h*m*p*n*c involved alot of anger, but also alot of constructive thinking, challenge, discussion. and (self-)analysis, people moving positions based upon discussion/exchange of ideas.

That's what I like the 'Lith to be. And it can do that calm or stormy.

rising and revolving

23:32 / 21.02.06

Personally? Barb is currently actively painful to read, due to storms.

Barely present at the moment, as a direct result.

ONLY NICE THINGS

23:39 / 21.02.06

Maybe we should close the board for a bit to new appplicants until things bed down.

R'n'R - Actually, it's only about half a dozen threads at any given moment, based around three or four posters - that's pretty standard and actually quieter than a fair chunk of Barbelith's history. The influx of new people is likely to cause some problems, but as long as nobody makes a total tit of themself I'm sure we'll be fine.

23:54 / 21.02.06

oh Good lord...

ONLY NICE THINGS

23:59 / 21.02.06

Isn't it, though?

04:34 / 22.02.06

I don't run into it much. Once in a while I'll check the policy just to see where the storms are, and policy always has the linkys for us storm watchers to go lurk.

08:59 / 22.02.06

How "calm" do we want the 'lith to be? Or do we like lots and lots of to and fro? Is it even an issue?

I think a certain amount of friction is good. It's just when people get really het up and post without thinking that things start to get a bit nasty. But, in general, it's good to be passionate about the things you believe in.

The obvious advantage of arguing/debating on message boards is that you can take five minutes to cool off before posting a response. It's the sensible thing to do and works in theory. However, people being people, there will always be the occasional time when something someone writes hits a nerve and we post unthinkingly.

We're all human (well, except for Haus who I see as being some kind of primeval spirit of vengence against badly thought out arguments...likes Ghost Rider's kid brother) and we all have to vent sometime.

I don't think it hurts for someone to occasionally play referee in arguments though. If only to ensure people don't turn heated debate into petty name-calling.

Tryphena Absent

09:47 / 22.02.06

Maybe we should close the board for a bit to new appplicants until things bed down.

We've barely let anyone on for months- I don't think we can do that and maintain the illusion that we want any new members.

ONLY NICE THINGS

10:24 / 22.02.06

(Was joking)

Tryphena Absent

11:14 / 22.02.06

(Oh yemeny. Very recent history repeats itself except this time I'm the person who doesn't see that joke)