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Aggressive Positivity

11:06 / 28.08.08

Anna De L elsewhere-
"Aggressive positivity even. Do people want to start thinking up ways to do that or are they happier to let it crash and burn?"

I am in the happy situation of enjoying Barbelith at the moment and having the time to start a few threads. Is anyone else feeling that they have the spare energy and time to pump some fun into the board?

Caveat- I know Barbelith is Doomed and Dyying and full of tragedy but frankly I don't care, I'm going to spam the board with novelty threads and optimism and see what happens, and if you don't like it, ban me (haha, do you see what I did there?)

Anna de Logardiere

11:30 / 28.08.08

What I was thinking is that we could have a focus forum scheme. So each week we focus on a forum and do our utmost to get it up to speed on subjects relating to it and hopefully get people interested in the way that the board can approach topics. I think this would be especially good for Switchboard as politics has a lot going on but no one's posting there. Would anyone be up for that?

12:59 / 28.08.08

I want Barbelith to work, I like it here.

Sometimes I've jumped into a thread only to be shot down because I didn't really know enough to meaningfully contribute to the subject, but I accept that as a learning pain.

Sometimes I think that the people who have been around a long time automatically assume that they (and their ideas)are the only correct ones, and us younglings need to step up and shake their trees a bit (Even when we are wrong, it's worth doing now and again...)

I can see however, that people who don't lockstep are sometimes bullied, or intimidated into merely lurking. (Real or only percieved intimidation, people should still just post and take their licks if they have them coming: It'll build character.)

I've taken some hits and become more thoughtful because of it, I think. I have slowed my volume of posting a bit (Especially in the Temple) because work has become busier and I'd rather think things out a bit more before just throwing things out there.

I have opinions on most everything because I read a lot, but I am becoming a bit more guarded in posting my opinions: I don't want to post for the sake of posting, I'd prefer to positively contribute when possible (Convo posts excluded: Those are half serious, half f#cking around...)

Now: How to be agressive about it? I kinda like Anna's focus suggestion, but I think that it could be refined a bit... I propose opening a "Current Event" thread in each Topic Category. My Idea is that these threads could act as a bit of a link dump for Topical news stories and the like. Convo style discussions can also take place within these threads and new specialized threads could be spawned from them for more in-depth discussions...

Has this idea been attempted before? Does it have wings?

Anna de Logardiere

13:03 / 28.08.08

Well do you want a short term thread or a long term thread because yours is a catch all solution that will work in some fora but not others. Moreover how are you going to encourage people to visit the fora they never check if you're only starting a thread? If no one's visiting do you think they're going to visit to post one thing in a thread with no specific purpose?

How are you going to carry this further? How are you going to make it more positive? How are you going to cut the negativity out of what you are posting?

Closed for Business Time

13:27 / 28.08.08

I like Anna's idea about focussing on forums. Clearly, some forums are in little need of such treatment ATM (Film/TV, and Comics the obvious examples), most others are zombified. Switchboard is a good candidate IMO, because it allows people to use RL debate examples (such as f.ex. Zimbabwe, Georgia, taxes, elections etc) that are relatively easy to get information on, and that do not necessarily require specialist knowledge, as is often the case in other fora (read Headshop and Temple). Agressive positivity FTW then.

13:43 / 28.08.08

A fall of geckos

13:59 / 28.08.08

Excellent idea - I think this could work well in Books, Criticism & Writing, possibly focussing on a specific genre, period or group of writers.

14:14 / 28.08.08

Hmmmm. Well, I was thinking that it could be a good primer, even a "What's new" type of thing that those who would not normally post in those fora could get an overview somewhat...

To be honest, I had disinfo.com in mind when I thought of it: If there was a linkdump (With decent descriptive paragraph, of course....) to current articles and blogs of interest to the fora in general, it may prompt discussion. I thought of disinfo because they will post links to articles and blogs of such varied topics as the latest research on psilocybin mushrooms, to an in-depth psychological profile of the creators of Superman and the genesis of his origin, to Mordant's latest posting of an initiatory rite on Key64.

If we take the focus approach (which I have no qualms with, whatsoever) I think that there may be a bit of resistance: Several people have indicated an interest in posting only in certain fora, like FTT or Comics, and trying to get them to focus on Headshop, or Fashion may not be easy. I like anime, but would be way, way over my head in the Bleach thread...

I think that my idea of "Current Events" threads may make it easier to prime and then jump in to any given fora.

Just a suggestion. There will need to be caveats in place: The links need to be forum specific. They should be current. They should be of interest and discussable: to be possibly expanded upon.

Is this too much of a band-aid idea? Will it promote positivity? I don't know... I do think it could be a bit of a boost...

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

15:11 / 28.08.08

I think it could certainly help things. Given the example above of getting the Books going, I would post in the Books more often if I felt there would be any kind of response (which is why the "What are you Reading Now?" threads get the most play) -- which is self-defeating, sure, but... particularly given I'm in a Haruki Murakami mode right now, I'd be open to sphamming the Books with lovely book thoughts about him.

15:35 / 28.08.08

Let's do it- firstly, let's kickstart fora one a week, starting with Switchboard, then I suggest books, music and film next.
At the same time, let's just post things we want to discuss in whatever forum- if we spent the energy we have here starting threads we'd already have made headway, let's go! Don't reply here, go start a thread instead!

15:56 / 28.08.08

I think my ambition is going to be to post in every forum every day for a while - even comics. I can't do it, but you have to have a goal, don't you.

Anna de Logardiere

16:34 / 28.08.08

I don't think we need to do anything with Film. Books, Music and Laboratory need far more attention, no one has posted in Lab since the 9th August!

16:36 / 28.08.08

I'd be into some Switchboard action. I was just poking around there hoping for some viewpoints from a wider range of peoples on the American Presidential conventions' speechifying.

Anna de Logardiere

16:40 / 28.08.08

Start the thread and I'll contribute!

19:08 / 28.08.08

[Cartman]

I love you guys.

[/Cartman]

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

21:20 / 28.08.08

I like it. I like it a lot. I'm pretty sure there wouldn't BE the need to take such drastic action were the "recently updated threads" still visible on the front page, but drastic action needs to be taken, and as drastic action goes, I like the sound of this.

02:51 / 29.08.08

this idea makes me really happy. i mainly lurk, and when i'm not it's usually just a random semi-contribution, but i'm going to try to make a substantive post to at least one thread a day for the next while. the thought of having an un-dead barbelith is surprisingly exciting.

08:04 / 29.08.08

Today, I am mostly... ranting about the decline in linguistic educational standards in the Temple like a demented occult Lynn Truss, ranting about Dan Simmons in Books like a late-to-the-party anti-Islamophobe, poking the lab with an electrified stick about Tesla and generally making a nuisance of myself in comics.

trouble at bill

16:53 / 29.08.08

me too am certainly in favour of this...

17:06 / 29.08.08

I'm having a great time over in Switchboard. Sorry if I'm falling off topic over there though. The US election cycle is making me giddy.

17:18 / 29.08.08

..and as proof of that giddiness I forgot to add a summary to the McCain/Palin thread. Sorry!

14:06 / 04.09.08

Also can I bring this to the lab?

http://www.alternet.org/story/89940/

The Era of Catastrophe? Geologists Name New Era After Human Influence on the Planet

By Mike Davis, Tomdispatch.com. Posted August 11, 2008.

A striking report from the front lines of science suggests we're officially entering a period in which humanity may simply outrun history itself.

Anna de Logardiere

12:54 / 05.09.08

I think we've efficiently moved the focus over to lab without any discussion. I'm going to take a look at the other fora and see how they're doing at the moment.

14:44 / 05.09.08

Sweet. I'm subconsciously leaving music and fashion until last as I have poor taste in both.

Anna de Logardiere

22:50 / 05.09.08

I think our biggest problem is Head Shop. I'm going to start another thread about it in Policy because I think we've got a bit of a problem finding content.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

20:09 / 06.09.08

I've been on holiday for a week but I'll see what I can do to add to some discussions over the weekend, rather than cleaning the slime moulds off the wall of my flat.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

07:59 / 07.09.08

Looking around it seems things have pretty much settled down to where they were before Quantum and Anna kicked this off. One active topic in the last week in Switchboard? Has everyone been on holiday for the last week as well as me or did enthusiasm for this not last long?

Anna de Logardiere

20:37 / 07.09.08

It's summer so politics is slow, you can't expect a surplus of new threads when parliament isn't even in session.

It's also Sunday.

17:15 / 08.09.08

yeah I try to stay offline on the weekends being plugged in all day all work week.

18:04 / 08.09.08

Maybe the threads I started just weren't interesting enough, but I made an effort in both Headshop and B,C&W...

A couple of months ago when there was a headcount, many admited to wanting only to lurk... With such a narrow posting base, maybe there are less people to be interested in the same things...

Point is to keep trying, I suppose.

18:08 / 08.09.08

I'm certainly finding the place *interesting*, which can't exactly be measured in numbers of topics or numbers of posts.

18:18 / 08.09.08

Cust curious: Are sarcasm deliminaters ** or %%. I've been using %% and I wondered if ** are the same for others...

jentacular dreams

10:07 / 09.09.08

%%. I always use ** as to highlight/emphasise.

Besides grant's not the sarcastic type. He's lovely.

Baroness von Lenska

03:44 / 14.09.08

I really like the idea of adding (stickied? can Barbelith threads stick?) threads for recent events in areas that might be of interest to anyone reading the fora involved. Since newshounding, linking and adding summaries doesn't require nearly as much knowledge on the relevant subjects, it might draw a lot of lurkers (hi there, Temple and Lab) who frequently read but only post occasionally (or never) out of the woodwork and getting more involved. It might also give those normally involved in the fora in question shiny new things to talk about.

We already sort of have something along those lines with the Recent Developments In X threads in the Lab, and the Stupid X Questions threads all over the board, and what I'm imagining here is something a little like a cross between those and Convo. A thread for posting subject-specific news, thoughts and opinions in a more relaxed, less rigorous, less debate centered format that still conforms to Barbelith's generally high standards of discourse. i.e. no linkdumping, but pretty much anything else somewhat well thought out relating to the subjects that that forum encompasses goes.

Worst case scenario is that everyone starts hanging out in that thread instead of making newer, more specialized ones, but with the pace at which some fora move now (fashion? Fashion?! FAAASSHHHHIONNN!!), I don't think it could hurt.

18:00 / 14.09.08

I am lovely! Ha ha!

Alas, Barbelith threads cannot sticky, but you could easily try making a few Recent News threads or something.

Bump them a few times...