Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler De-sensitized zone?

I disagree, I don't think we need to completely make some topics forbidden because some folks can't argue constructively.

I'd propose just lay down some generic ground rules, non A/V topics are allowed in the water cooler (or whatever you want to call it) but if tempers flare instead of deleting the post make the policy that the thread gets locked (I'd assume that would be a function availble to moderators?).

The bottom line is, if you are a person easily aggitated stay clear of the water cooler or threads in which subjects cause you grief. I don't see changing the forum rules to disallow X topics will be benifical. This is a company A/V forum BUT it has a personal twist where everyone *knows* each other and (have been) allowed to converse in other areas of interest with each other. I'd hate to lose that.

Just a quick thought:
It's generally accepted that on any internet forum, the line gets drawn at attacking another member. Short of that, I don't think we need to ban certain topics.

By and large we are friends here. As people with a common interest, we will likely discuss speakers, amps, speaker wire, movies and music. But as friends, we will likely share (and sometimes take an interest in others') opinions on religion or politics or color of motorcycle.

If discussion about these things bother you, don't read or participate in the thread!. It's as simple as that. The reader has the choice. Sometimes the reader makes the choice to get involved only to say "No Fair! I don't like this topic or that opinion so let's make it go away!" Walk away.

I don't like coffee ice cream, despite being in the minority. Mint chocolate chip? I could go overboard and eat more than what's good for me. I don't ask my local ice cream shop to ban either. My choice; my responsibility for that choice.

What in the world ever happened to taking personal responsibility? Why should the forum as a whole be censored because of a few that just can't help themselves from getting riled up?

"Just walk away!"

I should have added:

Maybe one of the "Post Icons" can be a RED mad face to warn others..... kind of a self-imposed PG-13 or "R" rating!

And, I should have added that I believe we always have to take our hosts into account.

As has come up recently, these are not "my boards" (or "your boards"). They are Ian's and Amie's....they allow us to be here at the risk of us embarrassing them, pure and simple. And make no mistake, we ARE, to some degree, representing Axiom here, especially among newcomers. We shouldn't be using a tone that we wouldn't use if we giving a tour through the Axiom plant to a bunch of potential customers.

The whole reason I posted the "Brokeback thread" was to get others' opinions on whether or not the text would help or hurt the photograph. I was NOT asking for opinions on homosexuality. It's unfortunate that it turned into that, because that was not the point.

This is:

I understand that there's more to this world than the U.S., and that there's more to the U.S. than New Hampshire, and that there is more to N.H. than my own opinion. Things that may be (or may NOT be) accepted here are likely to be different in other countries, states, provinces and minds. The variety of members here is exactly what makes it interesting to take part in a variety of discussions and exactly why I thought these boards would be a good forum for the question, despite it having nothing to do with audio. It is exactly that variety and the (mostly) dignified way we discuss our different opinions that I treasure about the people here.

I'd hate to lose that because sometimes we forget that we can just walk away from a discussion, rather than making it insulting, or personal, or offensive and embarrassing to our hosts.

Well said Mark. And I agree about the "walk away".

Hey, anyone else see the topic rating menu on the bottom left of the board while you're browsing a thread? Maybe we can use that to self-police?

You don't like coffee ice cream? OMG! You are obviously one sick dude and are beyond help! Go to your nearest mental health practitioner right away and ask for carte blanche to the medication cabinet! You are going to need it!

I thought I knew you, man, I really did. Now I see you for what you are. To hell with holding back my analysis, you need a major head cleaning!

Ha ha, happy Friday everyone. Just kidding, Mark ol' pal. I needed a laugh today and you opened the door. I just walked on through.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend!

Same to ya, J.P

Quote:

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Hope everyone has a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend!

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Yes...
to jack and all others who served, "Thank You!"...
I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday weekend!

Wow……I like the paint job around here. It looks so…..what’s the word I’m looking for????.......FESTIVE!! And that little Canadian twist on the PM send button is cute as hell too! I like it, I like it a lot!

Miss Amie asked me if I could weigh in on this topic. I had reservations in doing so as I’m not much of an example to follow considering my totally ignorant PC way of conversing, but I never could say no to a pretty girl. At least I’m assuming she’s pretty, if what she writes has any correlation between the two……. So what the hell, I might as well throw in my nickel.

So it seams as if things have gone south around here to a point in which this “War Zone” concept is even being considered. Well, I’ve been killing time on these boards for about two years now, and to be blunt……..the place has gone way south from where it was two years ago. I’m guilty for this course change as well as many of you are too – so don’t think I’m throwing mud from my ivory tower. I’m not. I’ve got a temper and I say things off the cuff that just come natural to me. It’s just how I talk. I never was much for chit-chat or taking the time to consider how what I say will be taken by EVERYONE. It’s too damn hard and takes too much work because really, there will ALWAYS be SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, who finds conflict with ANYTHING that is said……It’s just human nature. But that’s just being lazy as was already mentioned, and so are a bunch of y’all with what you say and tone you deliver it with. But we all know that communication is what separates humans from other animals, right? Without it, we’d all be rubbing sticks together and living in caves. So it’s all our own personal accountability to take the extra time and effort involved with considering other points of view and beliefs, and do our best to not say hurtful things. We should also be accountable to take the time and try to understand how others see things. We are all different and see things differently. To understand does not mean to agree, but everyone should at least try to UNDERSTAND and not ASUME that what they say is what we THINK they are saying.

The accoutabity piece is the hard part. At work there is a hammer at a supervisor’s disposal to hold folks accountable for what they do and how they do it. It’s called a paycheck. At home it’s taking the kid’s X-box away or something else in the form of punishment. But on an internet discussion forum, holding someone accountability for their actions is quite difficult. Not only difficult, but a downright pain in the but for the moderators. I know, I was a moderator years ago on a racing forum. If you think audio/video enthusiasts are a feisty bunch, just try to disagree with racing enthusiasts. God forbid if someone has a preference for nitrous over forced injection, or if aluminum heads are better than iron heads. Speaker wires is a walk in the park in comparison. I absolutely hated being a moderator. Deleting posts, cleaning up strings, banning folks, trying to keep the piece with teenagers that ‘know it all’, blah, blah, blah….it sucked. But without moderators on those boards, it would be a free for all of hate and discontent. Lot of work for the moderators, but it was / is necessary. I think it is also necessary for these Axiom boards as well. Someone with a level head that can see all THREE sides to a conversation to smooth the waters will go a long ways in keeping the piece. Not only that, but it would eliminate the “posse” mentality around here that has always been a peeve of mine. A posse is nothing more than a mild form of a vigilante squad in my opinion. They support their personal views and way of thinking, which isn’t always middle ground or it’s skewed to their way of thinking.

Some of you have made comments to the effect of “we can police ourselves”, “we are mature”, “this is a different group”, or “just walk away”. I say BS to all that. We are not that mature and every one of you has a hot button that when pushed, you react. Sometimes I know I need to not open a thread because it’s just bound to be controversial. But do I not open it?? Heck no I don’t! There’s some sort of morbid curiosity that I just can’t stand which makes me click the button! Then I see something that just pisses me off and I feel as if I just HAVE to say my piece! And then there’s those times when an innocent looking post turns controversial and no one is the wiser when they first open the string. Then WHACK! It hits me and I have to say me piece again. I don’t think I’m alone with this ether. So to say that anyone can choose to read something or not, is not the answer in my opinion. Which brings my ramblings back to the meat of this topic. Should there be a place to discuss controversial topics with a “enter at your own risk, check your baggage at the door before leaving” type of board??

This has both pro’s and con’s. It gives some folks who enjoy talking about these controversial topics a place to do it away from the rest of us who don’t. Unfortunately, that morbid curiosity sets in and pretty soon us folks who don’t want any part of that stuff end up “ taking a little peak”, just to see what’s going on ‘in there’. Then the fighting starts and feeling get hurt. We then hold grudges and the fighting and hard feelings carrie over to the other boards. I’ve seen these “anything goes” boards and they get ugly. Very ugly. Bren made a good point too. He was right on the mark with what he said. I’m still holding a grudge against him for what he said to me months ago. I ignore him for the most part. Childish on my part I know, but it’s there and I’m being honest about it. Same with Peter and Adam. They’ve said things to me that pissed me off. I’m still mad at them. And I’m pretty certain that I’ve said things to others and that they are still pissed at me over. The one common denominator with these hurtful things and bad feelings is the controversial topics that each of us are passionate about. It can’t be helped as we are all just humans. If we didn’t have things that we are passionate about, we’d be a pretty damn boring bunch of mindless zombies.

If this was a democracy, my vote would be for this:

Keep the Water Cooler as is, but set ground rules. No discussions pertaining to the “hot topics”, period. Delete them if they come up. Some examples would be – politics, religion, sex (including sexual preferences), abortion / right for life, environmental discussions and world trade. Those are what come to mind to me right now as having extreme right / left points of view. There is rarely, if ever, middle ground with these topics and they are best left discussed with relationships that are very strong and secure.

No more forum member vigilantly squads. Install a button on the threads that anyone can click on that would “report” the thread to the moderator for review. If the viewer thinks someone writes something inappropriate or out of line, they can then report it to the moderator. The moderator could then whack it, steer it back on course or leave it be. After all, it’s up to the board owner to determine what’s appropriate or not, - not members.

Do not create an additional board for the controversial topics. I don’t like to make assumptions in general but I’m going to assume that there are forums on the net for these discussions. If you just have a burning desire to talk about China or U.S. foreign policy, do it there, not here. It has no business being here at all.

I also like the “ignore” option. Not really sure how that works, but I can see a lot of value to it. If there is a member that just irritates the hell out of you, then you could ignore them. A very interesting option to me.


OK, so I gave y’all a buck fifty………

……….later