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lolarose · 15-02-2012, 15:35

ahahaa, for heavens sake people, what is your problem. get a life. go and lay down something or get laid, get drunk, have a joint. who care who is who and who is poster, posters poster or who is posters secretary. or should be or should not be posters name, address and telephone number. who care.this is forum. you do not taking this seriously, do you.

enjoy yourselves...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=vnwxy3o3Di8

delmarrey · 15-02-2012, 16:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by lolarose

ahahaa, for heavens sake people, what is your problem. get a life. go and lay down something or get laid, get drunk, have a joint. who care who is who and who is poster, posters poster or who is posters secretary. or should be or should not be posters name, address and telephone number. who care.this is forum. you do not taking this seriously, do you.

enjoy yourselves...

Glupi Ameri - Anketa - YouTube

That's part of the problem! Some do take it seriously, especially if stranded somewhere w/o service or parts, or even knowledge. But that's part of being a sailor. There are risks!
Some here do like organization, and others don't care and just sail off the wind.

msponer · 15-02-2012, 21:33

Have you seen Quora? It's a highly structured question and answer site. People can even edit other people's posts. The 'best' answers are voted up. Side conversations are discouraged, and hidden.

There is almost nothing useful about sailing there, so I'm not saying to even look at it from that perspective. But ... if you are curious what a more distilled and organized information flow looks like, that site is currently the state of the art.

I frequently wonder what online communities will look like decades into the future. Right now there is a trend towards highly tuned software that attempts to hit people hard with something very compelling, to grab their attention, run them through a funnel, get them to invite their friends, over and over again. Quora could be seen as an attempt to do that for a certain kind of person. But I wonder if ... the human experience is too varied for software to reach through the monitor like that and masturbate someone over and over again. If our needs are more varied, or maybe, even if not, if the community is fundamentally boring if everyone has the same needs or is playing a highly structured game like that.

So... My gut feeling is that a wide variety of people, and a bit of chaos, is ultimately more appealing.

**Hud3** · 16-02-2012, 02:25

As with most things in life, a balance would be nice. Some thread drift and tangential posts aren't a big issue with me and sometimes add items of interest that wouldn't show up in a more tightly controlled situation.

But on the other hand, when you see a thread like Solo's, http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tml#post748198, you have to shake your head. It's been totally hijacked and trashed by the jokers. There's no chance that he'll get any on-topic responses to his serious question at this point. No "mature woman" would have the nerve.

David_Old_Jersey · 16-02-2012, 03:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hud3

As with most things in life, a balance would be nice. Some thread drift and tangential posts aren't a big issue with me and sometimes add items of interest that wouldn't show up in a more tightly controlled situation.

But on the other hand, when you see a thread like Solo's, http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tml#post748198, you have to shake your head. It's been totally hijacked and trashed by the jokers. There's no chance that he'll get any on-topic responses to his serious question at this point. No "mature woman" would have the nerve.

Is that the correct thread? (or are you subtly trying to make a point?!).

4 posts (including the OP's) - one offer, and then 2 posts from someone else saying they are interested in the offer.

No follow up posts by OP (IMO the key to sucking out info from folks).

Can't say it is the most rivetting of threads

.....but hard for me to see how it's been hijacked / trashed by Jokers

.

Perhaps the answer is to lock a thread immediately after an OP posts something and thereafter all communications by PM - the OP can then select only those responses he considers have merit and then posts them into the thread. or summit

.

Blue Crab · 16-02-2012, 06:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by abh

Doesn't hijacking and thread [drifting] happen after all useful information has been squeezed out of the knowledgeable people, and the others take over? ....

I think it mostly does. Bash put the number at 50 posts which seems generous. I know I don't normally open my big mouth while there is still a serious conversation in play. Plus, most of us know which of the regular OPs actually know something, and I often ignore the regular OPs who have proven to be time wasters. This keeps my blood pressure down.

SS made the point that the very long threads often have some great stuff that gets lost along the way. What if there was a 50 post max per thread? That would force some thread drifters who may have some very valuable info/additions to start a thread with a new title/key words, aiding later searches. Be easy to have parts 1 thru whatever, if appropriate.

SaucySailoress · 16-02-2012, 06:55

I think Hud meant this thread: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ght-76829.html

I agree with Hud. This thread was completely trashed by trolly responses... perhaps elicited by immature members getting their knickers in a twist at the thought of a man preferring to recruit a female crew... after having sailed extensively with an older male friend until recently and, indeed, a couple.

But, little things please little minds, and if I were seeking a more mature sailor who would accept me and my Gucci bags as crew, I would send the OP in this case a PM, and certainly not reveal my intentions to the juvenile participants.

Dreaming Yachtsman · 16-02-2012, 07:19

Since I last chimed in both sides of this argument have been presented. One of the key issues here is thread drift, which is addressed in the rules and in other posts so I won't suggest starting a new thread with that title.

GOOD POINT:

Quote:

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

In any event a contribution to a Thread is not written solely for the benefit of an OP (for that there is PM or E-mail) - also written for a wider audience, whether posting on the thread or not.

As SaucySailoress mentioned in her post (http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tml#post888110), frequently excellent information a topic is buried deep in a thread with a totally different subject. The problem then is how to mine that information within the limits of this forum software package. For that there is Advanced Search or Custom Gooogle Search.

POST I DISAGREE WITH:

Quote:

Originally Posted by rebel heart

Most in-person conversation end up going in various directions and people should feel fine drifting around. A bit of irony in the free spirited cruising world wanting to keep threads rigidly adhering to a discussion protocol.

Frequently my primary reason for posting on CF is to find out specific information about a problem with a specific piece of equipment. In that case I do not want to waste my time reading through trite, irrelevant, and usually meaningless drivel someone thought would be funny. Not to pick a fight with supporters of thread drift, but I strongly feel the biggest problem we have on this forum is that, except for a few obvious exceptions in "entertainment" threads (Joke, Off-Topic, etc.). Granted a little drift isn't bad if the thread gets back on track within a few posts but let's keep it to a reasonable amount.

Quote:

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Perhaps the answer is to lock a thread immediately after an OP posts something and thereafter all communications by PM - the OP can then select only those responses he considers have merit and then posts them into the thread. or summit .

This suggestion would definitely have a chilling effect on subsequent discussions!

As a fairly recent example of a thread that started out with a specific question, wandered a bit, branched off in a slightly different direction when another member had a similar issue, then quietly died, see http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ing-73333.html.

**Hud3** · 16-02-2012, 07:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Is that the correct thread?...

Haha, no, I got it wrong. As Saucy pointed out (above) the thread I really meant was this one...

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ght-76829.html

It was pretty early in the am when I posted the wrong link...

David_Old_Jersey · 16-02-2012, 09:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hud3

Haha, no, I got it wrong. As Saucy pointed out (above) the thread I really meant was this one...

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ght-76829.html

It was pretty early in the am when I posted the wrong link...

Don't feel so bad, yesterday I posted something (via cut and paste) on CF that was not only in the wrong thread - but also on the wrong forum! (fortunately it was aimed at a sailing related forum - not one of the livelier subjects / forums

).

David_Old_Jersey · 16-02-2012, 09:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaucySailoress

I think Hud meant this thread: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ght-76829.html

I agree with Hud. This thread was completely trashed by trolly responses... perhaps elicited by immature members getting their knickers in a twist at the thought of a man preferring to recruit a female crew... after having sailed extensively with an older male friend until recently and, indeed, a couple.

But, little things please little minds, and if I were seeking a more mature sailor who would accept me and my Gucci bags as crew, I would send the OP in this case a PM, and certainly not reveal my intentions to the juvenile participants.

Firstly, can I say that I neither read that thread (originally) nor posted on it (the two may be linked

).

Unless the Mods have been really busy on that thread?.....I really don't see that OP has anything to get upset about

.

He got plenty of free bumps and the opportunity to engage with folks to further "set out his stall" for any onlooking females (especially the chance to make himself look normal - in comparison

) - am not sure what more he could realistically expect from an internet forum, especially one where 90%(?) of the participants are male

. With that ratio, juvenile is pretty much guaranteed

.

FWIW my own thread on the subject has been running for a couple of years now

.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tml#post297012

.....and pops up now and again of it's own accord - now 10 pages

......it's almost as if no one was taking me seriously

.

**Janet H** · 16-02-2012, 10:25

As with most things in life, 'managing' a forum is about compromise and finding balance.

The concept of a thread starter owning a thread is one that seems counter to the social atmosphere of a forum where discussions evolve organically and are generally more satisfying that way. That said, thread drift, while inevitable is sometimes a problem.

Often forum members manage this issue themselves by gently (and some times not so gently) getting a discussion back on track. Sometimes the OP asks moderators to step in but most frequently the thread drift is subtle, slow and by the time it's recognized, getting a thread back on track would require lots of post deletions or more draconian measures. Tough issue.

You can help: stay on topic, help others stay on topic and ask for help if it seems needed.

One final thought - using the thanks button to leave a one line wisecrack or affirmation instead of posting on a thread may help unclog topics.