Another breathless poll: Help me 'define' the "Off-topic" section

[User1]

Simple poll here folks, as much for my collecting your input as for you all to collect one another's...

You must log in to vote but displayed results are anonymous (again, login only tracks who has voted, not how)

Please take a second here to express your true view on what should be the level/tone/desire/intent of Xweb 2.0's Off-topic section "going forward" (as the execs say in those power-tie meetings...)

Thanks in advance for all your collective inputs... These do have value to me (in spite of what the naysayers might have you believe...)

Please also feel free to post comments... Thanks again all

 

[budgetzagato]

My thoughts

Are that B/S should be labeled and expected to be as such. Any non-b/s (meaning x-related) should be in DF. Moderation will be infrequent but decisive, and not necessarily limited to reported posts; sometimes moderators catch a post first and zap it.

How to get zapped:
• Engage in a flame war
• Post offensive language or other content
• Post adult-only content
• Post a personal attack/slander
• Post anonymously
• Engage in trolling a.k.a. baiting
• Spam
• Incorrect forum category (may just be moved if possible)

Thoughts? Additions?

 

[User1]

sounds good

Clearly so far the vast bulk of all interested users fall between "free but patrolled speech" and "actively moderate it", so to shoot for a hybrid approach seems fair. BTW we don't have to worry about anon posting here anymore

The only thing else that I can think of offhand that has been mentioned to me online and off numerous times is the "big three topic ban" concept and whether to adopt it. These are, "sex, religion, politics", being three topics that we might as well say are just flat unwelcome in our off topic section, the logic being (as someone here once put it to me), "these are things everyone has very strong personal opinions about, things no one here will ever ever agree about, and for the most part get us nowhere to invite debate. Vocal opinions on any of these tend only to offend or aggravate, or at the least, accomplish little except to make the poster feel good."

I am paraphrasing but that's the essence of it, as well as the facts that our off topic section here is not really put forth anyway as more than a secondary pursuit to begin with, and that there are already a whole universe of websites/blogs/forums out there for all those subjects.

Personally I would be tempted/inclined to roll a bullet point into the off topic section rules that basically just says discussions on those three subjects might as well just be taken elsewhere. Thoughts?

 

[User1]

A+ Use of 'off topic'

When I first created the 'off topic' section of Xweb, I never intended it to be a place for argument, divisive debate, insult etc etc...

Quite the opposite

I "INTENDED" it to be a section for us to just share and get to know one another outside the X1/9-oriented aspect of what we have in common

Everyone please check out this thread in the off topic section posted by Ricardo, about his old VW Bug... this is the kind of stuff the Xweb off topic section was (literally) made for...

http://xwebforums.com/forum/index.php?threads/775

...

 

[User1]

Trying something new

Going to try out a change in tone here for 2.0

"BS" and "Not BS" are both names with somewhat a 'stigma' attached from N54 Xweb 1.0

I am really looking for a fresh start over here so I am trying out something new

Inspired by Ricardo's post above, I'm going to rename the Off-topic section, "All About Us"

Hopefully that will convey a whole new spin on what it's supposed to be about.

Worth a try anyway, got nothing to lose