Proposal: Social Issues Discussion Series

[Danish]

Since I've started posting more often, I've noticed a considerable decline not just in the intellectual level of discussion in this forum, but in the basic level of respect demonstrated toward one another. So I have an idea.

I want to start a series of threads called the "Social Issues Discussion Series". Each week or so I will post a new thread that will start with either a quote or a brief article about an issue of importance in society. Everyone will read it, read other responses, and engage in the discussion.

But this will only work if the participants treat each other and their views with respect. It will also require us to listen to each other, to actually consider each others' views and respond with thought, not simply reaction.

I mean, I would love if we could get this standard forum-wide, but that's likely impossible. Can we do this for one thread/week? It would probably require some stricter rules and a little extra moderation, but I think it would be worth it.

[McP3000]

tl;dr

[Mr. Ron]

I'm up for it.

[Otherside]

Got my vote.

[Danish]

lol We need to discuss some rules and such.

[sweboy]

Rule #1: No girls!!!

[Danish]

Rule #1: No girls!!!

:upset: Jeez...

[-1up!-]

The decrease of quality of PNWI has something to do with slacker modding IMO.

I remember a time where saying tl;dr was worth a 3-day ban or something.

[monkeysonmars.]

good idea, needs modding

[McP3000]

The decrease of quality of PNWI has something to do with slacker modding IMO.

I remember a time where saying tl;dr was worth a 3-day ban or something.
Boy you gotta lot nerve sayin' those words in these parts

[Against Miik!]

This will only work if failure to comply with the rules results in the banhammer. Otherwise it will just turn into every other thread in the forum. There needs to be a little incentive for us to behave.

[Danish]

We need some input from the moderators, here...

[monkeysonmars.]

who are they? lol

[Against Miik!]

I dunno who they are, but I do know what they are.

[Danish]

Smokey D and Med57.

[DBoons Ghost]

I would love to get involved in this.

We can use infractions and/or rep comments maybe? and 2 to 3 day bans for idiocy in regards to being outlandish which I will struggle with but I think we've tried this before and it didn't go well.

I don't know if Smokey and Splat have ban powers. It would help if they did. I am sure they themselves would participate. Once we find out the scope of their moderating power we can draw up some penalty system or use our own form of moderation.

Pick a mature poster or someone trust worthy to actually moderate the discussion as a moderator would a normal debate. I dunno. I'm just throwin' ideas.

[TheDMV]

Yeah, I would be interested in this a lot. I haven't been on these forums in forever but if this started up that could keep me coming back

[Danish]

I mean, even if they just gave me or someone else to edit posts within those specific threads... I plan to actually moderate to some extent

Perhaps we could use rep to keep the short quips outside the thread, but we would also have to commit to a set of rules and refuse take the bait of trolls.

[monkeysonmars.]

seems like the issues would need to be abstract of particular socio-economic situations of countries or at least being open to various possibilities. i think a lot of us are ignorant of issues in other countries and this seems to cause problems in discussions. like i can feel i can contribute little to the national health care thread, the canada/ America thing in the Afrocentric schools thread

[Against Miik!]

seems like the issues would need to be abstract of particular socio-economic situations of countries or at least being open to various possibilities. i think a lot of us are ignorant of issues in other countries and this seems to cause problems in discussions. like i can feel i can contribute little to the national health care thread, the canada/ America thing in the Afrocentric schools thread

Why should we dumb down the conversation though? If moronic posts are greeted with a ban, then it would force people to maybe look into a topic a bit to avoid making a moronic post.

[Danish]

seems like the issues would need to be abstract of particular socio-economic situations of countries or at least being open to various possibilities. i think a lot of us are ignorant of issues in other countries and this seems to cause problems in discussions. like i can feel i can contribute little to the national health care thread, the canada/ America thing in the Afrocentric schools thread

It does cause problems in other threads, but I think that has more to do with argumentative culture of the forum. If we take the approach of trying to learn from each other, those national differences will actually enhance the discussion. There are countless issues we can talk about that transcend borders.

I mean, isn't that what the internet is supposedly all about?

[Against Miik!]

It's about pr0n actually

[Danish]

It's about pr0n actually

lol Well, yea, that's the reality. I was being an idealist again... :p

[Danish]

So some rule proposals:

1- All PNWI Forum Rules apply.

2- Treat each other with the utmost of respect.

3- Spell check and proofread all posts.

4- All posts must be at least 100 words in length, unless it is a question for clarification.

5- No quote-splitting; when quoting a previous post, do not break that post up into multiple quote blocks any smaller than 1 paragraph. Consider the post in its entirety.

[TheDMV]

Maybe use 100 words as a guideline. Everyone should put time into their posts and think them through. A well thought out post may not reach 100 words in many instances.

[Danish]

Maybe use 100 words as a guideline. Everyone should put time into their posts and think them through. A well thought out post may not reach 100 words in many instances.

Yea, I agree. I was thinking maybe a minimum number of sentences would be better. 4?

[cobert]

How about instead of setting an exact limit on post length, we just say that a post has to be thought out? It would be much more simple. We can use 60 words or so just as a guideline for suggested minimum post length, but you really shouldnt count a posts words and enforce rules against somebody who doesnt meet them.

Or you can just say no one word responses like "no" (unless answering somebodies basic question) and try to be as clear as possible. This way you cant just post something like "But our government would fall apart" without explaining why.

[Reaganista]

your opinions arent entitled to respect simply because they exist

Or you can just say no one word responses like "no" (unless answering somebodies basic question) and try to be as clear as possible. This way you cant just post something like "But our government would fall apart" without explaining why.
i will gladly spend my free time explaining elementary concepts to people who cannot google provided mx is willing to grant me tenure a research grant and a starting salary of $80k a year

[PerpetualBurn]

I want to start a series of threads called the "Social Issues Discussion Series".

Is this some kind of shitty support group?

[Independent_CA]

I like this idea except for the length requirement.


your opinions arent entitled to respect simply because they exist

Unfortunately, responses like this lead me to assume this will be an even more epic failure than the Patriot's Super Bowl performance.

[McP3000]

your opinions arent entitled to respect simply because they exist


i will gladly spend my free time explaining elementary concepts to people who cannot google provided mx is willing to grant me tenure a research grant and a starting salary of $80k a year
must spread

[tablespoonful]

Yeah please do this, this forum is ridiculously scattered and unintelligible.

[Shell]

Rule #1: No girls!!!

aw damn

otherwise, sounds like a good idea

[Danish]

How about instead of setting an exact limit on post length, we just say that a post has to be thought out? It would be much more simple. We can use 60 words or so just as a guideline for suggested minimum post length, but you really shouldnt count a posts words and enforce rules against somebody who doesnt meet them.

Or you can just say no one word responses like "no" (unless answering somebodies basic question) and try to be as clear as possible. This way you cant just post something like "But our government would fall apart" without explaining why.

The problem with that is that no matter how much we say "thought out posts only", there is no real way to quantify that. I would say it takes at least 60 words to express something well. I mean, I don't suggest we go through and count every word in every post like crazy people, but we need a real guideline.

[cobert]

Well then Im not going to lie, but this sounds like a bad idea. Every thread in this forum be a little bit more structured, even though this forum isnt really as bad as some people make it out to be.

[Reaganista]

aw damn

otherwise, sounds like a good idea
it's a retarded idea

The problem with that is that no matter how much we say "thought out posts only", there is no real way to quantify that. I would say it takes at least 60 words to express something well. I mean, I don't suggest we go through and count every word in every post like crazy people, but we need a real guideline.
i would say it takes at least two words to express something well

[Smokey D]

Tway, shh.

So some rule proposals:

1- All PNWI Forum Rules apply.

2- Treat each other with the utmost of respect.

3- Spell check and proofread all posts.

4- All posts must be at least 100 words in length, unless it is a question for clarification.

5- No quote-splitting; when quoting a previous post, do not break that post up into multiple quote blocks any smaller than 1 paragraph. Consider the post in its entirety.

Post splitting is sometimes necessary to pick out a particular point, especially because people are pretty bad at paragraphing here.

I have the powers to do this. I'm not an Admin though, I can't make new people moderators.

I can lodge a request though, if people think a new mod is needed. I was added to supplement Med and he's long since gone, so some extra help might be warranted.

[Reaganista]

as a highly infuencial and respected member of this site i declare that new mods are not needed

[sweboy]

Reaganista for mod '08.

[totah]

Sorry to be the crazy fool anarchist, but couldn't people just use common sense and posts that are obviously moronic/trollsome be deleted? All it really requires is that everyone, before posting, rereads their post and asks themselves: "Are people going to find that as funny as I think they do? Is there even a point in posting a joke, no matter how closely related it is to the thread topic? Does this post actually address the points I quoted? Is it a whole new idea for the discussion? Does it fit in with the rest of the discussion?"

These are all pretty easy questions to ask yourself and then answer. Common courtesy is not something that should be legislated for.

NinjEDIT: No new mods please. There's no need. This forum is at its neatest that I've seen.

[PerpetualBurn]

but couldn't people just use common sense and posts that are obviously moronic/trollsome be deleted?

It's a good job we all exhibit the same attitudes and value systems otherwise common sense would be a useless term.

[totah]

Pwned I guess.

I vote we give Smokey full mod powers and a power-trip. It may get nasty but at least it will be structured.

EDIT: This is exactly the sort of post I was talking about that should be subject to self-censorship. I'm leaving it up as an example.

[Smokey D]

I do have full mod powers, but I'm caught between protecting the serious tone of the forum and not discouraging new members from posting, as this place has lost traffic since the decline of MXTabs or whatever it was called.

I'm also reluctant to get into the censorship thing, as I reckon free speech and stuff is all neat. However, I have noticed a decline in quality and some people are starting to be antagonistic solely for the point of being antagonistic. I will enforce this more strictly now, so be aware. If you want to be an arsehole, do it in the Pit or maybe in the community thread. Unless it's really hilarious, being a dick elsewhere will get you into trouble.

Also, Danish, get back to me on how you want to run these gigs.

[McP3000]

I do have full mod powers, but I'm caught between protecting the serious tone of the forum and not discouraging new members from posting, as this place has lost traffic since the decline of MXTabs or whatever it was called.
MXtabs coming the summer of 07