Sandy Larsen Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 Kirk Galloway has suggested that the Water Cooler threads be moved back to this -- the JFK Assassination Debate -- forum. (That's not exactly his idea, but it is the only way his idea can be achieved.) They currently reside outside this forum, near the Political Discussions forum. Kirk's goal is to make it easy to see if there is a new post to read, and to make it a bit quicker to navigate to. William Niederhut reminisces how interesting the old "56 Year" was when many forum members were participating. Unfortunately that thread met its demise when it was -- in some members' opinions -- spammed by individuals who believe in "alternate news." It was ultimately closed from further posts due to endless bickering related to that issue. I later opened up the Water Cooler threads in an effort to restore the "56 Year" thread general discussion. I segregated the Cooler by "news type belief" (mainstream vs. alternate vs. both ) to satisfy the "spam" averse members and to keep the peace. Generally speaking, this has worked out well for mainstream news believers. For some reason, alternate news believers don't post there. The downsides of the Water Coolers are what Kirk and William have expressed concern about, as noted above: 1. More difficult to use. 2. Loss of participation. I am considering the following solution to these problems: Move the Water Cooler threads to this forum, but keep them segregated. Members would be allowed to post on any topic they choose, as long as their post didn't cross the news-type line of segregation. (Posting to the "both types" Cooler would allow any news-type post.) Doing this would definitely satisfy Kirk's desire of making it easy to see when there is a new post, and making it easier to navigate to. But I don't know if it would increase participation. The latter, in my opinion, would be of greater value than the former. I am opening this topic up to discussion. Any suggestions? What can be done to increase participation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Varnell Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 Because the 56 years thread is locked, I can't edit out attachments. Anyway around this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk Gallaway Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 1 hour ago, Cliff Varnell said: Because the 56 years thread is locked, I can't edit out attachments. Anyway around this? Cliff, So you want to delete some of your links? I was able to go there and copy links. Go to "Political discussions", you'll see it there. I don't know if maybe the reason you haven't posted in the water cooler is because it's kind of confusing the way it is now. I'm trying to correct that and make it easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Varnell Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 24 minutes ago, Kirk Gallaway said: Cliff, So you want to delete some of your links? I was able to go there and copy links. Go to "Political discussions", you'll see it there. I don't know if maybe the reason you haven't posted in the water cooler is because it's kind of confusing the way it is now. I'm trying to correct that and make it easier. Attachments. There's no edit function in a locked thread. "For those who believe mainstream contemporary facts." I find that off-putting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk Gallaway Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 13 minutes ago, Cliff Varnell said: Attachments. There's no edit function in a locked thread. "For those who believe mainstream contemporary facts." I find that off-putting. Ok, That's Sandy's definition. I would have worded it differently. But you see it in distinction to the other 2 topics, so you see what he's going for and you can open it up and see. I thought Sandy did it pretty well, and you challenge the other side on the third option if you are so inclined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Larsen Posted April 15 Author Share Posted April 15 (Following is a copy of my OP that members might have missed.) Kirk Galloway has suggested that the Water Cooler threads be moved back to this -- the JFK Assassination Debate -- forum. (That's not exactly his idea, but it is the only way his idea can be achieved.) They currently reside outside this forum, near the Political Discussions forum. Kirk's goal is to make it easy to see if there is a new post to read, and to make it a bit quicker to navigate to. William Niederhut reminisces how interesting the old "56 Year" was when many forum members were participating. Unfortunately that thread met its demise when it was -- in some members' opinions -- spammed by individuals who believe in "alternate news." It was ultimately closed from further posts due to endless bickering related to that issue. I later opened up the Water Cooler threads in an effort to restore the "56 Year" thread general discussion. I segregated the Cooler by "news type belief" (mainstream vs. alternate vs. both ) to satisfy the "spam" averse members and to keep the peace. Generally speaking, this has worked out well for mainstream news believers. For some reason, alternate news believers don't post there. The downsides of the Water Coolers are what Kirk and William have expressed concern about, as noted above: 1. More difficult to use. 2. Loss of participation. I am considering the following solution to these problems: Move the Water Cooler threads to this forum, but keep them segregated. Members would be allowed to post on any topic they choose, as long as their post didn't cross the news-type line of segregation. (Posting to the "both types" Cooler would allow any news-type post.) Doing this would definitely satisfy Kirk's desire of making it easy to see when there is a new post, and making it easier to navigate to. But I don't know if it would increase participation. The latter, in my opinion, would be of greater value than the former. I am opening this topic up to discussion. Any suggestions? What can be done to increase participation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Larsen Posted April 15 Author Share Posted April 15 4 hours ago, Cliff Varnell said: "For those who believe mainstream contemporary facts." I find that off-putting. 4 hours ago, Kirk Gallaway said: Ok, That's Sandy's definition. I would have worded it differently. In the new system, I would word the Coolers as follows: Either: WATER COOLER - MAINSTREAM (For those who believe mainstream contemporary facts.) WATER COOLER - MAGA (For those who believe alternative facts.) WATER COOLER - MAINSTREAM vs MAGA (For those who want to challenge the other side.) Or: WATER COOLER - MAINSTREAM (For those who believe mainstream contemporary facts.) WATER COOLER - ALTERNATIVE (For those who believe alternative (e.g. MAGA) facts.) WATER COOLER - MAINSTREAM vs ALTERNATIVE (For those who want to challenge the other side.) How would you guys word them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ulrik Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 I'm just a simple country boy, so please bear with me. These "facts" are what others might call ideas or views, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Larsen Posted April 15 Author Share Posted April 15 8 hours ago, Cliff Varnell said: Because the 56 years thread is locked, I can't edit out attachments. Anyway around this? Cliff, Check out this new Forum Tip & Trick I just posted: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Larsen Posted April 15 Author Share Posted April 15 1 hour ago, Mark Ulrik said: I'm just a simple country boy, so please bear with me. These "facts" are what others might call ideas or views, right? Not in general. Believe it or not, we have a set of facts and a set of opposing non-facts. (Sometimes more than one opposing non-fact for a given fact.) And which one a given person believes is the real fact will largely depend upon his or her political leanings. This has long been the case to some extent, but became extremely common when Donald Trump was elected President in 2016. Trump is famous for referring to any news he doesn't care for as "fake news." Of course, if you're not a Trump follower, you will call it what it is... news, not fake news. Some people refer to the truly-fake news as MAGA news. I use the word "facts" instead of "news " because this phenomenon extends beyond what might be reported in the news. Having said that... Certainly there is some fake news reported by the mainstream media. But I, like many others, believe that the news from these sources is far more reliable than news from alternative news sources, most of which have a far-right bias. Here is a simple example: The mainstream media reports that the reason Donald Trump has four criminal indictments against him is because the evidence point to his being guilty. In contrast, MAGA news sites report that Donald Trump is the victim of false indictments because Democrats have weaponized the Justice Department against him in order to keep him from being elected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ulrik Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 Thanks for the explanation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk Gallaway Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 On 4/13/2024 at 1:12 AM, Sandy Larsen said: Kirk Galloway has suggested that the Water Cooler threads be moved back to this -- the JFK Assassination Debate -- forum. (That's not exactly his idea, but it is the only way his idea can be achieved.) They currently reside outside this forum, near the Political Discussions forum. Kirk's goal is to make it easy to see if there is a new post to read, and to make it a bit quicker to navigate to. William Niederhut reminisces how interesting the old "56 Year" was when many forum members were participating. Unfortunately that thread met its demise when it was -- in some members' opinions -- spammed by individuals who believe in "alternate news." It was ultimately closed from further posts due to endless bickering related to that issue. I later opened up the Water Cooler threads in an effort to restore the "56 Year" thread general discussion. I segregated the Cooler by "news type belief" (mainstream vs. alternate vs. both ) to satisfy the "spam" averse members and to keep the peace. Generally speaking, this has worked out well for mainstream news believers. For some reason, alternate news believers don't post there. The downsides of the Water Coolers are what Kirk and William have expressed concern about, as noted above: 1. More difficult to use. 2. Loss of participation. I am considering the following solution to these problems: Move the Water Cooler threads to this forum, but keep them segregated. Members would be allowed to post on any topic they choose, as long as their post didn't cross the news-type line of segregation. (Posting to the "both types" Cooler would allow any news-type post.) Doing this would definitely satisfy Kirk's desire of making it easy to see when there is a new post, and making it easier to navigate to. But I don't know if it would increase participation. The latter, in my opinion, would be of greater value than the former. I am opening this topic up to discussion. Any suggestions? What can be done to increase participation? Sandy, As far as redefining the cooler descriptions. I'm used to it. I think by reading the descriptions of the 3 coolers, it's easy to understand your intentions. Maybe Cliff can give you a better description. To address your earlier post, Sandy. I also became disgusted with the direction of the 56 year thread and quit. You notice I didn't post at all in at least the final 10 pages. It's a tough job. But IMO a certain individual in particular was allowed to get out of control when they could have been nipped in the bud much earlier. I saw it all coming. To me, it became like the LAPD during the Rodney King riots. I think the mods just let it go completely to sh-t so we could get rid of it. I wasn't around for the end. I read it yesterday, and in the last couple of pages , there were people trying to re civilize the conversation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Varnell Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 I think the Water Cooler needed one thread -- "Free for All." I think many here find "MAGA" and "Mainstream" pejoratives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Larsen Posted April 15 Author Share Posted April 15 5 minutes ago, Cliff Varnell said: I think the Water Cooler needed one thread -- "Free for All." I think many here find "MAGA" and "Mainstream" pejoratives. Well, I'm pretty sure we will be using some segregation in order to please those who don't want to engage with those who they think believe obvious nonsense. That was the problem we had before. But we could promote the "one thread -- Free for All" that you speak of as the standard Water Cooler. In which case the names of the threads might be something like this: WATER COOLER WATER COOLER - MAINSTREAM (For those who believe mainstream contemporary facts.) WATER COOLER - ALTERNATIVE (For those who believe alternative (e.g. MAGA) facts.) The top one is the standard Cooler for everybody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Larsen Posted April 15 Author Share Posted April 15 Just now, Sandy Larsen said: WATER COOLER WATER COOLER - MAINSTREAM (For those who believe mainstream contemporary facts.) WATER COOLER - ALTERNATIVE (For those who believe alternative (e.g. MAGA) facts.) As I said earlier, our experience is that the alternative/MAGA people don't post in the thread dedicated to them. I think it's because they like convincing non-believers of their beliefs, rather than singing to the choir. Because of that, we might be able to eliminate their Cooler altogether. Just have these two: WATER COOLER WATER COOLER - MAINSTREAM (For those who believe mainstream contemporary facts.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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