Recent Threads

[Nick Smith]

There appears a trend at the moment for wandering from threads. I use this website for gaining info about birds, but most times recently, you click on a thread and it just degenerates into mindless piffle. When a rare bird turns up, at first sightings and directions are given. Then, it just becomes a case of 'ooo i would love to see that but can't/won't/my ethics won't let me/greenhouse gases/twitchers are crap/ etc . Every time this happens recently. Then theres the did i see you mate thread. And finally, the well known bird forum members who seem to spend hours sending messages to every thread then moan when they miss birds.
Can we keep aimless chat on the AIMLESS CHAT thread pages, the hello mate, i'm wearing a baseball cap to those pages, but when it comes to new threads, lets stick to discussing those.
The minority are spoiling it for the majority.
Discuss

[CJW]

Fat chance.

[Clouseau]

Member for 16 months: 14 postings. Mmmmmmmm! It could be said that this forum thrives because of the people who actively participate.

[CJW]

Member for 16 months: 14 postings. Mmmmmmmm! It could be said that this forum thrives because of the people who actively participate.

Good spotting msr.!

:clap: :clap: :clap:

[John N]

No way! Live and let live. Cater for all types who enjoy the best site on the net!

[Steve]

The BirdForum guidelines state:

"Please stay on topic as far as possible. If you want to discuss a different subject, start a new thread - don't hijack someone else’s thread.
Hint: If your comments don't match the title of the thread, you are probably off topic.

The moderators will try to get a thread back on track but with so many threads it is not always possible to spot threads that have "wandered". It is up to members to stick to the guidelines.




I agree with nick, If you want to talk absolute toffee in a thread, start a new one in ruffled feathers entitled " Tim loved your sandles,did you see my new slacks " or whatever utter drivel you decide.

steve

[Keith Reeder]

There's another way, of course - nobody forces you to read the mindless piffle/aimless chat, so simply move on.

I have to say the assertion that "the minority are spoiling it for the majority" would be pretty hard to support.

Where's the evidence that most of the BF community are sitting silently seething about this apparent problem?

No, I think that - on balance, and taking into consideration the hugely diverse membership - this forum is doing just fine as it is.

[David FG]

There appears a trend at the moment for wandering from threads... When a rare bird turns up, at first sightings and directions are given.

Then, it just becomes a case of 'ooo i would love to see that but can't/won't/my ethics won't let me/greenhouse gases/twitchers are crap/ etc ...
Discuss

Well it seems you are getting the sightings and directions that you want. The answer strikes me as being simple - read those and ignore the rest. Nowhere in the rules does it say you have to read every post.

I have no interest in the 'in' banter of some members, but I certainly don't object to them indulging in it: I don't read it.

[Clouseau]

Thing is: in the middle of the 'in banter' one often finds real nuggets of bird knowledge. Best to be open minded! (For example: best places to see a sought-after species often pop up in 'twitcher chat' threads.)

[Karl J]

Some really good id pointers lurking hidden amongst the supposedly aimless chit chat as well

and if people want to have a bit of aimless fun in the postings as well, where's the problem ?

[Steven Astley]

I read birdforum everyday. If it wasn't for the minority who make regular contributions this forum would be dead.

[Stephen Dunstan]

It's funny you should say that Nick as you seem to have done just what you are decrying in a thread which began as a straight posting of rare bird news (Belted Kingfisher).

What constitues wandering off topic? Who decides? The Mods can always close threads if they have lost all point.

If you only value the contributions of some of the membership search on their profile - voila, only relevant posts.

Stephen.

[Mickymouse]

I do tend to agree that threads have got a habit of drifting off and falling to bits sometimes but in my view that adds to the fun of the place, usualy the serious business gets dealt with at the beginning anyway.

Mick

[David FG]

usualy the serious business gets dealt with at the beginning anyway.

Mick

As Nick himself admitted when he started this thread!

[tom mckinney]

The BirdForum guidelines state:........

Yes, but at the top of every page it says...

The Net's Largest Birding Community

...and like any community it always has a few w.ankers...

...like me!

B (:

[Mary Evelyn]

There appears a trend at the moment for wandering from threads. I use this website for gaining info about birds, but most times recently, you click on a thread and it just degenerates into mindless piffle. When a rare bird turns up, at first sightings and directions are given. Then, it just becomes a case of 'ooo i would love to see that but can't/won't/my ethics won't let me/greenhouse gases/twitchers are crap/ etc . Every time this happens recently. Then theres the did i see you mate thread. And finally, the well known bird forum members who seem to spend hours sending messages to every thread then moan when they miss birds.
Can we keep aimless chat on the AIMLESS CHAT thread pages, the hello mate, i'm wearing a baseball cap to those pages, but when it comes to new threads, lets stick to discussing those.
The minority are spoiling it for the majority.
Discuss
I think we are in the majority.14 posts not much input there.
No baseball caps here????I think this post should have been placed on Ruffled Feathers.
We all want to know about the birds but it is also good to relax and bring in humour.
If the mods were unhappy,it would be cut anyway,and I know this because I have had so many posts deleted,it has halved my input ha ha.Don't even know if this one will stand the test of time.Relax and enjoy or switch off.

[Mickymouse]

As Nick himself admitted when he started this thread!
True he did, I added it to mine because I didn't want it to look like I supported just the silliness, on ballance I think BF has got it just right.

Mick

[Katy Penland]

Speaking for myself and not as a moderator, I hear where Nick is coming from. If you take a down-the-road perspective, say, 6 months or a year from now, and you do a search for a particular thread that contained some info you want to find, only to have to plow through a hundred messages half of which are pure dross, it can be really annoying. In some instances, it's downright embarrassing to read certain posts that are so childish, so hurtful and in some cases, so hateful, that you wonder where the mods were when all this was going on. I don't mean the occasional silly run that occurs in threads where people are contributing just like they would in a normal verbal conversation -- those are what make BF unique, IMHO, people conversing with one another from all parts of the world.

BF, through its contributing members, is a goldmine of information, and I can't even begin to count the number of times I've used its archives to look up references and information relating to any number of subjects. But I'm always taken aback in reading these older threads when someone makes some provocative, irrelevant or off-topic personal comment that totally derails the discussion at hand for dozens of messages at a time -- sometimes permanently. And I think that's a big loss for other members as well as for BF.

Okay, putting mod hat back on. ;)

[David FG]

Yep. I agree - there is nothing wrong with 'lightening up' once the serious stuff has been dealt with.

[Docmartin]

Thing is: in the middle of the 'in banter' one often finds real nuggets of bird knowledge. Best to be open minded! (For example: best places to see a sought-after species often pop up in 'twitcher chat' threads.)

Which, by way of posting a posting that might be allowed to stay posted, is what I would say. Information isn't free.... if you want knowledge in concise and authoritative form that is not diluted by insane piffle, there is always option 1) of buying a book, and option 2) going birding. That's how the know-it-alls got to know it all. If you want to sponge up the things they know via the internet without giving anything back, maybe random piffle is a small price to pay. ;)

[Mickymouse]

Just had a thought that I think is worth adding, some silly comments are posted just to bump the thread up in a more entertaining way.

Mick

[Stewart J.]

Just had a thought that I think is worth adding, some silly comments are posted just to bump the thread up in a more entertaining way.

Mick

Good point Mick

Stewart

B (:

[Stuart Watson]

Admittedly guilty of `hijacking` of others threads -sorry - but the information i seek is often in close relation to the subject in hand. It can seem pointless sometimes to start the same thread from anothers view.
;) have you all got the Oddie pop up from BBC nature page. LOL. See thread by Euan Buchan - Mini Oddie
PS - lost a pink baseball cap recently -reward for info on whereabouts :gh:

[Rob Smallwood]

Can I just say that there is a Greenfinch on my garden feeder?