I've been a member here for three and a half years and have been a subscriber to the LEM lists off-and-on since the Compact Macs list launched about 11 years ago. I attribute the perceived negativity to the following:
1. Generation gaps. As mentioned by others, teenagers have different mentalities than older folks. In fact, in late 2000-early 2001, the same problems with teenage "drama" existed on the LEM lists. I'm not accusing anyone of being a drama king or queen, but I do think we all need to be more accepting of folks who may not be at the same maturity level as we are. My suggestion to the teenagers: make sure you act in a mature manner when you post to these forums. Remember that you are dealing with adults, not your peers. A general guideline to remember--this is not a middle school! (Of course, we adults need to remember that as well sometimes--having a dramatic moment is only human, but it's always worth it to think twice before we post).
2. Unannounced changes. I think if we could have a "heads-up" sort of deal when something is going to be changed it would be a good thing. I know the guys who run this forum pride themselves on not being a democracy, but I think giving the people more of a say in certain matters with, perhaps, e-mail polls and feedback forms, would be a good thing. This would eliminate forum drama about touchy subjects (i.e. post edit limits, removal of the quote button) and allow the issues to be settled in a diplomatic way which benefits the majority of forum members. Again, I'm not trying to change anyone's political beliefs, but am just suggesting something that I feel would work better from personal experience, both in the online and offline world.
3. The lounge. All of us have lives outside of posting on forums, so don't expect every conversation to be policed. I'm sure the mods have more important things to do than to be chained to the workstation of their choice watching every word that flows from the keyboards of the posters, so go easy on them! I agree there have been some derogatory comments on here as of late, and be warned that too much negativity and/or drama WILL scare away some of the veteran members. Also, I am sick of the number of links being posted to illegal software sites (i.e. Macintosh Garden) plus the "gimme, gimme, gimme" attitude about software and think it needs to stop, especially with so many younger members on the forum who may not be familiar with copyright laws. (Trust me--not every school plays "Don't Copy That Floppy" to their fifth grade class).
4. Speaking of which, remember that new forums are indeed easily created. I love this community and don't want to see it fade away, but I'm sure there are others who think otherwise. If something different comes up that is rid of a problem, it will become more popular. Think about how everyone went to Facebook from MySpace. We don't want to be the MySpace of 68K Mac sites, so in the words of Johnny Mercer, let's "accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative". Remember--we are an ARMY, and an army sticks together through thick and thin!!! (Please do not play the part of Benedict Arnold).
5. Since the topic came up, has anyone heard from our veteran members on other forums? There is indeed a large amount of knowledge lost whenever a good poster leaves, and knowledge is always a terrible thing to lose.
1. Generation gaps. As mentioned by others, teenagers have different mentalities than older folks. In fact, in late 2000-early 2001, the same problems with teenage "drama" existed on the LEM lists. I'm not accusing anyone of being a drama king or queen, but I do think we all need to be more accepting of folks who may not be at the same maturity level as we are. My suggestion to the teenagers: make sure you act in a mature manner when you post to these forums. Remember that you are dealing with adults, not your peers. A general guideline to remember--this is not a middle school! (Of course, we adults need to remember that as well sometimes--having a dramatic moment is only human, but it's always worth it to think twice before we post).
2. Unannounced changes. I think if we could have a "heads-up" sort of deal when something is going to be changed it would be a good thing. I know the guys who run this forum pride themselves on not being a democracy, but I think giving the people more of a say in certain matters with, perhaps, e-mail polls and feedback forms, would be a good thing. This would eliminate forum drama about touchy subjects (i.e. post edit limits, removal of the quote button) and allow the issues to be settled in a diplomatic way which benefits the majority of forum members. Again, I'm not trying to change anyone's political beliefs, but am just suggesting something that I feel would work better from personal experience, both in the online and offline world.
3. The lounge. All of us have lives outside of posting on forums, so don't expect every conversation to be policed. I'm sure the mods have more important things to do than to be chained to the workstation of their choice watching every word that flows from the keyboards of the posters, so go easy on them! I agree there have been some derogatory comments on here as of late, and be warned that too much negativity and/or drama WILL scare away some of the veteran members. Also, I am sick of the number of links being posted to illegal software sites (i.e. Macintosh Garden) plus the "gimme, gimme, gimme" attitude about software and think it needs to stop, especially with so many younger members on the forum who may not be familiar with copyright laws. (Trust me--not every school plays "Don't Copy That Floppy" to their fifth grade class).
4. Speaking of which, remember that new forums are indeed easily created. I love this community and don't want to see it fade away, but I'm sure there are others who think otherwise. If something different comes up that is rid of a problem, it will become more popular. Think about how everyone went to Facebook from MySpace. We don't want to be the MySpace of 68K Mac sites, so in the words of Johnny Mercer, let's "accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative". Remember--we are an ARMY, and an army sticks together through thick and thin!!! (Please do not play the part of Benedict Arnold).
5. Since the topic came up, has anyone heard from our veteran members on other forums? There is indeed a large amount of knowledge lost whenever a good poster leaves, and knowledge is always a terrible thing to lose.