Woman in a tent

[Bellefield]

Ignore works really well for the worst offenders

[thesultanofsheight]

8 minutes ago, Neil Down said:

You seem to have a blinkered outlook on what you consider "ganging up" It's a bit like the proud mother proclaiming that all the soldiers except her son are out of step.

Not really I’ve already shared my views with several forum members by PM in the last few months and tested those views throughly. It is very easy to predict what subjects get hijacked and then driven by the clear forum minders, what characters will pile in to join a fight, and even what comments will solicit what type of comments and behavior back and from whom. It really is so utterly transparent as evidenced in the last week. It’s a shame as the debate here was always really good but Twitter and Facebook have taken over really and this forum is a bit of a relic in that regard. If only people undertook the same behaviour on social media under their own names the agenda would be even clearer. But they wouldn’t do that. 

[llap]

 

53 minutes ago, Night Sky said:

Every thread at some point goes completely off topic and becomes a "bash fest". It then becomes impossible to continue on point in a conversation and it descends into a total free for all.

That is where I stop reading and move on to another topic and choose not to get involved by posting tbh. Each to their own I guess. I would say though if people behaved in a more adult manner more would contribute.

I can sort of see where you're coming from. I used to post serious things,  very long posts like Roger Mexico with lots of footnotes, but people just insulted me instead of addressing what I wrote, so it became pointless to waste my time making that kind of effort. On the other hand, if this forum had nothing but people posting serious things, with no trolling or satire or comedy accounts, the place would be pretty stale and boring. Such a platform would skew to a geriatric demographic.

[Night Sky]

10 minutes ago, llap said:

 

I can sort of see where you're coming from. I used to post serious things,  very long posts like Roger Mexico with lots of footnotes, but people just insulted me instead of addressing what I wrote, so it became pointless to waste my time making that kind of effort. On the other hand, if this forum had nothing but people posting serious things, with no trolling or satire or comedy accounts, the place would be pretty stale and boring. Such a platform would skew to a geriatric demographic.

I'm not saying it should become that way but its literally every topic at some point succumbs to school yard bickering. I'm all for witty banter and expect a clash of views from time to time. There is however a way to go about a debate without resorting to the mentality of a 7 year old. Anyway, I sound like an grumpy old man now. I choose not to get involved because of the above is all I'm saying and think there is likely many the same.