Thread Jacking

[Fierce Critter]

Hmmm... Well, I can't help but believe the "sticks in their asses" comment includes me.

I also can say with 100% integrity & fortitude that my having brought this up is 0% personal. I've never named a name, I've never linked to a particular post. I have stated and am honest when I say that I can not and will not put people on ignore over this because I find their on-topic input to be valuable & worthy. Many of the people engaging in this are people whom I like, some very, very much - if we're talking about personal opinion.

(Also interesting that the moment some opinions actually supporting my view came into the subject, things started to get personal - even if only thinly and anonymously veiled.)

I think if one wants to look at me honestly, they should go back and see the things about which I've consistently had a "stick in my ass".

Observed objectively, I think you'll honestly see the issues tend not to be about "personal feelings about others/someone" but actually to be about manners, decorum, consideration and respect.

In other words, Playing Nice (See Rule #1).

I was a chronic AOL message board poster before I discovered DGN. Because of the fact that DGN had actual rules guiding manners, decorum, consideration and respect - I dumped AOL message boards cold turkey. DGN has been, since November, 2001, the ONLY message board on which I post. Plain and simple.

Finally, a place where maturity was an unwritten, but actually enforced rule.

And at the time I joined, and for years afterwards, not only was the general "feel" of DGN mature, but it definitely was not a bunch of people with "sticks in their asses". These were some of the most diverse, witty, clever, intelligent and interesting people I'd ever had the pleasure to converse with.

We just knew how to treat others, what to say and what not to say.

It definitely wasn't PC. I'm not talking about that. And yes, some people were more... left field, if you will, and often tred the line of "play nice". Some are still here today. Some only recently called to task for years of inconsiderate behavior towards others. Some left of their own volition for other horizons that were more accepting of snarky, ill-tempered or inconsiderate behavior.

And some "got it" and changed their behavior.

Yes, there was a time when certain behavior was called for and enforced. And the bottom line was, "We are trying to be different here on DGN. If you want the run-of-the-mill flame- and snark-fests that are other message boards, then you simply don't need to be here."

The rules I linked to above date back to the first days of "The Spiral Board". There was a reason they were written, and expanded upon over ensuing years. They weren't an exercise in grammar & punctuation. They were instituted for a purpose. To make DGN better.

Over the years, DGN has changed. There was a time the moderator staff consisted of myself, a couple other still active DGN members, and one or two others. I can remember a particular period of change that made staff members nervous. And the new influx of "different people" and the possible changes that might result shook us up a bit.

Honestly, we just had to learn to "deal". Even back then, Troy had to keep reminding us that things were going to change, like it or not, and we had to deal or jump ship.

We definitely didn't want to "jump ship". And through everything, we never have.

Still, at the time, we all put our heads together and came up with some concrete ways of dealing with certain "new behaviors" that we foretold as being potential "trouble spots" of change.

Among other things, one of the major points we discussed was the tendency for an unguided message board to devolve into a static "chat room" of sorts. And Troy adamantly stated he did NOT want that on DGN.

So how did we deal with it at the time?

The DGN Coffee House was born. And for a very long time, it worked. It gave people a place to take general banter, and off-topic conversation. If a person didn't like "general banter" they knew where not to go to save themselves exposure to that which would irritate them.

That really worked. For years. Such a simple solution.

But, for whatever reason, over the past couple years adherance to this simple solution has stopped. I'm not going to try to guess at what specifically happened that allowed things to "slack off" in this way. I quit moderating a few years ago, so I don't know what does and does not go on "behind the scenes" where decisions about this sort of thing are made.

Not that that's the only thing that has changed over the years. A new, snarky presence has seeped in that wasn't there before. People biting at each other, personal attacks, name calling, etc. The kind of thing that, initially, DGN forbade in an effort to promote a more mature venue for social intercourse. An "oasis from BS and Jerks" if you will.

Yes, there actually was a time when rules about this sort of behavior were written - and enforced. Were slackenings & easing of restrictions/rules necessary? To an extent - maybe so.

But myself, and others, feel too much slackening has happened.

Now, I'm willing to accept that, quite possibly, the tide has turned so much that DGN is now a different animal. If that's going to be the final "epiphany" after all this, well, I'll be sorely disappointed. But if "majority rule" here just plain calls for a re-thinking of what DGN is about - I, and others of the "old guard" will just have to, unhappily, "deal or jump ship".

That saddens me. But I'm also trying to be realistic about this. I may be trying to revive something that died some time ago.

And bottom line to that will be - I will have to decide, as others have, whether or not I need to start "dealing" and keep my mouth shut and not try to "change things back". Or if it's time for me to "let DGN go" as something I simply am not willing or able to "deal with" and "jump ship". Again, as others have.

A note to that, however. I've been told that those who have chosen to jump ship "didn't or never cared about DGN".

I can't stress how wrong that is. Those who I am personally acquainted with who have "opted out" did so after much, much personal anguish & torn feelings. Their bottom line, in the end, was they just plain "cared TOO much" for DGN to deal with what it had become.

Call them - call us - "old guard". Say we've got "sticks in our asses". Say we "can't deal with change". Say whatever you want. We know the true devotion we had to DGN for years. We know what we're missing.

That said, this is my final input into this thread - and all - perceived "things I don't like" about what goes on here on DGN. Huzzah, for some! Critter's shutting her big, opinionated, fucking mouth. Yeah, well. Time for me to step back, see how things progress from this point, and use that as a "jumping off point" to either decide to stick around and "go with the flow" or make up my mind once and for all that what I want isn't here anymore, and quit bitching and just sign off once and for all.

End.

[BrassFusion]

K, since that's all wrapped up with a bow on it I guess some mod should theoretically close the topic now. Anything else would just be jacking.

[Rayne]

K, since that's all wrapped up with a bow on it I guess some mod should theoretically close the topic now. Anything else would just be jacking.

... In my interpretation, as long as the topic stays on "threadjacking" we're all good.