Forum Etiquette

Aurelyn · Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 9:13 am Post subject: Forum Etiquette

This is a topic I have been musing on recently (no particular reason, honest Razz

) so I thought I'd raise a few points and open them to the floor, as it were.

A well-established message board is by its nature quite similar to a well-established group of friends. Like every group of people, every forum has a different dynamic, a different set of (completely unwritten) rules codifying acceptable behaviour, and inevitably a huge trove of largely impenetrable in-jokes and asides which come only from spending large amounts of time around the same people.

aLp in contrast to many message boards, has a very diverse group of users, and is also a very welcoming and open forum, providing that the aforementioned unwritten rules of acceptable behaviour are followed. The problem, of course, is dicovering what these rules are if you are a new poster.

Imagine you have recently moved to a new job, or school or whatever and you meet a whole bunch of people who seem pretty cool and you want to hang out with them. They of course are amenable to the idea so all seems good. Now, you need to find out what makes the group 'tick' in order to become part of it. If you are not very socially sensitive, you might want to rush this 'inclusivity' process, latch on to the in-jokes without really understanding them and worst of all, be overly familiar with people you don't really know. You will find yourself being faced with what seems to you an unreasonable level of hostility - after all, you just want to be a part of the group. A more socially adroit person, on the other hand, will know that any circle of friends is innately protective of its group dynamic, which has been formed over time, and any sudden push on this, even if it is by someone that the group may well be inclined to welcome, will provoke a negative response. This person will realise that they need to accept the role of 'newcomer', if even for a short while, while they get a feel for what is acceptable and what is not.

I could go on, but the analogy is pretty clear, and I'd like to see what others think.
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cfos · Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 12:32 pm Post subject:

<cricket noise>
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Aurelyn · Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 12:34 pm Post subject:

I refer you to the link I just posted. Just goes to show that no-one's got an opinion when you're not allowed to call people gay. Wink

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Alternate Spideygal · Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 12:36 pm Post subject:

Where's Simon when we need him?
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Married to Azrael.
Queen of Innuendo.

Simon_Says · Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 12:48 pm Post subject:

Usually hibernating.
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Sal · Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:15 pm Post subject:

wasn't this topic posted some time ago and replied to at least several times?
is this another one of those aLp time warps?
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Aramor · Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:38 pm Post subject:

You mean a temporal aLponomaly?
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cfos · Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:25 am Post subject:

Aurelyn · Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 4:59 am Post subject:

Simon_Says · Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:16 am Post subject:

Actually I think this thread was always intact. Just not replied to. Or there was a system glitch and things went belly-up. Or we could be thinking about this. Maybe.
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Aurelyn · Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:21 am Post subject:

No, it was replied to alright, 'cos one of the lads pm'd me and asked if they should move the whole thing to Utter BS, since that's what the replies amounted to, or delete the replies and leave the original post in the Soap Box. Since I'd spent ten minutes writing it, I vindictively chose the latter. Smile

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Simon_Says · Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:22 am Post subject:

They can split it...
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Aurelyn · Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:24 am Post subject:

Yeah, I dunno why they didn't. Mostly it was just cfos calling me gay anyway.
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cfos · Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 10:43 pm Post subject:

Aurelyn · Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 10:46 am Post subject:

Oh well, it gives you something to do while you're waiting for the green wavy lines to sort themselves out.
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