The future of NOOL

Drat! I was unfortunately too late to improperly influence Biggie!

Oh, by the way, I certainly didn't mean to imply yesterday that, because I love AgentWood for her intelligence, that she doesn't also have excellent T&A.

Question should be rephrased...

Would you prefer people to post amusing, entertaining, frequently and on-topic posts or regurgitate tired old off-topic, uninspiring, same old same old waffle ad naseum ramblings?

I think the posts should try to be on-topic. For off-topic material there's always the BCD forum, email, chatroom or instant messaging. I don't normally have the time to log on here as often as others but when I do, I often find myself wading through the drivel when I just want to discuss, hear other people's feedback about the band and its music. I could see how a thread originator could be annoyed by having others not respond to the topic at hand, especially since this is the main forum. I don't mind an occasional drift from the topic, but I think it's a good idea to keep things consistently on-topic and inclusive for all fans to discuss New Order.

Just my opinion.

Also - why don't more people visit the other forums, such as Music for Pleasure, State of the Nation, Buy/Sell? It seems like only a small amount of "regulars" and more newbies post on those forums. The polls, if done provocatively, can be interesting. I understand most people have probably voted for the Weekly Song Reviews and there's not much to add there. But take Music for Pleasure, that's barely gotten started and could surely use more feedback (right Ally?)!

You know I expressed my opinion in favour of spontaneity. But I'd also like to say I guess Huntsman's reaction to Nic's message is likely to be a bit exaggerated. Nic is doing a very precious job here, he's always been very tolerating and kind, I don't think he was too hard with Huntsman, he has every right to tell people if he thinks some of their behaviour here is not correct. Actually I hope that if I ever post anything wrong here someone moderates me, that's their task here. So I guess Huntsman should stop being a bit childish and come back, I don't like when people who are supposed to have balls run away at the first small problem, there are biggest problems in life and you can't always hide yourself, you better learn to face them...

PM, I think you are being unfair to H. He should be free to do whatever he wants to do, like all the rest of us. I don't recall that any of us ever signed an oath promising to post at NOOL. If he feels unwelcome here, and chooses to stop posting, that is his choice to make. After all that he has contributed here, I really think it is not appropriate to criticize him for choosing (if he has) not to post here any more.

I just say it's dead wrong from him to feel unwelcome here. I'm sure the very most of us like him and even if someone asks him to moderate his off topic posts on the New Order forum this doesn't mean they don't like him at all.

forced voting on my polls.

Yawns profusely

e

35:6 for Mr. H, now. It's all up to him right now.

I had written a long discussion about this issue, but it failed to post (hence the previous post with no content), and I lost what I wrote. Ah, sweet irony. Here is the abbreviated version:

Perhaps the source of everyone’s frustration is to be found in a recent study by Kings College London that found that constant e-mailing reduces your intelligence by 10 IQ points, an effect more damaging than smoking marijuana. Study subjects exhibited an inability to focus and an inability to distinguish between trivial and significant messages. Based on these observations, we could also conclude that if the subjects were part of an on-line forum, then they would engage in frequent off-topic posting.

If constant e-mailing does indeed impair our cognitive abilities, then we can hypothesize that the effects will become more severe over time. The effect is similar to entropy: the disorder (off-topic posting) in a closed system (NOOL) increases over time. If this is true, then each of us should abandon participation in NOOL – and any other on-line forums or chatrooms we frequent – posthaste.

My own humble observations, however, run counter to the study cited above. I have found that the members who have been part of NOOL the longest, consistently provide the most interesting information about New Order (music, gigs, history, etc.) and also provide the most entertaining humor, sometimes through off-topic postings.

As was also noted, the existence of a New Order Related Forum and an Off Topic Forum was intended to segregate the more serious from the less serious postings. Perhaps there should be a reminder to members as to the purpose of the two forums. Not everyone may be aware of the reasons that motivated the creation of the different forums. A polite, brief refresher on etiquette may also be helpful.

This is getting long (as my wife observes, I discuss issues for too long – and the proof is in the posting), so I’ll end with these thoughts: It’s great to have a forum to discuss New Order related and non-New Order related issues with New Order fans from around the globe. I sincerely hope that no one who adds value to the conversations and discussions on NOOL leaves because of frustration over off-topic posts. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, but without all of the parts, the whole is less than what it could be.

Interesting, if a mite to academic, point you make there, EpicRear.

Personally, I see no problem whatsoever with threads drifting off topic - it is inherent human nature for conversations to drift from the original point of discussion, and it's incredibly anal and cowardly to snipe about this behind the safety of a private email to the webmaster. It should be pointed out that in almost every case, the motivations of the 'off topic instigators' are not malicious, simply to contribute a comment. The idea to drag a thread from this forum over to BCD is a redundant one unless the initial topic of the thread is not NO-related. Another point that has been mentioned already is that these off-topic conversations sometimes come about in a thread that has been discussed ad-nauseum previously. I think all posters (newbs especially) should read the FAQ before they post a "where's Gillian?"-type thread - maybe Nic could include this as a step in the newb registration process, or have a sticky thread that links to the FAQs?

In summary - leave it be; and if a compaint is made about this, do it publicly or bite your tongue. This site needs the like of Huntsman, Patrick, DepthCharge et al. to keep discussions vibrant and interesting, and we shouldn't discourage their discourse.

Just my opinion CTB