Many of the people on this forum act as if they don't understand how forums work. So I will share some of my thoughts culled from 13 years of particpation in online forums and mailing lists.

1)Repetitive topics such as the "Will the GG1 Run Again" will resurface from time to time. Usually each time by a participant who may not be aware of previous discussions on the topic, or by someone who feels that they either have new info. to share or want to gauge the current opinion on the topic. It is natural, it will never change and is not worth making berating posts that do nothing but piss off your fellow participants.

2)Threads have a life of their own. They start out on topic but who knows where they might lead. This parallels how normal conversations work. You start talking about one particular thing with someone else, and before you know it you've hit upon a dozen different subjects. Since a thread has a life it also has a death, and left to its own devices will die at some point. The longest running thread I ever saw was on the Practial Machinist forum about divining rods, and it finally died at around 1,000 posts. This will also NEVER CHANGE!

3)Locking threads have the opposite effect than what is intended. Moderators may think that locking threads that make a turn for the worst or stray too far off topic will help steer the forum back to the straight and narrow, but in reality it stifles discussion and generally pisses people off. It creates the impression that your thoughts are subject to approval by some higher authority. I get enough of that from the government, I don't need any more. It also upsets people who may have been following that particular thread with interest. Sure a couple of posts may veer off into a personal attack, but the main theme of the thread will usually not follow that line of thought very far and return to the discussion of the main topic.

4)Lighten Up! Probably the most enjoyable thread on this forum in a while was the one about stupid things that visitors say. I know some of you were appalled by it, but its not a big deal. As soon as someone posts something of a lighthearted nature others start threatening to leave the forum never to return. Talk about an overreaction. Same goes for people who cannot take a bit of criticism. Some have already packed up their trains and went home.

5)Ultimately the Forum is what you make of it. If you think the general discussion is straying away from preservation into more of a railfan nature, then nudge it back to preservation by starting a new thread. Ask a preservation related question or post some info. that may be of use to other preservationists. If the preservation related threads outnumber the railfan threads then that might help weed out the BS foamer crap.

So remember these five simple concepts when participating in online forums. Respect the ignorance of the new guys, understand the thread life cycle, resist moderatorial dictatorships, learn to laugh at yourself and take an active part in shaping your forum.

SS -

Well said!

Les

I totally agree with your post. In the interest of helping make the thread longer, here are five useless additions:
1) Rules: There are none.
2) Content: 80% bloviation, 20% useful information -- as it should be.
3) Fundamental principle: It's only a hobby. And it's fun. Remember?
4) Freedom: You are perfectly free to take your ball and bat and go home to mommy at any time.
5) Fun: Did I mention fun?

Some thoughts from someone who's been a moderator of other groups:

Here's the brutal reality:

Everyone thinks of the Internet as a "free press" of sorts--that everyone should be able to input freely. The reality is that such a place is the definition of anarchy--this forum and every other one would be overrun with postings for "ne1 got nude pix britny speers email me", offers from exceedingly polite Nigerians regarding bank transactions, and offers for huge body parts and little blue pills.

One forum I deal with on a regular basis--the moral equivalent of one excursion line's volunteer e-mail list--had to be taken offline for a few days last week simply because the spam attempts had reached over 2,000 A DAY--and this is/was an incredibly obscure non-Yahoo/AOL/etc. list.

Another list with which I deal is bedeviled by one single rhymes-with-witch that has literally nothing better to do than to harass the list owner and members with nothing but libelous and insulting personal attacks, to the tune of 10-20 attempts a DAY. Were it not for the one stupid b**ch, we could have open enrollment and unmoderated comments/responses.

One regional newspaper has a comments/discussion forum that is routinely hijacked by political activists and partisan zealots for ludicrously off-topic debates. One so-called "discussion" on the merits or lack thereof of deer hunting has, as of tonight, rambled on for over 27,000 posts over the course of six months or so, attracting a certain few folks from across the continent all shouting insults at one another.

Is that really the "no rules" wide-open forum you want? It sure isn't what *I* want.

Hey,
Spam sucks.
No argument.

Freedom of the press belongs to those that own presses. It says nobody - not me, not the government - can tell you what you can or cannot print. On your own press, obviously :) Nobody can hijack your press to print something you do not want!

The concept of "press" applies to pretty much any publishing venue. For instance, RyPN. When you post to RyPN, you are borrowing somebody else's press. The owner of the press makes the rules for its use. Don't like em? Use somebody else's press. Or get your own!

The Internet makes that absurdly easy.

Besides, free speech isn't everywhere. There is no free speech in church - or in your home. If you have a guest over who is talking about something you do not like, you have every right to show him the door. Why? Because you own the venue.

A few folks are trying to apply "free speech" here. See the snag? Your freedom can only happen at the expense of the other guy's. That's not fair.

I think you missed the point of the backlash, at least from my POV on it. It wasn't the humor that was the problem, it was the lack of respect. RYPN, for better or for worse, has always had a higher standard.

Rob

Agreed about the standard. And thanks.

I don't specifically avoid the contributions of all but a very few posters to this forum, whose postings seem to indicate an irrational POV. I even like some irrational postings if they do a good job of illustrating a point that is valid. Either way I learn or am encouraged to think. Agreement with me isn't a requirement either way - I am thankful that many smarter people have taught me a lot when I was mistaken or ignorant.

Opinions based in more than emotion are worthy of consideration - and some emotional ones when appropriate. Again, the criteria for me is whether or not they encourage consideration of ideas.

I reckon my own inability to consistently make myself clear has encouraged a fairly libertarian approach to this forum for me - no matter how much i think I have tried to adequately illustrate a point, i find I somemtimes don't do it well. It behooves me to allow others the same latitude.

So provided this forum doesn't devolve into the kind of whiny foaming found in many other places, I'm very happy to allow it to continue as it is and make what contributions seem worthy to me - ham fisted though they may be. I hope about 95% of the rest of you will continue to do the same.

dave