Ya know, I really hate it when someone says a topic has been "done to death" or "we don't need another thread about. . . "
Isn't one of the beautiful things about an internet bulletin-board the fact that hundreds of different topics can be discussed in their own little compartments? Isn't it also nice that if you don't care about a specific topic at a specific time in your life you don't have to open it? You can skip right over it, or, if having read it and found nothing of interest, you can simply click to the next topic.
I mean really, if someone started a thread, clearly there is at least that one person who still has an interest in discussing it. If you don't have interest in the topic do you really have to jump in to voice your disapproval of their interest? Are you incapable of restraining the impulse to manage conversations that don't even interest you?
There are several reasons why I think it's good to re-hash an issue that has been discussed before:
1. Some people's opinions change over time. I know that's a mystery to some, but it happens. (If you truely can make a chart that lists all active Hatrackers and their positions on all the hot topics you really need to see someone about your Hatrack OCD.)
2. Some people need the reassurance that others share their opinion, and they need it dynamically, not in some stuffy archived discussion they themselves might not have been able to participate in.
3. Some people just like to voice their opinion, and they want to do it in a new thread rather than in a two-month-old thread that most people won't bother to look in again.
4. Some people may have a different take on an issue that might fit under the broader topic of another thread but is tangential enough to merit a thread of its own.
Why is this a problem? Is it really an inconvenience that your pet thread isn't in the top 10 because of another abortion thread? 'Fraid you might have to look on the second page?
Should the moderators put all the hot topics (Gay Rights, Abortion, Capital Punishment, etc) into a permanent archive and tell all the people who want more out of Hatrack than "The Last Post Thread" to just lurk?
Do newbies have to be reprimanded and told implicitly that in order to join us they need to read six months of old threads to make sure they don't offend our jaded ears with repetition? What a nice welcome to the community.
Hatrack is a place of conversation. If your co-worker starts talking about abortion do you roll your eyes and hand him a printout of the last conversation you had with someone else about abortion? Bet you're lotsa fun to work with.
That said, I do want to point out that when I was a newbie, and lurked for over a week on this forum, reading and re-reading many many threads from the past, reading everyone's landmark and getting a feel for the place before posting.
And I just wish others would do that as well before they jump in.
posted
That was not directed at you, or anyone else specifically. I see it all the time from several different people and I'm just feeling snarky right now. Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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quote: Please don't love me. I'm still feeling snarky. Nothing ruins a good snark like being loved.
I feel exactly the same way. Something like this should be on Philotic Web more than here though. They have a larger problem with this than Hatrack does.
Posts: 4229 | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
How about if instead of posting "We just had a thread on this" we post "You are an idiot and a troll"?
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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posted
I'm going to assume you're joking, becuase if you were not, I would say simply that there are plenty of circumstances that warrant responses other than those two.
Posts: 4229 | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
I didn't mean to be snarky, but I couldn't tell if you were kidding. Sorry. I never was very good at discerning that online...
Posts: 4229 | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
Despite all the times I have seen it in context, I have no idea what "squicky" means. To me, it is kinda like the word "smurf".
"Well was feeling just squicky today, but then some one squicked me on the way to work and I thought, 'Squick. Now I need a squicky donut.'"
Posts: 7050 | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
It's a combination of "squirm" and "ick". It describes the physical reaction that happens when you encounter something icky that makes you squirm.
It is relatd to disgust, but does not necessarily entail a moral judgement. It's just a description of the feeling.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
Squick is- Really old men dressed in Japanese school girl uniforms or Yaoi stories about band members... dang that squicks me out... It's more than I need to know. (Despite the fact that I like non-band yaoi which is not something anyone really needs to know, but oh, well.) It also is the feeling I get when I see pink and orange together. Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
KarlEd, I was really glad that the mods decided to delete past threads after a significant period of time. The expectation to read up on all the old stuff that had already been said seemed too daunting to newcomers.
It is really great when someone bothers to get up to speed on recent conversations, but the weight of those total archived conversations was beginning to add up to something scary.
Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000
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quote:If your co-worker starts talking about abortion do you roll your eyes and hand him a printout of the last conversation you had with someone else about abortion?
Karl, I love you in all your snarky glory. Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
I didn't mean to ruin your snark. Sorry. (Doesn't change the love though, regardless of the snark.)
Posts: 3801 | Registered: Jan 2000
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posted
Im not sure anybody knows who the heck I am, and I barely have posted here, though Ive read a lot of posts. I agree with Farmgirl, AND the originator of the post. I agree that its wrong to bash the newbies that bring back threads that have been discussed and over-discussed, but I agree with Farmgirl, that as a newbie, it might be wiser to sit and listen for a while before standing on the soapbox. I know that I havent started very many threads on my own, and thats fine, im okay with responding to the posts of others. My two cents...
Posts: 1604 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
From the newbie perspective, I appreciated KarlEd's comments. It's difficult enough for us newbies to keep up with the current threads that are rolling out faster than I can read them (one of these days I'm going to learn to speed read!). If it's not on the front couple of pages or so, chances are I'm not going to see it for quite some time.
I've only been around for a week, and have only read a couple of landmarks (which were actually newer ones that just got posted within the past week or so). I wasn't aware of that tradition until I came a cross the first one earlier this week. I had notice the archive, but hadn't ventured in there to see what it was about. For all I knew, it was just a bunch of really old threads (archive) that someone thought were really cool and had saved them for posterity, but didn't have a clue how they were significant or why they warranted being kept.
I didn't really lurk much here before posting, but I haven't posted any new threads as of yet either, and probaly won't until I've had a chance poke around a bit more. I've jumped into several ongoing conversations to toss in my 2 cents worth. A couple of those conversations have been pretty lively, and has helped to give me a good feel for who some of the players are around here.
On other boards that I've been a part of, it hasn't bothered me that someone repeats something from an older thread, unless the original thread is pretty recent. If it's something that was discussed 6 months ago, who cares? If it was just last week, OTOH, I think some snarkiness is definitely in order.
Posts: 159 | Registered: Jun 2004
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posted
Sorry you're still feeling snarky, KarlEd. 'Cause I'm gonna say I love you anyway. You said something that needed to be said, and how can I not love someone for doing that?
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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Something like this should be on Philotic Web more than here though. They have a larger problem with this than Hatrack does.
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