You mean I should start a new thread to make fun of this one?

Too long, didn't read....

Charlie you never entirely read anything anyway. (inner joke)

oops.

Actually I forgot to mention some thing important in the first post :)

This thread also meant to bring out the "conversation hijackers" from hiding :D

And I am keeping it short this time for Charlie ;)

hyeomer....to get me on a thread is extraordinarily easy ...especially during these qiet periods... and even more so if any honies participate.....

..which brings me to Lexi B.... you know me so well, and we havent met...nutter!!!

Its going to become one pretty soon...we are still awaiting some more participants 

Where the heck is te whistling smiley?

Hyeomer,

Could you please give us an example of a forum thread which was "hijacked" and in which the valuable sharing of information was not achieved?

@Clint: You just have to scroll through the forum, and you will find plenty of the threads!

I will certainly NOT give links to those threads since it will become too obvious who the "hijackers" are and that would be too personal ;)

The point is to bring to attention that forums serves a good purpose to generate discussion and exchange information, and they should "allowed" to stay focused so that all interested could participate rather than "few" ;)

P.S. Sorry Charlie, I had to write this one longer :D

Im my defence, I have answered many many serious questions, ranging from "best kennels" to "baby clothes shops" to "activities" and "where to buy xyz" etc etc... as well as posted a few jokes... ive been thanked a few times for both my serious posts and the less serious ones. Many people have met me in person... from both genders, but you'll have to ask them for an opinion...

lighten up people.. Its christmas

@Robi: I agree with totally :)

I think there should be a way to "archive" a response in a thread by the thread initiator i.e. to minimize some responses, which are not relevant to the topic, while the responses that are relevant stays fully visible...

Perhaps this way, the conversations stays focused and yet democratic for every one to express their opinions... 

Hi Robi,

Yep, sorry, there was a rhetorical element to my question.  I think we can all agree that at times threads get potentially overrun with some off the cuff jokes and banter, however I would not say that it’s due to this “hijacking” that the “valuable sharing of information” does not occur.  My understanding is that the “valuable sharing of information” occurs either at the start of the threads or somewhere in-between the banter.  Those who don’t like the banter should just treat it like spam and not read it.

Issue is, it would appear that those who like the banter, also like to be the most helpful and share information.  The two seem to go hand in hand.

For those who don’t like the banter it reminds me of how some kids may feel when they have to kiss their grandmother.  On one side they don’t like it, however on the other side it’s the best chance they have of getting the 10 dollars . 

"For those who don’t like the banter it reminds me of how some kids may feel when they have to kiss their grandmother.  On one side they don’t like it, however on the other side it’s the best chance they have of getting the 10 dollars"

ROTFLMFAO:... Clint that was quote of the week!

@David: You are very right about this "some people think it's a perfect vehicle for discussing such important matters as "what's your favourite song currently?"  "what do you think of pigeons?"   and "what's your hidden talent?".

But I think people has the right to post  (ofcourse the nature of threads importance is questionable) and if a thread is not interesting then it dies out very quickly. The trouble begins when people people gang-up to keep only few threads alive and these threads stays visible on the home page of the glocals. I am sure most of the people don't dig down in forums, they just click on the active threads from the main landing page...

@Charlie: Fair enough, you got your self defence :). In my opinion, there should be an incentive for people to post. If one gets "Thumbs up" by those who also have been "thumbed up" by others, then threads will start to become focused on the topic as people would like to receive thumbs up :)

This is very common in IT related forum where those who solve the technical problem gets points and badges. May be there should be points system for glocals thread too :D

I agree with everything that's been said by everyone above and this fence is giving me splinters in my bum. Are there any 'honeys' out there that would like to rub it better for me? I will be available in Pickwicks this evening (standing - obviously! ) if there are any volunteers.....

hyeomer - is that the sort of thing you were referring to?

oh come one, the discussion only started to gain some traction ;)

Freedom of speach rules - it's up to the reader to ignore / be amused / get annoyed at / reply to or (call me radical if you dare) to actually post a serious reply to the original subject (which of course we all have the freedom to ignore / be amused / get annoyed at / reply to or post a reply - serious or otherwise).

Where are you off to David R? I might join you......

This means that there should be "Thumb downs" as well for replies 

This hijacking doesn't bother me. I frequent a motorcycle forum that's oftentimes much worse, particularly on Fridays. I do find the serious information I need, and regularly appreciate the cleverness that goes into some of the joking and parallel conversations, it probably looks easier than it is. And at least some of the jokers here also invest time to really dig up the information, so I've noticed. Why, it's almost like a real community!

Omg. I laughed so hard when I saw that thread.

Conclusion must be: Not all people are busy at work or have a REAL life ;-)

I think hijacking is becoming a serious problem too, heard it's happening more and more in the Geneva area. If you are really lucky they come to your house at night just to collect the keys. In most cases they do let you sleep and you wont even know it happened. Which on one side is kind of nice as in this for some very stressful life we need our well deserved night rest.

If you are less lucky, this could happen to you:

Thats why we need to protect our threads or cars from hijackers

May be some thing like this could work....

Hi folks

This thread has the potential to bring out some actual insights about how we should treat off topic / sarcastic / insulting / personal banter threads and replies.

For me, the forums are, first and foremost, a place where people can get answers and information. 

With this in mind though, I think that if the forums became a pure questions / answers resource then they would be boring, and people would probably stop reading them and thus also stop replying to questions. 

Going through the posts and replying to them takes a certain amount of effort, and if the rules we impose are too harsh, people will just stop making that effort.

So the solution is to find the right ballance between asking people to stay on topic and be nice/civil, and allowing people to let their creative juices flow.

I agree with Robi that '...people who are shy and don't like to expose themselves end up not posting  genuine questions or useful information  for fear of being rifdiculed or that their threads becomes a platform for the usual suspects  to show off their comic genius' and that's the main problem I'd like to avoid.

Any thoughts on the above would be appreciated.

Oded

Hi Oded

what about setting a "quota" ? ... 10 posts per day, for example, per person ?

I find unlikely that anybody could give useful information more than 10 times per day ...

And maybe this quota could be somehow increased when the poster gets "thanked" ?

Ciaociao

Fabrizio

Hi Oded,

Thanks for following up on this thread...

I agree with you that there has to be rules that are balanced; allowing creativity of the people while staying focused...

Here are two proposals:

1) Having a point system that people earn points/badges when they post useful comments which help others. Such points/badges could be displayed on their profiles so that it will add more credibility to the activity members of the community. I think this could be a fair incentive based system which doesn't exclude those who wants to be creative while still rewarding those who wants to be helpful. (This will certainly bring out more "shy" members since now there would be a incentive for them too to earn :D)

2) Second proposal is, more easier to implement technologically speaking, allowing the thread moderator (the person who starts the thread) to be able to minimize some comments which might be creative but irrelevant/unrelated to the topic. When I say "minimize", what i mean is that only the full text of the comment is not shown, while helpful comments shows up completely when some body visits the thread. In this suggestion, the incentive for people is to make a helpful-n-creative comment that stays open rather then being risked to be minimized :)

What do you think?

Cheers

Sigh..... back to school... here we go

"Miss...Miss.... can i have my star please for being good..???"

Limit me and Im fucking gone! (not a threat!!!)

I agree with you Fabrizio. "Quota" system could work!

The only danger is what if the same group of people a.k.a. "hijackers" keeps on thanking each other and therefore bypassing the quota limit.

Having a hard limit on the quota could be a simpler solution since the poster will think twice about using their quota, and commenting on those topics where they can be helpful!

A more complicated solution could be that by adding different "weights" to different different "thanks". e.g. if a member has been very helpful and has been thanked up to certain limit, then if they choose to "thank" some one else then their "thanks" should carry more weight than those who has been thanked less. This way, again, an incentive is created for people to earn "thanks" or (points) based on how helpful they have been...

Limiting people only penalises them for visiting the site and participating.

I am sure the people that are posting these useful 'solutions' are the sort of people who just talk over you in a real conversation because they don't like what you have to say - serious or not.

Personally - and I am sure I'm not alone - I often visit this site just to find something amusing. It often cheers up what would often be a hectic and stressful day.

@David, Charlie: No body is talking about penalizing people for visiting the site or participating...

Its only about how to encourage people to helpful and creative at the same time 

Does some body ever ask this question "How many shy members got discouraged by the "off topic / sarcastic / insulting / personal banter" remarks and choose not to contribute"?

Really unsure about where this should end up as a thread...I can see the two sides rather equally.

On one side the question "How many shy members got discouraged by the "off topic / sarcastic / insulting / personal banter" remarks and choose not to contribute"? - Sounds like a how many jelly beans in a jar kinda question however for sure there must be some.

On the other side the question "How many shy members enjoy the "off topic / sarcastic / insulting / personal banter" remarks and choose not to contribute because, afterall, they are shy"?  Sounds like a how many jelly beans in a jar kinda question however for sure there must be some.

Seems like the SiteAdmin has to make this call on what to do!

@Clint: May be you didn't see...Oded (site admin) just asked earlier about "what to do" and invited suggestions about "to find the right ballance between asking people to stay on topic and be nice/civil, and allowing people to let their creative juices flow." 

Have you got a suggestion to make? (Yes, yes ...we all love jelly beans in a jar) 

Just to throw in some statistics in the "jelly bean jar" , so far out of those who those (distinct count) have expressed their opinion regarding doing some thing about "hijacking of threads":

50% have said there should be done some thing about it

14% have been in favour of hijacking 

36% have actively tried to hijack this thread 

I AM THE BLACK SHEEP.... and IM PROUD

Forums need to 'police' themselves. We already have rules and merit badges ('Thanked XX times') and anyone with a serious gripe can press the '! Report to Admin' button and then it's up to the arbitrators. If even that fails, you can always go elsewhere. Trying to come up with additional rules and restrictions (I never saw that concept before in any good forums I know) in my opinion is pointless.

BTW my earlier response was not that I was in favor of 'hijacking' but that it doesn't bother me. It all goes into the mix of why these forums are apparently pretty popular judging from the activity and number of active posters.

@_Marina_: I actually liked your post regarding black sheep......This was really creative. And I am sure you took time to prepare the image, so that means this thread have aroused genuine interests...so thanksss for taking that time to be express your opinion creatively

But the questions still hangs in the air "How much of the subversive power of purposelessness is fair?" and "How much of it is too subversive?" 

Quotas won't work and will destroy the forums - the frequent posters are often the most useful members of the forum. To pick out a member and thank him - Charlie, while some of his posts have just made me laugh out loud others have been clearly genuinely intended to help.

Banter blocking would also make some posts too serious - take the UDC discussions and remove the jokes and banter and to be honest they would have just become arguments - Banter relieves the stress

Moderation by thread starter - what happens when someone post something that is on topic and the thread starter just disagrees with? open expression can't be achieved with too many, un-moderated moderators.

Hijacking - OK this is where real moderation comes into effect - Hijacking can be stop in 2 ways - close the thread or redirect the thread back on topic.

What is being called for is REAL MODERATORS - human beings who will check the site - not just Oded and Nir - but before you all stick your hand up to offer to moderate - it's close on being a full time job, you have to read all the posts and make fair but tough decisions.

The moderator needs to be able to move the thread - Pigeons crapping in Geneva doesn't belong in Geneva it belongs in general. As far as I know nobody yet has worked out a way of making all the pigeons in Switzerland head to Geneva and attempt to crap on Caroline's sweet little gerbils head (although I believe researchers at CERN are considering the project instead of a recording career)

Change the front page and deliver more threads separated into the categories so that the visitor can have more choice.

Thumbs up/Thumbs down - could work but even that will need moderating! What happens when some thumbs down (or up) a certain persons posts regardless of the content?

What can also be tried is have the replies spur off the post that the reply belongs to this creates a closeable mini thread and with moderation this will mean that the sense of thread is never lost but the banter can still carry on and also still be enjoyed

Finally remember this is a community site and while it's nice to have somewhere to ask your questions that only works if there are active members of that community, and this also means we have to put up with threads we don't think have any value as well... After all what we value is maybe not valued by others.

Having run a lot of websites, I am going to say getting a forum up and running well, with constantly returning members, is one of the most difficult tasks around in web design - restricting it can kill a forum dead in weeks, but ALL good forums rely on a lot of FAIR moderators who follow a clearly set out, published, set of rules.

As for rules make them simple and not to many and easy to find :)

dude...whatever you are smoking...pass it over....

How about a character count rule so my replies are kept short?

@Chris: I agree with you: quotas are perhaps too harsh...

I would like highlight two of your suggestions which I think could work, and make every body happy and still maintaining the focus of the thread...

1. Thumbs up/Thumbs down (to express one's agreement or disagreement). "Report to Admin" should only be used as a last resort if some one's reply is indecent or vulgar.

2. and with moderation this will mean that the sense of thread is never lost but the banter can still carry on and also still be enjoyed" ... 

ok so Oded has to add a "thumbs down" link/counter.... and the rest is EXACTLY as it is now... .

could have asked for that in the "what should we fix thread".... and saved me bags of time harrassing you... ;-)

ha ha :)

Well it would have been too easy other wise...challenges spice up the life 

"How much of it  is too subversive?"

I realize that statement was qualified by a little winky face, but the terms "off-topic" and "subversive" are very different in nature.

This is a social networking site, meaning all aspects of life, correct?

From my point of view, the "date me" and "first, let's kill all the pigeons and then little old ladies" are the equivalent of irreality television.  But, then again, those threads appear to be very popular...

But I have noticed that some people particularly  object  to threads they  consider "too political" or "too critical" of the Swiss.  These discussions often reveal the extent to which some people find freedom of speech "subversive."

As for "shy" people, well, some join in when there is a particular topic of interest to them.  Others never  will. So, why not start a thread for the timid or first-time posters? 

I think Chris Petitpiere is right when he says that more moderators are needed.  Why not give a forum moderator some Buy Club incentives based upon the number  of hours  contributed?  That might be one way increase the moderator numbers...

So, what happens if  you collect lots of "thumbs down?"  Why not make them little black sheep? This goes back to the "high schoold popularity contests" of old....zzzzzzzzzzzz....

Oded: I very much agree - but I am not sure as to how Glocals can do something about it, except plead to the users of respecting the meant use of this site, which is NOT to hijack every thread posted, and make it into a personal chat forum of 4-5 people - maybe it is necessary to start a chat room in stead?

By the way, it took me a long time to find your post, as I had to scroll through the numerous useless posts first ;-)

a picture says 1000 words...

Not every thread is Hijacked... not by a long way. A lot of serious questions have been answered, by relatively few people here...

... with approx 40'000 members, the majority dont post questions, and dont post comments... they attend functions some dont, and some read the threads...many dont.

At any give time during the day there are some 100 to 200 people "logged in"... some are chatting via pm, some reading the threads, others just loitering.

How many of the 40'000 members are truely active, and if not why not...

This thread, for instance includes more "discussion" than "subversive attempts to hijack"...just because someone makes a funny comment doesnt mean it a hijack... equally so, disagreeing with the thread topic doesnt make it a hijack..

If you start a thread titled "jelly bean counter" or "date me i have a nice dog"... then you can expect the usual suspects to pile on with amusing comments... its not a Hijack.... its comedy...unless of course you seriously want to discuss jelly beans or the merits of dating someone with a small dog, in which case make it clear in your opening paragraph.

You can for sure set rules, and limits, etc etc, but you will also for sure limit creativity... questions get answered... jokes get told... people are mostly happy... Job done, why complicate it? 

This thread started out as a serious post by someone having noticed how often a few people in here ALWAYS take over more or less every thread to have their own fun.... this thread is an excellent example of it - do a count of how many irrelevant postings you find in this thread, and oh, why not add a count per head ;-)

If people feel a need to express "a creativity", why not just create a creative creativity thread where all these urges can be expressed, in stead of hijacking threads that people could actually use?

Ps. I have a feeling some people like the "being seen" which is not happening in the private chat, therefor the expression of creativity in ALL threads posted in here...

True Robi, but sometimes the thread could actually be useful to you, only it takes forever to find that useful info as it is hidden very well amongst all the "see me, I yell the loudest" posts....

someone is in a mood today....

True, and  yet,  as Charlie says,  a few of the "class clowns" provide much more information than those who believe  that this site is not the place to comment upon exclusionary policies of a dance club or who want to solicit dates for themselves. 

There  are some of us here who believe in free speech for all and not for just some.

if the majority vote for me to shut up... then i will... wouldnt want to be unnessesarily bringing sunshine into anyones dull lives... or upsetting anyone...

Merry Christmas

To sum up:

The jokers provide humor (good or bad) and infos.

The whiners whine.

Who should be cut (if any)?

Guys - let's try to keep this thread on topic before people start to copy / paste hundreds of articles about free speech here.

I don't like the idea of quotas and I'm not trying to shut anyone up.

I hope everyone agrees that:

1. A certain ammount of banter / off topic replies is ok, and maybe even add some interest / humor.

2. Too much banter / off topic replies is a problem and can make the forums less relevant for the majority of users.

So what we're trying to do here is reach some understanding of how to determine when too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing, and what to do about it.

Oded

You are going to get a lots of thumbs up... yours!

You and the Quota guy have been in Switzerland for too long! :(

Please let people express themselves. This is a community, not a service via which you should only get the info you paid for!

The threads reflects its members. And that's the way it is worth being.

If that's not funny, relaxed and cool, people won't come back and also the info will decrease drastically.

This is Genevaonline, not GHI!!!

You see above?

I always said we need an 'edit post' option!

Duh!

"The threads reflects its members" - as was mentioned above with approx 40.000 members it is just interesting that the threads reflect mostly only 4-5 people in here!!!

I only suggest a little respect, for those who would like to use this forum for something else but scrolling through a lot of bull**** ;-)

Stop showinh off buddy!

Everybody can see you are redheaded!

(P.S.

Am I hijacking anything? )

P.P.S.

Did somebody really ask "How much of teh subversive power of purposelessness is too subversive"???

The rules allow it?

Hmmmm,  that could, indeed, be true.

Then again, some of us "jokesters" prefer chatting with humans as opposed to small animals.

Forgot  to  add   the little winky face....   

Translator: Not really sure who likes to chat to small animals instead of people (?!), however having so much time posting in here does reflect that you so called jokesters cannot be particularly busy at work, maybe I should apply with one of the companies you guys work for - let me know if you have openings ;-)

(I made sure to add that little winky face)

Hi, Oded:

Just wondering whether there is a shortage of forum moderators -- not that I am volunteering, of course.  I'm too busy making jokes...

Second, do you receive a lot of complaints about off-topic comments within a "serious" thread.

What I have noticed is that most questions are, indeed, answered with quite a bit of thought.

For example, I asked once about difference between iPhone and  blackberry and got very good advice with a minimum of static.

Then  again, there are some threads that lend themselves to  the ridiculous.

What have you observed over the years?

Caroline K:  Some of us are smart and organized multi-taskers who also have busy  social lives outside of Glocals. Our highly productive nature, charisma and talents allow us to "share" our creativity, knowledge and wit with the less fortunate.

Moi?

Come on ladies - Santa is watching you.  Be nice.

And by be nice, I don't mean be nasty and add a wink.  I mean treat others as you would have them treat you.

Oded

@Translator ... And you are obviously also in possession of the virtue called modesty ;-)

Anyway, I give up - I am already receiving warnings in my e-mail that it is becoming overheated from all the replies to this thread

i notice the participation of those that dont like or appreciate comic content in a thread is also restricted to a handful....

As usual... whether serious or comic, the participants are the same faces.

(by the way i remember your participation back in the summer in quite a few non serious threads...where was the respect back then for the non bulls**t scrolling readers?)

Double standards methinks....

ok you busted me.....

Ah, Detroit was too dangerous for Santa when I was growing up...he didn't want the reindeer to be hit in a fly-by shooting..

That being  said, I still believe in the Golden Rule. So I modestly and magnanimously declare a unilateral cease-fire.

Still wondering whether you have observed many of the more "serious" threads being "hijacked."  And  I understand and believe  that you are not advocating censorship or quotas or the like but civility and helpfulness.

@Caroline...I fully agree with you...

That's why I vote for earlier suggestion made by Chris "What can also be tried is have the replies spur off the post that the reply belongs to this creates a closeable mini thread and with moderation this will mean that the sense of thread is never lost but the banter can still carry on and also still be enjoyed".

I think this will give more structure to the threads and jokes that are linked to on particular reply/comment. This way every body will happy: both banters and people looking for useful information...

@ Translator - I don't really keep track of which threads were hijacked. 

I don't have time to go through all the threads, so I usualy become aware of a thread if the headline catches my eye or when someone sends me a report.

O

Listen Stef,

1) if you want to refer to me please be respectful and use my name

2) please don't make assumtions about me based on few lines I wrote in a forum

Ciaociao

Fabrizio

Please don't misquote me or quote outside of context:

Thumbs up/down - is open to abuse here is the full quote:

"Thumbs up/Thumbs down - could work but even that will need moderating! What happens when some thumbs down (or up) a certain persons posts regardless of the content?"

Why could this happen? Glocals is a victim of it's own success, it has become a community site people here become online amigos/enemigos which means that personalities are involved.

Quote 2

"What can also be tried is have the replies spur off the post that the reply belongs to this creates a closeable mini thread and with moderation this will mean that the sense of thread is never lost but the banter can still carry on and also still be enjoyed"

This was a serious suggestion.

@Robi - if I ignored the "usual suspects" I would also miss out on some of the best answers

If you are going to have a way of skipping posts that are "off topic" or just humorous that calls for a "button" again that simply shades the post

for instance grey = off topic 

increasing shade of a colour = funny but not really important the more clicks stating its funny the deeper the shade - that way I can skip the other posts and go straight to the funny :)

However ANY of these suggestions will need to be moderated.

And I think you completely missed the point of _Marina_'s brilliant post

hence you need a mod team of unbiased people who care about the forums and don't take things to seriously and above all have thick skins.

We started talking about "hijacks" on this thread and it has rapidly (within the opening post) devolved into a thread about off topic/joke posts.

This is not Hijacking, this is conversation. Hijacking is when a thread is completely redirected. 

Example: a topic is started about the UDC planning to ban all left handed people from holding bank accounts in Switzerland and it being changed halfway through to a chat about Xmas plans.

P.S I still haven't found any of the foil ceiling garlands for my deccys anybody seen any

Yes if we start talking about xmas decorations this thread will have become hijacked - but only if the original thread subject is dropped.

However this thread has been Hijacked as of the first post as it talks about jokers not hijackers - talk about getting off subject...

vox populi, vox odedi

...

Oded,

I think some thing like this could work...I took this screen shot from CNET's website: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20026254-281.html

It shows that when people reply to each other's comments, then sub-replies get inlined. So if one is interested in following a particular comment, then one can read all the replies; else one can just skip (visual inline helps skipping) to the next comment...and further on...This way banters get their "Freedom of SPEECH" and other's able to quickly read comments that interest them..

Perhaps a win-win solution?

Given the amount of emotions/comments/replies/thumbs-up this thread have generated shows that there are fair number of people who wants some thing to be done about it...

P.S. I noticed I can't upload images from my MAC book (only from windows as the uploader seems to expect C:...)

Ciao

There was no offense intended. I was only answering to two different posts at once and couldn't remember your name.

(I hope the other guy I was answering to and whose name can't recall right now, won't get offended either).

btw... I didn't do any assumptions. I was only commenting on your call for 'rules'.

:D Ciao

Hyeomer:

Getting back to your initial point....I have to say, from my own observations, that most of the "hijacked" threads on here relate to the more obviously less serious topics. 

Can you provide some  more specific examples of where, in your opinion, important  information was lost  and/or  obscured?

I agree that there could be more relevant information on this site.  But that would also mean  banning such dating-related threads which appear to be very popular with the vox populi....

I would like to ban the phrase "carpe diem"  from the  status line, however, that would be like telling some  people that there is no Santa Claus...

"Control is the shield of the fightened few"....

"One mans comfort zone is another mans restraint" 

Chris "nailed it" for me... "Hijack" is changing topic... Joking..is something altogether different.... control the humour and the site slowly dies in its own dark and dull pool of misery.....nuff said

Merry Christmas one and all, good will and joy to all mankind.... and women.

over and out

Translator:

I already have answered earlier the question you are asking (again, as a distraction). If you still don't get the point of this thread, and conversation that have followed and the number of comments posted in favor of this topic...

It seemed that you missed the beginning of the conversation as you jumped in to the conversation somewhere in the middle, and now trying to ask a question which has already been answered (by me and others)

We are already at a point to make suggestion about how threads could be improved to keep them focused....Many good suggestions have been made by many people now (AGAIN, please re-read the whole thread) 

So if you have a suggestion, then you are welcome to do so...otherwise I don't see a point in keep on asking the "rhetorical" question again and again..

No body has been in favor of restricting creativity or turning others into "black sheeps", the aim here is to make threads structured so that they keep on benefit every one... (since you seems to like my wink, so here we go )

did this just turn into a dating thread?

Charlie: Now that is an intriguing thought 

Hyeomer:

Simply because I replied in the middle of the thread does not  mean that I did not read the whole thread.

In fact, I do not believe that  you have provided any substantiation for what you describe as a problem.

So, you pose what you decribe as a problem and then request solutions without ever considering whether your position was  correct or relevant in  the first place.

I was not posing the question again for rhetorical effect. I was merely asking you to provide some examples as to where relevant information was being lost.

This whole thread poses an argument in the "straw man" form.  You assume a  problem and pose "solutions" without providing any proof of the initial "problem."  This is a very old, and rather ineffective form of argumentation, hence the ridicule from some.

When I like your wink, I will let you know.  To this point, I am impervious to both your "charms" as well as your arguments...

Hyeomer:

Have you volunteered as a moderator? That's a solution....

OK, now that is a suggestion! But unfortunately not a very creative one 

Why not? I hope that you realize that Glocals does not have the resources of CNET...

Should be a piece of cake for you, you being a  computer science whiz and all...or is moderating beneath your talents and time?

P.S. Things can go wrong with moderators as well...

Charlie, why even try the "over and out" we all now you cant stay away :p

know even

True, however, you've avoided answering the question as  to why you choose to deprive us of your computer-related genius ....

I am certain that after dealing with humans for a while, you may even come to like some of us....

Translator:

I am not avoiding your question; I am just avoiding your "narrow" comments  because you seems to have run out of creative thoughts and now making it a 1-to-1 attack-counter-attack sort of conversation (AGAIN, you tried earlier this during the day and was told off) ...That won't work again now...

Please come up with some thing original to contribute to this thread....other wise just "reading" this thread will be quite helpful...

@Translator and Hyeomer -

Please make an effort to ignore each other, or continue the private feud in private.

A theoretical argument about whether or not a problem exists does not add anything to the discussion at this point.

Oded

Oded:

Why is it a theoretical argument?  You yourself said that you don't really know whether the problem exists here because you don't have time to find out.

Have we established that there is a problem?  There does not seem to  be agreement on this.  Who can tell?

Why come up with a solution to something one person posits as a problem?

I was actually trying to find  out upon what basis some people believe there is a problem, whether you believe it or not.  I was actually trying to take this discussion seriously, without trying to add to your burden.

I asked whether more Glocals members might have incentive to become moderators by receiving Buy-Club incentives.

Chris P. also mentioned the issue of moderators.  However, neither Hyeomer, nor anyone else on the other side of the argument has taken this simple and effective solution seriously.  Why is that? 

Instead, Hyeomer chooses to say that I was "told off."  Notice, that doesn't mean that there  was a reasoned  or logical response as to why the solution wouldn't work.  "Telling off" someone does not present any solution. 

Just also let me add a quote from a previous comment from Oded:

"Going through the posts and replying to them takes a certain amount of effort, and if the rules we impose are too harsh, people will just stop making that effort."

Again, if more moderators are not added, how can this be achieved?  How many active moderators are now serving on this site?

May one  ask that without being "told off?"  Is that also a theoretical question?

BRILLIANT!! 

@Translator - there are currently 2 active moderators (Nir and myself)

There is also a 'Report to Admin' link on each post, which means that, in effect, anyone who finds a post offensive or problematic can report it.

Now if the problem, which you have proven does not exist, did exist, then we could try to figure out some guidelines for moderating the forums.

O

Oded,

Moving on from disputes between individuals, I was wondering to know your opinion...

A typical thread on the forums lasts only few hours or a day, and attract not more than 20 replies (on avg.) as people move on...

This thread manage to attract more than 100 replies and engaged people in active debate. If it attracted people's attention then I presume this reflects that there is a genuine feeling related to the topic among the community..

Did we (I mean all of us here) manage to bring out some useful ideas for the consideration of sys admins (for you guys)?

This has absolutely nothing to do with your initial post, and would be the perfect example of what you pretend to fight in this thread.

Oded:

Thanks for the information

I never said I had proved it had not existed. I simply asked whether it could be or had been.

Do you and Nir currently want more active moderators?  If not, that option can be taken off the table...and we can perhaps move on to other potential solutions.

@Hyeomer:

"A typical thread on the forums lasts only few hours or a day, and attract not more than 20 replies (on avg.) as people move on...

This thread manage to attract more than 100 replies and engaged people in active debate. If it attracted people's attention then I presume this reflects that there is a genuine feeling related to the topic among the community.."

I quote this for the purpose of general  response, as opposed  to a specific individual.

In looking at other threads, particular dating, dancing, and others, one can also deduce that these threads are also popular.   What conclusions can be drawn from that?

After being away from Glocals for awhile, I asked an old-timer why he no longer participated in  the threads.  He told me  he had moved on to the english forum because he found there was more information there and fewer dating and dancing sorts of threads.  I found that a shame.

There was recently a thread started by someone who was very unhappy with the "groan" points system on that forum.

In addition, I have seen many people are thanked for their jokes, etc. on dating threads, especially by their friends.  So thanks are not necessarily a measure of "quality-of-information" related posts, either.  But as Charlie reminded me, there  is nothing wrong with thanking people who make you laugh.

Then again, some people remember to thank posters for information and others don't.  Just as some people merely consume the information here. 

One way to limit repetitive threads might be to create some specific categories such as Housing for rental-related questions.

Under those categories, the administrators might post "stickies" with key information such as basic info required  for renting an apartment, etc.  This is one way people might avoid posting the same questions about  subletting, etc. over and over again. 

It's called multitasking.

Here is a suggestion that builds on my previous comments. 

First, the great thing about the site as it stands, it is easy to find things to do and people with lke interests.  The city guide also helps with reviews of places around town.

However, it is difficult, at times,  to find information without doing a significant  amount of searching of previous threads. Although the site aks people to search before posing the question, many don't. 

So, how about more stickies and categories? 

I noticed that the more  clearly defined  topics appear to be less subject  to hi- and lo-jacking... If you look at the "what are you listening to now"  thread, there is no problem there. Same for many other clearly defined topics.

Some evidently popular annd practical categories seem to be the following:

housing; insurance; permits; schools, legal; language, sports, computer/technology-related issues, current affairs and miscellaneous dating and jokes.

As mentioned above, "stickies" could be really helpful for those seeking basic information quickly.  Stickies can't  be hijacked, either.

I  would be happy to help draft a "sticky" or two --- with no incentive other than to improve the efficiency and helpfulness of the site.

Missing the Point – after reading the above posts I somehow think that we are missing the point of what is actually trying to be achieved.  Translator’s last post leads us in a direction I have also been thinking about and would like to develop.

I don’t think the issue is about hijacking, giving people quotas, thumbs up/down, report to admin, etc, blah, blah, the issue for me seems to be how can we best summarize and store the valuable local information and insight from our members for future use.

I have a dream…to create a robust “Wikipedia style” information base on Glocals in which “quality” information provided by Glocal members is summarized.  Plan would be to retroactively go back over the last 2 years of forums and take out all the “quality” information, summarize and categorize it.  Then have the admin/moderator of the “Glocalpedia” (someone at WIPO please patent the word quickly) be responsible for trawling the forums and packaging the “quality” information into defined categories.  Once the info has been sorted, the info would follow the Wikipedia method for updating.

I am convinced that having a dedicated information hub linked into the Glocals website would really make it more powerful website than it already is.  If this idea is possible from a tech perspective then the only issue would be paying the admin/moderator to start working.  I have a few side ideas on that however will wait and see if anyone agrees?  Oded/Nir?

Translator & Clint, great idea...Glocal's very own yellow pages ... or the Glocal's version of Know it all Passport.

Yes, but the question is how that to make threads bit more readable in their structure when N number of replies are only linked to one earlier comment e.g. the last 3 messages on this thread are linked to each other could be in lined in a sub-message thread as they are kind of relating to each other. 

I think it was an excellent suggestion made by Chris earlier to spur off such comments in mini-threads...

Having a wiki-style pages is a separate issue and I think glocals has, more or less, implemented in their "Guides" sections.

Yep, but first we need a volunteer to become "Julian Assange" :)

Are you sure you want to nominate a has-bean?

I agree..."should-has-bean" is much better choice then "has-bean"!

The issue of information being obscured is vital  and central.  If not, there should be no problem with jokes, etc..

The Guide section tells "where" as opposed to "how" and "why."

The Guide generally consists of reviews, which are also important.

The Guide generally does not address questions that ex-patriates require on housing, insurance, permits.

Site searches on key issues result in too many threads, so new Members  ask the same questions that could be addressed in stickies which cannot be altered without an administrator's or moderator's approval.

The idea of creating branches in a thread could be visually helpful, but would not resolve the issue of highlighting key information.

In addition, just because a thread branches off does not preclude important information being contained in the offshoots.

SO!! M. Hyeomer - the poster of the thread:

 "why forum threads are being hijacked by few people?"

has just justified / answered his own question by "hijacking" his own thread, supported/aided and abetted by the "few" - i.e. all those gathered here today...eating jelly beans....

hhhhhmmm - think its time to put the lights out and go home, on this one...

LOL - classic

A reverence for you Carolyn C 

The point of this thread was to highlight that a group-behavior tend to dominate a discussion, and the present structure of the discussion threads doesn't help much in that regard. That's why me and some other's on this thread has suggested to admins that replies to particular comments should be inline in a tree like structure as mini-threads so that the clarity of the overall discussion continues...

My previous comment was just part of the earlier discussion (right in the beginning, i acknowledged the need for balanced humor).

it s very easy. 
people does not dominate a thread.
there are some people that spent more time on the site. They answer more frequently.If u put three of them in a topic, these three will built up a discussion that in the most of the cases will be pretty between each other. cutting out the others. 

An  outsider that answer, can do it, but the private discussion is always more attractive that the opinion of a external to the discussion. that s it. no hijaking. no domination. 
AND u sometimes see that two or more outsider start answering in the topic, this helps to close the private discussion between frequent user, in the end after several answers (from outsider)  the " private discussion " is ended...i do not think there is any intention .