It’s a shame about TJ, but I guess he didn’t heed the warnings

Here’s the last thread he posted on, the one where he supposedly didn’t heed the warnings. Just look how abusive and negative he’s being 🙄

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/cameron-blames-teachers-for-decline-in-school-sport

the proof is HERE

The proof of what? That quantity is better than quality?

look how abusive and negative he’s being

Just because the last straw wasn’t dramatic doesn’t mean the ban wasn’t justified by the other thousand strops.

Who is banned currently?

This is a commercial website designed to bring in revenue for the owners. Mark confirmed the visitor numbers were constantly increasing and felt TJ and others were putting people off contributing to the forum and therefore impacting revenue to either the magazine or the click through from the ads.

We all have bills to pay so I can see his point,

Pembo – In the same post, Mark also wrote this:

There is no discernible effect in any of the stats we have to show that the presence or otherwise of an individual makes any difference at all

Which to my eye is somewhat contradictory with this:

…no one person (or minority group) can be allowed to dominate the forum in a negative way as this puts off a huge number of potential users from posting anything at all.

Which I assume is what you’re referring to.

Either way, things seem a lot calmer and more pleasant in here given the enforced absence of a very small minority, which is presumably better for everyone.

hora – Member
Who is banned currently?

Nice try.

No confused. Who? TJ, who else?

TBH I only really started using STW due to the demise of CF, and its a piss poor substitute…

That was a proper Forum users could call each other whatever they liked, The Swear filter Function was on occasion reversed so that inoffesive words became all rudey…

New users were bullied and treated with the contempt and meanness they deserved…

STW has always seemed a bit “Nancy” with its Threads on Coffee makers Which SLR for woodland mincing and constant FWP hand wringing content and lots of “Lets all get along” type **** posts…
But sadly it’s all too easy to get drawn into this world of middleclass non-problems once you have a user account, I know I’ve slipped into it now…
STW is a bit like wearing comfy slipper, it feels pleasant enough, but you know deep down it signals to the world that you are becomming another useless old duffer…

Oh how I pine for CF now its gone…

Why not start another if it was so great?

TJ is banned. Shit please get him reinstated before the rugby season starts his constant optimism was a huge source of amusement to me….

People tire of childishness though. You still get people posting on STW purely for postings sake without contributing, just to be disagreeable/negative.

cookeaa I think you liked CF as it was clicky’ or however you spell it.

i like the argument debate over which forum i was referring to! i see what you did there!

Forming my thoughts a little more clearly, i guess what im trying to say is that ‘freedom of expression’ appears to me to have been stifled somewhat.. people are thinking twice about what they are submitting.

I’m all for banning out right abusers and racists and trolls etc, but a lot of people on here are ‘characters’ whose opinions are widely known and take part in the banter with a good nature and probably accept that they will get comeback if they post things to provoke reaction.

We are all adults and should know when to speak and when to keep quiet and withdraw from a debate. i know this is not the case with some and when mods close threads i guess people generally know to ‘move on’.
That for me should be enough for arguers.

I can see that the forum ‘watchers’ i.e those who look but don’t post, will always be there. Many may now be tempted to post now that the bans are here. However, what attracted people here in the first place?

I for one enjoy the ‘life’ and ‘verve’ that this forum has even though there are a few spoilers.
Having run a couple of forums myself (not big), for me, its not the pretty format or the watchers that form its character, but the CONTRIBUTORS.

[/soapbox]

I have to say the threads that i like most are most likely to be closed, but then I’m an argumentative ****.

The proof of what? That quantity is better than quality?

Depends what your goals are and what your (very personal) perception of quality is.

cokeaa – I’m sure you’re aware there are other sites filling the CF void (sort of) but like all good things, they eventually come to an end. I guess it’s grow (up?) or die 😉

‘freedom of expression’ appears to me to have been stifled somewhat.. people are thinking twice about what they are submitting.

Those that are casually abusive in a lot of posts may have to think twice, I suspect the vast majority just do what they’ve always done and act in a civil way.

Back in 02/03 it was funny, banter etc on STW but we are all grown ups now.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnTmBjk-M0c[/video]

to me says it all.

I’ve always thought twice about what I submit, and very often don’t press send, because I realise while I’m amusing myself, what I am actually being is glib, smug and pretentious, or it could be read differently to how I intend it.

What’s CF?

Personally I think its a vast improvement. I avoided threads which blatantly had pointless bickering on, anything over 3 pages was I good indicator that tj had got involved and was spouting some random bs to wind the same usual suspects up.

I do like the fact that you can ask non bike questions on here and normally get some sensible advice.

Chocolate foot

Personally I think its a vast improvement. I avoided threads which blatantly had pointless bickering on, anything over 3 pages was I good indicator that tj had got involved and was spouting some random bs to wind the same usual suspects up.

I think that’s what most people do…and wow, look at all those extra coffee machine/woodpile/nappy rash/how much is a boiler/wooden flooring threads for which we have room now.

DT78

+1

I avoid all the political threads now. Sick of the Thatcher **** my family etc

What the forum really needs is more intellectual heavyweights like hora. Imagine all the new users that would attract!

CF was very different to STW – certainly more “in yer face” like Cookeaa described. Can’t say I miss it though. I reckon it’s like Hora says, some of us have ‘grown up’ and are no longer just dicking about and kind of seek/embrace the broader spectrum that STW offers.

Used to ride with a few of the CF crew – a good crowd for sure. But that was then and this is now. Times change …

Yeah I suppose CF was a bit of a Clique hence never really a revenue generator, I never really looked for an alternate forum just drifted on to STW…

Forming my thoughts a little more clearly, i guess what im trying to say is that ‘freedom of expression’ appears to me to have been stifled somewhat.. people are thinking twice about what they are submitting.

+1

The Mods here are a bit heavier handed in their approach, while my beloved CF was more of a take no prisoners type place, and the Mods only really seemed to step in if you posted dodgey links or tried doing something illegal, You really had to try hard to get banned there a site where most of the users conduct would qualify them as trolls on here probably actually had far less ‘trouble’, it was a sort of self canceling effect I suppose – I much prefered it that way…

@ Woody – What sites are filling the CF void Now?
I’ve not really looked about TBH…

Warren developed mechakraken.com and retired to his bong-condo in Palm Springs where he lives with the one with the ponytail who couldn’t do the log plop at Chicksands

spacemonkey +1

DD, I’m not sure I’m long for this world. My AB- blood may do me in 🙁

It has improved to some degree though I can see that some would miss the fun. There is still plenty of room to be insulting instead of debating the issue raised. That Guardian hater thread the other day was a prime example.

At least one forum such as cookea describes is still be alive.

That was a proper Forum users could call each other whatever they liked,

New users were bullied and treated with the contempt and meanness they deserved… It has a small group of loyal users who are (mostly) happy to use STW for more mainstream interaction but can handle the piss-taking that is permissible between close friends but which you wouldn’t deploy in a crowded pub full of strangers.

What should we chat about in the chat section then?

The chat section seems to be a popular topic these days. *yawn*

It’s a shame they have gone but i dont think its worse for it, for me they were a bit like the pub expert in that they were entertaining but you can quite easily live without them. It’s also a shame that on many subjects they did have good (not necessarily winning) arguments and it was an education to see things from both sides. But arguments which go on for days are pointless as they are clearly never going to be resolved and when people are incapable of letting things go.

The forum is less awesome than it used to be.

surfmatt – Member
The forum is less awesome than it used to be.

1/10

If that.

Not read the whole thread but I am glad that the decision has been made to remove some of the deliberately argumentative people from the forums.

Much nicer place now, if you want to spend your life watching adults bicker like children, just watch Jeremy Kyle…

surfmatt – Member

The forum is less awesome than it used to be.

*Applauds*

I think that awesomeness has just gone up more than it went down.

I think that awesomeness has just gone up more than it went down.

As a mod, you would say that though wouldn’t you?