I still don't know what "forum" to put everything into.
Anyways, this is my discussion in response to the thread about the new paragraph that we can't discuss.
Sure we need a new paragraph, but...
And I certainly don't like changing "less gears, more beers" to "ride bikes, save the world" because I don't think that in any way makes FM more accessible to anyone's particular belief system (I think we all believe in beer more than saving the world, from my experience at least).
Secondly, I haven't commented on the moderating stuff because I never understood why it came up in the first place. I never saw a problem with content...so why do we need to moderate content. Furthermore, what about FM isn't not PR-worthy? I started posting on FM and showing up for events and rides because I liked the free-form style of it. This is a crazy, conversation-oriented board that allowed me to meet really cool people who ride bikes. I don't think that changing the paragraph to being about saving the world and all that jazz will necessarily change anything about FM, as moderating probably won't, but the spirit of it confuses me.
Personally, I think if you want to change the paragraph, change it to something that lists the history, the events (charity and non-), and a bit about the free-form aspect of the forum. But do we need to include ideology that not everyone is going to agree with?
And I realize that everyone might hate me for posting this, but I've been bottling this up for the past week or so. Now, rip everything I've said to shreds.
I love to save the world.
I love to save the world. Thank you very much!!
Oh Dude, you're just saying
Oh Dude, you're just saying that for the coke.
wow, for half a second i
wow, for half a second i thought you were going to link to the Roberto Goizueta biography "i'd like the world to buy a coke". bummer.
what i have gathered here,
what i have gathered here, is that the big thing is that there are a lot of members now. and a lot of content. what works well for a site with 30 members and low volume posting is extremely chaotic and can be bothersome to some people when there are nearly 500 members. hence the discussion over a simple scaling of the organizational system used in the forums/gallery/site. not everyone is adept at using pull down menus so the SOLE PURPOSE of moderation, as i understand it, would be to work behind the scenes to sort of pick up after people (like when your mom would clean up the socks you left in the living room). there is no censorship going on.
i think along with the added organization, CK is working on more options for the user to help streamline their FM experience.
i am queezy about the 'save the world' bit myself, it comes off rather vegan to me.
hmm ok
I think I finally get what the moderators thread was about. I just never read the whole thing because it was way too convoluted when I couldn't check it every 15 minutes because I don't have internet (I'm at Inman Perk right now, actually).
I guess my problem is that all of a sudden there are a couple new things that I'm supposed to do when I make an event or make a discussion thread and I never really know what place to put them or how to make them more "official" becuase I'm used to the old system. You can't teach an old dog new tricks...
To me, all FM discussions should go in the same catagory--FM. To split up the forum may make it more accessible to outsiders looking for the bikeforums experience, but it also can lead to cliques and factions (just sayin'). It's sortof like trying to make an anarchist government...it never works.
But back to the paragraph: just don't put ideology in it like "save the world." If we have a bunch of charity events that we can say we've done, then we can list those and it becomes apparent. Otherwise it just looks like we spout ideologies and never follow through. Instead of wearing WWFMD (What Would FM Do?) bracelets, let's do it. Or not wear the bracelet.
it's all about the signal to
it's all about the signal to noise ratio.
one mans
one mans noise is another mans signal
therein lies the problem!
therein lies the problem!
exactly. which is why you
exactly. which is why you want some form of modulation so you can dial out the noise you don't want and dial in the noise you want.
spouting ideologies and wearing bracelets....
...interesting point, Jes. These guys genuinely seem on track to saving the world: http://www.afribike.org/ yet don't need to say so directly either. So, FM, what's the next charity?
!
That's really cool. Where'd you hear about that?
The magic of Google, I
The magic of Google, I guess. I was looking up Critical Mass in my favorite South American city and stumbled upon http://www.critical-mass.org/, which sadly listed only one CM in all of Africa (but really just linked to Afribike). Seems to me, judging from the lack of research updates, that it may now be a fledgling organization. I wonder if FM could help.
I love procrastination.
I totally saw CM in Lima.
I totally saw CM in Lima. It made my trip complete!
I was checking for Buenos
I was checking for Buenos Aires... it's so insanely huge (12mil+), I was wondering if their CM was proportionally huge. Answer still not found.
everyone, please read the
everyone, please read the above post.
congrats on the
congrats on the "independence post" in the unshaven forum by the way. 1776!!
it not that we're changing
it not that we're changing everything, its that we should think about saving the world every now and then too.
have you seen any moderation? threads that are real crazy getting moved is gonna be it! this also lets people post threads in the "real crazy" place to be retarded. Things will stay free-form and crazy, there won't be people telling you that you can't talk about something somewhere. or something.
The paragraph shouldn't be about saving the world, just something to keep in mind, and the reason for me asking for people to write ones is so we can come up with something that people all(ish) agree with :)
I don't hate anyone for posting anything! Anything helps clear up something for someone. A lot of things probably aren't very clear, but I don't know what to explain because I'm all wrapped up in it. (I've been working behind the scenes on FM figuring out some neat neat things for ~5 hours today)
sooo
Just for clarification, do people who don't pay see the "new stuff" side-bar or is that just paying people? 'Cause I never look at the actually "discussion" link at the top which puts threads into catagories, I just click on new posts. Maybe that's why I don't get the forum catagory thing...?
new stuff is gonna change.
new stuff is gonna change. It is paid people only and will stay that way, but there will be preferences, and other fun things. It'll be great, I promise! (and improvements for non-paying people too)
Mkay, cool, I'm looking
Mkay, cool, I'm looking forward to seeing it, I swear. I don't mean to be antagonistic, I'm just worried about this becoming a bikeforums.atlanta.net.
i don't think you need to
i don't think you need to worry about that. most of the people here are so far from being bike nerds it's laughable.
Plus
some us don't even ride bikes anymore.
oh yeah, as far as what
oh yeah, as far as what forum to put stuff in, check out the descriptions on /forum and ask a question in the website one if you don't know!
(this thread could have been in the website forum probably)
crazy idea
instead of "ride bikes, save the world" how about the new motto / tag line/ whatever be just simply
"Ride Bikes"
but then who would post on
but then who would post on here?
your
mom.
my mom doesn't have an
my mom doesn't have an internet.
You should find her one. I
You should find her one. I hear they're highly discounted now.
whoa whoa
That's kinda revolutionary there.
What about "Ride Bikes!" That way it's peppy and inviting? ;)
I get taken so literally!
I get taken so literally! It's not like the thing at the top will always say "Ride Bikes, Save the world", Just that saving the world is awesome and something people should keep in mind (if they want) (especially when writing their new "about fm" paragraphs that noone has done yet!)
Also, this is why I wanted people to discuss elsewhere. Theres a lot of interesting discussion in this thread that i don't want competing with paragraph proposals :)
Could just be WE LIKE BIKES!
Could just be WE LIKE BIKES! After all we all like bikes, and nobody that reads or responds to anything on here is currently riding. Or at least I'd hope they weren't reading this while riding.
make it into a paragraph
make it into a paragraph that encompasses that and all the other things and you got it!
We like bikes, and FESTIVE
We like bikes, and FESTIVE ALE!
+1 If only Festive Ale were
+1
If only Festive Ale were available year round. :(
I got four cases in my trunk
I got four cases in my trunk right now. Well minus the one in my hand right now. But thats my little secret to how I acquired it.
Oh God
my brain. fuck ouch ahhhh1111!!!!! It's already gfrown ffdnbba bklrreggg :WTC:
BTW - this belongs under "Website"