Triaxiansilk.com

Well, as far as Trek TPTB are concerned, I feel we should be free to criticize them. B&B are certainly often a target, and rightfully so. *coughs* *the_abomination* *coughs*

As for Trek in general, well, this place is a limited community of certain Trek fans, so we're automatically not subjected to things that happen on many other boards (TBBS, I'm looking at you) where shipper wars and bashing of other shows (usually VOY and ENT) are a frequent occurrence. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be illegitimate to criticize aspects of ENT or even TnT, but given who we are it would more often than not be constructive.

I am an administrator for a Shania Twain messageboard and have voted "no". We have adopted the "no politics, religion" topics allowed a few years back because we admins and moderators had simply enough to try to calm discussions down on a regular basis. Fans were using snip-comments from Shania's statements or from the lyrics of her songs to make political statements, initially about her own views and immediately after about general political issues and what people should think and do. Occasionally, a few trolls volunteering for political campaigns signed up to the messageboard, just to present political slogans or to specifically target users who clearly had different political views and pick up a fight. Obviously, some users never learn, which leads to threads closed, posts deleted, and at times friendships ending. Admins and moderators are always in the middle, no matter what: damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. One day, a fight started, I received 62 PMs over one hour from different users who wanted me to intervene one way or the other to settle the dispute (!). On a couple of occasions I was on the verge of shutting the website down for good, because all the fun is gone, and the bitterness that remains among the users even after the fights have temporarily stopped does not allow for good, fun-filled discussions. Yet, I am still there, thanks in part to this "no politics allowed" clause. I remember when I first saw such thing on a Def Leppard messageboard: I thought they were insane.Two years later I was glad we had adopted it ourselves.

I view messageboards like this one (which I visit regularly, although without participating much to the discussions due to work commitments) as a place for fun, joy, positive thoughts and a little bit of silly discussions as well.

Keep up the great work!

Kevin Thomas Riley wrote:Well, as far as Trek TPTB are concerned, I feel we should be free to criticize them. B&B are certainly often a target, and rightfully so. *coughs* *the_abomination* *coughs*

If you want to criticize their work, have at it. It's when it gets personal, baseless, and stupid is when I have a problem with it. It's one thing to say "I don't like what they did because..." Comments like that actually contribute to thoughtful discussion. However, if it degenerates into name-calling, slander, or threats, that's what I don't dig. They're people, just like the rest of us, and deserve a certain level of dignity and respect, just like the rest of us. My suggestion is merely that whatever gets said, it remains constructive. There's a distinction between "that episode was dumb" and "the person who wrote the episode is dumb"--or whatever adjective you choose.

Reanok wrote:I voted No.I like this board as a Trip & T'Pol and StarTrek discussion board. Please don't bring hot button issues like Politics etc.to the board as others have said it just makes people disagree and others angry and bad feelings people leaving the board in droves. I've seen this happen way too much on other Trekboards till no went to those Trek boards anymore. I don't want to see arguments to spill to other parts of the board like Trek bbs has over and over again.

Here's the thing: If board members would keep the hot-button issues/politics/etc actually out of the forum, I would have voted "no." I don't want to see that stuff anymore than the rest of you. My problem is that the current policy is not enforced. I completely understand that the bulk of these infractions are the result of the ramped up politics for the last several months, but that is just an excuse. If the current policy cannot be enforced, then set up a zone for those who enjoy that type of thing to pound away at each other.

Who knows, maybe now that the bloody election is over, this will become less of an issue. I'm all for keeping that stuff out of the forum, but someone needs to start enforcing the policy or there's no point in having it.

Then I say enforce it! There are a gazillion other places out there where people can go if they want to argue about "hot topics". The only hot topic I like here is the shape of T'Pol's bum! (And yeah, the hotness that are TnT too obviously...)

Kevin Thomas Riley wrote:Then I say enforce it! There are a gazillion other places out there where people can go if they want to argue about "hot topics". The only hot topic I like here is the shape of T'Pol's bum! (And yeah, the hotness that are TnT too obviously...)

THANK YOU!!

Only instead of T'Pol's bum, I'm more likely to be talking about Trip's junk...

I'm going to lock this thread not because there's anything wrong with anything being said, just because I forgot, I intended this to just be a poll without any discussion

But by all means, if you have something you'd like me to know in reference to your position on this, PM me and I'd be glad to hear from you.