As good as the old one?
Mon, May 3 2010, 8:48PM
I am not sure how many posters that used the old forum have returned; but of those that have, do you think the new forum is as interesting as the old one? The same question can be asked of new forumites: do you find the forum interesting? I ask the question because the most signficant difference between the old and the new is that editorial staff now populate the latter. Now of course they are learned and respected journalists and music fans, but I do wonder if,unlike the old forum where only one moderator was present (Charlotte, the last I do believe), their presence presents an air of too much control?
I do understand the need for house rules and those provided are not untypical (indeed of a commonsense that is second nature to this audience); but please don't over-moderate lively discussions (e.g. those in audio and equipment that will undoubtedly generate argument that may tip over into disagreeable disagreements; anyone for cables and mains conditioning?). Regards, MyronC.
Tue, May 4 2010, 7:54PM
#2
RE: As good as the old one?
I had only intermittent contact with the old forum, which I found difficult to access, and seem to remember rather a lot of short threads and a growing impatience on the part of some members about the way discussions were going. The visual presentation of the new forum is much better, and apart from annoying messages about items being more than 64 characters which appeared again two days ago, I have had no problems.
So far the number of active posters seems very limited, although no doubt this will build up in time. It would be useful if our host could give the forum more publicity in the magazine, and indicate some of the topics that have attracted particular interest.
The other sources of disappointment has been the very poor response to the blogs, most of which have had no replies. Perhaps the choice of more controversial or challenging items would be more helpful.
Tue, May 4 2010, 10:29PM
#3
RE: Home
Stepping into a thread which is arguing that the moderators are too present seems a bit silly - so I shall be very brief, with one important point. The previous forum was pre-moderated, so any post that was published had already been approved - though with consequent time delays before posts appeared, often of days over holidays and weekends. The main reason we seem more 'present' now, and have house rules, is because this new forum is not pre-moderated. The aim is to encourage more free-flowing discussion - but the implication of that is that we have to react to problem posts, be they spam, or difficult from a legal perspective. And on that note, I'll step out again...
Sun, May 23 2010, 10:27PM
#4
RE: As good as the old one?
I think that I only came into the last forum as it was slowly dying. It seemed to take weeks for postings to appear, and sometimes there seemed to be intervals of days before anything got posted. In addition it was difficult to read all the posts in a thread - I had just found the link to be able to do this when the forum vanished.
Historic postings did seem to give the impression of grumpy old men shouting at each other in some posts.
P
Wed, May 26 2010, 7:51PM
#5
RE: As good as the old one?
Thanks for some of your comments guys; perhaps I am turning into a grumpy old man and I do accept that the forum does need to be careful with possible legal issues (not sure what these could be, it's only classical music for heaven's sake; not exactly the most popular of past-times amongst the general population). One comment about the pre-moderation of the old forum; I concede that in its final months it slowed down terribly, but when it was working well you could post a message today and read several replies to your message on the following day, or of you were lucky and the moderator wasn't out, you might get a reply the same day. Now the advantage that I saw in this was that it allowed forumites to post considered and thoughtful responses (not that they aren't many on here today) and the rush to get into heated argument was tempered by the delays in messages appearing online. Regards, M
Wed, May 26 2010, 9:56PM
#6
RE: As good as the old one?
....the advantage that I saw in this was that it allowed forumites to post considered and thoughtful responses (not that they aren't many on here today) and the rush to get into heated argument was tempered by the delays in messages appearing online. Regards, M
Heated argument? What's worth that?
I can't compare to the old forum because I didn't use it. But it does seem difficult to get a lively interchange going on this one. Maybe it's because we're all a bunch of bores. For my taste there is an atmosphere of over-control, though I'm prepared to accept you and I are in the minority on that score, Myron. As I've said elsewhere, a touch of anarchy and irreverence distinguishes the best internet forums from magazine 'letters to the editor' sections.
On the other hand, when I was hoping for some editorial intervention on the relative merits of emerging technologies (SACD, Blu Ray etc.), there has been silence.