What can we do?

[sumi]

And, no one should ever walk away if being attacked on a forum. That is when the admin or moderator must step in. If they don't, the forum does not deserve to thrive since those running it don't really know or appreciate their role, and the forum will suffer.

What I mean with "walk away" is not respond and get into an argument/fight with the attacker, but stepping back, walking away from the attack, and letting a staff member handle it.

 

[MoonShadows]

What I mean with "walk away" is not respond and get into an argument/fight with the attacker, but stepping back, walking away from the attack, and letting a staff member handle it.

Ah, thanks for that clarification, Sumi.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I see a forum as discussion site where people can hold conversations. Journals don't lend themselves well to that purpose and may be a factor in holding this site back from blossoming.

Maybe because you don't read journals you don't see the conversations that DO happen there. For example - I mention something about one of my animals and someone responds with a suggestion... I in turn respond to their suggestion. Sounds like a conversation to me.

Learned this from TV therapy, lol, so let's see if I have it right:

I hear what you're saying but let me see if I understand. You would like a new thread started if we want to discuss for instance, one of my goats had diarrhea this morning?

 

[MoonShadows]

I began in this forum reading journals, but I stopped because I thought they read like Facebook posts...this is what I did today, this is how I feel today, this is what is happening today. I see journals as just another form of Facebook, and find it amusing that most journal writers have already said "I don't do Facebook." Well, heck, they're doing it here.

Yes! Start a new thread if one of your goats has diarrhea. It's a new topic. Take a look at other homesteading forums; people discuss similar in new topics. I would probably read it then. Others might too. I think many potential members find journals intimidating, especially since 90% of the regulars have them and are so deeply entrenched in them. I think potential new members may be seeing this forum as a closed clique.

Bottom line...we can proceed here as we have, but then this forum will probably continue to have about a dozen active members. I have to be honest, there is a strong vibe of bias for the journals by the journal writers, and I can understand that, but this forum continues to only have about a dozen active members while other homesteading forums are bursting at the seams. You have to wonder.....I think the journals are counter productive to the spirit of a forum.

 

[Beekissed]

And, no one should ever walk away if being attacked on a forum. That is when the admin or moderator must step in. If they don't, the forum does not deserve to thrive since those running it don't really know or appreciate their role, and the forum will suffer.

And here's where you came in..... I'm afraid that events in the past have made many, including myself, quite leery of posting anything of any significance here. Once burned....no, make that many, many times burned...makes one very shy.

Now that Sumi's here, it could be that this wouldn't happen any longer, as she seems a very fair and vigilant moderator, but it wasn't so long ago that I posted about canning and was roundly told off for my methods and how I was endangering other people by posting about them. That kind of spirit is the one of which I speak, particularly when the one doing the telling off has merely taken classes on canning and the person posting has canned for 40 yrs.

I have no patience with that kind of forum where a simple conversation cannot happen without someone lecturing and getting offended about someone's methods. They are what they are and no one was recommending them to anyone but merely stating that this is how we do it. That's all. And that's just one example of how it goes along here....one of many, many examples.

So...to recap....yes, this is why the forum suffers. A lot of people who had real information on homesteading~has actually done it before~ doesn't like to fight through all the misery to post any longer.

Maybe you don't see that spirit here any longer because the folks who drove everyone off have it exactly the way they want it...a coffee klatch of just a few people.

If you can turn it around, kudos to you, friend. I agree with you...the journals are a problem but they served a purpose when they started. It was a place to talk about homesteading without getting jumped on every second post.

 

[CJ1]

I know I haven't been here all that long. So I can't speak to past transgressions. But I haven't had a single issue here. Wether that is because Sumi is an awesome mod or because we are a low traffic site is up for debate. Or a bit of both. Love ya Sumi.

Honestly though. I think that people look for more active forums. They want to see their topics with instant replies. Its a product of the instant gratification mindset. That isn't possible with a small community.

Look at these other self sufficient forums and see what type of discussions they are having. The ones with tripple the volume have political discussions, talk of end of the world situations and all of that and corosive people. All the things I try to avoid.

I would rather wait two days to have a response to a question than to dig through hundreds of toxic responses. So personally I prefer this small community.

Oh yeah. And Sumi. If you need any help. Let me know. I will do whatever I can with the little time I have to lighten the burden on you. I know that dealing with spammers alone can be a chore.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I would rather wait two days to have a response to a question than to dig through hundreds of toxic responses. So personally I prefer this small community.

Amen, sistah!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Maybe you don't see that spirit here any longer because the folks who drove everyone off have it exactly the way they want it...a coffee klatch of just a few people.

My evil plan has been revealed!

I find this entire thread to have devolved into a he said - she said drama induced fiasco. Can we just move on folks....

Forgive, forget and move forward already!

 

[CJ1]

I must of missed something.

I probably did. Since when I asked my friend what she needed as she screamed in pain and she responded "five shots of rumplements" and I said she can't so "Then take them for me"

So here we are. Me still not sleeping and five shots into the night with no sleep. So.
.....
.....

 

[frustratedearthmother]

So sorry you're having trouble sleeping. Ignore my rant please, lol. I just feel like somebody walked into my house and said 'it stinks in here' and somebody else said it's because 2 years ago the dog peed on the porch, lol!

Nevermind...it's just me being silly!