I notice that there are endless threads that seem to become way off topic and lose their way and I just wonder if this forum would be better served if they, the powers that be, installed a chat room where the "Chit Chat" aspect of the board could take place...it would clear a lot of the endless postings which become way off the subject and which must confuse some people who are either new or trying to contend with a thread that suddenly loses its way...I myself have moments when I have posted in a way that didnt serve the thread and it annoys me that I have done it and strayed from the point, easily done but easily rectified.

How would the members feel about this, is a chatroom something that they would like, are you tired like me of seeing so many threads get "hijacked" and turned into something far from what they started out as. Does the endless posting of unrelated comments distract you or drive you from posting what maybe useful advice when you face what appears to be page after page of comments that bear no relation to the subject in hand..

Speak up if you have had enough of the mindless postings, maybe a chat room would suit those who like their forums that way..

Maybe this has already been suggested in the past maybe not but I for one would be very happy to see a chat room where the endless chit chat could take place and not clog the board...it would make the place easier to navigate and far less intimidating to new members who must surely view it as cliquey and also to the shyer members who do not post very often.

Kindest regards

Andrew

Sounds like a good idea! There are many threads which I have to search back to find the last relevant post and its frustrating!!

I assume you mean something like gabbly? (www.gabbly.com/forums.abrsm.org) Perhaps it would be a good idea, but people have used gabbly in the past and it never seems to catch on, only ever attracting people for about a week..then it dies...and I could see that happening if there was a chat function.

There are plenty of Chat threads about that people could use and people don't seem to use them...Only CISD and the Double Bar are still being used and ones such as the Womens and Gentlemens club (can't remember the propper name) just become unpopular.

I agree it is a problem on this forum and I admit to contributing greatly to the problem but I guess it's just a habbit and is for others and habbits are hard to break.

I think we have all been guilty of it from time to time, some more than others but it takes hold of a thread so quickly and in some cases destroys the threads intention that maybe a chat room would be a better place for the "YAY" and "WOO HOOO" gang to exercise their internet lives and discuss things not remotely connected with the board in a freer enviroment, clearing the board and keeping the topics relevant. I had a search the other day for a thread that had been posted not very long ago and had no luck finding it, it had been driven clean of the board, there was however thread after thread that had been hijacked beyond all redemption which seemed a real pity and some are just using the threads to Chat amongst themselves...I felt a button on this board for a chat room where people could go and chat endlessly might be a good idea...

Kindest regards

Andrew

What exactly IS a chatroom? What I think would sometimes be good is if it was possible for a thread to become three-dimensional, if you know what I mean, like balls on a snooker table, but I have no idea how that would be possible. As in - rather than see all the posts in linear order, we can see tangents going off to the side, as 'by-the-way's, or 'while-we're-on-the-subject's. I suppose that would require a moderator to be fully employed to track a particular thread as soon as it started, and to be trusted to make decisions as to what was irrelevant and what was pertinent. A Big Brother...?

To be fair, I think the idea of the Forums Cafe is to act in the manner of a chat room. i.e. anything goes, as long as it is within the "rules of the board". Given that this is a music forum, rather than just a generic social networking site, one might think it very hospitable of the mods to make this concession to general bonhomie... It didn't exist before the 2005 upgrade...

I'm not sure if when you talk about topics disappearing under the weight of trivia whether or not you mean musical topics or a non-musical topic which you found of interest.

For the former, the natural home is not the Forums Cafe. The difficulty with General Music Forum right now is it is subsumed with pinned threads (some out of date) which make it hard to see the wood for the trees. Your idea already mooted therein about a (sub-)forum for Concerts and Events would be a great way of dealing with that and then perhaps it would be easier to find what one was looking for in GMF.

If the problem is with interesting non-musical threads disappearing in the Forums Cafe under a cloud of banal chuntering, well I guess that is just the way it is - how far does one take it? The Games and Newbies sub-fora were factored out separately as a means of reducing the thread attrition rate in the Cafe. These were definitely categories of post which were easily discernible and hence could be redirected elsewhere. The difficulty with a "banalities" forum is that a value judgement would have to be made on nearly every post which was made as to whether it was trivial/crass/WOOable enough to go in there or not. A difficult and thankless task, I fear....

Isn't that what the forums café is for - it's for banal chat, not related to music - and chat does occasionally go off the original topic... I think a chatroom could be fun too, but I don't really think anything's wrong with the way things are now.

This forum was the first one I'd ever seen or joined, and I used to feel somewhat intimidated myself about joining in, and that was nearly a year ago so I think it's always been the same. But it's like being a new kid on the block and wondering how to join in when everyone else in the playground seems to be having a good enough time without you. Some people approach a gang they like the look/sound of and introduce themselves, and join in that way. Most people though, like myself, just start making the odd tentative post here and there, see how it goes, and then one day you realise that you're no longer skirting round the edges but you're there in the thick of it, and you wonder how did that happen So if there are any members reading this who haven't yet taken the plunge, do join in if you'd like to - I don't know if the forum gives the impression of being cliquey like AUK says or not, but in my opinion, new members are generally warmly welcomed And if you do join in a conversation and your post is not acknowledged, please don't take it personally - that's just the nature of forum conversation. Keep contributing, because that's how we all get to know each other



AUK I can't think of any thread recently that has been "hijacked beyond all redemption", let alone "thread after thread", but then they might be threads that I haven't visited. Can you say which threads you're talking about so that I can understand what you mean and where you're coming from


As far as I know, threads remain on the board forever unless they are removed because they break the rules.

Do you know about the "search" facility at the top of each page? If you can remember who started the topic, or who posted in it, or one or two key words, then it's usually easy enough to find something using the "search" facility

The difficulty with General Music Forum right now is it is subsumed with pinned threads (some out of date) which make it hard to see the wood for the trees.

Yes - a very good point from Mr B. I have found this to be a problem and probably missed some continuing threads which disappear from the first page when there is so little space.

Re the Leeds thread, just to confirm that I sent a message to the mods the other day when it was first mentioned, requesting them to unpin it.

I and others have put on one of the event threads (the Leeds one, I think), that perhaps, with the great popularity of the forum events now, the time has come for a sub-forum for events, linking to the general music forum....

One thing that is notable about this thread is that there is responsible use of quoting, rather than wholesale repetition of the same text with perhaps just a smilie at the end. That makes a big difference.

I think the use of smilies is a tricky one. I agree it can be irritating to go to a new post only to find it's a smilie, particularly when your computer is being particularly slow, but on the other hand I think they sometimes serve a polite purpose in acknowledging a previous member's conversation, whilst at the same time not progressing the conversation any further. It's a tricky one...

AUK, as mrbouffant said, you should have been here before the 2005 upgrade. Yes, threads do get hijacked, and some of them are probably posted in the wrong board (there's at least one recent thread in GMF which belongs in the Cafe). This is surely a job for the moderators, but as they have full-time jobs at the AB already I can understand why things might not always happen.

BachPensioner - I agree entirely regarding quotes! Better or worse (depending on your perspective) are the threads which are a quote from a previous post and nothing else.

If we're listing favourite grumbles, mine are the "Happy Birthday" threads for people who posted once a year ago and haven't logged in since.

To anyone bothered by the pinned threads, may I recommend "view new posts"? This brings up a list of all of the threads which have had posts added since you last logged out. Whether the pinned threads bother you or not, don't forget the orange boxes. Click on the orange box and it takes you to the first post made after your last visit to the thread in question. I think you may have to have biscuits enabled on your computer for these to work though.

Personally, I like the mixture on the forums of serious musical posting and mucking about - I would be most disappointed if all the mucking about had to be taken elsewhere
I like the fact that I can read/make comments about musical things and act like an idiot at the same time - a combination of my two favourite pastimes!

and another thing

I'm not sure if the forum community would have developed as it has if no mucking about was allowed!

it may not be perfect for all just as it is, but it's not bad
and I think you have to be fairly sure a replacement/improvement really would be better

C*P are you 'pre- stalking' me? you keep posting just before me

good point!

Oh my! You do seem cross about this!
Friendly chat and deviating from the subject is what makes us human.
I don't think I've done any of it myself anyway but can't imagine getting iritated about others doing it.

I think that is very true.

I must admit I quite like reading spontaneous digressions and I think as long as they're kept reasonably short, to me it's not unacceptable (and even if they go on longer than I personally might wish, that is just the rough-with-the-smooth that you get with any internet forum). I might think otherwise when AUK points out which threads he's referring to, but I can't think of any myself that have been annoyingly digressive

People in real life have sometimes commented to me on the banality of some of the threads. What they don't see is what carol*piano has intimated, which is that the chit-chit acts as the cement between the bricks, if I can put it that way

who?

Well thats fair enough, maybe its just me then...I am not going to point out specific threads or name names, that was not the purpose of this thread....it was just my concern that threads were getting hijacked and with the endless quote on quote the whole board was getting muddled. Sometimes it takes me ages to locate a thread or to catch the general drift of a thread having to seperate all the wheat from the chaff..but it seems that most members here like it like that so I shall accept that and move on...

Kindest regards

Andrew

YAY I rule!
(oops - I said yay... )

I liked the comment about the Chit Chat being the cement between the bricks...that makes an excellent point...cant rememeber who said it but is very valid...



Oh Lord it had to be YOU!

Skylark said it, but I INTIMATED it!

erm.. Off Topic

It's always me...

First time for everything, eh love?

We're cementing our relationship

A different kind of room is called for then. Certainly not a chat room, anyroad...

there aren't many "firsts" left for me...


ROFL

Alicia, I wasn't cross about anything, honestly I wasnt, I just find sometimes that I am confronted with a barrage of "off Topic" comments and have to plough my way through it to get to the real issue. I too have done this sort of thing so no one was being singled out I just wondered if a chat room might be a better place for the chit chat to happen.

By highlighting certain words in my post, you have accented their meaning and slightly changed the tone from a question to an accusatory stance...that was probably not your intention nor was it mine...it just shows how the written word can be misunderstood when the words lack intonation and inflection...sorry if you misunderstood my meaning..

Kindest regards

Andrew

Apart from a first class honours degree though, eh?

This is the only forum so far to which I have contributed so I can't really judge. I'm sure I don't yet know my way around this one terribly well either. I read the forum for a while before joining and was rather shy at first. But I have found that just by jumping in and using the space you learn a lot. I like the serious side and the way people help and encourage each other. Bit by bit I'm getting to know and enjoy the fun side.
Some threads may seem a bit "cliquey" but it's probably only an impression. I don't think we should be upset if no one answers our particular contribution to a thread. It isn't a snub - I know I have sometimes just not had time to post and then the thread develops and what I would have said becomes irrelevant. I don't think it matters too much if topics repeat either because some people may have missed out on them or people may have newer thoughts or experience to add.

Well, some of us had more important things to do at university than study...

Of course. Losing respect for yourself on a regular basis is one activity which I'm sure you excelled at. Frequently.

like the House of Peers? "did nothing in particular, and did it very well!"
maybe you did have something particular in mind

That's not what I meant!


EXACTLY!

Well I think you have made your point...I am totally lost here now...

What were we talking about?

i like banter!

No idea...
We were just giving you a masterclass in thread hi-jacking...

Any debate is good debate. Especially when involved the massed ranks. The status quo is odious. It is good to upset the apple cart on a regular basis.

me too!
can you tell?

kind of chicken... ??

i like batter! (on my sausage)

Red pudding is much better. A lot softer!

And this post reminded me of what actually made me want to join the forums! It was a few years ago now, and was a 'ramble' rather than a thread, bouncing between mrbouffant and grandchoeur. There was no organ foum at the time, but it was related to playing the organ, and was a hilarious banter that ended up in a discussion about fruit or something. It sort of typified to me the eccentric individualistic nature of many good organists! I did actually 'laugh out loud'.

hi i have looked at other forums and fine this one the best for information support and advice i like the chit chat and enjoy a good tale or joke as well. i think we are a friendly bunch on the whole

i loved the fact that a birthday thread came up on my birthday

long love the smilies and the forums