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Some fora are becoming painfully slow, contributing to a general feeling of malaise around the board. The reasons, as far as I can see, are different for every fora:
Headshop and Swtichboard: These are both fora where I think there aren't enough conflicting opinions to get a good discussion going. I don't mean a shouting match, I mean reasonable people reasonably disagreeing, going back and forth and, maybe, arriving at a conclusion or at least further questions. So, for example, if the subject were Holocaust denial, as it has been in the past, only complete ban-worthy shitfucks would be on the 'yay' side, everybody else would be in the 'nay' category and no discussion would result. Before anyone asks, no, I don't have an idea for something that would make a good discussion- if I did it would already be in one of the two fora. This is perhaps something that moving to new forum may sort out. As has been pointed out so, so many times before, the sort of people who end up on Barbelith are often people familiar with the work of Grunt Morrisberg, and they tend to be a fairly homogeneous lot in many ways in terms of race, class, education, politics, religion, lifestyle. This means that when we discuss Islam and Islamophobia we have no Muslim voices to learn from.
Secondly, discussion of philosophy or politics at a level above 'BU$$$H SUX IRAQ WAS ALL ABOUT THE OILS OPEN YR EYES SHEEPLE!!1!111!!52!' you need knowledge and, in the case of philosophy, a specialized vocabulary that most people just don't have. This means that board members who have that knowledge and vocabulary are having to slow down for those who don't and those without a degree or higher in a humanities subject etc. feel left out.
The trouble here, as you've probably identified already, is that the solving one problem may make the other proportionately worse. Introducing more diversity means a greater range of opinion, but it could also mean a disparity between people with different spheres of knowledge- the opinion of an Evangelical Christian would be helpful in discussing religion in contemporary America, but ze might feel left out if Theory types bring Zizek or Badiou into the conversation. Conversely, said Theory types may think a discussion of contemporary Christianity would benefit from introducing ideas from Zizek's The Puppet and the Dwarf but bite their tongues out of fear of alienating people.
Lab: Again, there are people who have extensive knowledge of science and others, like myself, with little knowledge beyond A Brief History of Time and the occasional copy of New Scientist. Plus, there's the problem of knowing what exactly should go there- if you hear about some really awesome invention does it warrant and thread? Where's the discussion beyond 'wow, cool'?
Temple: I don't visit the Temple, having fell out of love with the whole Magick thing, which is still very much entrenched in the Temple's culture. Maybe somebody with more experience in the Temple could say a little about how this forum is going.
Arts, Fashion and Design: The problem here is not so much that there aren't any 'right answers' when discussing AF&D, but that the opinions we could possibly express on anything from Ugg boots to abstract expression are based so much in the 'gut' that its hard to get beyond that. If we're discussing the Israel/Palestine situation or genetically modified foods we can get into the nitty-gritty of political history or consumer choice. With Uggs you have either 'I like them' or 'I don't like them', with a lot of contemporary art you have the old and tired 'That pile of bricks isn't art!'/'Yes it is!' arguments.
Books: Here's one I can't figure out. The books forum seems to be crazy-slow without any particular reason that it should be. Could it be simply because books take much longer to read than TV shows, films and comics?
Creation and Gathering: Like Temple, I don't frequent these forums much, so somebody more experienced should probably comment.
I've said it before and I'll say it again- the name 'Barbelith' is an albatross around our necks when it comes to moving this board forward. Same goes for the various functionality issues detailed in other Policy threads. We aren't getting enough new blood to keep the board vital at the moment. If Paleface comes through with a great new board with all the functionality we need then I've found a new God. |
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