The deterioration of Blue Moon

[Didsbury Dave]

Thre's an interesting and lively debate going on in the transfer forum now about the fact that many experienced posters feel that the quality of debate on Bluemoon has gone downhill over the last few months.

There appears to be more abuse, more nastiness, less tolerance of other's opinions, more inane threads and it is rare these days to find a good, long debate which doesn't just descend into mudslinging.

So what's the solution? A new Code of Conduct? More Mods? Different forums? Different rules?

Here's some of the suggestions from the other thread:

That's the problem mate.

If you give an opinion which could possibly be perceived as going against the grain, abuse will inevitably follow.

And that is of detriment to debate and the forum as a whole.

I said at the time that I thought Tolmie was being a little precious, and I stand by that. But the same time, the "get behind the team, yield to the greater good or fuck off" nonsense really does get a little tiresome at times.

We shouldn't place particular posters on pedestals, and give them free reign to do as they please while the rest of us cling onto their every word, but neither should someone (perceived as attention seeking or not) be roundly ridiculed and insulted for sharing their oh so slightly controversial opinion.

Besides this is the internet for Christ's sake, I don't think anything should be off limits, the fact that there exists the potential to stir up such a controversy on a football forum of all places, over something as trivial as an opinion on a player is nothing short of pathetic.

serious suggestions always welcome, i have said over and over again on here that with us all being city fans (i know we have rag lurkers) we should really be able to self mod to a large degree. we know how the forum feels about most subjects, we know what is and isn't acceptable.
we are supposed to be on the same side.
no blue is bigger than the next blue, no poster is better or bigger than the next guy yet some think only their opinion counts and therefore must be right.

this is bluemoon, the biggest and best football forum city has got and we are fucking it up left right and centre because we can't post and act like grown up intelligent people.
its not ric's site, my site or any other fuckers site its belongs to the members only they can ruin it or make it even better, i l know which one i'll be gunning for.
we should all take a second to consider our posts, do we really need to know about a finger in an arse, which is it barm or muffin etc. lets keep it adult, lets keep it civil and lets show some decency in our topics.

after all we are read now the world over and i for one dont want to embarrass our club or our fantastic owners.

sorry, rant over.

One of the main problems is the number of new threads created, a decent thread descends the board far too quickly due to the amount of drivel posted.

There are far too many "Look at me" posters who can't wait to start threads.

Answer, imo, is to have a seperate forum (call it what you want..) where all the shite threads are moved to and maybe implement some form of rule on what threads can be created.

I have spoken to Rammy about this issue for the last few weeks and i also pm's de niro the other night and stated that the standards of late are slipping to such an extent that the enjoyment of coming on here is just being taken away for the majority.

Attention seeking drivel from wanna be celebrity posters is the order of the day now and for me, it is just plain wrong.

Newbie forum for a period of 6 months were all posts are monitored before being allowed onto the main boards. If you are so keen to add to the site, you will serve your time and wait.

As for the personal abuse, the rules are there to deal with it and the mods need to tighten up and start getting rid of those that either fail to adhere or in some cases, just dont want to.

The transfer forum should have been the busiest forum this month with lots of interesting snippets and debate yet its a ghost forum due to people fearing to post as they know the usual suspects will be on to them in a flash.

Pathetic and sad.

I have to say that I agree wholeheartedly with this post. I 'lurk' (as it is often referred to) as a guest in the background most of the time and read so much of the content of Bluemoon but just think that entering into some of the good debate on here is pointless at times as more and more threads descend into pure abuse and personal and petty keyboard battles.

I don't know whether a cure is needed or what it would be but I have seen people post that the members with most posts should be the only ones allowed to start new topics. When you look at some members and see 10,000 posts in less than 2 years and then actually take a look at what they have really had to say that is anyway interesting you would be surprised. Averaging 40 posts a day and have contributed nothing of note to the forum except some pictues of boats or aliens with their hands on their foreheads. There are quite a few of them out there and these are some of the ones held up as 'celebrity' posters.

Bluemoon is my 3rd City forum that I have become a member of starting with the rivals.net city forum back in the early 2000's. That went just the way this one is starting to go and is now unfortunately long gone. The 2nd forum I enjoyed deteriorated badly after the takeover and found Bluemoon a breath of fresh air but I can see the signs that popularity brings. It would be a shame for it to go the same way but it is happening. The more rational posters will be driven out by the drivel and dross sooner or later.

Any comments anyone?

 

[Blue-Eyes]

There should be a "Bluemoon Forum" (Strictly only City related matters, the amount of Rag threads is embarrassing at the minute) and a separate "Football Forum" call it what you want (any topic relating to football, other clubs, TV coverage, refs, FIFA etc).

 

[waspish]

People can abuse me don't give to hoots...............Laugh it off and move on........People take it to personally.................

 

[LoveCity]

I think a general football forum is a good idea to be able to discuss other leagues, players, matches, and teams at length without the feeling of unease that they clog up the main board.

Also, centralizing discussions of each player to set threads, "ie, 'The Super Mario Thread'" would tighten up the boards, remove clutter and make them more focused.

Possibly threads designed to encourage lengthy debate too would be useful. Like, how about a challenge for Bluemooners to watch a Romanian league match steam and discuss the players/teams on show. It would be interesting or at least funny. ;)

Just some ideas of mine. :P

 

[mat]

shitbag.

 

[tonea2003]

There should be a "Bluemoon Forum" (Strictly only City related matters, the amount of Rag threads is embarrassing at the minute) and a separate "Football Forum" call it what you want (any topic relating to football, other clubs, TV coverage, refs, FIFA etc).

that sounds like a good idea for starters
the current keane/neville thread is highly embarrassing

 

[Bluebee2]

shitbag.

Quality !

 

[ifiwasarichfan]

All Posters are equal, but some are more equal than others? The very idea and notion of this is wrong.

Somebody explain to me why Didsbury Dave or De Niro is superior to glasgowectid - ( our newest Poster from the Board Index details) please.

All comments should be welcome.

 

[Deleted member 14625]

It's not just about experienced/inexperienced posters.

I've been a member of this forum for a short period of time yet have been called silly names and been lambasted by posters who've been here longer and had many more posts than me, even when i've posted something that i have fully explained why i think that way. Constructive criticism it's called. Just because it's not 100% pro-City people see their arses, their very mard arses!

 

[Boots_]

On the other thread, de niro expressed his desire for the forum to be largely self-moderated. Maybe that's a little bit idealistic but essentially he's right. It seems that there are plenty of posters who are tired of the sniping and pettiness often evident on here. It's upto the members on here to stop that behaviour. We need to be accepting of each other as City fans rather than labelling any dissenting voices as being "rags" etc. Once we accept that, essentially, we're all on the same side, maybe then we can agree to disagree on formations, team selections, pie fillings and our favourite serial killers but do so in a calm and measured way.

*eats bowl of lentils*