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Where has everyone gone?
This discussion has been closed.
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Message 1.Â
Posted by paperwhite (U6380063) on Saturday, 4th October 2008
When I started writing on this message board about 18 months ago there were so many people doing the same but now the board seems quite sparse, where has everyone gone?
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Message 2
Posted by David K (U2221642) on Sunday, 5th October 2008
When I started writing on this message board about 18 months ago there were so many people doing the same but now the board seems quite sparse, where has everyone gone?Â
You jest, of course! -
Message 3
Posted by Paul N (U6451125) on Sunday, 5th October 2008
I wonder if somewhat extreme views expressed on here over the past few months has turned people away, or at least, turned them away to other sections of the message board? Certainly I look into Garden Inspiration and Garden Views far more often than I come here.
Also this concentrates on one half-hour gardening programme each week, and i sometimes wonder just how much can be said about it that hasn't been said before. -
Message 4
Posted by Gaynor Witchard (U11583299) on Sunday, 5th October 2008
I am put off by a few nasty people on the boards - not just this one either! Some comments have been aimed at other posters' spelling, grammar - or lack of it - and some generally nasty replies when I've tried to be positive. I only post something if I think I can contribute or help in some way, rather than use it as an anonymous place to have a go at someone - too scary for me. And if anyone has a nasty reply to this post - don't bother.
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Message 5
Posted by Nooj (U3233455) on Sunday, 5th October 2008
Oh Doris.
Don't let a few idiots put you off.
Just think of the vast majority who are warm and helpful!
Ignore the rest -
Message 6
Posted by honestdewdrops (U11729273) on Sunday, 5th October 2008
i have found that generally most people are nice and helpful.i have only had 1 impolite response,but i have noticed that this particular poster tends to be quite rude to others in general.my only disappointment is that sometimes i ask a question,but dont get much of a response,but i think thats often because a post will get missed.i know what you mean mad doris.i have heard things said about other peoples grammer etc,which i feel is uncalled for.it really doesnt matter if we aren,t the best spellers.thankfully,like i said,most here are helpful and obliging.
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Message 7
Posted by malanD (U7337386) on Sunday, 5th October 2008
Paperwhite, most of us are still here but probably refrain from commenting like we used to. Some topics are just useless but get pages and pages worth of silly comments. This has become a regular feature of this particulour board. I get bored and frustrated seeing the same old topics appear on top almost everyday.
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Message 8
Posted by hotsunlover (U5664870) on Sunday, 5th October 2008
Hi Paperwhite
. I can only speak for myself of course, but I used to log on virtually every day to see what was going on and answer a few question in the clinic. When we had the surge of enforcements of The Rules, I logged on less as generally I found the whole board less fun. Threads were closed and OTGF topics disallowed. I think it seesm to be picking up but I don't think many of the old posters will return. -
Message 9
Posted by herbyajh (U8602298) on Saturday, 25th October 2008
I too used to log in regularly and add my two penneth if I thought it was relevant, but I just got too fed up with all the repetative negativity. I also became suspicious when I noticed a couple of very negative threads started by posters who have apparently never posted before or since - which I think suggests they (or perhaps it's just the same person) were just posting to stir things up. Makes you feel this isn't always a nice place to visit.
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Message 10
Posted by Gardenballet (U4233452) on Saturday, 25th October 2008
The Boards used to seem like a happy family.
Then they restricted us with no more OTGF topics. It certainly put me off signing in.
I occasionally look at the Board, but I agree it is not the same. -
Message 11
Posted by little-ann (U12937473) on Saturday, 25th October 2008
hi i have only been using the boards for a short while and keep reading about the problems a few months ago but i can only guess what they were,
however up to now i have enjoyed the boards and apart from some body referring to people like me who do there own shopping at the supermarket as a pleb i have enjoyed what ive joined in so far -
Message 12
Posted by U13353675 (U13353675) on Saturday, 25th October 2008
Gardenballet you dreaming of this board being a happy family.
The reason for getting rid of OTGF threads was obvious they became excessive and pushed out the garden related threads. Which is the point of these forums. -
Message 13
Posted by Gardenballet (U4233452) on Saturday, 25th October 2008
Ok, it SEEMED a happy family on the threads I remember. I must admit I do not go looking for trouble and tend to avoid threads with a lot of anomosity.
I just know that I don't feel welcome and 'at home' now! -
Message 14
Posted by Nooj (U3233455) on Saturday, 25th October 2008
Hello, Gardenballet.
Welcome!
I don't want to give up on here - the more ordinary, well -meaning folk who post the more it outweighs the nasties.
Pull up a chair! -
Message 15
Posted by greeneddy (U6603838) on Saturday, 25th October 2008
Hi, Gardenballet. I think I joined after all the aniwhatsit, I've found it largely a v friendly place (but will NEVER mention peat again).
.
I don''t like the thought of people not feeling at home here, especially if they've been here a long time, like wot you have. I always try to post either with useful info, or to try to make people laugh (though sometimes I think people don't know I'm trying to be funny, and then I have to go back and apologise!).
Mine's a red wine, what's yours? -
Message 16
Posted by Nooj (U3233455) on Saturday, 25th October 2008
I think hers is a CB!
with a glace cherry!
I understand of course because of me and Monty
x -
Message 17
Posted by tulipmania (U3090145) on Saturday, 25th October 2008
I've been getting on with gardening - a garden at home, an allotment and head gardener in my daughters city postage stamp of a garden.
I find the constant whinging about TV gardeners a real bore. Saw quite a few of them of them filming in Chelsea this year and the the only comment I can make is congratulations on being able to multi-task in gardening and TV presenting!
You all do a great job entertaining us.
Greetings Tulipmania -
Message 18
Posted by Paul N (U6451125) on Sunday, 26th October 2008
We all have our own standards when it comes to writing on message boards. Mine are as follows.
If I can help, I will give advice either from personal experience, or from what I heard or read about.
I'll write a post then re-read it so it makes sense checking for spelling, capital letters and/or grammar. There you go, I've just had to look up the spelling of 'grammar'. If there's any doubt on my part, I'll go to one of my many books on gardening and double check. I'll then post.
I think that posting without taking as much care as possible is just a bit insulting to the reader, and yes, I have commented on this is the past. OK I'm a bit of a stickler for detail but isn't there enough dumbing down in our society today? -
Message 19
Posted by nanaanna (U9512847) on Sunday, 26th October 2008
Well said Paul!
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Message 20
Posted by bookhimdano (U10771514) on Sunday, 26th October 2008
one has to wonder about gardeners who 'correct' other gardeners way of speaking or accent?
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Message 21
Posted by Nooj (U3233455) on Sunday, 26th October 2008
The way I see it, which of course is open to comment, is that it's just like a mini-life.
We all meet people we dislike intensely, and we all meet people who we warm to and make friends with.
Oh dear two prepositions in the wrong place there I think!
I know it's much easier to have a pop at someone via the message board than in real life (that's why I have apologised a few times)
But I like the spontaneity of it all
Much more like having a good old chat -
Message 22
Posted by Little Cornflower (U12037777) on Sunday, 26th October 2008
Well said Paul - there is no excuse to let standards slip!!
It is not snobbery to be irritated by a poster's lack of punctuation - it takes one's attention away from the post and it is ill mannered of said poster not to check the basics -
Message 23
Posted by Nooj (U3233455) on Sunday, 26th October 2008
Oh dear, Jayelle - why d you keep deleting your old posts?
It must be a lot of work -
Message 24
Posted by Paul N (U6451125) on Sunday, 26th October 2008
"one has to wonder about gardeners who 'correct' other gardeners way of speaking or accent?"
You missed the point bookhimdano. One starts a sentence with a capital letter.....always.....that's 11+ Plus standard NOT being picky or nasty.
As for ways of speaking or accents, I don't have a clue where contributors come from nor do I care. I just like the Queen's English rather than that of a Sun reader. Does that make me bad? -
Message 25
Posted by Nooj (U3233455) on Sunday, 26th October 2008
Eermmm, Paul...
yes I suppose it's a bit harsh if others who might not have had your education want to comment about gardening? -
Message 26
Posted by Goldilocks (U2169760) on Sunday, 26th October 2008
IMHO it's ill mannered to point out the bad spelling grammar of someone posting on Gardening Boards. One may silently disapprove, but it's quite another thing to have a pop. Who knows what the reason might be - dyslexia, English as a second language, poor education but determoned to practise, etc.. Why assume it's laziness?
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Message 27
Posted by Ariadne Knickerbocker (U4534559) on Sunday, 26th October 2008
I don't know WHERE everyone has gone.
But the way this thread is going is certainly one of the reasons WHY everyone has gone. -
Message 28
Posted by bookhimdano (U10771514) on Sunday, 26th October 2008
...Does that make me bad?..
makes it comic.
if people did it to people's face in the bar one wonders how many front teeth they might still have?
message board is not an english essay in fountain pen.
given english is a moving target there is no standard 'queens english'. what's how a role gamer speaks got to do with it anyway?
i know people who have been taught to plant bulbs with a ruler. doesn't make it 'official'. makes me laugh. -
Message 29
Posted by Aspidistra (U11680993) on Sunday, 26th October 2008
<quote>there were so many people doing the same but now the board seems quite sparse, where has everyone gone?<quote>
Returning, ever so slightly to the initial question, the answer is that the boards are a bit sparse because I ate a lot of the message boarders. Burp. And goodness me, I've had dreadful wind ever since. -
Message 30
Posted by Aspidistra (U11680993) on Sunday, 26th October 2008
Actually to be ever so slightly more serious, I find whining on about how awful the message board is/ how it isn't like it used to be, a real turn off - people have been going on about how it isn't as good as it was on these boards ever since I've been posting - about 5 months now. Yawn yawn yawn. Maybe that is actually the reason people have moved on.
I think one has to accept, as I think Nooj says, that one can't get along with everyone and that some of us are blunt and just plain wrong wrong wrong but who cares really? Its only a blinking message board, our lives don't depend upon it.
Now shall we put on our happy faces and just get on with it instead of chewing over endless real or imagined injuries? -
Message 31
Posted by Paul N (U6451125) on Monday, 27th October 2008
I'm sorry if some people were offended by my temerity to suggest that the correct use of English was no bad thing and that to bring the subject up did not amount to nastiness. As for my better education, a GCE A-level in Art back in the early 60s doesn't exactly amount to a good level of English Language.
I was invited to a dinner party the other evening and amongst those at the table, I was the only wine drinking, motorcycling agnostic and one of only two keen on gardening. We talked and talked and on some subjects, including religion, we agreed to differ. As the host was the local Vicar, it was interesting. No talk of losing ones teeth. My point is that subjects can be discussed amongst civilised people without others taking offense. Or can they? -
Message 32
Posted by Aspidistra (U11680993) on Monday, 27th October 2008
Nah. Who yoo calling civilised, CopperP? Want to step outside and say that? BIFFFF! Oops soz, there goes yor teef.
Actually I was thinking about the original comment again. I was also put off by the moddy woddys stepping in and censoring conversations, telling us to get back on track etc but that seems to have stopped a bit now and was probably the result of some daft edict they had to follow. -
Message 33
Posted by the cycling gardener (U2350416) on Monday, 27th October 2008
I'm sorry if some people were offended by my temerity to suggest that the correct use of English was no bad thing and that to bring the subject up did not amount to nastiness.Â
I'll write a post then re-read it so it makes sense checking for spelling, capital letters and/or grammar. There you go, I've just had to look up the spelling of 'grammar'. If there's any doubt on my part, I'll go to one of my many books on gardening and double check. I'll then post.Â
I think that posting without taking as much care as possible is just a bit insulting to the reader, and yes, I have commented on this is the past. OK I'm a bit of a stickler for detail but isn't there enough dumbing down in our society today?Â
Well said Paul - there is no excuse to let standards slip!!
It is not snobbery to be irritated by a poster's lack of punctuation - it takes one's attention away from the post and it is ill mannered of said poster not to check the basicsÂ
THIS is precisly why some people no longer venture on to the boards. The message board should be welcoming to everyone, regardless of their educational qualifications. Lucky you CP for having the time to check and re-check your posts before hitting the post message button. As you can probably tell from some of my offerings - bad spelling, punctuation and typos included - most of mine are put together as a distraction from a busy design practice, in the evening after a glass or two of wine or in a couple of minutes grabbed during a busy domestic schedule because I like to take part . The pomposity with regards to the literary standards of posts is rude in the extreme. I'm sure there are many who have been let down educationally who are mortified that their written shortcomings are vilified on this board for all to see. This is not an elitist club but a gardening "community" which should be inclusive to everyone! -
Message 34
Posted by greeneddy (U6603838) on Monday, 27th October 2008
Well said, CyclingGardener
.
Although, I agree with what Aspidistra once said, that when people post all in capitals, it sounds as if they're shouting, so I'd prefer it if they didnt. -
Message 35
Posted by Ken Smart (U1158196) on Monday, 27th October 2008
I agree with what Aspidistra once said, that when people post all in capitals, it sounds as if they're shoutingÂ
Conversely, when people don't use capitals (and general punctuation) at all, I confess that I seldom even read the message - it all just becomes one hellish blur to me. I never bother too much about a person's inability to spell properly, but I do resent having this 'baby' writing foisted on me, as I presume this is a conscious choice made by the writer. -
Message 36
Posted by Little Cornflower (U12037777) on Monday, 27th October 2008
Well said Paul and Ken.
If you are using a written medium, the posts have to be legible.
Nooj - I don't know what I have done to trigger your antipathy - if it is any of your business,I delete my posts because I don't like them building up. I am quite able to find any posts on which I would like to comment without resorting to "my discussions". -
Message 37
Posted by the cycling gardener (U2350416) on Monday, 27th October 2008
If you are using a written medium, the posts have to be legible.Â
Agreed but I have never come across a post on here that isn't. -
Message 38
Posted by little-ann (U12937473) on Monday, 27th October 2008
"Nooj - I don't know what I have done to trigger your antipathy - if it is any of your business,I delete my posts because I don't like them building up."
I didnt know it was possible to delete posts or am i missing the point -
Message 39
Posted by poshHebeJeebie (U9319867) on Monday, 27th October 2008
To get back to the original question: "Where has everyone gone?"
They are probably still here - reading occasionally, posting seldom, and distressed by the over-regulation of these boards in particular, and the "new-names-same-old-personalities" that are here, in general.
Just a thought.
PHJ
(Reader and rare poster) -
Message 40
Posted by Aspidistra (U11680993) on Monday, 27th October 2008
Oh hello PHJ nice to see you are still lurking
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Message 41
Posted by poshHebeJeebie (U9319867) on Monday, 27th October 2008
hi Aspidistra
I enjoy your input to these boards. I read often - and post rarely. Glad to see that the boards are kept alive by posters like you. -
Message 42
Posted by Dancing Dragonflies (U11928307) on Monday, 27th October 2008
Little Ann,
It is possible to delete old posts but the only people that USUALLY do it are those who like to cause trouble, delete the evidence of it in their discussions and then come back with a new nickname. As a new poster on the boards a few months ago I was really disheartened to hear that there were people like that on the gardening boards and didn't really believe it. Now a few months later I have run into a couple of the "Trolls" who just aren't particularly nice people and delight in being rude, shocking or spiteful.
It is people like this that have perhaps contributed to the decline in numbers on the boards. They have certainly put me off at times.
Luckily such types are vastly outnumbered by a diverse collection of experienced, lively and generally very aimiable gardeners. -
Message 43
Posted by Nooj (U3233455) on Monday, 27th October 2008
Auricula - _I wasn't being nasty as such - I seriously don't know how to do it, and probably couldn't be bothered if I did!
Never mind - what's the old saying?
Curiosity killed the Nooj! -
Message 44
Posted by William (U2169036) on Tuesday, 28th October 2008
The 3 minute "waiting game" didn't help to keep me posting. It sort of destroyed the "flow" for me, added to a bit of message board fatigue I had already developped
People hitting each other on the head with virtual spades and loppers - over gardening principles, presenter personalities and other gadening and non gardening issues - doesn't particularly help to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
And regarding the subject of spelling and punctuation. It is nice if people who can and will, make an effort to make their posts little pieces of good quality prose.
But please don't disqualify those who just don't care or simply can't.
I remember another board in another country where boarders were quite judgemental towards a poster with very bad spelling, grammar and phrasing. It just happened to be that that poster had been born deaf. Which means that learning spelling and grammar is something comparable to having to learn to walk with both feet bound together and both hands firmly tied behind your back.
I'd say: "Let's just have fun and enjoy each others virtual company"
Live and let live...
Happy Gardening
William -
Message 45
Posted by Dancing Dragonflies (U11928307) on Tuesday, 28th October 2008
I agree with you William. The three minute rule is very annoying, I too share the same views on spelling which I have voiced on previous discussions about this issue.
For me the biggest turn off on the boards is people thinking it acceptable to suggest shooting cats. Every time a cat thread comes up my heart sinks as I know the same argument will break out and some individuals seem to think it is perfectly acceptable to suggest shooting/running over other people's pets. I have not been lucky enough to be blessed with children and our cat is very important to my partner and I. The thought that some people would think it fair to take pot shots at him makes me sick to the very bottom of my stomach. -
Message 46
Posted by Little Cornflower (U12037777) on Tuesday, 28th October 2008
Rach - if you are alluding to me, I am not a troll!! I have a tendency to OCD and can't bear things to build up - therefore I delete my old posts daily.
Nooj - point taken but you seem to be under a misapprehension, name wise. Jayelle, my only posting name comes from my initials J L
There do seem to be less people posting,but as the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú dumbs down ( Brand and Ross for instance )and GW hasn't yet returned to its former glory, I suppose it's only to be expected -
Message 47
Posted by kath74 (U8999103) on Tuesday, 28th October 2008
I started using these boards just before the changes that are often referred to by other posters. It was to do with a proliferation of non-gardening threads and I actually supported the change as I found those threads off-putting. Now there's only the potting shed. Some posters who used those threads a lot have gone & not returned.
Just after the change, the mods were very hard on threads wandering off topic, now things have settled down they're allowing more leeway, or have stopped bothering to look so closely, I don't know which. I've noticed they don't seem to monitor the allotment board at all, some threads go way off topic without any comment.
The boards have been noticeably quieter just the last few weeks, I'd assumed it was seasonal, fair weather gardeners thinking about other things over winter.
No comment on spelling & grammar, live & let live. -
Message 48
Posted by little-ann (U12937473) on Tuesday, 28th October 2008
I think i might change my name to Alice this thread has certanly taken me to Wonderland
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