I'm with amych in that I don't see the value of discussing what new tv threads to create BEFORE there is a clear demand for it.

Question: is all of this just a way of trying to exert some control over how Buffistas transforms when there is no more ME tv to drive discussion? Because if so, I'm not convinced that changing the board will change the outcome: we'll still be ME-less, there will still be sadness on some fronts, and tv viewage will go on.

[eta: cross posted with Suela, who clearly got to the heart of the matter]

Personally I don't think we need special threads for discussion of tv shows that don't generate much analysis. OC gets its snark on, but I don't see extended discussions about the growth of the characters, etc. Whereas Buffy & Farscape continue to be discussed even though they aren'tairing new episodes.

can that be resolved with code, or does it mean we need less traffic?

In theory it can be resolved with code. And when it is -- go nuts (I think that thread proliferation fractures the community too, but that's just subjective). But it's not resolved, and to pretend otherwise is investing ahead of income.

If someone wants to propose TV thread(s), I think they should go ahead and do it. I'm not sure what having the discussion here accomplishes, except providing a means for it to last forever.

Well, I'm not sure if this is actually a good idea, but how about two threads, a genre TV thread (Alias, Stargate, etc.) and a teen soap thread (OC, JofA, Everwood)?

ETA: This is not a formal proposal.

I still don't understand the problem with seeing what people want before we decide whether it's even worth proposing, never mind actually proposing.

I still don't understand the problem with seeing what people want before we decide whether it's even worth proposing, never mind actually proposing.

Me either. I like Teppy's idea, and think those are good guidelines, but we make new threads to serve the population of the board. Might as well see what the population's most interested in.

I like the idea of a poll to determine what we watch and would like to talk about, and decide from there. It could be something along the lines of:

Which of the following shows do you think you would enjoy discussing as part of the buffistas.org community?

• The O.C.
• Joan of Arcadia
• Alias
• 24
• Stargate
• Smallville
• Charmed
• Gilmore Girls
• Everwood
• Six Feet Under
• "Brilliant but Canceled" (I think this should be a new thread. Insert My So-Called Life, Freaks and Geeks, The Tick, etc. discussion. But that's for another time to discuss.)
• Other shows (fill in the box)

If we don't have convenient poll-making capabilities here, I'd be willing to set something up with basic forms on my own webserver, and compile votes for discussion. If you are all willing to trust me. Based on the voting and comments, we can consider whether we want to make combined whitefonted threads or Angel, Buffy, Firefly-type single-show threads, or do nothing at all, let b.org become a primarily social environment, and discuss other shows in LJ communities (as we are already doing for Joan of Arcadia.)

I just think it's weird that we have this great thread for discussing proposed changes to the forum, and no one wants to use it.

Well, I think the problem (for me anyway) is that now that Angel is gone, there's just no way out of having to have the "Who Are We Now?" discussion, and just proposing and voting down or to enact new threads doesn't actually accomplish that discussion.

Neither does discussing it here, but here is where it starts. Here is where we figure out out how to have that discussion.

(Edited for clarity)

But both things are being suggested, Sean. People want to know if people want new threads -- that's a Lightbulb discussion. People want to know who we are? That's a right here discussion.

Ah, yes. Well. In that case, I think the latter informs the former, and should be started first, I guess, but that's all I've got at the moment.