Has Natter slowed at all due to having a music thread?

Nah. I don't think so. Nor do I think it's gotten worse. But I have no hard data to defend this idea.

I would like to bring the discussion back around not to an Alias thread or a general TV thread or anything else. What I would like to know is do we see ourselves as trying to become a board where everything (or anything with a verbal support group) is open to it's own topic or not? If we are, I think we are a much bigger board than perhaps the original intent.

If that is the case, then we might need to rethink much of what we do and how we do it... for example, instead of individual threads, have folders etc for dealing with stuff and to organize how we make and maintain threads. Because if we think, "Hey, any two people who want a thread gets one" then we need to do a better job at organizing all that info.

for example, instead of individual threads, have folders etc for dealing with stuff and to organize how we make and maintain threads. Because if we think, "Hey, any two people who want a thread gets one" then we need to do a better job at organizing all that info.

No, no, no. Please no.

At WX we did have NAFDA, Bitches, and I think Smallville as separate areas, and that wasn't too too bad, but anything beyond that would be a real mistake, IMO.

The threads in Table Talk (which is what The Pheonix Board is like) worked differently than on World Crossing.

At Table Talk you could still subscribe to individual threads without having to subscribe to the whole folder and it was much easier to navigate around.

It was...I can't describe the way it looked, but it worked totally different than Worldcrossing.

What I would like to know is do we see ourselves as trying to become a board where everything (or anything with a verbal support group) is open to it's own topic or not?

I'm going to go with no. We can't be all things to all people. We can't afford to, we don't have the infrastructure to, and I don't think we have the...detachment to.

General societal threads might not work here, but if it can be linked to Buffy/ME or a deep interest (like Farscape or any other deeply beloved show) I think a thread would work.

We can't be all things to all people. We can't afford to, we don't have the infrastructure to, and I don't think we have the...detachment to.

I agree with this completely.

Er Kristen - for the record I think you are pretty much considered a core Buffista. By just about everyone. Except you, apparently.

And on the thread proliferation issue - I am undecided. Which is for me pretty fucking unbelievable. One thing I usually am not prone to is neutrality. A glimmer of an approach echos; but I don't know if it would work:

"One thread dies; a new one is chosen. "

General societal threads might not work here, but if it can be linked to Buffy/ME or a deep interest (like Farscape or any other deeply beloved show) I think a thread would work.

Absolutely. I'm not advocating that we should be a general board, but once we start discussions about a movie thread or a general TV thread, we are talking about things not linked to Buffy/ME or deep interest to a beloved show.

So I guess this the crux of my no spread stance. We don't have the infrastructure, the detachment or whatall to really be a general interest board. Therefore, each time a new generalish thread is proposed, it does feel like we are again saying, "But I want to be a general board." In which case, we need to really think about what that all entails, etc.

OK - the joke I made above that was a real idea pushing it's way up from my subconcious. I don't think we will never ever have a new thread again. But we do need a limit. So here is a proposal - one that will require refinement, but I think can work.

1) Set a limit on the number of threads. Not just bandwidth (though it can't go above bandwidth obviously). But there are other limitations. For example 100 threads with 2 posts a day would not eat up much bandwidth. But would still be absurd. So the number of posts should be set by the old hands - ita, Allyson, Kiba - anyone who has been involved with this type of message board for a long time. (And if the number is lower than we have now - not out of the question.)

2) Set a general procedure for starting new threads. Here I have no idea - you folks decide.

3) But whatever the procedure is, this gets added to the procedure once the limit is reached. Anytime a new thread is to be added after the thread limit is reached, it must be decided what old thread is to die to make room. If nothing dies, nothing is added.

Really we can't indefinitely continue to add new threads without such a procedure.

Am I on crack?

I'd say that we need to look at how threads got started in the first place. I think that Smallville was people deciding, "we need somewhere to discuss this so we won't clog up Natter." Bitchy Fic was from when people were complaining about fic taking over SB. Fanfiction was, I think, people deciding, "We need somewhere to discuss this, and we don't have one."

Pretty much, I'm seeing two different impulses here. Some are "we want a place to discuss this." Others are "we don't want that stuff being discussed here; make somewhere else to discuss it." I'd think that, for there to be a decision on a new thread, there ought to be at least some of both going on. (OK, I just tried three times to explain why a little bit, but I couldn't get it right, so I'll just put this out there and maybe try to explain my thoughts on it a little later. I just can't get it phrased right now.)