I really like the idea David suggested of polling to find out the ways everybody uses the board. I wouldn't be surprised if there are quite a few dedicated lurkers, who follow their chosen threads faithfully, but just haven't gotten up the courage to post, and may never do.

If we could make the polls somehow so that voters would remain anonymous, and then put announcements in almost every thread so that one-thread posters and lurkers could see it and urge everybody to take the poll, we might have some idea of how to tailor functionality to suit the majority, across (you should excuse the expression) the board.

I suspect it's going to shake out with several--perhaps many--single-show threads, several smaller bucket show threads, with some tv natter allowed in Natter for those folks who don't feel comfortable in either buckets or show threads.

I have no real stake in steering the board in one direction or another. I just would like to have the most comprehensive idea what changes are wanted, and which ones will make the board better serve the greater number of people before we make irreversible ones.

Thanks, Bev, I do think polling would help.

I will note that I'm not necessarily driven by a what-the-most-people-want result. For example if it was clear that thread splintering not only drained volume from Natter, but that a slower Natter was decreasing overall board viability then I think we would need to back up and say, "Let's make a smaller circle and maintain that."

I do think there is some merit to that notion. But I do think it would help to understand what maintains the core of the community before we let majority votes spread us thin.

I think a poll is a really good idea to at least get a sense of where some of the less vocal people stand. It might help to direct the conversation because right now it feels to me like we're talking in circles.

You have to pay SOME price for your gorgeous weather! :)

Where? The two-weeks solid of hundred-degrees, no-rain, "don't leave your house if your sick/elderly/young/anything other than in good shape" blah? Please, have it, with my blessing.

It would be more like six hours per day, every day. Except Saturday.

Every person on this board watches this much TV? Every day? Except Saturday? As I assume the answer to this is No, why does the heavy user have more say than I with my two hours, two days a week? Is not the burden on the person who requires the greatest accomodation?

But if a bucket thread is generating conversation that really didn't exist before aren't you comparing having to wait six hours versus having to wait indefinitely becuse there's no place to discuss it?

Yes, but in this case I am referring to a bucket thread that does generate this type of discussion. Discussion I used to participate in (SG1) before the multiple thread merges made that bucket hit the point where I could no longer participate. This is not a hypothetical.

But if a bucket thread is generating conversation that really didn't exist before aren't you comparing having to wait six hours versus having to wait indefinitely becuse there's no place to discuss it?

For me, I don't believe that there isn't a place to discuss it. I've always been fine with talking about a show in Natter until such time as it feels that a show can support a thread of its own.

Also, six hours is a best case scenario. Six hours means that I watched the shows live and didn't have more than one show to watch in the same timeslot and actually am awake enough at 11 pm or midnight to read through all the different posts about all the different shows and then post my own thoughts.

To be clear, it's not that I'm adverse to the idea of new threads. I got over that years ago. But, as I've expressed before, I don't think that one giant bucket thread is the way to go. (Unless we copy the Movies policy and make people whitefont for a week or a day or whatever.)

I think, if we have to a place to discuss all the different kinds of TV, smaller buckets (grouped by genre or network or night of the week) at least have a chance of including more people.

Gah. Collective action problems everywhere. Will no one think of the commons?!

Every person on this board watches this much TV? Every day? Except Saturday? As I assume the answer to this is No, why does the heavy user have more say than I with my two hours, two days a week? Is not the burden on the person who requires the greatest accomodation?

That's not what I said. I do, however, think the burden should be on the community to try and find a solution that accomodates more people than it alienates. I don't think a single bucket thread encompassing every drama airing on broadcast television fits that bill.

Will no one think of the commons?!

is that a thread? I don't read it, so I'm not gonna think about it.

Will no one think of the commons?!

I'm thinking about the commons!

This is what I think: we need to invest in the middle, not just try to accommodate every interest.

So let's figure out where the middle is.