Which is fine as long as everyone is being honest about it, but I get the feeling that some of us see this as a change and others are less comfortable with calling it that.

Burrell, I swear I'm not being disingenous here -- why is this, in particular, a change?

We've always added new threads, though we put the brakes on when our board resources were taxed.

We've had threads for non-ME shows since "Smallville" premiered, and possibly before. This will be the first at this board, but this is also the first TV season without Buffy or Angel.

The polling is new, but I think it's a way to make the most people the most comfortable with the results. Whatever comes up through the polling will still need to be proposed and voted on; it's very possible we may end this with no new threads at all.

Maybe you still think it Feels Different, which I can't argue with. It feels different to me because it's my first proposal; I can't judge how it would feel to someone on the other side.

Threadsucking and bookmarking can help you read back over a conversation you missed (bookmarking requires you to know you missed it in the first place, of course, and when) but they're not especially conducive to continuing a conversation. And in any of our threads, whatever the topic, that back-and-forth that grows and meanders is a big part of our (my) enjoyment.

The main reason why it feels like a shift in board culture to me is that the logic behind the proposal is, this is the first season without any ME shows, so what other shows are out there that we want to discuss? I think that move slowly shifts us more towards a tv discussion board rather than a ME board. And I'm not saying that is a horrible thing that must be stopped, but I would like to see it at least acknowledged.

Fury is on Lost, so maybe we could pretend it is all about the Mustard Man.

Joke! That was a joke.

I don't know if I am ready to make a case for Lost having enough metatext and subtext to support the explorations that launched the board.

PS, you know how you hate it when folks use the term "psychosis" to refer to anything other than the DSMR definition? Well, I get nutty when people start using political metaphors to describe friggin' board culture. OF COURSE it's not like rewriting the Constitution because we aren't a government. I think we are all pretty much in agreement on that one, right?

I think the Constitution analogy is apt. You think this vote is about reshaping our culture, redefining ourselves, changing our mandate. I didn't think of it as a political metaphor, so much as "rewriting our charter."

I don't know if I am ready to make a case for Lost having enough metatext and subtext to support the explorations that launched the board.

This. The show is fun and entertaining, but if the commentary largely consisits of "Snicker bitch must die!" and "Sayid is mine!" I'm not sure it needs it's own thread. (Nothing against that type of comment, but my preference is to keep it in Natter.)

t natter

I don't know if I am ready to make a case for Lost having enough metatext and subtext to support the explorations that launched the board.

if the commentary largely consisits of "Snicker bitch must die!" and "Sayid is mine!" I'm not sure it needs it's own thread.

But what if the discussion is of the subtext that shows why he is mine?

t /natter

This. The show is fun and entertaining, but if the commentary largely consisits of "Snicker bitch must die!" and "Sayid is mine!" I'm not sure it needs it's own thread.

To be fair, it is only in its third ep, so I'm not sure how much of depth is discussable at this point.

I'm personally against adding any more non-ME single-show threads, but I don't how compelling a "the show's not generating rich analytical conversations" argument is, given that we already have a Smallville/Stargate thread.

I think threadsucking and bookmarking are workable solutions. Just keep in mind that incorporating those methods will also change board culture.

Wha? Those methods have always been available.

Yes, of course. I'm sorry that was vague and confusing. We haven't used those tools to sustain an ongoing, on-topic conversation in Natter, over the long haul. If the suggestion is actually, rather than add a thread, have any kind of conversation you want, in Natter, and use these tools to help sustain it, I'm actually somewhat game. I'm still more at home on a linear board. But I do think we'll see changes, either way (if, and only if, people have shows they really want to talk about, which they might not, and then, if and only if, we vote down any threads). I'm trying not to say too much, or go on too long, because honestly, I don't know what I want. ita's right when she says there's no perfect world, here. So, shutting up, now.

I think that move slowly shifts us more towards a tv discussion board rather than a ME board. And I'm not saying that is a horrible thing that must be stopped, but I would like to see it at least acknowledged.

OKay, I get that. To me, we quit being a straight ME board when Music and Movies and Literary and Smallville and Fanfic and other threads we added back at WX were started; possibly before that, on TT, when we started the first Natter thread. But yes, this would be a further step in that direction, assuming the poll and vote shows we want to take that step.

I don't have the time or the inclination to try to manage conversatons in Natter using bookmarks and threadsucking, but if that's what most people are the most comfortable with, I'll understand.