I'll still vote against a ban, because it feels too much like legislating a personal preference.

I'm not telling you how to vote, but isn't most of the stuff we vote on down to personal preference? How is voting against sockpuppets based on personal preference different from voting to combine the Buffy and Angel threads based on it?

How is voting against sockpuppets based on personal preference different from voting to combine the Buffy and Angel threads based on it?

Well, one is a direct suppression of freedom of expression and one isn't?

I come here for conversation.

"I came here for an argument."

"Oh, I'm sorry; this is abuse."

Because, honestly, I see sockpuppets as a performance, even when they're putatively interacting with a person or two. And I don't come here for performance; I come here for conversation.

I see the stream of board conversations like a big party.

That's a good comparison, definitely. But I don't see the sockpuppets as participating in real conversation.

To use the party analogy, sockpuppets -- to me -- are the people who put the lampshade on their head and dance on the table.

I, personally, really dislike that. I know other people enjoy it.

But I still don't think that sockpuppets are participating in conversation, as such.

I have not once said here today that majority rule should go away.

Thanks for clarifying, because I thought that's exactly what you were suggesting. Or something about majority rule not always being what's best for the community from which I inferred that you wanted a different system in place. But maybe you were just making an observation, which I would agree with - the majority doesn't always do what's best. But it's the fairest system I know.

Thanks for clarifying, because I thought that's exactly what you were suggesting.

If anything, my only point here is that this particular subject is possibly not the best item to be legislated.

And I have repeatedly said I may be wrong, and that I'm not necessarily stating my case effectively. Others are doing a much better job.

To use the party analogy, sockpuppets -- to me -- are the people who put the lampshade on their head and dance on the table.

I don't think we can successfully legislate against some of us being introverts and some extroverts. Speaking as an introvert who sometimes dances on the table (okay, never, but I do tell long rambling dirty jokes).

That's a good question, and I'm curious to hear the answer.

Because, honestly, I see sockpuppets as a performance, even when they're putatively interacting with a person or two. And I don't come here for performance; I come here for conversation.

Me too.

Because I'm baffled by the comparison, and completely confused as to why the one is being brought up in the context of the other. Beyond the fact that EVERYTHING on the internet can either be scrolled past or clicked away from, I just don't see the similarities.

On the larger issue of To Vote Or Not To Vote, I've disliked the whole voting procedure from day one, and I've said so, to the point where I'm sure people are sick of it.

the majority doesn't always do what's best. But it's the fairest system I know.

It's the fairest system I know as well, but even under most democracies (which as many people have pointed out before in this very thread, this board is not actually a democracy), not everything comes up for a vote, nor should it.

there are tons of suppressions of your freedom of expression here.

If you make personal attacks or offensive posts, or try to start a fight, you will be shunned.

Please don't natter in the bureaucracy threads, in Sunnydale Press, our general announcements thread, or in Apocalypse, our personal announcements thread. Misplaced Natter may be deleted.

Don't post spoilers outside the spoiler threads.

Please keep all discussion of current episodes in the NAFDA threads.

While we may occasionally mention Buffy or Buffista-related goods, please don't spam us.

Consistent demon-like behavior may earn a warning from the Stompy Feet. If you don't listen to the warning, you will be suspended for two months. And if you come back unreformed, you will be banned. Banning is rare and very much a last resort. Just FYI, our back-up boards on WorldCrossing and PeoplesForum are also Buffista Zones, and are subject to the same etiquette rules as the Phoenix.

This isn't the town green.

Now maybe you feel this particular suggested suppression is over the line, but just stating that it is a suppression is pretty pointless.

eta: signing off for a bit - food and shows - not ignoring or huffing.

I'm not telling you how to vote, but isn't most of the stuff we vote on down to personal preference?

I'll try to explain it because it's basically a gut thing: Take the example of how Natter often gets taken over for a couple of hours to discuss some TV show or other. Right now, I'm not watching any of those shows. (Well, except Robot Chicken. 'Cuz that's not a major time commitment.) I'm sure some of them are wonderful, but the way my life is now, I just don't have time for appointment TV. If Joss comes out with a new show, I'll revisit it. So I don't get anything out of the TV talk in Natter, and in a mild way it annoys me, insofar as when I see lots of posts in Natter I'm always hoping for an intriguing or amusing discussion and half the time it's just whitefont on some show I don't watch.

With that in mind, if there was a proposal for a general TV thread, I'd vote for it, because it'd help me find the discussions I want and weed out those I don't want. Is that driven by personal preference? Yes, in a way, but I'm not preventing anyone else from discussing what they want to discuss--just putting it in a different place. What I wouldn't do is propose/vote that we couldn't discuss TAR or Alias anywhere on the board, because that'd be trying to force my ideas of what's interesting, amusing, and worth talking about onto everyone else.

Right now outlawing sockpuppets feels more like the latter example.