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.

Susan is wise.

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

I do, and it isn't.

and in particular, I think this discussion is particularly redundant because of:

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.

Is sockpuppetry consistent demon-like behaviour? Clearly not. It is goofing around that is to some posters' tastes and not to others. If the sockpuppet conducts itself in a way that we would consider demon-like behaviour from any regular poster (and it is said regular poster, just wearing a funny hat), then the existing rules of the board can be brought to bear.

Is sockpuppetry consistent demon-like behaviour? Clearly not.

Clearly not TO YOU. I happen to think it is, and have been saying so repeatedly for the last three hours. Neither of us is automatically right just because we say so.

That's pretty much the rub. Someone is going to walk away from this pretty unhappy. I see the sockpuppets as pretty damn funny at times. To the point that some of the Clovis interchanges have really made my day. However, others see it as demon-like behavoiur bad enough for a two month ban from the board. I don't see a lot of middle ground between these two camps.