Spike: Ladies. Come on in. Plenty of blood in the fridge, don't be shy. Dawn: You mean like, real blood? Spike: What do you think? Dawn: Mostly I think, 'Eew!'

'Potential'


Bureaucracy 2: Like Sartre, Only Longer  

A thread to discuss naming threads, board policy, new thread suggestions, and anything else that has to do with board administration and maintenance. Guaranteed to include lively debate and polls. Natter discouraged, but not deleted.

Current Stompy Feet: ita, Jon B, DXMachina, P.M. Marcontell, Liese S., amych


Wolfram - May 09, 2003 12:31:58 pm PDT #1537 of 10005
Visilurking

But I think that the participants of the thread should have some degree of self-determination. What if a group of Buffistas started to press for no smut in the Fanfiction threads because it offends them, even though they don't read the thread? It's hardly fair. I would never presume to contribute to decisions in the Bitches thread, because I not in there and I don't know what the community is like, nor what their standards are.

Look, thread creation, existence, and eventual archiving affects all of us because it takes up bandwith and there's only a certain amount of threads we can comfortably hold. So for content of threads, look to the posters, but for existence it's really up to the community at large.


Allyson - May 09, 2003 12:33:58 pm PDT #1538 of 10005
Wait, is this real-world child support, where the money goes to buy food for the kids, or MRA fantasyland child support where the women just buy Ferraris and cocaine? -Jessica

there's only a certain amount of threads we can comfortably hold.

Is this true?


Lyra Jane - May 09, 2003 12:36:19 pm PDT #1539 of 10005
Up with the sun

Deena, I'm having a hard time explaining this, but I'll try.

Let's say we have 40 people who really, really want a thread on Monkeys, and 80 who don't see the point of it. Under consensus, the 40 might get it by wearing the 80 down. Under a vote -- and thread creation was a main function of voting as we visualized it -- it's proposed, seconded, goes to a vote, and fails. The 80 (who don't care) have outvoted the 40 (who do).

Now let's say we already *have* a monkey thread, and the 80 are saying "Why is there a monkey thread? I do not like it. Let us get rid of it." and the 40 are screeching "Noooooo! Do not hurt my precious monkey thread!" If it went to a vote, the 80 would squash the 40 like bugs. If it were talked out, the 40 might wear the 80 down (just as they did to get the thread in the first place, the filthy Monkey-lovers.)

Now, in an ideal world, people would abstain from votes abotu threads they don't use. I agree with that. But I think our rules for creating and deleting threads have to be consistent.


Wolfram - May 09, 2003 12:36:25 pm PDT #1540 of 10005
Visilurking

Isn't that the basis for the anti-proliferation camp?


Lyra Jane - May 09, 2003 12:38:12 pm PDT #1541 of 10005
Up with the sun

Well, more posts do fill the database faster, but there are also some community/personal comfort issues, Wolf.


Sue - May 09, 2003 12:41:28 pm PDT #1542 of 10005
hip deep in pie

Look, thread creation, existence, and eventual archiving affects all of us because it takes up bandwith and there's only a certain amount of threads we can comfortably hold. So for content of threads, look to the posters, but for existence it's really up to the community at large.

I can see this argument, Wolfram being applied to thread-sprawl, but not to the constriction of active threads. If we're using the bandwidth for good, we're part of the community, and there's a demand for it, why cancel a thread for the sake of saving some bandwidth? It's that kind of logic that gets shows like Firefly cancelled. Shouldn't the board be responsive to the needs of the community? Isn't that why we moved to a semi-dedicated server? Are our bandwidth problems really that dire?


Sophia Brooks - May 09, 2003 12:44:55 pm PDT #1543 of 10005
Cats to become a rabbit should gather immediately now here

AAAAARRRRGGHHH!

Why are we fighting about this?! We were just talking about some housekeeping issues inherant in the end of Buffy. I don't think we should get rid of any current threads that are not redunantly Buffy.

In addition there has been talk of a) perhaps combining Due South and Smallville and b) adding a new Tim's show thread and a new "graduates of ME thread."

No one is going to close the Canadians.


Allyson - May 09, 2003 12:50:51 pm PDT #1544 of 10005
Wait, is this real-world child support, where the money goes to buy food for the kids, or MRA fantasyland child support where the women just buy Ferraris and cocaine? -Jessica

No one is going to close the Canadians.

Crap. And here I was with my Close Canada! flag.

Why are we fighting about this?!

I dunno.

In addition there has been talk of a) perhaps combining Due South and Smallville and b) adding a new Tim's show thread and a new "graduates of ME thread."

Aye aye, capn. Can I propose a three-in-one?


Wolfram - May 09, 2003 12:51:19 pm PDT #1545 of 10005
Visilurking

I can see this argument, Wolfram being applied to thread-sprawl, but not to the constriction of active threads.

The issues are similar and the arguments apply to both. Obviously more deference would be given to existing threads over non-existing ones.

If we're using the bandwidth for good, we're part of the community, and there's a demand for it, why cancel a thread for the sake of saving some bandwidth?

Nobody's saying we should. Only cancel a thread if nobody's using it, or it's clearly redundant.

The point is that the Buffista community-at-large is more than capable of "doing the right thing" when it comes to existing threads that people care about, even if the entire community isn't active in that thread. But I would be very opposed to a subcommunity having greater voting rights on their thread than anyone else.


Sue - May 09, 2003 12:54:04 pm PDT #1546 of 10005
hip deep in pie

I'm not really talking about just the Canadians, though, Sophia. And I don't really want to argue about it more. It just touches some buttons I have with the whole way Bureau is nowadays. I really just came here to see how the name for Buffy race was going. I think I'll go back to my unsubscribed, ignorance is bliss ways.