It all comes down to these two questions: Are things bad enough that they are affecting normal operation of Chief Delphi forum? Are the non-FIRST discussions setting a bad example for others because of bashing, trolling, and flaming?
The most important function of the CD forum is for FIRST participants to talk about different things in FIRST, and meet other FIRSTers, and share & learn with others. While that’s probably not the exact mission statement for this place, it should be pretty close.
Now, if the Chit Chat section got out of hand so much such that its interfering with any of the above, like flooding the forum so much that other conversations are washed away by them, or having too much heated discussions that they are driving people away and setting bad examples for other new members, than we will have good reasons to shut it down. But that hasn’t happened yet, and I hope it never will. The only reason for shutting down Chit Chat, or censoring certain posts, will be because they are ruining the spirit of the forum.
So far, everything is just contained inside chit chat that its not interfering with all the other main forums, with the exception of flooding the portal page. I really like the idea of taking out chit chat links from the portal page… After all, for the people who care about it enough, they will be inside the CC forum looking up the threads in no time.
The idea for having a time limit, is to get people to understand that they shouldn’t keep filling into a thread once the main points have been discussed thoroughly, which at that point, are just adding on non-sense discussions onto the thread. If you are having a constructive, intellectual discussion, by all means continue until you are fully satisfy with all the argument. At the end, it will probably be a case-by-case time limit because there are different kinds of discussions going on…
I really suggest you to be smart about this when you post a controversial topic. Have someone act as an organizer of the thread, figure out what kind of things you want to talk about in the thread, and have an organized discussion rather than just blindly stating opinions. It would do no good if everyone just shout out at the same time. This will be good for managing the forum, and for your learning experience as well.
The only reason for having a set time limit is that if there’s sooo much discussions that all of the moderators can’t keep up with them and have to rely on a set number to make sure things don’t get out of hand. Besides, having a time limit might push people who care about the topic enough to post replies fasters, and ending the discussion faster…
Keep in mind, (I’ve said this in another post before @
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...435#post101435 ), that you are setting an example once you start posting in the forum, whether its good or bad. You got a responsibility to think about what you post before you actually press the “post thread” and “submit reply” buttons. Understand that other new members will be looking up to you to see how postings are supposed to be done. The idea I had above, to have an organizer of the thread, is one good way of showing a good example to others beside just making good posts. Also, I like the idea of treating this place as a “break room”. If most of you like these idea too, then support it by spreading the idea around in your posts/replies in the CC forum. Teach by example and not by lecturing.
Mean while, when I read the above posts about talk of censorship and shutting down Chit Chat, people are acting as if they are completely shut out by CD if that happen… Remember that the forum is started by people too, not the government. If you don’t think the forums in here satisfy your need to discuss non-FIRST things, it is ok for you to create another forum else where, and then put a link in main page for people who are interested to go in and have discussions. I am not saying that you guys should take your conversation else where, rather I am suggesting that if you care about this enough, then you should be willing to do something to create a forum suitable to your need of freedom of expression.
Also, while it is true that Chief Delphi own this forum and can do whatever they want, I still believe that they are reasonable people and will listen to other’s suggestions. I’ve seen it happen many times, and I know it will happen again regarding this matter. Please be reasonable, considerate, and thoughtful too.
So, let’s all think about this a little bit, and see what happens to the poll.