To chit chat or not to chit chat

[Ken Leung]

Simple question, not suggesting we should do one way or the other.

Do you want chit chat forum in Chief Delphi Forum or not?

Pros and cons, plus and minus for each side of the debate are welcomed.

[Billfred]

I'm pro-chit-chat. Even if you're anti-chit-chat, consider this: we've gotta get all of our insanity, debate, and type-your-user-name-with-your-ear-wrapped-in-an-old-sock threads out somewhere. Better there than somewhere where folks expect serious, technical conversation, eh?

[Matt Attallah]

OK.

I am totally lost here. What is going on in CD.com lately? What is with all the new objections and follow the rules more stricter type thing going on in here? Did I miss something huge.

IMHO people are taking the few threads that I have started - as well as threads that other people have also - wwwaaayyy too seriously - and this is BS.

The season has not started. There are some technical things floating around - but really most people right now are on CD.com just to kill some time and have a little fun.

ALL of you need to just take a chill pill and relax.

Chit-chat. Honestly Ken - what type of question is that? If some people don't like it - than where will we have most of our fun at? At the General Discussion - or how about the Programming section.

People have claimed CD.com has gone down - but step back and really look at the mirror...

[Ken Leung]

Originally Posted by Matt Attallah

ALL of you need to just take a chill pill and relax.

Chit-chat. Honestly Ken - what type of question is that? If some people don't like it - than where will we have most of our fun at? At the General Discussion - or how about the Programming section.

People have claimed CD.com has gone down - but step back and really look at the mirror...

Please notice "Simple question, not suggesting we should do one way or the other." I want to hear opinions. Everyone's opinions.

Do not rush to defend yourself when you haven't been accused of anything.

[Arefin Bari]

To tell you the truth... Chiefdelphi is the same as it was when i first joined... its a great resource for FIRSTers... and yes I have been seeing a few threads in general forum which should have been in chit-chat (no offense to anyone... i have made that mistake 2 days ago)... there is a part in cd where we are being professional and a part where we can have fun (chit-chat). i think that is why the chit-chat part was created. Most of the FIRSTers (engineers, mentors) when they come on cd they look for certain kind of threads which will help them. in another hand there are us (including me) who looks for fun stuff other than just technical stuff. we should be glad that we even have this forum. If brandon didnt care at all, i think i would be bored at all time now (since i spend atleast an hour on cd each day). all brandon expects from us is, we follow the rules... and maybe there are times we just dont realize that we are posting something on certain forum (like general forum) which is not suppose to be there which i understand. i have made that mistake several times. lets just all thank brandon and other moderators who keep this forum going for us...

[Dorienne]

Definitely pro-chitchat. As others have said, and I agree, it is a place for FIRSTers to just lay back and have fun. It's also another way to get to know other FIRSTers when you really can't in real life, or on a daily basis. See their personality, get to know what their opinions about certain topics are.
Honestly, if there are threads that should not be in Chit-Chat (aka, inappropriate) there are ways to deal with it. Simply by ignoring the threads, or just adjust your portal settings. It's as easy as that. It seems to me that CD has become way serious and opinionated lately. I'm getting worried
So yeah, PRO CHIT CHAT!

[Lisa Rodriguez]

My idea:
Chit-chat is a way to talk about random stuff and relieve yourself of stress, and to have some fun. It's a way to talk about things not relating to robotics with people involved in robotics.
If you dislike the chit-chat forum, is that not what brandon worked hard to customize your portal for? So you may chose to ignore those crazy people in the chit-chat forum!!!

anyway, just my point of view, i like to talk about random stuff

[Koko Ed]

Bigtime pro Chit Chat.
Without it there'd be no Fantasy FIRST!

[Jay H 237]

Originally Posted by Matt Attallah

OK.
I am totally lost here. What is going on in CD.com lately? What is with all the new objections and follow the rules more stricter type thing going on in here? Did I miss something huge.

I've noticed this too. Perhaps we should get the CD forum's water supply tested?

Originally Posted by Matt Attallah

The season has not started. There are some technical things floating around - but really most people right now are on CD.com just to kill some time and have a little fun.

Exactly! There are some usefull and interesting threads in Chit-Chat that don't have a real home elsewhere. This time of year the forums are slow in the technical areas as Matt said. I, for one, also enjoy the games in there. I will also admit, even though I have many posts in it, that the "1 to 1000" thread isn't the greatest but why do I keep playing it? Because I have learned many of the different team names from playing it, and also how many teams don't exist anymore. If Chit-Chat disappeared I guess Eddie would have to do all technical questions on Jeopardy from now on so he could run it from the technical section.

I vote to keep Chit-Chat.

[Ken Leung]

Originally Posted by Dorienne Plait

It seems to me that CD has become way serious and opinionated lately. I'm getting worried
So yeah, PRO CHIT CHAT!

I think there are some light in that observation. That is one reason I want to bring this thread up. I've predicted with the group we have this year most are going to be pro-chit chat. What I am interested in is anyone who might say "um... I am not so sure.", and understand why they feel that way.

I've observed that a lot of members who are not satisfy with the currect CD forum are the veteran members who have been around for a long time. Most of us grew up in the earlier years of CD forum, and the rapid changes in this forum is causing us to react strangly, whether it be new personalities to the forum, or a shift of attitude.

Everyone have a certain attachment to their past experiences, especially past experiences that meant a lot to them. Rejecting changes is a sign that shows says "I like how it is back then." You certainly hear that phrase a lot, among the older CD members. But that feeling isn't shared by the newer members who post a lot more now a days, that's why we see all these sides clashing with each other about what they want.

We are supposed to learn to be more understand as we grow up. If the older members can learn to understand the need to take it easy some times, can the newer members learn to understand the need to take it seriously some times?


A bigger problem that needs to be addressed sometimes is an observation I keep hearing now a days: "Chief Delphi Forum isn't a useful tool anymore." I hear that saying through out the FIRST realm, from old posters who used to post a lot, to high school teachers who told me "I don't have time to dig through all the noise anymore".

The CD poster community is a very small part of the entire FIRST community, but surprisingly a large amount of the whole community rely on it for information to help their own team. If we can't figure out what's causing all these frustrations within the forum, this place will no longer be a useful place to the community as a whole.


Is chit chat the cause of the frustration we are seeing lately? Is it from people's lack of respects for rules? Are the few of us really too up tight and need to stop whinning and go away? That's something I really want to find out before the Season approach.

Sincerely,
Ken Leung

[meaubry]

Looks like I'm the lone vote against - so let me explain. The dynamics of trying our best to monitor and maintain sanity on this website is an awful lot of work. Only due to the hard work by Brandon and the moderators do we even have half a chance of doing this. The Chit Chat forum has by far the most hits and posts of all of the forums and it brings us the MOST headaches. Maybe it's just the nature of Chit Chat - a place for a wide variety of stuff to talk about. Sometimes the silly can be taken wrong, it's easy to let our guard down and the next thing you know - wham, bad taste, questionable posts - then, explosion and the things out of control. Our moderators do an awesome job of monitoring this section, but even so, this is a difficult forum to justify. You see, it only takes one bad post to cause me (lead from Delphi on this team) to have headaches and potentially phone calls from the higher ups at Delphi. I explain that we are continuously monitoring the website - but - if it gets out of control, we won't only lose the Chit Chat forum - we potentially could lose the entire chiefdelphi website. To me, that is just not worth the risk because the technical and FIRST related posts are more important in the overall scheme of things. Pass the word - post with care and understanding for everyone's sake.

I dont really think it would make a difference it chief delphi got rid of thje chit chat forum. But it is kinda cool having it because its an off subject topic forum thing if you have nothing to talk about.
-Court-

[Bcahn836]

I think just about everyone on CD has gotten some kind or has given some technical advice on something. I know i don't come to CD just for the chit chat, but i don't always have a technical question to ask or to answer, chit chat is a good way to learn many things about FIRST and the people involved in FIRST.
Some of the Chit chats may not be as productive but it is fun and brings everyone closer and you get to know one another.

[Marc P.]

The CD poster community is a very small part of the entire FIRST community, but surprisingly a large amount of the whole community rely on it for information to help their own team. If we can't figure out what's causing all these frustrations within the forum, this place will no longer be a useful place to the community as a whole.

Ken, I think this is the basis of the main question of this thread. Every year, Chiefdelphi grows. As such, a larger and larger percentage of people involved in FIRST become involved with Chiefdelphi.com in one way or another. If not by posting directly, by getting help from a team who found an answer to a problem right here. Since I joined in 2002, I have noticed dramatic increases in the number of threads and users from year to year. From the Internet Wayback Machine:

Early 2002:
Registered Members: 492
Total Threads: 855 | Total Posts: 8,130 | Total Views: 168,749
0-posters: 185 | Active Members: 261 | Inactive Members: 231

Present:
Threads: 23,818, Posts: 261,076, Members: 7,159

We have roughly 32 times more posts in 27 times more threads and 14 times more members, all within a mere 2 and a half years. That's beyond incredible growth. I think in some ways the first few hundred members miss the days when it was only a few hundred members. Smaller communities tend to bond better, get to know each other better, etc. It was easier to know everyone, recognize a name, and sort the wheat from the chaff in terms of posts. Now the community has exploded in numbers, and it would seem, like FIRST itself, is experiencing some growing pains. Older members wish for the old days, while newer members wish to express newer viewpoints on how things are/should be. Looks like the classic clash of the old and the new- like parents and kids on what good music is.

I'll say I'm in favor of chit-chat, because it does give the community (no matter how big it gets) a place to keep everything that doesn't belong in the technical/informational portion of the site. Of course, there are plenty of off-topic and needless threads and posts even within the generally more useful (in a technical sense) sections, but chit-chat gives it all a place to come together, and obtain information about other community members and things which wouldn't otherwise fit in any other category, like a catch-all for random posts.

[Beth Sweet]

I really like the Chit Chat forums. I mean, yeah, in the normal forums you do get the opportunity to get to know other FIRSTers a bit, but I think that one of the big purposes that the CC forums serve is to let us all get to know each other better. I like the fact that we can get to be friends on this site through things like the Chit Chat forums.