Controversial Discussion: Direction of This Site

Originally Posted by Dinah

As a parent I have to say I disagree with this statement well sort of, I do agree that corn snakes are one of the species of snakes that many people would consider to be a good first snake and even a good snake for kids.

But as a Mom I consider it totally my responsibility to keep my kids safe on the internet. Unless you are a kids site nick jr, noggin, barbie (as a side note I find the barbie site to often times be totally inappropriate for kids), etc, I do not believe it is a sites job to to protect my kids from anything (aside from something like very graphic hard core porn). It is my job to protect my kids on the internet. This is an issue that parents should take seriously and it is one my husband and I have taken very seriously. He works in the computer field so we realized early in their lives that this issue would effect us early and often. Our kids are allowed on the internet, but there are rules and lessons taught by me and my husband about what is acceptable, and about what to do if they find themselves in a situation that is no ok. We also have the appropriate settings and such to make sure that anything that is totally not appropriate for them is screened out, and we keep their computer in the living room. I do not consider a kid old enough to be on message boards if they are not old enough to hear an occasional swear, or adult like language/posts. I recognize that not all parents feel this way about the internet, my kids have friends who are not allowed over because they have a computer that can access the internet, even though I told the mom that if she did not want her kids online I could easily just say no computer while they are over. But I did want to say here that as a mom I personally do not feel that protecting my kids is the sites problem. Everyone else can feel differently and I respect your opinions but I wanted to put my 2 cents out there as well.

Well thank goodness! Two cheers to you! As a person who doesn't have kids and doesn't want kids, I sure do get tired of it when people suggest that it's my job to keep their kids from reading things they don't want their kids to read (by not writing them)!!!

Originally Posted by desertanimal

Well thank goodness! Two cheers to you! As a person who doesn't have kids and doesn't want kids, I sure do get tired of it when people suggest that it's my job to keep their kids from reading things they don't want their kids to read (by not writing them)!!!

Stephanie, will you marry me?

And no kids will be just fine.

And Dinah, rep and friendship request on the way.

EDIT : And I might add, in the past year on this forum I have met people very very different from me...who I like very very much. I can't figure out if it is the similarity beneath it all, or in fact the differences that have drawn me to them. But it doesn't really matter enough to over-think it, now does it?

Totally agree with those who say it is not our job to be parents and police the forum in case there are less than soft sweet words.

We're all mature and can be civil and courteous, but this is not Mr. Roger's neighborhood and being pleasant doesn't mean being G rated all the time.

I'm not cleaning up my bar either, the stick warns it is adult oriented, and it is.

I log on to this site for Cornsnake info, pics, new morph info ect. Often when I need help with my Corns or a Cornsnake related problem, I post. Also, if I see a thread that I may be able to add some USEFUL information pertaining to the keeping, care and breeding of Corns I post. If I see a thread that looks like nonsense I leave it. I do not add nor care to comment on bickering Nonsense.
As far as language... If everyone just replied in threads using the language they would use when speaking to their mother, it wouldn't be an issue.
There are a lot of other sites that can keep one occupied with nonesense, lets keep this site what Rich had intended it for. Cornsnakes.
Thats all I have to say about that, now if you will excuse me it is off the Husbandry Forum.

Originally Posted by Old_School

I log on to this site for Cornsnake info, pics, new morph info ect. Often when I need help with my Corns or a Cornsnake related problem, I post. Also, if I see a thread that I may be able to add some USEFUL information pertaining to the keeping, care and breeding of Corns I post. If I see a thread that looks like nonsense I leave it. I do not add nor care to comment on bickering Nonsense.
As far as language... If everyone just replied in threads using the language they would use when speaking to their mother, it wouldn't be an issue.
There are a lot of other sites that can keep one occupied with nonesense, lets keep this site what Rich had intended it for. Cornsnakes.
Thats all I have to say about that, now if you will excuse me it is off the Husbandry Forum.

Look, if you leave the threads you are uninterested in viewing, what is your issue?
I have never known Rich to be shy about telling it like it is. If he wanted to trim the fluff, he'd have no problem saying so, so I'm not sure how valid your interpretation of his intentions may be.

That whole Over 18 group thing didn't go over so well, either...I think it just served to make the teenagers feel that they were missing out, (which was more or less unwarranted!!) and was kind of lame. IMO. No offense intended, Mike. It wasn't a good solution, IMO. It was divisive.

Originally Posted by Old_School

As far as language... If everyone just replied in threads using the language they would use when speaking to their mother, it wouldn't be an issue.

I would, but that would get me infractions, which, for both me and the people protesting my language, would be an issue.

Originally Posted by Old_School

I log on to this site for Cornsnake info, pics, new morph info ect. Often when I need help with my Corns or a Cornsnake related problem, I post. Also, if I see a thread that I may be able to add some USEFUL information pertaining to the keeping, care and breeding of Corns I post. If I see a thread that looks like nonsense I leave it. I do not add nor care to comment on bickering Nonsense.
As far as language... If everyone just replied in threads using the language they would use when speaking to their mother, it wouldn't be an issue.
There are a lot of other sites that can keep one occupied with nonesense, lets keep this site what Rich had intended it for. Cornsnakes.
Thats all I have to say about that, now if you will excuse me it is off the Husbandry Forum.

Excuse me, but I think you'll find that Rich has allowed subforums with non-corn snake subjects to flourish here!

[quote=Old_School;1005714
There are a lot of other sites that can keep one occupied with nonesense, lets keep this site what Rich had intended it for. Cornsnakes.
[/QUOTE]

But Rich himself is the one who has off and on mentioned adding additional sections for off-[cornsnake]topic discussion.

To which I have submitted the example of my second-favorite forum, sigforum.com, which has the following off-main-topic sections:

The Lounge
For just about anything on your mind.

The Lair
An area for discussing common interests--Film, literature, music and hobbies.

What's Your Deal!
Hacked off? Pitch your bitch!

People are asked to keep profanity out of thread titles. The number of posts in these non-gun or Sig-related sections is amazing. Hours of reading every day. Which is what a site needs to stay in business. The traffic of people staying on it for hours, being exposed to advertising.

****************

You don't need to go to Some Other specialty forum to discuss common interests. You (I) want to talk about everything with your friends, who are all already here!

Originally Posted by wade

Susan, I know you were half joking there but that is exactly what I was talking about earlier. If nothing else it undermines the infractions themselves if you can receive one for any reason.

Lately I’ve seen a lot of damn and hell type words go unnoticed where a year ago that would have be forbidden. After you see it in several posts you come to view it as acceptable.

And the mod team has had several discussions with Rich over this in the past year which will account for some of the changes you have seen, including the increased leniency. The mod team has been in a "learn as you go" position basically from the beginning. We were given some rules and how to deal with certain situations, but with all the gray areas and the fact that no two situations are ever going to be the same, we act in the manner we think is appropriate at the time. Afterward, if there is a difference in opinion between the mods and/or Rich, we'll discuss it and sometimes are told to either be more forceful or to back off a bit. 99.999% of the time, we don't overturn any judgments, we just make alterations in our thinking and how we handle things the next time something similar comes along.

And the really tough part is trying to remember how something is to be handled that only happens only once in a blue moon, that you think was discussed sometime in the past and then having to wade through pages and pages of search results hoping to find what to do. And by then, another mod has already acted, appropriately or not, and we then end up in another discussion or simply using that decision as a guide for the next time.

Now I really need to shut my mouth as I see Rich is trying to get another sucker...er...volunteer to replace Mike on the mod team...