So, if you haven't heard of the term "forum sliding" before, it refers to making posts, whether factual or not, that are not related to the content that is discussed in the board. In most cases in other places on the net, it does have intent, and that intent is to push a narrative that's either completely false or against the grain of the purpose of discussion. I think in honesty, for what I have been witnessing happening here on GAW, that's not exactly the whole story, so what I am describing is not out of criticism, but of concern.
To those who are innocent of this, they may not realize they are doing it. There has been a LOT of this happening for a while now. Whether it's karma farming (the act of gaining popularity and reputation on a board, with really no substantial value) pure self promotion (which is actually a rule here that's not being followed sometimes, with some being either actual feds, employees or promoters of an external website), or it's because this is the only or one of the few boards that posters frequent, it serves as a deterrent, a distraction, and it really weakens the overall motive of this board; to gain better understanding about the references that Q made, and to help all anons, no matter their level of knowledge, to congregate, share ideas, dig deeper, and sometimes have a little fun, which I'm not against at all. It also creates unnecessary tension (as I am guilty of), and we should focus on getting as many anons awakened as possible, and not losing them to such antics.
I know I can't call myself a mod, but to veterans and newcomers alike, it's cluttering up the board, and some very good posts get drowned out or get basically no visibility, unless you diligently filter by "rising" or "new". The mods can only do so much, so I think we should really focus on tuning out the noise and post those types of content on their designated boards within the .win community. I've made the comment many times about switching to a vBulletin style board, which would make this issue much easier to manage, and I would be willing to help, but I know that will take quite a bit of effort.
But in the meantime, and I'm saying this humbly; please consider what you post. Check the catalog to avoid duplicates, use the correct flairs when available, research the source of your posts to make sure it's verifiable and relevant, and if you see a post that's high quality and deserves to be stickied, let the mods know! But most of all, let's try not to post things that are reposts we see on social media sites that don't relate much to Q or GAW, or do not have a reliable source. I would say that's where the filtering would have the biggest impact.
Thank you all for being here, and for all the deep research and discussion that is had here. Many forums like these have fell away, and it all started by sliding posts, sinister mods, or outright trolling and shadow banning. Just want to keep the spirit alive here and tweak things just a bit so that we can all get good, reliable info. We are doing damn good for what opposition we face, I just hope that we stay together and don't lose the momentum.
Sincerely,
An oldfag from the early 2000s
Thank you for a very good post dealing with a topic that should concern ALL board members of anything more than newbie status.
More than anything, I would characterize your post as being about GAW community culture.
Of particular note is the "I know I can't call myself a mod, but .... " point. My fundamental philosophy towards community boards (such as GAW) is that the community should always consider themselves the real owners, and the mods as a sort of government role: to uphold the integrity of the board, regulate the community and keep things running on track, but ON BEHALF of the community.
Mods are here as servants, but its incumbent on all board participants to have the mentality of good owners and not just expect the mods/servants to do all the work.
Like any nation build on democratic representative principles, the culture here only really works and/or works best when the people consider themselves at least as invested and as responsible as the mods. Participants should feel a sense of responsibility to think and act like mods, in terms of making the vibe and well-being of the forum their personal priority, even if they do not have the mod position or role.
To clarify, I do not mean participants should act like mods who occasionally have to mete out punishments, bans, and such aka administrative work, but rather in terms of caring for the forum as a whole, participants should have the civic sense and public mindedness that good mods embody.
To me, this post embodies that spirit perfectly.
So far the post has not gotten a sticky, but I think its worthy. I would suggest to the mod team that they should always have at least a 10% sticky rate for posts that highlight Forum culture, community attitude, and best practices, etc. As these are the underpinnings of the value of the forum. I know the mods cannot always get to it, and they do an amazing job already, so this is just a suggestion in case it makes sense and is useful.
/bubble_bursts
/qanaut
/propertyofuniverse
Wow great stuff right here fren. I might need your help in future, writing the framework for Prayer Garden. It's basically what you just said but scaled out to .win as a whole. + A little other things.
You have my number. Metaphorically speaking.
Thanks brother. :)
A place for everyone and everyone in their place 😜😀