Train Repair or...?

brianlux

I left these forums just after the elections due to massive frustration regarding the elections. I gave myself a lot of time to think about what is and isn't worth the time and effort, what should and shouldn't be said. I sometimes blew it that way myself and I apologize for that. I came back and pretty much have avoided AMT but then I then post one innocuous thread sincerely questioning how little I really understand what is happening on the current events front in this world and questioned how much anyone really knows. It stayed friendly, the responses were mostly good ones... and then it got locked.

But that it got locked is not my beef. I don't know or care why it got locked. What I can only hope for is that this forum undergoes some repair. This used to be such a great place to discuss current events. Can we make it good again? Or should it just shut down? I'm a regular on another music site that strictly enforces a "no politics" regulation. Is that the way to go? I really don't know.

Thanks for listening. I'm going back to the music forums.

PJfanwillneverleave1

Until the next time.

PJfanwillneverleave1

In all seriousness OP you can't discuss politics w/ people who refuse to admit that their current President won fair and square.

dignin

In my opinion AMT is chugging along the same as it always has, short of a few sad trolls.

brianlux

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

In all seriousness OP you can't discuss politics w/ people who refuse to admit that their current President won fair and square.

The thread I was referring to had little to do with that "I golfed 15 times in 11 days" guy. We've pretty much concluded that he has as little a clue about what's going on as the rest of us so I think that's irrelevant. I'm talking about AMT and current events/politics discussions here in general, on a much more broad spectrum.

PJfanwillneverleave1

^^^
On a much more broad spectrum?
You have President Trump as your leader.
How does this not spill into everyday conversation globally?

dudeman

There is a lot of nastiness here on AMT. Passive aggressive comments, sarcasm and a general attitude that sucks most days.

A lot of threads that I view trying to get alternative perspectives from my own quickly devolve into junior high pissiness.

But, it is the internet......

rgambs

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

^^^
On a much more broad spectrum?
You have President Trump as your leader.
How does this not spill into everyday conversation globally?

Some day you will be banned for trolling like this, or maybe I will be banned for calling it out.

PJfanwillneverleave1

rgambs said:

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

^^^
On a much more broad spectrum?
You have President Trump as your leader.
How does this not spill into everyday conversation globally?

Some day you will be banned for trolling like this, or maybe I will be banned for calling it out.

http://community.pearljam.com/discussion/261774/adios-amigos/p1

rgambs

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

rgambs said:

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

^^^
On a much more broad spectrum?
You have President Trump as your leader.
How does this not spill into everyday conversation globally?

Some day you will be banned for trolling like this, or maybe I will be banned for calling it out.

http://community.pearljam.com/discussion/261774/adios-amigos/p1

Yeah, I remember, you trolled that thread as well.
Very mature.

Thirty Bills Unpaid

I think there's some great discussions on this forum.

mfc2006

rgambs said:

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

rgambs said:

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

^^^
On a much more broad spectrum?
You have President Trump as your leader.
How does this not spill into everyday conversation globally?

Some day you will be banned for trolling like this, or maybe I will be banned for calling it out.

http://community.pearljam.com/discussion/261774/adios-amigos/p1

Yeah, I remember, you trolled that thread as well.
Very mature.

Unreal.

Bentleyspop

rgambs said:

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

rgambs said:

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

^^^
On a much more broad spectrum?
You have President Trump as your leader.
How does this not spill into everyday conversation globally?

Some day you will be banned for trolling like this, or maybe I will be banned for calling it out.

http://community.pearljam.com/discussion/261774/adios-amigos/p1

Yeah, I remember, you trolled that thread as well.
Very mature.

And this one as well.
It's never a matter of if but when

Brian makes good points in this thread and the one that was closed.

PJfanwillneverleave1

Bait threads are weird.

gimmesometruth27

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

Until the next time.

why even post this? seriously.

mfc2006

gimmesometruth27 said:

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

Until the next time.

why even post this? seriously.

I think we all know the answer to that.

He trolled me when I started a thread introducing myself & saying hi. LOL.

gimmesometruth27

mfc2006 said:

gimmesometruth27 said:

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

Until the next time.

why even post this? seriously.

I think we all know the answer to that.

we do but i was pointing out the blatantly obvious derailing of a thread on the first reply.

gimmesometruth27

mfc2006 said:

gimmesometruth27 said:

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

Until the next time.

why even post this? seriously.

I think we all know the answer to that.

the main reason i don't come around anymore is the sheer pettiness and how it is tolerated by the powers that be.

mfc2006

gimmesometruth27 said:

mfc2006 said:

gimmesometruth27 said:

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

Until the next time.

why even post this? seriously.

I think we all know the answer to that.

we do but i was pointing out the blatantly obvious derailing of a thread on the first reply.

no idea & it doesn't make any sense to me at all.

gimmesometruth27

brianlux said:

I left these forums just after the elections due to massive frustration regarding the elections. I gave myself a lot of time to think about what is and isn't worth the time and effort, what should and shouldn't be said. I sometimes blew it that way myself and I apologize for that. I came back and pretty much have avoided AMT but then I then post one innocuous thread sincerely questioning how little I really understand what is happening on the current events front in this world and questioned how much anyone really knows. It stayed friendly, the responses were mostly good ones... and then it got locked.

But that it got locked is not my beef. I don't know or care why it got locked. What I can only hope for is that this forum undergoes some repair. This used to be such a great place to discuss current events. Can we make it good again? Or should it just shut down? I'm a regular on another music site that strictly enforces a "no politics" regulation. Is that the way to go? I really don't know.

Thanks for listening. I'm going back to the music forums.

i think amt is a reflection of society as a whole. people are emboldened. and when you can sit back and snipe at people without any repercussions people are going to take liberties. for a long time we could police this place ourselves and the trash would take itself out. unfortunately since everyone is emboldened, it creates a toxic atmosphere. to me it is easier to just read and not contribute.

brianlux

Gimme! I'm glad you're here. I'd think it would be particularly useful to get you perspective on my initial questions. To my knowledge, you are the one of, if not the most long-standing contributor to AMT and you also have a far better than average interest/understanding of current events than many of us here, myself included. Is this forum worth salvaging? What can we do to make it good again?

brianlux

I hit "post before seeing what you wrote above- thank you. Any other thoughts?

hedonist

Well, I'll say this...and no, I'm far from EF Hutton.

Some of us jump in now and then, some may understand a shitload and speak out, some may not.

Repair or shut it down? Why? To whose benefit?

I like the discourse when it's productive and constructive. When it's not, I step away for a time. I don't demand it be closed because I'm irritated with some views or how they're stated.

I guess...be the change you want to see. That's all you (I, anyway) can do.

It really CAN be that simple.

Perhaps take up the thread being closed with the mods...?

gimmesometruth27

brianlux said:

Gimme! I'm glad you're here. I'd think it would be particularly useful to get you perspective on my initial questions. To my knowledge, you are the one of, if not the most long-standing contributor to AMT and you also have a far better than average interest/understanding of current events than many of us here, myself included. Is this forum worth salvaging? What can we do to make it good again?

to be honest i don't think it is. not in it's current state. maybe i am older and more bitter and have less tolerance for online bs. maybe i have said everything that i have to say on most of these topics. how many more gun threads do we need? how many more trump threads do we need? how many more israel/palestine threads do we need? it is all so predictable now. i know pretty much what certain posters are going to say about a given topic before i read their posts. we have a very small pool here now.

i have said it before but amt was always better before the boards became pay to post. you had so many more people posting here. people from all over the world were on here. people way more worldly than i am. i learned so much from other people when they were posting news articles from different papers from other countries. it was not all fox news links and cnn links and blog posts. if we were debating islam, a muslim from the middle east would contribute to the conversation. if we were talking about communism in china, people residing in communist china would contribute. if we were debating israel/palestine, israelis and palestinians would contribute. it was so much better to get perspective from people in other countries. the train lost that years ago when you had to pay to post.

i think the way to make it better is to draw more posters. more posters from different parts of the world. we can all learn something from someone who lives somewhere else. unfortunately i don't see that happening. a lot of people have moved to the facebook groups, and most of the old posters here either got banned or never renewed. unfortunately, just talking to random people at shows and preparties and stuff, people say they won't come on amt because they think it is a cesspool. they think people are mean to each other on here and it is bad for the fanbase. some are afraid of being attacked or some feel intimidated. i met a longtime board member at pj20. he saw my nametag and immediately knew me as "that shit stirrer on amt." that was almost 6 years ago, and that reputation preceded me.

so in short, i think we need to appeal to a broader cross section of fans, and i think we need to have more people from outside the US posting. and we need to get rid of trolls. my three part plan, haha...

PJfanwillneverleave1

^^^
I agree gimme
Americans need to have more people from outside the US posting.

brianlux

gimmesometruth27 said:

brianlux said:

Gimme! I'm glad you're here. I'd think it would be particularly useful to get you perspective on my initial questions. To my knowledge, you are the one of, if not the most long-standing contributor to AMT and you also have a far better than average interest/understanding of current events than many of us here, myself included. Is this forum worth salvaging? What can we do to make it good again?

to be honest i don't think it is. not in it's current state. maybe i am older and more bitter and have less tolerance for online bs. maybe i have said everything that i have to say on most of these topics. how many more gun threads do we need? how many more trump threads do we need? how many more israel/palestine threads do we need? it is all so predictable now. i know pretty much what certain posters are going to say about a given topic before i read their posts. we have a very small pool here now.

i have said it before but amt was always better before the boards became pay to post. you had so many more people posting here. people from all over the world were on here. people way more worldly than i am. i learned so much from other people when they were posting news articles from different papers from other countries. it was not all fox news links and cnn links and blog posts. if we were debating islam, a muslim from the middle east would contribute to the conversation. if we were talking about communism in china, people residing in communist china would contribute. if we were debating israel/palestine, israelis and palestinians would contribute. it was so much better to get perspective from people in other countries. the train lost that years ago when you had to pay to post.

i think the way to make it better is to draw more posters. more posters from different parts of the world. we can all learn something from someone who lives somewhere else. unfortunately i don't see that happening. a lot of people have moved to the facebook groups, and most of the old posters here either got banned or never renewed. unfortunately, just talking to random people at shows and preparties and stuff, people say they won't come on amt because they think it is a cesspool. they think people are mean to each other on here and it is bad for the fanbase. some are afraid of being attacked or some feel intimidated. i met a longtime board member at pj20. he saw my nametag and immediately knew me as "that shit stirrer on amt." that was almost 6 years ago, and that reputation preceded me.

so in short, i think we need to appeal to a broader cross section of fans, and i think we need to have more people from outside the US posting. and we need to get rid of trolls. my three part plan, haha...

And a good plan it is! Thank, man!

drakeheuer14

I read through amt all the time when I am bored. For the most part I hardly ever post, just not worth it. In every thread its the same old story and argument daily. I find it interesting, I guess is the word, the time spent on here by some just to go back and forth with each other or just to pad each others beliefs. Entertaining either way though. But let's be honest, there is barely any diversity in the beliefs in a Pearl Jam fan forum (good and bad thing). And when a completely different view is provided, most will be called trolls (as true as that may be for some), disregarded, and laughed away.

"But they are a political band..." so on and so forth and for that reason alone you wont escape politics and a place like this wont get shut down. And all is dandy if your beliefs coincide with all of the bands if not, "how can you be a real fan?!" I agree with most of the band views, but even for dissenting on a couple issues people question being a true fan. Which I find ridiculous.

But, lets have fun around here while its still here. Music is more fun to discuss anyways.

brianlux

drakeheuer14 said:

I read through amt all the time when I am bored. For the most part I hardly ever post, just not worth it. In every thread its the same old story and argument daily. I find it interesting, I guess is the word, the time spent on here by some just to go back and forth with each other or just to pad each others beliefs. Entertaining either way though. But let's be honest, there is barely any diversity in the beliefs in a Pearl Jam fan forum (good and bad thing). And when a completely different view is provided, most will be called trolls (as true as that may be for some), disregarded, and laughed away.

"But they are a political band..." so on and so forth and for that reason alone you wont escape politics and a place like this wont get shut down. And all is dandy if your beliefs coincide with all of the bands if not, "how can you be a real fan?!" I agree with most of the band views, but even for dissenting on a couple issues people question being a true fan. Which I find ridiculous.

But, lets have fun around here while its still here. Music is more fun to discuss anyways.

I agree that preaching to the choir or simply agreeing "because Ed said so" is not very useful.

Actually I think the mods do a good job of keeping the band out of the discussion here on AMT. I once posted a thread titled "World Wide Suicide" because it seemed to me that phrase well described what was happening in the world and I made no reference to the song. But because it is a PJ song title the thread got shut down. Fair enough.

Also, I for one am in favor of a diversity of opinion as long as all opposing opinions are stated with some degree of knowledge about the subject and with some sense critical thinking.

And I'm very much liking gimme's idea of having a broader group of people posting here, not just in terms of opinion, but of locale. of world view, of perspective.

Other thoughts I had:

--Sticking top to the topic.

--Closing down a discussion when the same thing is said 100 times.

--Free coffee on Fridays.

hedonist

Aaaand...that's why I feel like I'm blowing in the wind.

So be it.

This place is open to THE WORLD. See it or not.

Really though - stick to the topic - part of the forum guidelines.

Close down a discussion by someone's arbitrary terms?

Hope all have fun playing by their own parameters.

I'm just having fun too and tossing my pitiful two or three cents in when I feel like it. Damned if it doesn't fit the mold.

Am I broad enough to be your fellow poster? Not sure I'm willing to be bandaged hand in hand with some here.

Go Beavers

I enjoy it in here and I think it's more respectful and there's more quality posts then in a lot if other places online. It would be nice if there were more conservatives in here just to get their take, since I'm around so few in my day to day life. I think a lot if them got canned in the days after the election.

Thirty Bills Unpaid

People have choices to make.

There are several threads I haven't ventured into.

Not all threads are going to go the way some people want them to go or hold people's interest. If someone doesn't like a thread or the way a thread has evolved... then they don't have to enter it and the won't be bothered by it.