Scrap Metal Forum: Off Topic Discussions

[hobo finds]

"Scrap Metal Forum: Off Topic Discussions

Anything to do with scrap metal, metal recycling, news or anything else in the world. Maybe even jokes?"



What should we as a group do with this section of our forum? Should we get rid of it? Keep it? Enforce strict rules about what is posted or commented in this section? Ignore posts that seem to troll others?

[Patriot76]

I vote to keep it as is. One of our God given rights in the United States is the Freedom of Speech. If I do not like a topic I do not have to read it.

[miked]

In the end I have to vote with Patriot76 on this one. Its better to error on the side of freedom. Mikie

[jimicrk]

I think it's fine the way it is as long as members follow the forum rules about certain topics.

Three topics that are not allowed are religion, politics and gold refining.

[auminer]

The country is free. The forum is not. This forum is owned by an entity that has proscribed certain rules. When those rules are being broken, said entity can ( AND SHOULD) remove the offending member.

Offending posts do not add to the knowledge base here, indeed, they detract from/dilute it. They should be removed to preserve the beneficial nature of the whole.

[jimicrk]

Also, don't forget about the report post button.

[auminer]

Also, don't forget about the report button.

i HAVE USED IT OF LATE.... i'M JUST NOT SURE THAT ANYONE IS READING THE REPORTS.

**** CAPS LOCK...... SORRY.

[mikeinreco]

I was fine with all the conspiracy theory posts but one of the last posts was about canabilism and how to carve a female body to eat the most tender parts.....not sure how many of you saw that but that is beyond anything this forum is about.....if my kids walk into the room i should not have to hide this forum from them.....this should be family friendly and a place to share ideas about scrap metal.....please no more pics about eating live or dead bodies

[jimicrk]

i HAVE USED IT OF LATE.... i'M JUST NOT SURE THAT ANYONE IS READING THE REPORTS.

**** CAPS LOCK...... SORRY.

Yes they're reading the reports.

[2dogscrapping]

First off I want to thank the admins and moderators. They are reading the reports and taking action where appropriate. Second I think we should keep the "off topic" forum. It can be fun (goats) and people can share valuable info not related to scrap metal. However, it is critical that we follow the rules of the forum regarding no politics, no religion, no debates. You can find that sort of thing elsewhere. I am new to the forum and I love it. It has been a great tool and I look forward to reading the new posts every day, several times a day. This past week or so has been a little bit different, I was not amused. We have to keep in mind that 1000's of people from all over the world view this site regularly. I want them to become members and join the community, but some of the posts over the last week or so don't (in my opinion) help that cause. Thanks to all of you that make this forum great and keep contributing and sharing. I will get off my soap box now. Adam

[manjelle]

I say keep it i like to see what others think, it gives a little glimpse into the life of our other members. I enjoy reading the post about goats, beer, sandbars, beer, what yall do in yall free time, beer, i also like the post from the guy that post the you tube videos. Its nice to put a vioce and a face to another member. P.S I REALLY LIKE BEER.

[Faceball]

I think it's fine the way it is as long as members follow the forum rules about certain topics.

Three topics that are not allowed are religion, politics and gold refining.

I think we are having this discussion because one of these topics have been recently and periodically discussed and replied to. Im all for freedom of speech on the internet but there is a time and place. IMO, this forum is not the place. TOS says so

Thank you to the moderators for all there work. We can help them by moderating ourselves with the view counter. If you don't like a topic, don't read it or comment. Touchy topics tend to disappear when no one reads them.

My 2 cents ... no refunds

[hills]

I think it's better to try and keep it loose & easy.

Some folks are just pot stirrers by nature. It keeps things interesting as long as it doesn't get too far out of hand. Helps increase the number hits on the SMF site. Maybe the advertising revenues go up ?

There's another site that i'm a part of that had a whole bunch of troublemakers. ( Hundreds of posts per day. ) They weeded those ones out and it settled in to a handful of older members. Very calm and peaceful but they only get a few new posts a month now. The website is all but dead.

Same thing might happen here. Pretty much anything you would want to know about scrap metal is already covered in the archives.

[submarinepainter]

I used to moderate a forum and it had off topic area so people did not clog up other areas, mods can either delete posts that are tasteless and move posts that are in the wrong area it does take a lot of work for no pay but a board will have problems without the mods!!

[Breakage]

"You have the right to free speech, so long as you're not dumb enough to actually try it."-The Clash

I belong to a couple other forums and listserves and I have to say that the conspiracy theorists here are pretty tame, in print, by comparison. Or maybe I have a high tolerance for wild conjecture. Anyway, I don't personally mind it, since I just tune it out or, more rarely, do research on my own to confirm. But I also work in small government and I could see a browser history search about certain things becoming a liability for me, despite my personal opinions. Anyway, I wish to be able to continue to use and review the forums and I almost never post in the Off-Topics section, since my interface with SMF is less about social networking and more about sharing information. I think as long as posters are respectful (and SMF's own administration of the legal ramifications of their policies is consistent), it is not necessary to alter any part of the forum which generates non-hateful discourse. Check in with me again if R. Spencer joins.

Lastly, in my experience, trolls and sincere wackos tend to self-extinguish. Unless someone is actually using SMF as a means to hurt people, I don't see any harm in letting people vent. Then again, I'm not a paid member and I can see how my perspective would not be as valuable to the core users.

[BurlyGuys]

I was fine with all the conspiracy theory posts but one of the last posts was about canabilism and how to carve a female body to eat the most tender parts.....not sure how many of you saw that but that is beyond anything this forum is about.....if my kids walk into the room i should not have to hide this forum from them.....this should be family friendly and a place to share ideas about scrap metal.....please no more pics about eating live or dead bodies

Oh, yuck!