General Tech Forum

Feature Requests & Questions

"These are people who want you to write sanctimonious stories about the genius of the rock stars, and they will ruin rock and roll and strangle everything we love about it." - Lester Bangs from Almost Famous 2000

The forums here, specifically the General Discussion, are not even pathetic any more they are just plain silly and childish.

Posters talking about "poop", illegal drugs, and "yeah that rocks" or "no that sucks" or something similar, without adding anything else to the discussion. I ignore the majority of it and do not participate in most of the discussions because of this.

I know you all probably have the forums here to lure people over here in hopes that they will also check out(result in more clicks/hits) your advertisements and stories and there is nothing wrong with that because I know that helps pay the bills . . . EXCEPT that the majority of what is posted has not a damn thing at all to do with music and those few that do, don't *ADD* much of anything intelligent, in depth, detailed, or even enlightening about the actual music or songs or albums, etc.

Please try to do something to remedy this.

-Holt Pearce

Ditto what he said.^^

I try to just overlook it, but seriously, it adds nothing to the site, and it's a lot of bullshit to sift through (even on a daily basis) to look for any useful information or even just intelligent discussions, whether it be about music or some off-topic.

I'm not real big of moderation though... I'd just like to see people self-moderate just a bit more. But they're not gonna do it if it's not expected of them, since it's already become the norm here. Oh, and this place kinda has a (bad) reputation elsewhere for this too.

--Vik

Vik the administration at jambase.com does not care as long as the hits/clicks keep coming to this site. Oh well what can you do?

-Holt Pearce

I guess you'll just have to be the ones to bring the "enlightenment"LOL!

Maybe there has been attempts and you weren't enlightened enough to realize it?

Maybe you just bitch a lot.

If you want to clean it up there is a way to do it, but it takes moderators and rules. You set up the rules and the mods move all the failed threads to the shit-tank forum. That way there is a forum with no rules, and one with.

"Lowtax at Michigan Technological University" from video.google.com is great start, from the creator of one of the most successful forums on the web.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5510705190973975746&ei=fUqwSeeXHKf22QL496yEBA&q=richard+kyanka+lecture

BenjaminHuman define *your* version of "bitch", please? Might that be a/your "weapon of mass distraction"?

I laid out a valid argument provided valid reason and then evidence to support it. Can you say the same?

The forums should certainly be a community where you can find not only music-related info and discussions, but also distraction, entertainment and fun. I've been known to participate in some of the more trivial threads myself, depending on my mood or the subject matter. But there are times when it's just ridiculous, like a handful of people using the place as their personal playground. Now don't get me wrong, I like everybody here, and I'm pretty easy-going. It's just a lot to sift through, and it does turn off newcomers to the site (trust me, I've seen it many times)... I would think JamBase would be concerned about that.

--Vik

Meh. . . . let the forums run wild and free. .. if something gets truly out of hand (and most of the childish namecalling and joking is done between those that have been on a while, and have developed a level of comfort with each other) then you can yank it. I love the JB forums cause it spreads out from "purely" musical conversation. . . . . In general though I'm a libertarian and don't believe in censoring the internet (although it is your privately owned site, so you can do whatever you want obviously) over content. Its a tricky and movable line you are talking about. What if someone doesn't like a band? Will a bonaroo or Phish sucks thread be removed cause its offensive? Will someone mentioning smoking pot at a show be enough cause to remove the thread, or what about a thread asking about drug effects or a random joke thread?

Don't listen to Holt Andys. . . . he is asking you to do something that

A. is unnecessary (in my opinion)

B. is unwanted (several previous threads on the general section of self-policing and whether JB needs more moderators. . . . the consensus has ALWAYS been to let it roam free)

C. goes against the essence of the independent and "Jam" scene and conciousness

D. would be a major pain in the ass for you

E. Would conceivably lose you ad revenue as you lose regulars that constantly check the threads

F. Causes a moral/social quandry vis-a-vis censorship and moderation. . . .

and Holt, I am deeply aware that there are useless and crappy threads sometimes, but are you nominating yourself to be the one who decides what is a "intelligent, in depth, detailed, or even enlightening" comment? Are you the FUCKING thought police? (emphasis on the curse emphasized for emphasis. . . . . )

and how is that for a valid arguement against your little rant Holt (i welcome further discussion. . . )

1radioheader

and who decides what is truly out of hand? my vote (and not being an owner I don't really get one, I know) says that only clear threats against a person or property should be removed (and the crazy insensitive comments like the guy who commented quite rudely (way back) on one of your staff members that had passed away)

.02

1Radioheader you missed the whole point. My point was not to subtract edit or otherwise it was to figure out a way to have people to *ADD* more constructive discussion. Can you say you have?

Suggestion:

*Add* a "Music *Discussion* Only" forum for in depth talk on songs, albums, & bands, and music as a whole.

Leave the General Discussion for whatever.

My prediction is the General Discussion will get the same traffic and the Music Discussion Only will not get much because currently it seems people don't care about *adding* anything.

My point is the only way to give people an incentive to contribute is to give them an incentive not to suck, ie. the post gets moved. This place needs authority to be peaceful, and no, it's not censorship to get your post nuked. If someone wants to publish elsewhere on the web they are perfectly capable of doing that. The owner of the site can do whatever they please the same way a bouncer throws out drunks and kooks that are detracting to the environment. This gives people an incentive not to post stupid things or they get banned or temporarily suspended for keeping it up, and conversely the topics and level of intelligence in a discussion will grow.

And yes, there needs to be a playground forum where people can run wild, it's too enjoyable not to have, and forums without one usually become a target for tomfoolery instantly.

Just to add my quick input...Jambase in my opinion needs not to monitor these discussions in any way but I do feel that a Craigslist style of 'flagging' inappropriate or miscategorized items could be a more democratic way of weeding out the nonsense. Jambase I know for one is way under staffed to monitor discussion forums in anyway. If someone out here is willing to volunteer their time to help out if this is something your passionate about then I recommend approaching Jambase with your ideas and free service. But till then spread love and not negative vibes yall....all this bickering is making my head hurt!

Regulars will always do it for free for the good of the community, a few just need to be tapped for this task. One could be selected based on notoriety, merit, time spent on the boards, etc. or chosen from a volunteer list.