all posts post new thread

Can we have an off topic sub forum?

Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)

Gman10

Level 4 Valued Member
Was just tossing the idea out there, mods you can delete this if this isn't allowed but I thought an offtopic would be cool to have, general chitchat etc...?

Thoughts?
 
Gman10 said:
Was just tossing the idea out there, mods you can delete this if this isn't allowed but I thought an offtopic would be cool to have, general chitchat etc...?

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
The old DragonDoor forum, before StrongFirst existed, had a lot of freewheeling off topic discussion that was eventually shut down, and it's always been very limited here. Ultimately, this is a forum sponsored by a commercial entity, and not a general social media platform. It's so easy for OT discussion to go sideways into toxicity that I completely understand why it's kept on a short leash here.
 
Last edited:
Gman10 said:
Was just tossing the idea out there, mods you can delete this if this isn't allowed but I thought an offtopic would be cool to have, general chitchat etc...?

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
We used to, but we put almost everything that was in separate sections into one big pot a few years ago and we like that. Training logs are separate but that's it. We do have a "topic" of "off-topic" you can use.

All that said, the question you're asking is whether we could have a separate section for that. Some rules - no ad hominem attacks, no flame wars, etc. - would still apply, but I can see the value of the idea - let me kick it around with a few folks at StrongFirst HQ and I'll be back in touch.

-S-
 
Steve Freides said:
We used to, but we put almost everything that was in separate sections into our big pot a few years ago and we like that. Training logs are separate but that's it. We do have a "topic" of "off-topic" you can use.

All that said, the question you're asking is whether we could have a separate section for that. Some rules - no ad hominem attacks, no flame wars, etc. - would still apply, but I can see the value of the idea - let me kick it around with a few folks at StrongFirst HQ and I'll be back in touch.

-S-
Click to expand...
I have to say that I liked the old format of the forum better when everything was separated into different topics. I find the forum has a lot less variety today. I find it's somewhat stale compared to how it was a few years ago. It seems as we also have a lot less participants than there were a few years back.

Some topics, like bodyweight seem to have almost disappeared from the forum.

Might just be an impression an not the reality though.
 
Benjamin Renaud said:
I have to say that I liked the old format of the forum better when everything was separated into different topics. I find the forum has a lot less variety today. I find it's somewhat stale compared to how it was a few years ago. It seems as we also have a lot less participants than there were a few years back.

Some topics, like bodyweight seem to have almost disappeared from the forum.

Might just be an impression an not the reality though.
Click to expand...
Agreed
 
The forum won't be returning to its previous multi-section format, at least not that I've heard about. As to whether or not we have fewer participants now, that would be an interesting question and I'll see if I can look into it.

I spoke online with another forum administrator who said his members had set up their own off-topic "venue" by using Discord. While that's certainly always an option, if there's interest in an off-topic section, that remains a possibility and, if we do it, it will be like the training logs, in its own section.

Now that this thread exists, I'd like to hear more opinions about having an off-topic forum section.

Thanks, everyone.

-S-
 
Steve Freides said:
The forum won't be returning to its previous multi-section format, at least not that I've heard about. As to whether or not we have fewer participants now, that would be an interesting question and I'll see if I can look into it.

I spoke online with another forum administrator who said his members had set up their own off-topic "venue" by using Discord. While that's certainly always an option, if there's interest in an off-topic section, that remains a possibility and, if we do it, it will be like the training logs, in its own section.

Now that this thread exists, I'd like to hear more opinions about having an off-topic forum section.

Thanks, everyone.

-S-
Click to expand...
Six of one, half a dozen of the other….
Like @John K I probably wouldn’t use it.

Threads can devolve to off topic pretty quickly anyway. (I doubt it would stop that)

Being off topic would it require more ‘policing’…?
 
offwidth said:
Being off topic would it require more ‘policing’…?
Click to expand...
A good question. I don't think it would. I "police" the training log sections less than the rest of the forum, relying on forum members to use the Report function or PM'ing me if they think there's a problem there. That's what I'd do here, too.

-S-
 
Steve Freides said:
As to whether or not we have fewer participants now, that would be an interesting question and I'll see if I can look into it.
Click to expand...
I would have thought someone would have followed how the format change affected the number of posts and participants. Especially in an organisation like SF where everything seems to be analysed thoroughly.
 
Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)
Back
Top Bottom