I also agree with alot of what Alien, Maduro (first guy i traded with on here), and Kuzi have said. Kuzi and I have had some heated discussions, and I will be man enough to say I even went over the line on a few occasions------but we still (hopefully) listened, learned, and had some good thought provocations....in addition to good cigar info of course. But lately-----well....
I'm really glad to hear everyone's thoughts here, from both sides. I hadn't even thought about the lack of debate, but it's something that's definitely missing, and I miss it too now that it's been mentioned. Change and cycles happen, of course, but I'm just hoping there remains a place for all and that in general it's a welcoming and not intimidating place.
That case and another one I can think of offhand are situations when I wish we actually had some moderation, which is really a shame. The only tools we have as a community to deal with trolls is to ignore them or be rude hoping they will leave, which usually makes them stick around longer. Everyone has their preferred way of dealing with it and that conflict ends up bringing out negativity between upstanding members.
Everyone here should be here for the love of cigars. It is the one common factor that brought us together. You do not have to be obsessed or the most knowledgeable or even smoke everyday. Heck I can't tell you the last time I smoked a cigar. There should be some desire to learn, acquire, contribute, and participate at some level. There are no set rules or requirements but if you aren't here because of cigars why bother? The other talk aside from cigars is great and an added bonus. I really enjoy the social aspect of cigars and discussions that are non cigar related are fun. But at the core of it all cigars brought us together.
Somewhat related, but I was curious. I've seen reference to FOGs a few times. Who are the FOGs? Is it everyone who joined before X date? In this thread alone there are people that joined in every year from 2008 to 2013, so where's the line? I did take a hiatus for about a year and a half or so, was there some divide that happened while I was away that I am unaware of? Obviously I notice quite a few of the regulars from before I slacked off were no longer here, but even when I was active for the first three years or so, people would fall of the face of the earth, so I figured that their absence was just the normaly type of people leaving, only accumulated over a year and a half. Is there some divide between the FOGs and newbies?
Somewhat related, but I was curious. I've seen reference to FOGs a few times. Who are the FOGs? Is it everyone who joined before X date? In this thread alone there are people that joined in every year from 2008 to 2013, so where's the line? I did take a hiatus for about a year and a half or so, was there some divide that happened while I was away that I am unaware of? Obviously I notice quite a few of the regulars from before I slacked off were no longer here, but even when I was active for the first three years or so, people would fall of the face of the earth, so I figured that their absence was just the normaly type of people leaving, only accumulated over a year and a half. Is there some divide between the FOGs and newbies?
Not sure you can put a date on it but I think the divide is highlighted when a FOG says something like - “This forum used to be so great, but then new guys joined and they don't behave like I think they should so,........lately,........ the forum sucks.” LOL
Somewhat related, but I was curious. I've seen reference to FOGs a few times. Who are the FOGs? Is it everyone who joined before X date? In this thread alone there are people that joined in every year from 2008 to 2013, so where's the line? I did take a hiatus for about a year and a half or so, was there some divide that happened while I was away that I am unaware of? Obviously I notice quite a few of the regulars from before I slacked off were no longer here, but even when I was active for the first three years or so, people would fall of the face of the earth, so I figured that their absence was just the normaly type of people leaving, only accumulated over a year and a half. Is there some divide between the FOGs and newbies?
FOG is a commonly used term in online communities that i have always known that lovingly translates to Fat Old Guys. Generally it is forum veterans who have been around through different transitions of the online community. I am a FOG at several different message boards so i use that term in the most loving way possible and NEVER in a negative way.
I'd love more debate on these forums. I personally do a hell of a lot more reading than I do posting always have probably always will. But I must say I'm definitely seeing a change in the forums now and aside from the everyone agreeing with everyone else on everything there is a ton of fluff posts that add no value to the forum, I'm sorry and I'm not trying to call anyone in particular out but when you're at over a 1,000 posts and you've been here a month or two I can't imagine most of it has value. I'm not trying to say that everything I post has value but I'm not in every thread adding a comment.
Comments