Report-back: any comments?

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

too middle class and elderly blokes with smoked haddock after Evensong

don't go to evensong and have always regarded smoked haddock, with spinach and poached egg as an ideal lunch [done to perfection in a local cafe] - fun aside Anna i am not sure quite what you mean by middle class .... it doesn't strike me that the members are barbour wearing 4x4 driving twin set 'n pearls, or city types nor captains of commerce etc .... older, and educated certainly ... and passionate about music too ... i suspect that if we all assembled in one room we might resemble the audience at the Sunday Morning Chamber Music Recitals at the De Montfort ... united in their attendance but diverse for all that ....

encouraging that rather civilised openness and not fixing what isn't broken [agree with Simon for once] would be my priorities, i certainly value the private message functionality but have not used the VM, but if people are finding a good use for it why not keep it ....

the use of pictures is a boon in all kinds of ways; jazz is marked by albums and their covers, sometimes a pic is worth a thousand etc, and sometimes they are just fun ... provided the link discipline is observed they should not burden the servers ... [and no one has posted an inappropriate picture [yet]

as for tittle tattle about windows and snow etc, such exchanges were a not infrequent part of the BBC site and seem harmless and add warmth to this place...

and ff is a model of tolerance, sense and commitment for us all, for which many thanks ...

[aeolium]

I think these boards are working pretty well - and many thanks to those, especially ff and Mark Sealey, who have stepped into the breach on the demise of the BBC boards. I'd be in favour of retaining Friends/Visitor messaging although I don't use this myself as a number of MBers find it useful and it probably saves these boards (Platform 3 especially) from a large number of chat-type discussions or small-group conversations, keeping the boards more focussed on their primary purposes.

One thing I do think is important - and which seems to have worked better on these boards than on the recently defunct BBC boards - is that those participating respect the different personalities, temperaments and opinions of others. This should not be a club where people are blackballed if their personalities or opinions don't fit. Too often on the old boards I used to see debates descend into personal abuse and posters treated as if their opinions were evidence of moral depravity or congenital idiocy -I always thought this reflected worse on those guilty of the abuse than the original posters (however much I might have disagreed with the latter). So the only two moderating rules I would suggest - other than those you already have - would be 1) Don't abuse other posters and 2) Debate the opinion not the person.

As for the number of boards, I don't think much change is needed. Scrap the Breakfast board, and perhaps replace it with 2 new boards: Proms and New Music. I know there is a sub-forum for Proms under the Performance board but I think that might result in congestion of the Performance board especially during the Proms season. Discussion re the Proms starts well before the season and carries on long after so I think it warrants a dedicated board.

[BetweenTheStaves]

I'd go along with the idea of a separate Proms board and also closing of the Breakfast board.

We seem to remain refreshingly politic free...long may it remain so.

Sometimes it's quite hard as a newcomer to understand some of the subtler references posted but that goes for any messageboard.

I like the idea of 'host' as opposed to moderator.

Just my two pennorth...sure there is an apostrophe somewhere !

[antongould]

I feel the Boards are working wonderfully well and the "atmosphere" is much better than it was on the old Boards. I would greatly miss Visitor Messages I feel they do serve a number of purposes - the electric blanket purpose and the private musical views purpose for example. I have a fondness for the Beakfast threads but possibly only because they brought me to this wonderful place.

[Eudaimonia]

People don't always find their way round their profile settings and are taken aback to find VMs and Friendship requests.

Well, as I've said, the "friendship" feature is only truly useful when people are making use of closed groups and private VM fora. Not to mention the fact that you can restrict certain levels of information to people who are contacts and friends: I think this could be a highly useful tool for those who want to selectively protect their privacy; it's not "all or nothing".

I don't think any of us need a cute title to know who our friends are. Originally, I decided to friend everyone I was chatting with in the old "No Subject" thread in case I needed to take my VM forum private. On the old board, a couple of posters who hated me had taken to following me around making unrelated personal attacks after almost every comment, and it was a serious problem I wasn't about to let happen again if I could help it. It hasn't happened yet, but it's nice to know we have the option of chatting in peace, free of harassment.

Another reason why VMs could be preferable to PMs: if some stranger is going to send you an unsolicited communication, wouldn't it be preferable if it were all out in the open? I mean, if you were of a mind to say something that was creepy and over-personal, wouldn't you prefer to do it in a PM rather than in a VM where the whole world can see it? Sunshine is the best disinfectant, as the saying goes!

[Anna]

Anna, mein Kind, why should you not be entitled? Surely you go back to the closing of the old Classical Forum?

Well yes of course frenchie, and you of all people should know you take what I say with a pinch of salt, but I did give up the R3 MBs around 2007 except for an occasional foray so that's why I don't feel I am really entitled because, in theory, I am a newcomer (although I have fond memories of lawrie packer, I wonder whatever happened to him? I think he went to Australia and got involved in cricket)

As to the VMs, to me it strikes me as slightly voyeuristic that anyone can read conversations, it seems a sort of sub-facebook application which could easily be done on say, facebook.

Apart from that, I think this MB is pretty good and moderation doesn't seem to be needed as the R3 trouble makers seem to have decamped elsewhere. As to Hosts, that's tricky because on the old CMOR MBs (which many won't remember) the Hosts joined in and in fact initiated discussions. Later Hosts were, of course, invisible or very visible Rottweilers. So, I think maintain the status quo for a while would be the best thing. Tis still early days. Oh, the smoked haddock in the bicycle basket was an old jibe at Simon about Elgar cycling thru the misty cloisters to CE whilst dreaming of his housekeeper and some Jersey Royals.

On a technical note, I find the front page doesn't refresh and when I go back to it, there are no new posts so I think it's dead and go away. Also, would it be better if you could read new posts without having to log in? For people merely browsing that may be an incentive to join if they see something interesting.

As to the boards, I'm not sure New Music would get many takers but I cannot see, is there a Composer of the Week thread? Also, if I wanted to start a thread on, say, Baroque, would I do it on performance or cd review?

[Simon]

Oh, the smoked haddock in the bicycle basket was an old jibe at Simon about Elgar cycling thru the misty cloisters to CE whilst dreaming of his housekeeper and some Jersey Royals.

I can't recall anything about Jersey Royals...

Anyway, behave yourself - or I'll start a trend calling you "my dear" again...

[Don Petter]

I have never used, or felt the need for, the VM function, but the PM function has been useful on our quizzing thread where one could discuss the possible solution with the setter without spoiling it for others who were still enjoying the chase.

[Eudaimonia]

As to the VMs, to me it strikes me as slightly voyeuristic that anyone can read conversations, it seems a sort of sub-facebook application which could easily be done on say, facebook.

None of us want to be on Facebook. Even here, I'm chafing at the VM 1,000 character message limit-- what on earth would I have to do there? No thanks! The only reason I have a Facebook account at all was to join the Promenaders' Facebook group after being asked so many times: I don't post, I only read and take PMs. It's just not for me.

Nobody need be a voyeur; everyone is welcome to join in, pipe up, and participate however they please. In fact, I love to hear from people-- but if people want to lurk and never post a word, that's fine too. Who am I to tell you how to interact with me? Do as you will.

As of this morning, we're up to 930 visits and 400 messages. It's not hurting a soul...if you kill it off, we'll all be sad.

[french frank]

PMs are quite different - and useful (I was alerted five minutes ago that I'd closed a thread - one does need to know these things).

If there had been an avalanche of messages insisting that social networking was discontinued, I think the view would have prevailed. Clearly most people aren't bothered. Only one point, and that is that we do have a bandwidth limit which we're currently well inside, but if VMing seemed to be a problem at any time in the future we might have to revisit on those grounds alone. For the present, then, carry on VMing ...