Quality of Conversation on Site

[RiverSnake]

Been a Bum for awhile, and I wanted to have a pole for the more seasoned Bums on the forum. For all the seasoned vets whom surf this forum and have been here at-least a year......In your experience has the quality of content, dialogue and sharing changed noticeably....and if so has it been positive, negative or has there been no fluctuation in the quality of dialogue?

 

Obviously this pole is highly subjective, but wanted to take it anyways.

 

My 2 cents, Peace

Edited May 9, 2015 by OldChi

[thelerner]

it is very subjective. We tend to remember the best of conversations and the past always seems greener. Still, I was going to say Same, then I moved up to 'Increased'. Mostly because we don't have the flame wars we've had in the past. I'm hoping it moves up significantly.

[RiverSnake]

I hoping it moves up significantly.

Indeed, I hope so too....and that it moves up in a balanced fashion so we don't eventually have a reverse swing the opposite direction in the long term.

 

My 2 cents, Peace

[ChiDragon]

Thank Tao, it is improving.

[Marblehead]

Yeah, subjectivity and perspectives.

 

I'm still reading and posting here so what can I say?

[GrandmasterP]

TTB has improved.

I took an extended break from this forum due to product placement advertising being passed off as posts and truly awful moderation from one particular 'personal stalker' mod who seems to have either been let go or has moved on.

Still a slight 'frisson' of chippiness from another 'Mod' ( no idea what those new job tiles signify so Mod will have to so) since I came back.

I put that down to poor manners or lack of hospitality skills and we'll see how things go.

Where I work we are welcoming to guests of and visitors to our establishment.

Conversations wise, much better due to fewer obvious nut cases and Mo Pai fundamentalists hence a lot less shouting.

Fewer advertisement posts barring the blatant ones carrying ads as sigs and at least those are honest about their reason for being on here.

Pretty good really, thus far.

Edited April 6, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[joeblast]

it is very subjective. We tend to remember the best of conversations and the past always seems greener. Still, I was going to say Same, then I moved up to 'Increased'. Mostly because we don't have the flame wars we've had in the past. I'm hoping it moves up significantly.

Yes, its nice when people can speak plainly to one another without already formed notions of the other person's entire thoughtstructure in one's head...

[steve]

I can already see improvement with the banning of Starjumper and Rongzomfan, and whoever else escaped my attention, so hopefully that effect will continue to grow.

 

I think it's interesting to notice that both Starjumper and Rongzomfan were very bright (and dark) and knowledgable in their fields of expertise; and both had failed to integrate their knowledge into their ability to relate to other people. Maybe we can collectively learn from that moving forward.

 

I have one criticism - I think the poll is being taken a bit prematurely.

We just saw a few bad actors get banned and admin has announced some fundamental changes.

I think it will be interesting to see how the flow is in a few weeks and months as these changes settle in.

[BaguaKicksAss]

TTB has improved.

I took an extended break from this forum due to product placement advertising being passed off as posts and truly awful moderation from one particular 'personal stalker' mod who seems to have either been let go or has moved on.

Still a slight 'frisson' of chippiness from another 'Mod' ( no idea what those new job tiles signify so Mod will have to so) since I came back.

I put that down to poor manners or lack of hospitality skills and we'll see how things go.

Where I work we are welcoming to guests of and visitors to our establishment.

Conversations wise, much better due to fewer obvious nut cases and Mo Pai fundamentalists hence a lot less shouting.

Fewer advertisement posts barring the blatant ones carrying ads as sigs and at least those are honest about their reason for being on here.

Pretty good really, thus far.

 

Btw, since I started at least, the mods all agree (or at least majority vote) on any particular issue, then one mod makes the statement or tells the person or whatever.

[GrandmasterP]

Sounds good.

The 'vibe' is better here now for sure.

Edited April 6, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[liminal_luke]

I picked "same." As in the past, there's an abundance of very high quality posting, and a smattering of not so high quality posting. But that doesn't have much to do with the quality of my time here. It's like food. There's a Burger King wherever you go, but it doesn't effect you until you pull into the drive-through. It's a choice.

 

Usually I can quickly tell, often just from the title, whether a thread is likely to offer quality spiritual nourishment. If I choose to go slumming in the Taobums redlight district or get into flame wars about eating/not eating meat, well, that's on me.

 

Liminal

[adept]

Did starjumper get banned ?

Well, I for one am not sorry. He is the only member I've put on ignore in all the years I've been here.

[BaguaKicksAss]

I think the quality of the good and informative posts is the same. However I think the quality of the trolling, insulting, lame, overpromoting posts has improved greatly..... there being less of them, and less loud.

[Aetherous]

I voted for decreased, although it's close to "same". Why? Because in the past there was a lot of new information being shared here, and a lot of charismatic teachers were available. These days, what's new? Who are the teachers that change your life and are truly interesting? Some people might say Ya Mu, and that's a close one...I half agree...but can anyone say that he is as charismatic and inspiring/life changing as Max (who was represented by Chris/Mantra68)? I certainly don't think so. There's definitely not the controversy surrounding that...so what does that say? Lets be honest...the Kunlun days took the Tao bum world by storm, and it was a blast, and an educational experience. There was also Vajrasattva/Santi, who shared a lot of interesting things here. Where is this kind of material anymore?

But even before that, things were more interesting. For instance, I found RMAX from this forum, and learned and practiced a bunch of that even back in like 2005. Instead of learners and practicers, do we just have a lot of talkers? Maybe it was just because I was new to the forum back then that everything seemed new.

So I hope to see new information popping up here, instead of the same old stuff; also some brilliant teachers showing up. The forum used to be more interesting...and I'm not sure there's anything we can do about it. Maybe the Tao will make things right once again.

Edited April 6, 2014 by Aetherous

[silent thunder]

Some of the recent adjustments have made a marked improvement in my experience here.

Seems there was almost a concerted effort or a planned assault and the response to it by the mod team was spot on in my opinion.

 

Feels like the flow is effortless, as if a stream were cleared of fallen leaves.

[liminal_luke]

 

Lets be honest...the Kunlun days took the Tao bum world by storm, and it was a blast, and an educational experience. tel

 

 

A wild chapter in Taobums history for sure. Personally, I loved it (a sentiment not universally shared). I've been very on/off about my Kunlun practice but it's still very much part of what I do. Wish it had more buzz now. I get the feeling that even the people who did Kunlun and liked it have mostly moved on to other things.

[SonOfTheGods]

Political Correctness is a roadblock

 

There is also an invisible brick wall for anything border line fringe

 

Starjumper7 had Me on ignore

[Aetherous]

A wild chapter in Taobums history for sure. Personally, I loved it (a sentiment not universally shared). I've been very on/off about my Kunlun practice but it's still very much part of what I do. Wish it had more buzz now. I get the feeling that even the people who did Kunlun and liked it have mostly moved on to other things.

 

Definitely know what you mean about being on/off with it. I've personally moved on, but still feel the call to practice from time to time. And if I practice for a while, I'll probably feel the call to stop. Even if I don't practice it ever again, at least I have fond memories of everything experienced in regard to it.

[BaguaKicksAss]

I voted for decreased, although it's close to "same". Why? Because in the past there was a lot of new information being shared here, and a lot of charismatic teachers were available. These days, what's new? Who are the teachers that change your life and are truly interesting? Some people might say Ya Mu, and that's a close one...I half agree...but can anyone say that he is as charismatic and inspiring/life changing as Max (who was represented by Chris/Mantra68)? I certainly don't think so. There's definitely not the controversy surrounding that...so what does that say? Lets be honest...the Kunlun days took the Tao bum world by storm, and it was a blast, and an educational experience. There was also Vajrasattva/Santi, who shared a lot of interesting things here. Where is this kind of material anymore?

 

But even before that, things were more interesting. For instance, I found RMAX from this forum, and learned and practiced a bunch of that even back in like 2005. Instead of learners and practicers, do we just have a lot of talkers? Maybe it was just because I was new to the forum back then that everything seemed new.

 

So I hope to see new information popping up here, instead of the same old stuff; also some brilliant teachers showing up. The forum used to be more interesting...and I'm not sure there's anything we can do about it. Maybe the Tao will make things right once again.

 

What do you think the forum can do to attract some quality teachers?

[liminal_luke]

Political Correctness is a roadblock

 

There is also an invisible brick wall for anything border line fringe

 

Oh, I dunno. Have you checked out the penis whisperer thread? The whole topic of retention, a perenial taobums favorite, is pretty darn fringe--or so my friends tell me. Actually, any spiritual strivings that fall outside of once weekly church attendence are suspect in the eyes of many. Here at taobums there's still plenty of room for weird.

 

Liminal

[Aetherous]

What do you think the forum can do to attract some quality teachers?

 

I don't think it's on us...it's just something that happens every now and then.

[soaring crane]

ebb and flow, ebb and flow. There's no definitive answer to the poll.

[The Prisoner]

I think its a dead end.

[Aetherous]

On teachers, would you say they have proven to not stick around the Bums long?

 

The good ones tend to stick around for a few years, I think.

[Apech]

I liked Starjumper. Although I didn't agree with anything he said hardly. But that's not the point. Its a level playing field on here where we can all express ourselves as equals. I picked up a huge amount of information from RomzongFan because of the links to academic works he posted. I miss this because I like my thinking to be stretched. He was the most annoying poster ever because he just repeated the same stock phrases without an elaboration or explanation. I worked hard not to put him on ignore and felt that it was good exercise in mind training to do so. So banning all the irritants may seem to improve the level of conversation on here but actually I don't believe it does really. Sorry but I think we've taken a wrong turn here. Just my thoughts.

 

The others that got banned recently well they were obvious trolls. So no problem there.

 

As to teachers and this forum Trunk has always told me that we operate a level playing field here and there's no room of encouraging or making a place for teachers here. While I see this point of view I think its a shame that very few seem to wish to stay around for very long.

 

So overall I am not convinced anything is really any different. The moderation rules as they were, i.e. no insults worked to improve the board because they were plain and simple and therefore easier to enforce. Now I am lost as to what exactly the rules are as they seem to have all sorts of nuances and interpretations which I don't understand.

Edited April 6, 2014 by Apech