The Circle of Threads

[Pagan]

Have you ever noticed that certain threads reappear throughout the lifetime of Otakuboard? How certain ideas seem to recycle themselves throughout the net in a never ending cricle?

I swear I've seen the Nightmare Before Christmas thread about 6 times since I've been here. Monty Python has been done too. I remember when I was really active here I thought I was doing something new, making a real difference, but now I see that I was just the new ideas of the period. Its as if a new group of members sign up every year and post the same threads that their predecessors posted. Makes everything seem so pointless

It must be truelly terrible to be a adminastrator or moderator and have to see the same threads over and over again. It becomes harder to just post the longer you've been here because you've already spoken your mind on the subject over and over again. How do you guys do it?

Just so this thread doesn't turn into spam, please answer the following question. What thread are you tired of seeing recur here at otaku? What was the most original thread you've seen since being here that has never happened but once?

My most hated thread is the Nightmare Before Christmas one that I have posted in soon to be 4 times. And the most original was the, "mod for a day thread" , it still makes me laugh.

This thread has probably been posted or done before to. Its torture to even think about it. I WANT MY IDEAS TO BE ORIGINAL!!!!!!! Oh well you win some you lose some.

Smh at suicide thread still being popular

[Goodbye, Face]

I've seen maybe four or five "How did u find OB?" threads since I've been here. I've answered in three of them.

As for being original, a few years ago, putting IM quotes was a bigger fad. So me and Dragon Warrior founded a thread called [URL=http://otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=19643]Competition--Who Has the Best Chat Convo?[/URL]. I was, of course, under a different name. I think we made it to being runners up in the Otaku Awards for funniest thread... after I left, of course.

[Patronus]

I remember posting in a "How Did You Find OB?" thread long ago, but I haven't since. It doesn't make sense to me to tell something more then once when people are too lazy to search for threads they're about to post.

The suicide topic has been overdone as well, and the bad thing isn't the topic itself, it's the stereotypes people see suicidals as- it's horrible.

The picture caption thread has been overdone, as well as the "omg sh3 ju5t br0k3 ^ w1th m3!!@#!" threads. They're more frequent then they used to be, which is evident.

I guess all forums have overdone threads.

[Gavin]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting.

The simple fact is that Otakuboards is a continuously growing and expanding board, it?s been around since it?s V1 incarnation back in 2000 and now with V7 in 2005 we have over seventeen thousand members. It?s only natural in that space of time that threads are going to be repeated over a few times, new members have a look around the different forums and post threads about topics they want to talk about, just because that thread came up before that new member arrived doesn?t make it any less worthy of discussion. Now if the same thread comes up twice on the same page, or is brought up twice or three times in a month it?s a different story and the creator can be redirected by a Moderator to a similar thread.

But it?s hardly fair to expect every new member to look over every thread since the beginning of V3 (as that?s the first incarnation of these particular forums) just because a thread might have occurred once or twice since before then. Debate topics like abortion or homosexual marriage tend to come up two or three or four times a year, and people continue to post their opinions in them because they want to, or because their opinions have changed since the last thread was created, or because new members want to have their say on the matter.

It?s that simple, so long as we get new members, and Otakuboards continue to exist we will have the same threads coming up. It?s not wrong, and it?s certainly not fair to complain about it just because you don?t want to post in those threads or are a little miffed that they come up so often. New members, or existing members for that matter have just as much right as you do to post about what they want to post about (so long as it?s no offensive and doesn?t break any rules) regardless of whether it?s come up before, and that?s the simple truth. [/SIZE]

[James]

[font=franklin gothic medium]I think that this sort of thing is natural and occurs at any medium or larger sized forum. So that's probably the first point I'd make.

However, the longer you are around, the more of these threads you inevitably come across. As a result, you both see the same basic arguments and you also see some new comments from newer members who may not have participated before.

As for the repeating threads I don't like, well, there are many. Religious threads do not generally bother me, because sometimes they can be very interesting. For example, people may be discussing the finer points of a religious philosophy, or they might be clarifying and explaining their religious and spiritual views. When people discuss such things - and reveal their philosophies on life in general - I usually find that worth reading. Obviously though, as with anything, these threads can become iffy if one or two people decide to try to hijack them and turn the whole thing into a big argument. It should be noted, however, that arguments and debates are probably slightly different - one can have a debate that is respectful, without it being labeled flaming or something.

In my time here, I have been involved in both kinds of threads - the debate kind and the argument kind. I remember one religious thread in particular, where I was not only flamed (by some very prominent members), but I was also denied any right to express an opinion. My viewpoint is that even if someone disagrees with your view, you can still express it - as long as you do it in a way that isn't deliberately inflammatory. No matter what I say, I probably risk offending at least one other person, so I try to phrase things in a way that emphasizes that these are my personal feelings and I do generally respect others' right to have their own view.

However, there are times where I can try to express my view in a myriad of ways, but it will still not get through. This becomes a problem because I am not only misinterpreted, but various assumptions are made about me that are simply inaccurate. It's difficult because I try to avoid such things myself and it can be very awkward to post in threads that degenerate into something like that.

Still, repetition of threads can be a good thing in this sense. Where one thread about religion or politics may fail, another may do quite well. The mixture is good and the mixture of members is good too. And as always, if I don't want to post there (and I often don't), I can simply avoid the thread. As I always say, this is the beautiful thing about the Internet in general - no use complaining about threads you don't like if nobody is forcing you to post in them (or even read them).

There are some threads that I will never like; mostly stuff that deals with abortion or something. If everyone simply stated their views, that would be fine. But people invariably respond to each other and start accusing one another of things - it's not good. On the one hand, I don't want to ban such threads, but on the other, they invariably lead to more than "heated debate". So it's a very difficult issue for anyone to deal with.

I suppose that beyond those threads, I don't generally like relationship threads. Sure, they are fine if you're interested and I'm sure people want some advice, which is completely reasonable. But I personally dislike a good 99% of them, because I often think that people are asking for solutions to incredibly simple problems. Usually, the words "communication", "patience" and "logic" would probably answer a good majority of these threads.[/font]

[Horendithas]

In a forum this size, re-occurring threads are unavoidable, especially when you are a new member and want to discuss topics with others that have already been discussed before. In many cases you have no choice but to create a new thread as the rules tell you that after a certain time period you are expected to create a new one instead of posting in a thread that hasn?t been posted in for a very long time.

It may be boring to members who have been here longer, but to those of use who have not, such threads like religion and suicide or even the how you found otakuboards are quite interesting. Especially since other forums I have been to lack the quality of posting that I have seen here.

Finding a site where actually discussion is going on makes the wish to discuss such topics even more desirable as you have finally found a site where you can have a real discussion instead of the usual spamming in other sites that before long aren?t even remotely related to the original topic of the thread. There is nothing more frustrating that attempting to have a real discussion only to have it degrade into a pointless Spam session.

Even after I have been here for a while, I am sure it will still be interesting to discuss with the newer members topics that have been discussed before as they will have a different outlook and opinion on the matter.

[Roxie Faye]

[quote name='James][font=franklin gothic medium']I suppose that beyond those threads, I don't generally like relationship threads. Sure, they are fine if you're interested and I'm sure people want some advice, which is completely reasonable. But I personally dislike a good 99% of them, because I often think that people are asking for solutions to incredibly simple problems. Usually, the words "communication", "patience" and "logic" would probably answer a good majority of these threads.[/font][/quote]
[color=#9933ff]Well said. I refuse to read relationship threads because they're pretty much easily solved. They're just so.... meh, to me. Whatever. You said what I wanted to say, and I'm not articulating very well about relationship threads anyway. =X

[quote name='indifference']It may be boring to members who have been here longer, but to those of use who have not, such threads like religion and suicide or even the how you found otakuboards are quite interesting. Especially since other forums I have been to lack the quality of posting that I have seen here. [/quote]
Lol. Right on. After a while, I just sort of stopped posting in a lot of threads - probably why I'm less active on OB today than I was back then - because a lot of debate threads do get repetitive. I do post in religious threads once in a while because sometimes you get different responses, but not for abortion or political idealism threads.

I'm not denying newer members the right to making similar threads - I think it's great. New members then get to express their ideas on hot topics, etc. But like indifference said, it gets boring for me after a while. (although, calling me an old member seems really strange to me... But that's a different story >_+)[/color]