Frog wrote:
How about this for a bizarre and radical idea...stop bickering and fighting and actually engage in topical discussions in a mature way, extending respect to others who hold an alternative view, there by creating a pleasant environment where people feel welcome to share their views and opinions on any issue. I have no idea at this time how this can be achieved without the willing participation of the community at large. I honestly can't see what was lacking here that prevented people from presenting their ideas and arguments in a wide ranging variety of ways. People have the opportunity to blog which only one person has taken the initiative to explore. Granted the blogging thing is experimental as I have cobbled things together in an ad-hock fashion in an attempt to provide that feature at no cost. There is a video gallery where members can make their own contributions. There is the MyZone which allows people to create their own mini site to present anything they wish to share. Few people have expressed an interest or experimented with that feature. There is a poll system where people can open public polls to help raise awareness of anything they feel needs exposure that could benefit from a show of support. There are is a comment system which allows people to contribute to various content elements directly again interest in that has been rare.
I'm at a total loss as to how more could have been offered that could have given people more opportunities to express and share their ideas. I don't think the rules and ethos are difficult for people to grasp or indeed aspire to, and they seem to convey what most people would accept as reasonable expectations for a community site such as this.
A lot of time an effort has been put in here by everyone involved not just the admin team. We have achieved some great community spirit here, where I believe most people here felt that it was a place where they felt comfortable and connected. Sadly those moments ended up being short lived for whatever reason. Whatever those reasons are/were we are all jointly responsible for reaching those highs as well as the lows.
Obviously we failed to deliver whatever it is that's needed to sustain a healthy and vibrant community, despite our efforts to realise our original goals. We haven't given up on achieving those goals - the creation of the TZ is an attempt to provide an alternative venue for those people who no longer feel connected here - while offering members of SZ the opportunity to continue to develop the community they have helped create and shape to be what they want it to be.
I guess the reality is that the answer lies within each person who takes the time to communicate and interact here, and the reception others give to their efforts and involvement in the community. We are all in this shit together and I think we lose sight of that simple fact!
I agree with almost everything you've said, but I'd like to ask a question.
A couple of months ago, I would have assumed that everything was absolutely fine, in fact I would have until quite recently. I haven't been in the chat room (for which there is a reason) and so I don't know what goes on in there, and I haven't been on the forum that much compared to some because I've had a lot of work to do. And I try not to get involved in gossipy or overly long threads, so I might have missed certain contentious things, I don't know.
But going back months, and certainly weeks, people left the site because they didn't feel they could express certain views, or that the forum wasn't inclusive. What views did they not feel they could express? And what element of themselves was excluded? I thought we were a pretty tolerant and welcoming site, and I would have been comfortable expressing any opinion here.
