Asset or Liability?

ballysmate

If you are thinking of going, VTech, I would ask you to reconsider. Yes, the recent spats between you and others have irked some members, but so what? Life goes on, it is history.
I have had disagreements and arguments with you in the past but it makes for life's rich tapestry, hey what?
As regards not being cycle related, I have thought that one day I might buy a bike.

Ballysmate

Posts: 3844
Joined: Thu May 31, 2012 9:45 am
Top
Re: It's kicking off in ***** thread

by ugo.santalucia » Thu Aug 14, 2014 10:36 am
Ballysmate wrote:

As regards not being cycle related, I have thought that one day I might buy a bike.

Same applies... if you are NOT interested in bicycles and cycling even just as a cycling fan or engineering fanatic, ultimately you are not an asset, but a liability... tolerated for as long as this "bottom bracket" section exists, but ultimately out of place. The effort involved in moderating this area is hardly worth it, if the people involved are not interested in the main forum theme.
This should be the place for the ODD "off topic" thread, not the refuge for a gang of individuals who are not interested in the rest of the forum...

Think about it and judge for yourself where you stand...

The above post and reply by Ugo was prompted by someone, VTech, intimating that he may leave the forum. I posted the bit about buying a bike, tongue firmly in cheek. I freely admit that I post predominantly in the less serious parts of the forum, but do garner knowledge and information from the rest. I DO own a bicycle and find some areas interesting, although some areas like Pro Race have no fascination for me, as I cycle for leisure and pleasure.
I would be interested to know how many posts do I have to make and in which parts of the forum so that I become an asset and not a liability?
Thank you for tolerating my presence.

ugo.santalucia

I don't know what your interests are.. .I asked you to think... clearly you seem interested about cycling, so you are probably in the right place... no need to kick in the dust

arran77

Bally's post raises an interesting question again.

Do the off topic areas such as Bottom Bracket, Cakestop, Crudcatcher etc have any value to this this website and the people who use it? Also do these areas have any value to those who own the website?

I suspect that the answer to the two questions is quite different.

Personally for me while I clearly joined this forum as I enjoy all types of cycling I'm more inclined to post in the off topic areas as I enjoy the banter on the whole, I do post in other parts of the forum too but generally areas like Pro Race don't interest me.

I suspect that those that mainly post in the more 'serious' parts of the forum could well look down on what goes on in areas like Bottom Bracket but it's been said recently that all members have a right to their opinions as long as they don't break rules so live and let live I say.

It's also been said in the past I think that Bottom Bracket actually takes up far less of the moderators time than other parts of the forum

As to what the owners think of it all, well as long as rules don't get broken then it's ok surely? Other forums that I've been on in the past have had the off topic areas as members only areas to try and make them a little less public.

I personally wouldn't want this place just to be a 'cycling' forum as to be honest I wouldn't bother coming here any more. That's just my waffley opinion for what it's worth, hopefully I'm an asset too

ballysmate

arran77 wrote:

Bally's post raises an interesting question again.

Do the off topic areas such as Bottom Bracket, Cakestop, Crudcatcher etc have any value to this this website and the people who use it? Also do these areas have any value to those who own the website?

I suspect that the answer to the two questions is quite different.

Personally for me while I clearly joined this forum as I enjoy all types of cycling I'm more inclined to post in the off topic areas as I enjoy the banter on the whole, I do post in other parts of the forum too but generally areas like Pro Race don't interest me.

I suspect that those that mainly post in the more 'serious' parts of the forum could well look down on what goes on in areas like Bottom Bracket but it's been said recently that all members have a right to their opinions as long as they don't break rules so live and let live I say.

It's also been said in the past I think that Bottom Bracket actually takes up far less of the moderators time than other parts of the forum

As to what the owners think of it all, well as long as rules don't get broken then it's ok surely? Other forums that I've been on in the past have had the off topic areas as members only areas to try and make them a little less public.

I personally wouldn't want this place just to be a 'cycling' forum as to be honest I wouldn't bother coming here any more. That's just my waffley opinion for what it's worth, hopefully I'm an asset too

No mate, we're tolerated.

ugo.santalucia

arran77 wrote:

It's also been said in the past I think that Bottom Bracket actually takes up far less of the moderators time than other parts of the forum

Really? I'd say it's second only to the classifieds... and maybe the PRO race section when there's some doping thingy insult exchange going on...

ugo.santalucia

The BB is members only, but it's still public to any member and not restricted to those members who want to be there.
Basically you need to show your ID to get access but you don't need to prove your age... capisci?

arran77

Ballysmate wrote:

arran77 wrote:

Bally's post raises an interesting question again.

Do the off topic areas such as Bottom Bracket, Cakestop, Crudcatcher etc have any value to this this website and the people who use it? Also do these areas have any value to those who own the website?

I suspect that the answer to the two questions is quite different.

Personally for me while I clearly joined this forum as I enjoy all types of cycling I'm more inclined to post in the off topic areas as I enjoy the banter on the whole, I do post in other parts of the forum too but generally areas like Pro Race don't interest me.

I suspect that those that mainly post in the more 'serious' parts of the forum could well look down on what goes on in areas like Bottom Bracket but it's been said recently that all members have a right to their opinions as long as they don't break rules so live and let live I say.

It's also been said in the past I think that Bottom Bracket actually takes up far less of the moderators time than other parts of the forum

As to what the owners think of it all, well as long as rules don't get broken then it's ok surely? Other forums that I've been on in the past have had the off topic areas as members only areas to try and make them a little less public.

I personally wouldn't want this place just to be a 'cycling' forum as to be honest I wouldn't bother coming here any more. That's just my waffley opinion for what it's worth, hopefully I'm an asset too

No mate, we're tolerated.

I wrote all that and that's all you can say

The irony of us just being tolerated because we don't have a complete interest in cycling is that clearly the site owners aren't that keen on cycling either

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/may/29/future-publishing-cut-jobs-magazines

ugo.santalucia

arran77 wrote:

I wrote all that and that's all you can say

The irony of us just being tolerated because we don't have a complete interest in cycling is that clearly the site owners aren't that keen on cycling either

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/may/29/future-publishing-cut-jobs-magazines

I don't know how the owners see the bottom bracket... they certainly made it very clear when they didn't like something in it!

arran77

ugo.santalucia wrote:

arran77 wrote:

It's also been said in the past I think that Bottom Bracket actually takes up far less of the moderators time than other parts of the forum

Really? I'd say it's second only to the classifieds... and maybe the PRO race section when there's some doping thingy insult exchange going on...

I can't remember who said it but I remember when we had the last Bottom Bracket shite storm with the commuters one of the moderators said that Pro Race is bad for taking up a lot of time, classifieds is because people mess up their adverts, commuting is (or was very bitchy) and actually Bottom Bracket was always quite good at self moderating itself.

To be fair it does seem to have changed over the last few months with certain 'characters' exchanging 'views' so maybe it does take more time now.

Me and Bally still behave though

ballysmate

I accept that the core membership/readership is cycling orientated and any advertising is therefore cycling centric, but if you attract a membership with wider interests, surely that widens the appeal for prospective advertisers, who could buy space in the off topic areas? Restricting your membership to a very niche market, surely inhibits sales opportunities?

Bit more this time Arran.

ugo.santalucia

I don't have a problem with you guys, but when I (or other moderator) interevene as a moderator on a thread specifically addressing one individual, I don't want to have your bitching in the background and I am not interested in your opinion on the subject. The best and by far the most rewarding course of action for you is to simply stay out of it.

arran77

ugo.santalucia wrote:

arran77 wrote:

I wrote all that and that's all you can say

The irony of us just being tolerated because we don't have a complete interest in cycling is that clearly the site owners aren't that keen on cycling either

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/may/29/future-publishing-cut-jobs-magazines

I don't know how the owners see the bottom bracket... they certainly made it very clear when they didn't like something in it!

I'm intrigued now, what was it they didn't like

Ballysmate wrote:

I accept that the core membership/readership is cycling orientated and any advertising is therefore cycling centric, but if you attract a membership with wider interests, surely that widens the appeal for prospective advertisers, who could buy space in the off topic areas? Restricting your membership to a very niche market, surely inhibits sales opportunities?

Bit more this time Arran.

Very good Bally.

That's very true and could well be to blame for them having to sell off their sports publication titles? It always amazes me that such niche publications can survive, like you say I would have thought having a broader membership is surely a good thing.

Velonutter

These are my personal thoughts not with my mod hat on.

Sadly apart from the Classifieds and Pro Race, BB takes up a fair amount of time

BB serves it's purpose by keeping the absolute tosh spouted on there away from the rest of the forum. Many of the posts are risqué and I do feel that it alienates females from the section and is something that should be reviewed.

Cakestop serves an important purpose and really should be for clean off topic discussions.

The rest of the forum should be 100% cycling related.

arran77

Velonutter wrote:

Sadly apart from the Classifieds and Pro Race, BB takes up a fair amount of time

That's what I thought and I guess as this is predominantly a cycling forum it's tolerated more that you have to spend time moderating Pro Race and Classified while it's maybe resented a little more that time is taken up on BB?

Velonutter wrote:

BB serves it's purpose by keeping the absolute tosh spouted on there away from the rest of the forum. Many of the posts are risqué and I do feel that it alienates females from the section and is something that should be reviewed.

It's surely good then that BB keeps the rest of the forum 'clean' as long as people abide by this and only enter into the more risqué banter when they're in BB. I don't think that you can say women are alienated by BB, I would say that you alienate a certain type of person rather than a particular gender but surely that's not a bad thing? BB and the banter in there is not for all so if it's not your thing just stay away. It's just like for me, Pro Race isn't my thing so I generally stay away which is fine, it doesn't mean Pro Race should be changed to suit me as a person does it

Velonutter wrote:

Cakestop serves an important purpose and really should be for clean off topic discussions.

Correct, just like it's name really, you don't always want to talk about bike stuff which is fine.

Velonutter wrote:

The rest of the forum should be 100% cycling related.

This is where things have gone wrong before and people, probably me included, have taken the proverbial, but you're right, at the end of the day this is a cycling forum I guess.

supersonic

Future don't own us anymore ;-). Now owned by Immediate, but am yet to hear from them directly o n the way this board will end it.

Some of the top guys at Future did not want any off topic areas. We argued the case that many, many punters used the areas, and no doubt they profiteered from advertising. These areas have evolved over time, but as mentioned above, do take a careful eye.

arran77

supersonic wrote:

Future don't own us anymore ;-). Now owned by Immediate, but am yet to hear from them directly o n the way this board will end it.

They have an interesting portfolio of publications, why the hell did they buy this place

http://www.immediate.co.uk/brands/

supersonic

Amazingly their page won't load properly for me!

arran77

supersonic wrote:

Amazingly their page won't load properly for me!

Well unless you're into home crafts, cooking, gardening or you're a toddler I can't see much you'd want to read

Not that there's anything wrong with any of those things.

simonhead

arran77 wrote:

supersonic wrote:

Future don't own us anymore ;-). Now owned by Immediate, but am yet to hear from them directly o n the way this board will end it.

They have an interesting portfolio of publications, why the hell did they buy this place

http://www.immediate.co.uk/brands/

Whats the BB equivalent in Cross Stitching?

Colinthecop

ugo.santalucia wrote:

but when I (or other moderator) interevene as a moderator on a thread specifically addressing one individual, I don't want to have your bitching in the background and I am not interested in your opinion on the subject.

Harsh...

Because someone has chose you, for whatever reason, to have the ability to edit posts, it doesn't make your posts any better than the 99% of users of the forum, or users opinions on Mods actions as being 'bitching', and any disregard of users opinions is shocking.

But, I guess you don't care what I have to say and I should stop 'bitching'... :roll:

ugo.santalucia

Colinthecop wrote:

But, I guess you don't care what I have to say and I should stop 'bitching'... :roll:

Exactly...

Colinthecop

The contempt you show for users of this site is shocking... :roll:

Perhaps I should ask about buying some wheels so you can use your position to try and steer me towards a set you have built. It's not as if anyone would consider that an abuse of your position or in any way unethical for a moderator.... :roll:

ugo.santalucia

Colinthecop wrote:

The contempt you show for users of this site is shocking... :roll:

Perhaps I should ask about buying some wheels so you can use your position to try and steer me towards a set you have built. It's not as if anyone would consider that an abuse of your position or in any way unethical for a moderator.... :roll:

You can try, but I can't build wheels for you, so it's all rather pointless.

I say don't interfere when a moderator is acting on someone, in the same way as I don't interfere when you arrest a burglar... simple as that... if it's not simple, make it simple