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Chat Room Reminder - Cliques

Discussion in 'Empty Closets Help and Feedback' started by Martin, Mar 19, 2008.

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  1. Martin

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    Hi peeps,

    After a recent discussion about cliques in the chat room it has been decided that this thread should be posted to inform you all of some decisions we have reached regarding the Chat Room.

    The mods have noticed that lately there are groups of people who seem to engage in discussions about outside sites which are not appropriate. An example of this being 4chan, which often contains images which people find offensive or they are just pornographic. It clearly states in the rules that innappropriate sites are not allowed anywhere on the forum, this also includes the chat room and private message system. As a result all discussion on this and similar websites are not to be mentioned anywhere on this forum. Anybody found to be discussing these websites will risk being banned from the forum and/or the chat room.

    Another problem that comes up is a chain of cliquey phrases taking over current conversations. An example will be that somebody will enter Chat when there is a conversation and shout one of these phrases out, and the people who know what it will mean will start shouting out similar phrases. This then causes the other people in the conversation to not only feel left out as they are unaware of what they mean, but their conversation is being flooded by short one worded phrases. This is not to say that anybody who says "desu" or "WHAT 9000?" will immedietly be banned. It's just that there are times when these phrases are flooding chat by a few members and it will not be tolerated. If people want to discuss these phrases then they can create a new room, but they must also remember that any linking to sites must not go agaisnt what i wrote in here. Shouting them in Chat is not acceptable and will be watched closely.

    This may seem completely bizarre to some of you, while others will have noticed these phrases being shouted around but not realised what they mean. This is just a friendly request asking those who do participate in this to stop. For those of you this does concern we do ask that you obey this friendly request to stop. You're not in trouble and you're not being monitored any more or less than you were last week/month/whatever. The staff just want the forum to run as smoothly as possible, and the members would just like to have a discussion without having to avoid cliquey comments that only a select few Chat peeps will know. Cliques should be avoided in Chat at all times so that we can keep the atmosphere in there friendly for all.

    If you have read this far then you can have a kiss. :kiss: Bravo for surviving. :grin:
     
  2. Martin

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    Okies, i just had to make about 10 million edits because my typing blows. It was the most bizarre thing i had ever typed out in a moddy way, so i am using that as an excuse. It should make sense now (hopefully). ^_^
     
  3. CrimsonThunder

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    Wow thats the most lamest thing I've ever heard, lets just take the fun out of the site huh? If people don't get what something means they are free to ask and people are nice enough around her to tell them.

    Those sayings you mentioned are all around the internet, banning them from here just seems really crazy.

    I know what you mean about cliques though, but people are allowed to have their friend circles. Take the internet as real life, because thats what it is. Do they ban friend circles from school because people will feel left out?
     
  4. Alexander

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    Thanks for the note :slight_smile:
     
  5. Martin

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    Okies, i've reworded it yet again. My phrasing made it sound like mentioning a certain phrase would result in an immediate ban. That wasn't what i was trying to get across. The mods agreed that these phrases should not be used to draw attention to yourself in Chat just so you can stop a current conversation and start your own one. These phrases are flooded around Chat quite a bit and it does cause problems for members who not only do not know what it means, but also causes their conversation to vanish into thin air. It can make new members feel fairly uncomfortable and it is pretty disrespectful to ruin a conversation because you want to have some attention. That is why we do ask that these phrases are shouted in a private room if peeps want to shout them every 10 seconds. They also need to be aware that any innappropriate linking will also be dealt with in these private rooms.

    The cliques is just something we wish to avoid. We aren't saying that you shouldn't be friendly with peeps you often speak to because i know who is in there often and who passes by every so often. All we are trying to do here is make it so Chat can be used by anyone and that any 'outsiders' can get involved with conversations just as easily. This is just reminding people to make sure all discussion is open to anybody and not just targetted at x, y and z.

    All the points discussed are just explanations of how the Code of Conduct applies to these situations. No new rules have been introduced, people just tend to be unclear about how the rules apply to these sites and messages.
     
  6. davo-man

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    I agree with CrimsonThundr...I mean, I've never even visited 4Chan (didn't even know that was where Desu came from in fact) but was not offended nor felt excluded by those types of discussions or phrases. Granted, I don't spend much time in the chat room, so i don't know how often those phrases are said. However, I think I would have just asked what it meant and gone along with the joke. The people that seem to use those phrases seem to be the kind of people who would think the more people having fun the better

    I mean if you do that (delete any mention of those phrases) you may as well delete all mention of South Park, because a) it's not appropriate for minors and b) people "might" feel left out because they've never seen South Park. I mean, there's an entire thread devoted to South Park and even though I've never seen South Park, it's entertaining to go into that thread and see all the crazy stuff that's going on. You could even go as far as to say that you shouldn't link or allude to the L Word, Queer as Folk or Sex and the City (or, where would be without Carrie?...that dress she wore in Paris, omg) cos they're all for mature audiences and we have minors here who might feel left out if they've never seen them.

    As for "cliques"...Yes of course they are here, but anywhere where you have a large group of teenage, school age people, there are going to be cliques and friendship groups cos thats how teenagers minds are wired. I, for one, don't really care about cliques, because to be honest this is just a website and if people don't want me in their friendship circle here, I have got friends IRL that I can go to. That said, friends are always nice. Anyway, back the point that I so carelessly meandered from, I don't think taking away phrases and topics of conversations are going to stop cliques forming.

    Sorry, I'm in a grouchy mood (Im meant to be reading a Linux installing manuel), and I'm not personally attacking you, Martin, just i think it's a tad harsh
     
  7. CrimsonThunder

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    Good points Davo, and just so you know Martin we're not directing our opinion to you directly its to all the mods that made the decision.

    I noticed you said that but I knew you didn't mean it would be an immediate ban, this site is good with bans/warnings. I like that system.

    Well you didn't mention that before. >_> Thats a whole different story, thats called attention whoring and I think its the most annoying thing a person can do on the internet and I despise anyone that does it.

    Agreed, and its very immature. If it was a new person that had their convo destroyed they'd feel very embarassed/pissed off and would probably never come back.

    As for linking to sites like 4chan, its just for humor purposes, anyone that visits 4chan needs to get therapy anyway. =P (joking >_>) I think you should really only ban it if its inappropriate content, lots of stuff from 4chan is porn but alot is also just funny stuff from users like pictures or text. So yeah, if you made it context sensitive I'd be all for it.

    It is, well it was when I used to go to chat. Not so sure anymore.
     
  8. Paul_UK

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    Let me clarify this a bit. We are NOT introducing a new rule here. The rules in the Code of Conduct already cover this.

    EC Code of Conduct
    2. Please do not post or link to erotic discussions, pictures, movies, or stories. Do not post links or information about websites intended for people aged 18+. Do not request such materials or information from others.

    Chatroom Rules
    2. Always respect other people in the chat room. Do not say anything offensive or abusive. Avoid arguments and disagreements, and accept that some people will have opinions and outlooks that differ from yours. Do not say anything that is not suitable for people under the age of eighteen.
    3. Let everyone have time to read and reply. Do not make lots of short replies to push other people's messages off the screen. Do not try to take over the conversation. If other people want to talk about different things, let them. You may wish to use or create a different room for your discussion.​

    We have seen several cases recently when there has been a civilised discussion taking place in the chatroom, often with newer or less active members. Then one or two people come in, do not wait to see what is already being discussed, and just post loads of random crap like "desu desu" repeatedly. The original conversation is trashed and those members often leave.

    That is not what the chatroom is about. The chatroom is for ALL members, so a few of the more active members taking it over causing others to leave is not something we are prepared to tolerate. It gives the impression that there are cliques in the chatroom, talking in ways that others do not and are not intended to understand, and giving others no chance to continue. It also shows no respect for the people already in there.

    The majority of these incidents seem to be in the style of 4chan which is why that was specifically mentioned. The EC chatroom is NOT 4chan and may not be treated as such. If people crash into the chatroom with the intention to take it over with loads of random rubbish, disrupting it for other users, then they will be booted by the chatroom mods.

    If people do want to shout "desu desu", "what9000" and other junk repeatedly instead of having a sensible conversation, then please create your own room for this and leave the main room for everyone else. The conversations in rooms you create are still covered by the Code of Conduct though, so discussions about unsuitable websites are not acceptable.

    What we are trying to do is to keep the chatroom available and welcome to ALL members.
     
  9. darkestknight

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    Hmn... the 4chan thingy is sometimes irritating to me. What on earth are those symbols like /b/ or the "desu" or the other stuff, i don't know.

    I rather not see any of those weird chat lingos here since I've seen plenty of these in one of my local forums. :slight_smile:
     
  10. pirateninja

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    So just to clarify: We CAN use these jokes as long as we just don't shout them randomly to kill the conversation?

    Because I'm very confused. I try to use Desu and >9000 jokes as long as they relate (slightly) to the conversation or if we're just having fun, (although I can get very off-topic at times, I'm sorry) and I'm just wondering when it's appropriate to use them.
     
    #10 pirateninja, Mar 22, 2008
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2008
  11. Martin

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    If there is a discussion going on then you shouldn't shout over it. This applies for anything, but we used these words as an example as that seems to be the msot common problem lately. If you want to have a discussion about them then you need to create a private room.

    If Chat is dead and somebody says "desu" then no discussion is being interrupted and no rules are being broken, so there would be no problem there. The main thing to watch out for is that nobody links to sites that aren't allowed.

    So yeah, it's allowed just as long as no discussion is being interrupted. :slight_smile:
     
  12. Zak

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    Lol, sounds like Martin is getting battered....and Paul had to save him...hehe! Ok, so we can still shout these things, just not interupting a convo...gotcha!

    P.S- Love da' horns
     
    #12 Zak, Mar 22, 2008
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2008
  13. Paul_UK

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    You need to stop and see what's going on first, so you don't interrupt a conversation. It would be better to join in with the ongoing conversation really.

    And if you are messing around and someone comes in wanting to talk about something properly then it would be good to give that priority over random rubbish.

    Just be considerate of other chatroom users and allow sensible conversations priority over nonsense ones.
     
  14. neverover

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    even tho i rarely visits chat room, but i know what those "desu desu" means. its just a joke (a bullshit joke actually:slight_smile:). fun, as long as it didnt flood the room...
     
  15. Urman

    Urman Guest

    here is an idea must agree to the tos before being able to login to the chat.
     
  16. Paul_UK

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    People wouldn't read it anyway. And it is an annoyance for the majority when the problem is due to a small minority.
     
  17. tehnathan

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    Sounds fair. I never go there but it sounds fair to me. :slight_smile:

    I have similar rules on an IRC channel (IRC seems to be a dying medium) that I manage.
     
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