Do you like fluff? I like fluff.

[Tom Rankin]

IMO, looking strictly at the titles, the only one that doesn't qualify under hiking/outdoors is invitations to weddings. I think the vast majority of the threads started on here are fine they way they are, and have little "fluff factor."

grouseking

Perhaps, but in this case, folks are hiking to my summit top wedding!

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Can you give an example of the type of thread you think would be closed that you would like to see?

What kind of answer to this question are you expecting? Isn't it a bit like asking "Am I doing a fair and unbiased job as a moderator?"

(Even in my asking this I'm not sure I can phrase it in such a way that doesn't illustrate my point. And just so you know where I'm coming from, I have 4 years of experience as the president (2 years) or board member (another 2) of an all-volunteer bicycle racing club, and 3 years as a race promoter, so I know about thankless jobs -- THANK YOU, BTW.)

Tim

 

[Puck]

Jokes that don't pertain to hiking/outdoors, aggressive or abusive behavior, personal causes, politics, general chatting about life, we like to keep off this board. It was a decision made a long time ago when the site was created. It's part of the personality of VftT and has served this place pretty well so far.
-dave-

How do you define "personal cause"? There has been some promotion here for causes that impact or enhance our outdoor experience. I am thankfull.

BTW Fluff and peanut butter sandwiches are a form of child abuse. Whats wrong with liverwurst on rye with mustard and onions? Or a good ginger snap?

 

[carole]

We give a huge amount of liberty if something is hiking related...

I should have been clearer and stated that the light bulb was in my headlamp.

 

[Chip]

BTW Fluff and peanut butter sandwiches are a form of child abuse.

I'll apologize in advance to the moderators and those who haven't eaten lunch yet, but I have a mandatory Pavlovian Response when the subject of "Fluff" is brought up and that is to tell my story about Vinny Pisano.

Long about the second and third grades our lunch table would all wait, holding our breath, to see what Vinny had for a sandwich. Ham ? Boo. Liverwurst ? Yuck. PBJ ? Almost. Fluff ? HOORAY !!! Then the chants would start as Vinny chewed the white miracle of elementary entertainment known as Wonder Bread and Fluff..."vinny, Vinny, VINNY..." Before long we would be well rewarded. You see, Vinny had a special talent; he could regurgitate chewed and swallowed Fluff through his sinus cavity and push it out of his nostrils like a Play-Doh toy !

WOW ! Now THOSE were good times !

 

[David Metsky]

What kind of answer to this question are you expecting? Isn't it a bit like asking "Am I doing a fair and unbiased job as a moderator?"

No, I don't think it is. I assume this question was inspired by my closing the message board/light bulb thread. But simply saying "we want more fluff allowed" without giving examples of stuff that isn't present here or has been locked in the past doesn't give me much to go on.

I think the rules here are fairly liberal in allowing stuff that is even tangentially related to hiking. I'm trying to understand what additional stuff people would like to see and then we can discuss if it's appropriate for this site.

-dave-

 

[giggy]

I think the rules here are fairly liberal in allowing stuff that is even tangentially related to hiking. I'm trying to understand what additional stuff people would like to see and then we can discuss if it's appropriate for this site.

I agree with dave - I think he and others have been pretty cool with the "off topic stuff" - god knows I have tossed a few doozies out here to goof around.

I have been red squared (don't care) , gotten some nasty PM's (care even less) - but never from a mod. I have had some fluff threads closed - i think. I certainly don't take any of this personally.

cut the metsky some slack he always listens to POV's.

keepin' the fluff real

 

[bikehikeskifish]

I assume this question was inspired by my closing the message board/light bulb thread.

My asking was not specifically related to closing the light bulb thread. I'm not sure if your response in closing that thread was

A. Wildly funny
B. Wildly inappropriate
C. Both

I.e., you must have gotten a chuckle out of it even while deciding it was off-topic.

1 Moderator to close the thread as being off topic.

I thought perhaps its relevance was that we are having this discussion on a web-based forum. Maybe it belonged in Site Help rather than General Backcountry.

without giving examples of stuff that ... has been locked in the past doesn't give me much to go on

I don't need to see more fluff per-se. While I do understand the desire to keep politics out, mainly because often things degrade and get personal, I do think the moderator key locks threads a bit faster when views tend towards right of center. This is my observation, which may, or may not be influenced by my own beliefs. Likewise, when a moderator decides when something is political, it's more likely to feel that way when it conflicts with his or her own beliefs. I don't have the history (6 months now, or so, 9 if you count lurking) of some members, but I know how bad the old usenet groups could get, and so I understand the difference here. On the other hand, over on RoT they have a forum specifically for debate of this kind and it doesn't seem to be abusive.

Were this a democracy, or were I paying you to be the moderator, I'd ask you (you=all mods) to spend more time cleaning up thread titles so searching gives better results, and I can make a better decision which threads to read (So I can decide what I consider fluff or not.)

We are social creatures by nature and without the fluff it would be very, very dry in here

cut the metsky some slack he always listens to POV's.

I give Dave a lot of credit. He deserves it. He's the main enforcer of the rules. He also asked, and because I respect him, I want to give him a fair and honest answer.

Tim

 

[MadRiver]

I personally believe the “light bulb” thread was spot on as far as the way this board works. Each one of those examples portrayed the exact way one would react to a particular thread or situation. Just because it was a light bulb and not a hiker doesn’t detract from the underlying meaning.

Message deleted by rude, thoughtless poster.

 

[David Metsky]

The fund raising one is easy to answer. The policy here is that there is no fund raising except for the Brain Tumor Society. That has been the explicit policy for some time and I don't see anything dishonest about that. It's not like I was trying to interpret things for that particular thread, it's a hard and fast rule.

As to left-wing vs right-wing, I can say with absolute certainty that no matter what the moderators do we'll be criticized in some way. That's OK, it's part of the job description. I think the moderators just try to be as fair as is possible, but we aren't above making mistakes from time to time. Feel free to report things that you think I messed up on to me via PM and I'll try to explain myself as best I can. I'm more then willing to reverse a decision if it's explained to me where I screwed up.

RoT has a political/OT forum, and that works fine over there. Darren decided a while back that he didn't want that here, a position I agree with whole-heartedly. Different squids for different kids. I think it's a hassle that we simply don't want to deal with, and one that detracts from the focus of the website. IMO, that focus is one of the strongest aspects of VftT.

-dave-

 

[dug]

Personally, I hate it. It just ties up the board with useless info and allows for the green square brigade to up their points. But, that's just me.

 

[Puck]

RoT has a political/OT forum, and that works fine over there. Darren decided a while back that he didn't want that here, a position I agree with whole-heartedly. Different squids for different kids. I think it's a hassle that we simply don't want to deal with, and one that detracts from the focus of the website. IMO, that focus is one of the strongest aspects of VftT.

-dave-

The ROT forum is for Members to present and debate wilderness ethics, conservation and other tough issues. There is a focus. The membership is small and in way more intimate so the debate is cordial and respectfull, for the most part.

And to your credit, Mr Metsky, there was a thread on Global Warming allowed here on VFTT that was extremely informative and civil. The quality of moderation was obvious. The "no politics" is a good ground rule here as it keeps the site focused. However, there are times that germain issues to this forum and outdoor community involves politics. These instances have been handled well.

 

[dvbl]

Personally, I hate it. It just ties up the board with useless info and allows for the green square brigade to up their points. But, that's just me.

What the holy hail is a "green square brigade"? Is it a military unit of newbies who don't fit in?

 

[MadRiver]

allows for the green square brigade to up their points. But, that's just me.

As you can see, green is not my color. I do, however, take pride in every red square that I have received, except one.

 

[giggy]

In a perfect world, we would have a forum soley devoted to backcountry partying

hey - its after the hike?

 

[Peakbagr]

"One example I can give where I felt closing the thread was a tad unfair was last year someone posted a fund raiser or charity event which seemed worthwhile. Your response was that this board doesn’t support fund raisers or charity events. Fair enough. Yet, each year we are asked to pony up for the Brain Tumor Society. Granted this is Darren’s board and he can do anything he wants. You might, however, adjust your policy against fund raisers to include ONLY those charities or fund raisers that Darren doesn’t personally support. At least you would be honest."

Viewed from the point of view of complete fairness, I can understand the concern. But the BTS charity has been VFTT policy since I've been here. I believe that the annual BTS fundraising threads are pretty predicable annual notices that members can choose to read or ignore. It would be a neverending challenge for the 3 moderators to pick and choose which other charities are worthwhile and which are not. And admittedly I am biased as the BTS's work has hit close to my family in the last couple of years.

 

[Carmel]

fluff...and ALL charity participants

One example I can give where I felt closing the thread was a tad unfair was last year someone posted a fund raiser or charity event which seemed worthwhile. Your response was that this board doesn’t support fund raisers or charity events. Fair enough. Yet, each year we are asked to pony up for the Brain Tumor Society. Granted this is Darren’s board and he can do anything he wants. You might, however, adjust your policy against fund raisers to include ONLY those charities or fund raisers that Darren doesn’t personally support. At least you would be honest.

FYI, there is not ONE LEGITIMATE, WELL RUN CHARITY anyone could possibly mention that darren does NOT support. That is an asinine statement...or perhaps maybe you were miscommunicating. Yes, none of us can choose to financially support ALL charities, but how can you criticize ANY LEGITIMATE, WELL RUN charity? That is some BAD juju right there.

We've all made friends thru this site first and then ROT (and most of the people there met thru this site i'm sure) and you don't pay a dime for either of them. Most importantly you can't put a price tag to the friendships and the experiences that have come out of this site. I am soooo happy that I have met everyone that i've met, it is such a great bunch of people, even if we all don't see eye to eye on everything, that's what makes us human. Even those of us that don't think we'd get along from reading posts, when it comes down to, if we were face to face, we'd be social and probably really enjoy the company.

Darren has eaten around $8,000-$10,000 since the creation of the site, and all he asks is that people donate to the BTS. Anyways, I believe that your post was rather thoughtless, I don't understand why someone would try to turn something good into such negativity. I don't believe the sarcasm above was appropriate or warranted.

ALL CHARITY PARTICIPANTS: We get PMs and can contact our friends that are members thru email, you have the right to use email and PMs to send any sort of charity messages that you choose. As a matter of fact, I just got an email from Bunchberry thru VFTT who wanted my mailing address so she could send us the form to support her for a charity. Without posting on the forum, she got a check in the mail (well, i hope you got it Bunch) from Darren and I. She was still able to use the site for charitable purposes although it was banned from the public board.

 

[SherpaKroto]

D*mn, I'd better make sure to include hiking and kayaking when I post this year's Bearly Live date (tentatively 7/27-29)

Fluff is good. Especially with chicken.

 

[Double Bow]

I think the rules here are fairly liberal in allowing stuff that is even tangentially related to hiking. I'm trying to understand what additional stuff people would like to see and then we can discuss if it's appropriate for this site.

First, I want to say that I love fluff posts. As far as the marshmellowy stuff, I only had it for the first time this past New Year's Eve and I liked that too.

Second, I think that you do a good job Dave, even though I've contributed to "off topic" fluff once or twice. What can I say? It's fun(ny)!

Finally, and this is serious, I think that trail running trip reports, events, and questions should be allowed. I don't think a trip report should be locked just because the person went faster than a walk on the trail. I recall one TR last year where someone posted about doing the Mount Desert Island Marathon in Acadia NP and also talked about hiking around the park and shared pictures of the floura there. I think this (even with it being a race) was more related to the forum than photography or some of the other things that are allowed and that this should not have been locked.

Just my $0.02...

 

[NewHampshire]

FLuff and peanut butter (a popular "energy food" for hiking) are good! See, there is your hiking connection!

Brian