Absent for a While

[Zensō]

If you come up with any suggestions we are All Ears and more than open to suggestions about how to keep the unique technical charm quality that drew so many to join our team. This is something Brad, Amir and I discuss on a reoccurring basis. It can get pretty dicey trying to manage content without causing a form of damping new and exciting conversations. Striving for a good balance is the goal. Charting that balance is where the quick sand is. This is your Forum at the end of the day. We are no more and no less a reflection of what our culture/membership want to inspect, dissect, analyze and debate. You all are the Curators and Content Creators.

We just sweep the floors and empty the trash bins.

It is probably a non-starter, but closing the site to the general public and only allowing paying members is one possible solution. Of course, this approach likely has its own set of unintended consequences.

 

[cookiefactory]

If you come up with any suggestions we are All Ears and more than open to suggestions about how to keep the unique technical charm quality that drew so many to join our team. This is something Brad, Amir and I discuss on a reoccurring basis. It can get pretty dicey trying to manage content without causing a form of damping new and exciting conversations. Striving for a good balance is the goal. Charting that balance is where the quick sand is. This is your Forum at the end of the day. We are no more and no less a reflection of what our culture/membership want to inspect, dissect, analyze and debate. You all are the Curators and Content Creators.

We just sweep the floors and empty the trash bins.

Please don't mistake my (and I'm sure others') musings as commentary on the moderation/administration here. You guys are doing a stand-up job, both now and in the past.

 

[computer-audiophile]

These issues we’re discussing seem to be primarily related to growth.

Yes, but you can't turn back time and start all over again. In contrast to the beginnings of the Internet in the early nineties, when I witnessed it as a manageable training ground for a sympathetic avant-garde, the Web today is overloaded with questionable content. In a flood of information, disinformation, valuable cultural achievements are lost, as are living social ties.

 

[Ron Texas]

I think something which would help keep order is the ability for one member to block another member the way it works on Facebook. In other words, if I were to block a member that member could not see my posts. Ignore doesn't work because it does not prevent aggressive behavior. The target just doesn't see it, and can't report it.

 

[AdamG247]

I think something which would help keep order is the ability for one member to block another member the way it works on Facebook. In other words, if I were to block a member that member could not see my posts. Ignore doesn't work because it does not prevent aggressive behavior. The target just doesn't see it, and can't report it.

You are comparing a personal Facebook Page/Account to an Open Forums. Sort of apples to oranges? Do you know of any other Forum that can do that? Facebook is an entirely different platform and it is designed to your individual preferences and you get to choose who can access your Home Page. When you ignore a person on FB they lose access to your home page/feed. But they are not limited to or by anyone else’s home page. We don’t have that level of sophistication or customization. Of course FB is rife with Tailored Advertising and Marketing Practices. Not to mention the algorithms employed to decide what news you see or don’t see.

 

[Ron Texas]

You are comparing a personal Facebook Page/Account to an Open Forums. Sort of apples to oranges? Do you know of any other Forum that can do that? Facebook is an entirely different platform and it is designed to your individual preferences and you get to choose who can access your Home Page. When you ignore a person on FB they lose access to your home page/feed. But they are not limited to or by anyone else’s home page. We don’t have that level of sophistication or customization. Of course FB is rife with Tailored Advertising and Marketing Practices. Not to mention the algorithms employed to decide what news you see or don’t see.

No forum software that I know of has the kind of blocking that Facebook has and I did not expect that ASR had it. However, I wish the feature was common. Blocking might become available if enough forums asked for it. Over time anyone who is too annoying would find they have been blocked from enough content to dilute their experience. Annoying replies start fights. I'm thinking in terms of just the blocking feature, not the entire granular privacy system at FB.

Facebook has tons of things wrong with it. I have over 1,000 friends but only see a fraction of them in my feed. There is no certain way to get them into my feed.

 

[Dialectic]

A few observations:

• I've used the 'ignore' button so often that I can no longer follow most threads on ASR. However, disabling the 'ignore' button has always been a mistake in my experience.
• Googling usernames is a fast and very reliable way to spot abusers; they tend to fancy themselves as having personal "brands" and use the same IDs all over the internet.
• If you behave decently on ASR and are annoyed that someone abusing you has not been banned, it tends to be worthwhile to wait it out. Sooner or later, a particular abuser is usually tempted to abuse the people administering the forum. At that point, the abuser has no choice but to abscond to corners of the internet where his behavior is tolerated.

 

[Ron Texas]

A few observations:

• I've used the 'ignore' button so often that I can no longer follow most threads on ASR. However, disabling the 'ignore' button has always been a mistake in my experience.
• Googling usernames is a fast and very reliable way to spot abusers; they tend to fancy themselves as having personal "brands" and use the same IDs all over the internet.
• If you behave decently on ASR and are annoyed that someone abusing you has not been banned, it tends to be worthwhile to wait it out. Sooner or later, a particular abuser is usually tempted to abuse the people administering the forum. At that point, the abuser has no choice but to abscond to corners of the internet where his behavior is tolerated.

The shortcoming of "ignore" is pressing it blinds you but the abusers can still see your posts and make nasty replies. Your experience is diluted but theirs is not.

 

[JayGilb]

Same here. The "Help me pick a new DAC" threads do grow old as well as the "You must buy Genelec and use room correction to fix your problems".
Christ, it makes me wonder how any stereo before Genelec and room correction every managed to sound good, which they did.

Do I have to spend > $10k to get good sound these days ?

 

[Ron Texas]

Same here. The "Help me pick a new DAC" threads do grow old as well as the "You must buy Genelec and use room correction to fix your problems".
Christ, it makes me wonder how any stereo before Genelec and room correction every managed to sound good, which they did.

Do I have to spend > $10k to get good sound these days ?

Sometimes a product gets a following of a few zealots and appears to be more popular than it really is. Thank heaven my system works as well as it does. It's heavy with non ASR recommended products, but I don't lose sleep over it. There are nutty aspects to this hobby. It's probably much worse than any other hobby or activity which requires gear.

What makes ASR different isn't just that it is objectivist. It's how it's done. Our host @amirm creates significant original content which forms the foundation of the group. There are a few other members who have the knowledge and test equipment to provide additional original content.

It's a fine line for the two mods to balance the interest attracted by off topic threads with preventing chaos. Some non audio topics like photography don't seem to go off the rails. Other areas never fail to go nuts. In a thread I started about the approaching death of Win 10 some Linux lovers chimed in. One lost his head and isn't here anymore. It seemed a strange thing to get worked up over in a world with so many problems and so much controversy.

There are a lot of very good posts in this thread. It gets to the heart of what open forums are about. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that we all have to love our brothers. We have a common interest here in music and it's reproduction. Let's not let our differences in other areas get in the way.

 

[Slayer]

My vacation from ASR was mainly about the internet and very little about ASR.

This sums up my 6 month hiatus to a tee. However, when i came back about a week or two ago, I got rid of any and all accounts or memberships on any internet sites or forums. Currently, ASR is the only place I am a member of and i'm 99% confident I will keep it this way.
Anyways, glad you're still with us Ron.

 

[pseudoid]

If I may: I think one of best antidotes to block/mute/ignore/paywall pleas (herein), is to just grow a thicker skin.
The reasons why there is no ASR 'dislike' button would be interesting, revealing, and probably relevant for the individual arguments for some censoring (personal or forum-wide).

...the technical discussions becoming repetitive...

Otherwise, as the thread-originator speculated, this great place will turn into just another echo-chamber.
...like a A mysterious place with no name.
pffft.gif

 

[Ron Texas]

A mysterious place with no name is what Flickr calls geolocations in the middle of the ocean, desert or Antarctica. The link is to Maui at a location I am all to familiar with. I could give you an earful about it because the island has become crowded and expensive. There is also a lot of anti tourism sentiment among those who live there.

 

[Timcognito]

The link is to Maui at a location I am all to familiar with.

Santa Cruz That place is fun especially Steamers Lane many times and Mystery Spot as a teen once.

 

[pablolie]

I just think it is inevitable that with ASR's success, the ever-repeating audio forum clichés get revisited ad infinitum. My observation is that it is very resilient to such influences.

It seems welcoming to newbies or misguided experienced hobbyists alike, and collectively willing to help them out and drive them to educational resources. I have quit other audio forums because of the poor signal-to-noise ratio. Please everybody remember - that's why all those Usenet discussion groups died: I remember being super excited initially discussing audio, motorcycles and boxing on the internet - until it all became completely crazy and mercifully died.

ASR strikes a very healthy balance. Plus it is within participants' power to simply not engage every time a trigger topic comes out. I know it's easier said and done, and if *I* have ever come across in any pontificating, judgmental or curmudgeonly way I apologize both to the forum as well as to myself (because my energy certainly is better spent elsewhere :-D).

My urge to leave this forum after moderate escalation only lasts for 72 hours.

 

[pseudoid]

....My urge to leave this forum after moderate escalation only lasts for 72 hours.

I just gave you a dislike for that statement... if you continue, I will first ignore you, next I'll mute you, then block you and finally report you to a mod.
In truth, I have never used any such buttons.

Shouldn't the transgressor be also notified of such actions (ignore/mute/block), in all fairness?

 

[pablolie]

I just gave you a dislike for that statement... if you continue, I will first ignore you, next I'll mute you, then block you and finally report you to a mod.
In truth, I have never used any such buttons.

Shouldn't the transgressor be also notified of such actions (ignore/mute/block), in all fairness?

well that is a very subjectivist take on my post... :-D

how wpuld you block anyone though? ignoring sure.

 

[pseudoid]

??

??
You can be assured that you won't be the first and only person using them for this purpose, if iStock already has a stock picture of your dilemma!

 

[mhardy6647]

You don't know many duck hunters, guitarists, golfers or bass fishermen, do you?

Jim

... to say nothing of the midrange fisherpeople.

PS There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that bass fisherpeople use treble hooks...

It's OK -- I'll see myself out. Thanks.

 

[Ron Texas]

You don't know many duck hunters, guitarists, golfers or bass fishermen, do you?

Jim

I used to be a duck hunter and know lots of them. Maybe they have the equivalent of $10,000 cables.