Myths, mistruths and a well oiled publicity machine
I'm against change for the sake of change. The site and its members works well as it is - this isn't a popularity contest. Metropol shouldn't attempt to grow itself artificially. It's "The Lounge" - not "The Bar" - it's a place where a few people sit around on some comfy beanbags shooting banter across the room, rather than some faceless meeting place where you're surrounded by people you couldn't care less about.
I wouldn't use the term "clique" - I think that applies more to gangs in the Big Brother house or people who watch UKTV Style religiously. I think Metropol is a genuine meeting of slightly twisted, brutally honest, fun-loving but punchy characters who have some commonality whether it be not suffering fools, exposing weakness - or alternatively bringing advice and bettering people.
Sorry Freddy and Itsrobert - but I disagree when you feel Metropol is "closed" to people like yourselves. It's only closed in the sense that it's not your cup of tea. That's fair enough - Metropol isn't a focus group - it's not meant to include every sector of society. If it was, we'd be Digital Spy.
I know that even though I have never seen or spoken to any of you in real life, I can bring my inane bus journey horror stories, holiday plans, technical requests or the like and expect some level of interaction. That to me is a comfort - not that I don't have "real life" people to do that, I do, but having this extra cyber social circle is somewhat gratifying.
To counterpoint - of course some people don't have "real life" friends, and online life is pretty much all they know. We must welcome in those who share our beanbags and throwing Maltesers at each other lifestyle, whilst naturally attempting to keep at arms length those who willingly disrupt, abuse or otherwise bring detriment to our commune. Otherwise we'd be no different to Digital Spy, or to TVF during the summer holidays.
There's nowhere else on the net that I've found that I can spend time reading other people's thoughts and enjoy them as much as I do when Nick posts another gem of a comment, or Lorns' drunken evenings spill out onto her keyboard, or Sput and Stu have another arm wrestle, or when Gav and MrQ debate economics to a degree that you'll never see in number 11 Downing Street.
I vote we keep Metropol as it is - a happy little room for those who want to be here.
I wouldn't use the term "clique" - I think that applies more to gangs in the Big Brother house or people who watch UKTV Style religiously. I think Metropol is a genuine meeting of slightly twisted, brutally honest, fun-loving but punchy characters who have some commonality whether it be not suffering fools, exposing weakness - or alternatively bringing advice and bettering people.
Sorry Freddy and Itsrobert - but I disagree when you feel Metropol is "closed" to people like yourselves. It's only closed in the sense that it's not your cup of tea. That's fair enough - Metropol isn't a focus group - it's not meant to include every sector of society. If it was, we'd be Digital Spy.
I know that even though I have never seen or spoken to any of you in real life, I can bring my inane bus journey horror stories, holiday plans, technical requests or the like and expect some level of interaction. That to me is a comfort - not that I don't have "real life" people to do that, I do, but having this extra cyber social circle is somewhat gratifying.
To counterpoint - of course some people don't have "real life" friends, and online life is pretty much all they know. We must welcome in those who share our beanbags and throwing Maltesers at each other lifestyle, whilst naturally attempting to keep at arms length those who willingly disrupt, abuse or otherwise bring detriment to our commune. Otherwise we'd be no different to Digital Spy, or to TVF during the summer holidays.
There's nowhere else on the net that I've found that I can spend time reading other people's thoughts and enjoy them as much as I do when Nick posts another gem of a comment, or Lorns' drunken evenings spill out onto her keyboard, or Sput and Stu have another arm wrestle, or when Gav and MrQ debate economics to a degree that you'll never see in number 11 Downing Street.
I vote we keep Metropol as it is - a happy little room for those who want to be here.
Here's a question: if there is a clique, is that really such a bad thing?
There is something appealing about getting more members to join a forum. But the problem with that is that a forum is not constructed by a central planner. It is the product of the members who comprise it. As new people join, the forum changes to a degree. By and large, that's a good thing - it keeps things a bit more interesting for those people who've been members for quite a while. A site could easily get boring without that constant (but gradual) evolution. However you can't really selectively target with a big publicity campaign which members you'd like to have join. Invariably, you're going to have people joining that you really don't like, and the obvious reaction will be to make those people feel unwelcome. I don't think it's a stretch to say that many members here at Metropol have little problem doing that. In that context, when you attract more people, are those new members really going to be welcome here? Some might - but depending on who you get, many won't.
This site has a very close relationship with TVF - it's where Metropol gets many of its members from. Yet at the same time there's a lot of sniping that goes on about TVF. I try and steer clear of that - I know how difficult it is to run a large media discussion website, and thank God I don't do it anymore because it just about drove me mental. Obviously though, many folks here have some pretty significant concerns about some of the members over there - and probably with fair reason. There are certainly some fantastic members who no doubt would make great additions to the community here - but there are plenty who just wouldn't be welcomed with open arms. And fundamentally, there's actually nothing wrong with that. One of the reasons I love this site is because it isn't populated by kids making stupid comments. It's a fun place - but it's a fun place because of the members that are here.
I'm a relative newcomer to this site, and only started posting regularly at the start of this year. I know my views on some issues aren't widely shared within the Metropol community. But I have felt welcomed by a great many people here, particularly from those I've debated with either here or over at TVF. I'm sure plenty of people lurk as I used to - and for those lurkers who might be reading this post, I'm glad that I made the choice to leap into Metropol and become an active member. I don't get every joke that's made, some references to past events go over my head, and there are some discussions I just sit out. But at its core, Metropol is a nice place to be. To my mind, it doesn't need to conquer the world - it just has to be site that its members enjoy. And, for what it's worth, I think it does that quite well.
There is something appealing about getting more members to join a forum. But the problem with that is that a forum is not constructed by a central planner. It is the product of the members who comprise it. As new people join, the forum changes to a degree. By and large, that's a good thing - it keeps things a bit more interesting for those people who've been members for quite a while. A site could easily get boring without that constant (but gradual) evolution. However you can't really selectively target with a big publicity campaign which members you'd like to have join. Invariably, you're going to have people joining that you really don't like, and the obvious reaction will be to make those people feel unwelcome. I don't think it's a stretch to say that many members here at Metropol have little problem doing that. In that context, when you attract more people, are those new members really going to be welcome here? Some might - but depending on who you get, many won't.
This site has a very close relationship with TVF - it's where Metropol gets many of its members from. Yet at the same time there's a lot of sniping that goes on about TVF. I try and steer clear of that - I know how difficult it is to run a large media discussion website, and thank God I don't do it anymore because it just about drove me mental. Obviously though, many folks here have some pretty significant concerns about some of the members over there - and probably with fair reason. There are certainly some fantastic members who no doubt would make great additions to the community here - but there are plenty who just wouldn't be welcomed with open arms. And fundamentally, there's actually nothing wrong with that. One of the reasons I love this site is because it isn't populated by kids making stupid comments. It's a fun place - but it's a fun place because of the members that are here.
I'm a relative newcomer to this site, and only started posting regularly at the start of this year. I know my views on some issues aren't widely shared within the Metropol community. But I have felt welcomed by a great many people here, particularly from those I've debated with either here or over at TVF. I'm sure plenty of people lurk as I used to - and for those lurkers who might be reading this post, I'm glad that I made the choice to leap into Metropol and become an active member. I don't get every joke that's made, some references to past events go over my head, and there are some discussions I just sit out. But at its core, Metropol is a nice place to be. To my mind, it doesn't need to conquer the world - it just has to be site that its members enjoy. And, for what it's worth, I think it does that quite well.
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Ebeneezer Scrooge
- Posts: 326
- Joined: Tue 23 Sep, 2003 13.53
- Location: Scrooge Towers
I've been of this opinion for a while - he is an extreme version of TVF personified. The photos were too much - I don't know of anybody who would stand around taking photos of somebody on a beach - even less so when he starts undressing for the photo shoot.Hymagumba wrote:I'm getting closer and closer to the opinion that TT is an elaborate hoax, and the photos were taken him himself and some other person in on his joke.
Beanbags? BEANBAGS? Lazyboys, yes, I could even imagine a scattering of leathery poofs, but beanbags?!Alexia wrote:It's "The Lounge" - not "The Bar" - it's a place where a few people sit around on some comfy beanbags shooting banter across the room, rather than some faceless meeting place where you're surrounded by people you couldn't care less about.
Snarky
Oho!TG wrote:Somebody called?Ebeneezer Scrooge wrote:a scattering of leathery poofs
Back on track though, seems I'm not the only one who reckons that good members will be hard to come by and will be tossed out if they don't fit in. Mr Q and Alexia nail the sentiment I have.
I'm not sure the bitching (i.e. TV Forum Thread) wouldn't take place if Metropol didn't exist. It would probably just appear in contentious threads on TV Forum, as before. From memory, the "No discussion of TV Forum on TV Forum" rule was dragged up at least once a week, now there is a TV Forum thread on Metropol there's been no need. And it's all in one thread for those who wish to avoid it.
To the accusation that there is a "clique", I think that's just an unpleasant word to describe the reality, which is that everyone on Metopol knows each other. It may make new membership more difficult, but I don't think it makes it impossible. Remember that now-Regulars, like Nini and Mr Q, were once non-Metropol members, so it's not just a question of Founding Members v. Everyone Else. And I really think much of the perception that people here are "bitchy" is just a misunderstanding of the shared sense of humour of the "regulars" here.
As for reeling more people into Metropol I think a hyperlinking campaign of Nick Harvey Comment proportions is needed.
To the accusation that there is a "clique", I think that's just an unpleasant word to describe the reality, which is that everyone on Metopol knows each other. It may make new membership more difficult, but I don't think it makes it impossible. Remember that now-Regulars, like Nini and Mr Q, were once non-Metropol members, so it's not just a question of Founding Members v. Everyone Else. And I really think much of the perception that people here are "bitchy" is just a misunderstanding of the shared sense of humour of the "regulars" here.
As for reeling more people into Metropol I think a hyperlinking campaign of Nick Harvey Comment proportions is needed.
First of all
I'd hate to be a mod over there. I mean at times its bad enough on here with the frequent "oh please ban beep chubby" PMs and this is when I try to make it clear that I keep away from such decisions bar the banning of spambots and JM, hence me making such a big deal over my disposing of TT, although I've came to the conclusion he is a blatant troll so I have less worried over that than I did at the time.
As for the secret forum, well that's just nonsense of course, we're talking about a forum that would contain about 50% of the people in the main site. As cdd said above, new members are welcomed, its more the problem that people seem timid to join at all, or, in fact, are completely ignorant of the site that gets me.
[quote="freddy"the bullying and pack mentality that goes on here.[/quote]
could you direct me to a blatant piece of "bullying" please? I don't mean to be rude but I suspect your definition and mine might be substantially different
JM is a completely different matter, he was not hounded out, he was banned, pure and simple, banned. Pad may be irritating but he's nothing compared to JM.Ronnie Rowlands wrote:Then again, I'm relatively new here and no one has ever tried to hound me out before like they have with the likes of Pad and JM.
Do you not think that the mod issue makes your issue an oddity though? Not to dismiss it of course, but the general theme of the forum is often comments on TVF's annoying bits, and therefore abuse will tend to get aimed at mods for not doing what the whinger would have done.itsrobert wrote:It's interesting that as soon as I stepped down from being a moderator in January, I stopped receiving that treatment altogether. It was a major factor in my decision to step down in the first place.
I'd hate to be a mod over there. I mean at times its bad enough on here with the frequent "oh please ban beep chubby" PMs and this is when I try to make it clear that I keep away from such decisions bar the banning of spambots and JM, hence me making such a big deal over my disposing of TT, although I've came to the conclusion he is a blatant troll so I have less worried over that than I did at the time.
but then, if I remember The Lounge correctly, it was far worse on there than it is on here these days, and the majority of the bitching is now confined to one single thread, albeit the busiest one on the whole site.In my opinion, this whole problem has been brought on by Metropol's members themselves. You created that feeling in this forum so as to keep out the 'undesirables' and bitch about and ridicule other members of TVF, but it's now turned round to bite you in the butt because people don't want to be a part of this community. The only way I see you turning this place into a popular forum is to cut out all the bitching, insulting threads about TVF and make it somewhere that TVF members can visit to discuss non-TV things.
As for the secret forum, well that's just nonsense of course, we're talking about a forum that would contain about 50% of the people in the main site. As cdd said above, new members are welcomed, its more the problem that people seem timid to join at all, or, in fact, are completely ignorant of the site that gets me.
[quote="freddy"the bullying and pack mentality that goes on here.[/quote]
could you direct me to a blatant piece of "bullying" please? I don't mean to be rude but I suspect your definition and mine might be substantially different
"He has to be larger than bacon"
Personally, I think it's pretty good as it is. To be honest, I'm with Nini and co. If people are gonna be idiots, unable to hold peoper conversation or manage to take banter, let them stay over on TVF.
Things are good over here as they are. I like it anyway...
Things are good over here as they are. I like it anyway...
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Lorns
- Posts: 3149
- Joined: Thu 24 Mar, 2005 22.48
- Location: A room with a view. 15 Hookey street, the Edge.
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I'd like some new friends to play with. I see why the majority of tvfers don't fancy it over here. Too many stong characters and opinions. It's such a shame as there are loads of members from the other place i'd love to have a banter with over here.
I wouldn't want metropol to change just for it to evolve.
We're not a clique just an exclusive little club that anyone can join ( provided you're not JM)
Ebeneezer Scrooge wrote:
Beanbags? BEANBAGS? Lazyboys, yes, I could even imagine a scattering of leathery poofs, but beanbags?!
I soooooo want a Joey armchair. Speakers in the seats and little cubby holes in the arms. That would be the perfect addition to my living room.
Heyho! there will be some good discounts this January.
I wouldn't want metropol to change just for it to evolve.
We're not a clique just an exclusive little club that anyone can join ( provided you're not JM)
Ebeneezer Scrooge wrote:
Beanbags? BEANBAGS? Lazyboys, yes, I could even imagine a scattering of leathery poofs, but beanbags?!
I soooooo want a Joey armchair. Speakers in the seats and little cubby holes in the arms. That would be the perfect addition to my living room.
Heyho! there will be some good discounts this January.
Mental anxiety, Mental breakdowns, Menstrual cramps, Menopause... Did you ever notice how all our problems begin with Men?