The all new No Context thread.

[Johnny Ryall]

It's just a thread eh. Low hanging fruit sort of humour that I've personally grown out of as well (looks like I've never posted in that thread). But that's just like my opinion man.

Conversely would you rather it get rebooted knowing it makes some people genuinely uncomfortable? Prospective employers can and do do social media scrapes on new recruits, it's not a baseless concern.

[Vermilion]

I really don't think a bit of silly forum humour is really anything for anyone to be particularly concerned about (especially out in the real world, we don't even use our real names here), and is being made out to be something bigger than it actually is.

I have no issues with anyone quoting me, do it as hard and fast as you like, i ain't ever going to complain as it really is just a bit of harmless fun.

[Moggy]

Conversely would you rather it get rebooted knowing it makes some people genuinely uncomfortable? Prospective employers can and do do social media scrapes on new recruits, it's not a baseless concern.

I don't know if anybody here uses their real name, but looking at the post history of most of us, the no context thread is the least of our problems if employers link our forum posts to our real identities.

[kazanova_Frankenstein]

Low hanging fruit

[Johnny Ryall]

I was sure you were going to quote me saying “do do” there.

[kazanova_Frankenstein]

a bit of harmless fun.

[kazanova_Frankenstein]

I was sure you were going to quote me saying “do do” there.

Honestly? I was so excited when I saw low hanging fruit I didn't make it to the end your sentence.

Try quoting THAT out of context.

[OrangeRKN]

THAT

[Moggy]

I didn't make it to the end

[site23]

I think if you're having any kind of banter with someone and they ask you nicely to knock it off, you shouldn't nitpick it - you've got to just accept it. It's part of the social contract when you're making light of someone for fun.

I don't have a particularly strong opinion on this thread, but at the very least I think if someone wants to opt out that should be respected. There's nothing inherently offensive about silly innuendos but I don't think you should force any kind of joke on someone that doesn't want to be a part of it.

If I were running a banter thread and it came to light that several people felt kind of uncomfortable about it, I would personally simply get rid of it, just like Dan did. But if other people really love it and want to continue it, they should think about how to let those people say "nah this isn't for me".

For example, we could say that if you get a notification that you've been misquoted here, you can just hit "report" on the post and it (and replies) will quietly go away. It won't be taken as a report of broken rules or anything, just a request to opt out. That's simple for the user and doesn't seem like too much hassle for mods either.

[Moggy]

I think if you're having any kind of banter with someone and they ask you nicely to knock it off, you shouldn't nitpick it - you've got to just accept it. It's part of the social contract when you're making light of someone for fun.

As far as I'm aware, that's not happened though?

[Jenuall]

It has happened, people have specifically called out the No Context Thread as being problematic for them so I agree that it's right to respect that and take some action.

It's very different to other threads that can get heated (Politics, Brexit, Football etc.) as people need to actively choose to engage with those threads therefore there's an element of consent, but no context just drags people in irrespective of their personal wish to participate

[Qikz]

Easiest thing is to let people opt out, have a list in the OP of who not to post and problem solved right? If they get posted it can be moderated.

[Drumstick]

Anonymised quotes resolves the problem, no?

[RetroCora]

I think if you're having any kind of banter with someone and they ask you nicely to knock it off, you shouldn't nitpick it - you've got to just accept it. It's part of the social contract when you're making light of someone for fun.

As far as I'm aware, that's not happened though?

It doesn't seem like he's aiming that at anyone, just a polite reminder.

In terms of the thread - I've said all along, that I think the humour displayed in it is childish and in some places outright poor form but that's just my personal taste - I know others on here don't like my sense of humour so I try not to throw that in their face. I've also become very aware in the last twelve months that we leave a neon footprint on the internet when we post on this forum - someone linked to a forum topic on one of my streams that was full of outright unacceptable content that I had been involved in when I was 19. It's not reflective of who I am now(or even really who I was then, they were the posts of a kid who wanted to be included), and it caused me a pretty significant and prolonged anxiety attack when I read back through it.

While we don't use our full names, many of us know each other's names, have met one another in real life, and in a few places become genuinely good friends. It's not entirely outside the realms of possibility that the no context thread could be used maliciously in the future if there's a falling out, which makes me uncomfortable. It's also why I asked not to be included in the thread when this topic came up a couple of months ago(something that I might add was ignored last week, I can't remember who by).

With all that said, I've never been in favour of locking the thread - my personal feelings shouldn't ruin something that people genuinely enjoy, for whatever reason. Just please don't quote me in the thread. If Dan no longer wants the thread to continue with him as OP, we also need to abide by that because it's his choice - Ironhide or any of you can start a new one and I can't think there will be many, if any, objections. This is a bit of a non-issue IMO.

TL;DR - keep the thread going, but respect the wishes of anyone who doesn't want to be included.

[RetroCora]

Anonymised quotes resolves the problem, no?

This doesn't solve anything, because all you need to do to find out who said what is to use the search function. You'll find both the post and the quote in two seconds flat. Quicker if you're Moggy.

[kazanova_Frankenstein]

Just anonymise all the forum users. Give everyone a randomised number.

[Drumstick]

OK. I was (incorrectly) under the impression that the main concern was around people external to this forum, i.e. current/potential employers, law enforcement etc, seeing the posts here. Not people that are already here.

[RetroCora]

OK. I was (incorrectly) under the impression that the main concern was around people external to this forum, i.e. current/potential employers, law enforcement etc, seeing the posts here. Not people that are already here.

For me it's all of the above, to be honest. Without going too far into it, there are multiple internal and external parties who could circumvent anonymised quoting if they felt like it. Easier just to allow people to opt-out if they aren't comfortable.

[site23]

I think if you're having any kind of banter with someone and they ask you nicely to knock it off, you shouldn't nitpick it - you've got to just accept it. It's part of the social contract when you're making light of someone for fun.

As far as I'm aware, that's not happened though?

I wasn't scolding anyone, I promise - I was analogising the situation to build up my argument. I think this situation, in which a few members have expressed discomfort / anxiety about being included in a banter thread, is basically analogous to a different situation, in which a friend might admit to being uncomfortable with a running joke. We probably all agree what should happen in the latter scenario - we should accept the feelings of the person who feels uncomfortable and respect their wishes - so I think we should seek an analogous solution in this scenario.

I don't know what the best solution for the forum is exactly - but as I said, I personally wouldn't want to run the thread and I think there should be, at least, some kind of modification to its format going forward to allow people to not participate.