[ Post a Response | The Sublime Desire of Cigarette Smoking ]
Posted by Jimmy D on August 8, 2007, 1:01 am, in reply to "Re: Please Read / Refocusing Our Purpose Here" Perhaps this isn’t the best time to “de-lurk”, but I have checked in here every day for at least a year, I’d venture. Primarily, I have to admit, because there is something very engaging about vesperae’s personal “style” and the highly intelligent way that she presents herself. But I have a very limited darkside interest, and to be honest I don’t find my own smoking to be a particularly interesting topic. So I read here quietly, although I appreciate the quality of the discussions. That said, I’m also sort of confused by the way the conversation is being controlled. I realize that by restricting the scope of discussions to a fairly narrow strand, the hope is to avoid duplicating what could be discussed on Matt’s board. But to be honest – and I mean no disrespect to anyone who frequents that board -- Matt’s forum isn’t really my thing. It tends to be a bit “too dark” for my tastes. Basically, on this board I know I’m never going to see stories about 5 year olds being made to chain smoke until they die, or posts about people eagerly anticipating their significant other’s demise. Again, not trying to dig on anyone who appreciates those things, and I’m all for people having a place to discuss them. It’s just really nothing I’m comfortable with, and I like this board because I know I’m not going to get those kinds of posts here. So count me among those somewhat puzzled by the reaction to Alicia’s post. It seemed to me like she put a lot of effort into what she wrote, and I think “off-putting” sums up my reaction to the response. I guess I just didn’t see her post being particularly off-topic. Were this board getting dozens of posts a day, I can perhaps see the need to control the discussion more closely. But in this case, when someone puts time and effort into a post like Alicia did…it just seems like positive attempts at constructive discussion shouldn’t be discouraged. Just a few thoughts – this is in no way meant to be critical, and I hope it isn’t viewed as piling on. Just trying to voice a different point of view in the most polite way I know how. Feel free to delete if you are non-plussed by my comments. I run a forum too, and at the end of the day I fully appreciate your right to run this place however you see fit.
SpyPlane – got to second you on the confusion.
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