Why I don't participate....

[Mike Cash]

Glad you can see the difference between "blunt" and "insulting".

I don't think I "vented", since that wasn't at all my purpose and the thread wasn't particularly cathartic anyway. I think that for the most part I made valid points and backed them up with reasonable explanations, presented in a calm and rational manner. Anyone who feels insulted by the points made or the way they were presented really needs to learn the difference between actively being insulted by someone and unilaterally taking offense at opinions with which they happen not to agree; the two are not the same thing. Same thing goes for rants and things one would just rather not have heard; they're not the same things either.

 

[Elizabeth]

Of course mikecash has a valid point, and so does Elizabeth. Of course nothing we post here will really solve this "problem". I doubt mikecash had any idea this thread would get so much response when he posted it. He was probably trying to find a rather peaceful way to vent. He found an audience (Hi! I'm part of said audience; I admit it.), and he vented some more. I found the whole spectacle to be entirely entertaining. Why? No one was hurt, and in the end, I hope it got some of us to think about what courtesy really is. How should we behave when we are on the forum? Questions like this.

Mikecash uses a blunt instrument sometimes, but I don't think he really crossed any lines. Got a little childish, perhaps? Maybe. Insulting...I didn't think so, but then again, I don't disagree with his fundamental point.

Insult was just a bit of rhetoric. I'm actually still trying to understand what the fundamental point was -- it is primarily about having to scroll through the posts or the greeters not reading the entire intro first ? If any of the moderators are that perturbed, about either of these....well I guess they're the ones that have the power to actually do something. So maybe it should have been put to them first to set out some guidelines for that forum or at least the complaint spelled out more clearly in the site feedback section.

This forum is not unwelcoming or against some form of introductions per se (I hope)....I just think things may have gotten off track the way it was presented here.

 

[Mike Cash]

It probably would have been better placed in the site feedback section, but this thread has shown remarkably little topic drift thus far.

The fundamental point was that it in attempting to be nice to new members by playing catch-up on greetings, one can't help but be inconsiderate of everyone else. The follow-up point, which was meant to elaborate on the first point, was that such hollow greetings hardly qualify as greetings at all when you get right down to it....which just serves to make the list of catch-up posts even more irritating.

Somewhere in the thread I left unanswered a question of yours about whether my reason for objecting to this activity stems from a concern for the new members. The answer is, no, it doesn't. I couldn't possibly care less about how welcome they are made to feel. My remarks about the hollowness of the ctrl+v greetings were not made out of concern for the new members who, as I said, likely don't even notice the nature of the ctrl+v greetings but because it was necessary to point out to some people how meaningless and empty a ctrl+v greeting is and why they're irritating.

 

[Elizabeth]

It probably would have been better placed in the site feedback section, but this thread has shown remarkably little topic drift thus far.

The fundamental point was that it in attempting to be nice to new members by playing catch-up on greetings, one can't help but be inconsiderate of everyone else. The follow-up point, which was meant to elaborate on the first point, was that such hollow greetings hardly qualify as greetings at all when you get right down to it....which just serves to make the list of catch-up posts even more irritating.

Somewhere in the thread I left unanswered a question of yours about whether my reason for objecting to this activity stems from a concern for the new members. The answer is, no, it doesn't. I couldn't possibly care less about how welcome they are made to feel. My remarks about the hollowness of the ctrl+v greetings were not made out of concern for the new members who, as I said, likely don't even notice the nature of the ctrl+v greetings but because it was necessary to point out to some people how meaningless and empty a ctrl+v greeting is and why they're irritating.

I do agree to a point, particularly about not factoring in the feelings or perceptions of new members who either aren't checking back or interested in becoming more active. The ones that do, if they don't notice than I hope they are pleased at any response. Probably much stronger compared with other forums this size.

My only concern was that at least these greeters were making something of an effort -- more than I've ever done consistently -- to put out a welcome face, even with computer access only on the weekends or whatever, it was still a strong enough desire to come back and finish off the list at the first opportunity. It may be as hollow a gesture as many of the intros themselves or effort to boost their post count, but it still seems fairly rare that the situation of catching up on a weeks worth comes up to annoy everyone to this extent.

 

[Mike Cash]

I think a lot more people are annoyed by it than will speak up and say so.

 

[RockLee]

It is annoying, as is the whole damn page filled by posts about Jpop.

 

[DoctorP]

I think a lot more people are annoyed by it than will speak up and say so.

I'll speak up and state my disgust Mike. Personally I never saw a reason for having the introduction thread anyway! To me, it only serves as a way to boost the total number of posts on the site, and uses up valuable server space. Any information peole want to know about you could be skimmed from your profile (assuming you fill it out) or through a IM. Then again, usually if you wait a bit you will find out more than enough about an individual through their posts!

But, I find the quality of posts in the introduction thread about as useful as the obligitory head nod when two strangers pass one another.

 

[Jack]

what percentage of people join post 1 or 2 and dont come back?
i bet theres a lot that dont come back.

 

[Tsuyoiko]

I never introduced myself and I think I've only posted in that section once. I much prefer to welcome people by replying to their posts on the discussions - it is more meaningful. The best welcome I got was my first rep point from Lexico - that meant much more to me than a 'ctrl+v' greeting (nice term Mike!). Now I try to welcome others by giving rep points where deserved.

 

[kirei_na_me]

I never introduced myself and I think I've only posted in that section once. I much prefer to welcome people by replying to their posts on the discussions - it is more meaningful. The best welcome I got was my first rep point from Lexico - that meant much more to me than a 'ctrl+v' greeting (nice term Mike!). Now I try to welcome others by giving rep points where deserved.

Agree 100%, Tsuyoiko.

 

[Elizabeth]

what percentage of people join post 1 or 2 and dont come back?
i bet theres a lot that dont come back.

It isn't all bad to keep from getting too big, but does seem there have been a lot more like this lately. The only way to really tell who is joining is through own introductions. The younger ones may be more comfortable with an intro first before really getting into things, especially if this is their first experiment with a forum, but if no one returns it's pretty hard to tell....

 

[Gaijinian]

What is wrong with 窶堙坂?堋ｶ窶堙溪?堙懌?堋ｵ窶堙 on an introduction thread?

 

[quiet sunshine]

I seldom went that section, it's not my way to just say hello and not try to know the person more. But I'm sure there're many warm-hearted people who like to show their kindness to everyone.
To knowbies those greeting words may be a bit stereotyped, but to a newbie they are meaningful, at least to me, I appreciated those who replied on my introduction thread and some of them had become my friends since then.

 

[Jack]

It isn't all bad to keep from getting too big, but does seem there have been a lot more like this lately. The only way to really tell who is joining is through own introductions. The younger ones may be more comfortable with an intro first before really getting into things, especially if this is their first experiment with a forum, but if no one returns it's pretty hard to tell....

if in a person's introduction they post 2 replies they usually stay on a bit more....but it kinda varies.....

 

[Takakoo]

Is there anything about it in statistics?