off topic board

[Nifty-Chicken]

Hey everyone. Thanks so much for the suggestions and feedback. As the owner of the board that is why I created this section. A few points / ground rules:

1) This forum is primarily a chicken forum. The majority of the forum is dedicated to that purpose and those areas should remain on the topics of chickens.

2) This is a large and great community. It is silly to think that the only thing we would or can discuss is chickens. This is why there are sections of this forum that are for topics other than chickens. We are always improving the forum and if we feel we should add another section we will do so.

3) I think there is confusion about something VERY important. There is a difference between "Non chicken topics" and "Say whatever you want" topics. This board and the staff will support friendly, courteous topics of discussions (in the appropriate sections) where the topics:
1: Can be viewed and read by children
2: Are not prone to spark debate: These tend to be Politics, Religion, PETA, Cock Fighting, and other topics that end up being contentious. There are about 569,462 other places where you can discuss those things... just not here.

If threads fall within those guidelines then I'm comfortable allowing them here.

Please remember, and this is important, the BYC staff are reading hundreds of posts a day and get a bunch of emails a week. Sometimes they have to make very quick judgments and respond quickly to problems or even potential problems. The fact they donate so much of their own time, without any compensation, to create a thriving and pleasant community is pretty darn amazing!

I'll reiterate this again, we love the community and are here to help it grow and flourish. If a thread is locked or removed it is because we are making the best decision we can with the info we have available while leveraging over 20 YEARS of combined experience working with this BYC community.

Thanks to the community for all they do and thanks in advance for your attention to these important items.

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

We have this area to give members the chance to get to know each other better and to discuss family type stuff and remain G rated. This is not for political discussions or other topics that tend to get heated. We remain committed to keeping this board a place where we are happy to have children roam.

If you wish to participate in a non-moderated area go find one. There are lots to pick from.

Please take the time to understand the rules and know that we have the right to Moderate as we see fit as this is a Moderated board. If moderation upsets you again, find an unmoderated board, there are plenty.

 

[TxChiknRanchers]

IMHumbleO There are already off topic threads here. We got soap, candles and other stuff that eludes me right now. I have no problem with any of these but I see no need for an official off topic thread line.

There, my perception is my reality

RCG

 

[seminolewind]

Under "everything else chicken", there is a thread called Off Topic by Bubba. It's surely got alot of posts. Look there

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

For now, if it isn't about chickens, and is appropriate for this form (see my list above) then put it in one of the "Social" section forums.

Everything Else Chicken - topics about chickens that aren't covered in the main forum section

Me, My Chickens, My Family - Anything appropriate that is more on the social discussion side, for example:

"Hey, did anybody see "The Office" last night?"

That can be appropriate and would go in "Me, My Chickens, My Family "

(Dang I love that show)

 

[newchickowner]

Nifty and the moderators, I know it's been said before, but you probably don't hear it enough, THANK YOU for all your hard work in keeping this forum a great place to learn and chat about one thing we all have in common........the love of our chickens.......for every age group.

 

[firechicken]

Quote:
I agree, I love this site, and it has taught me so much more then any of the books I have read about chickens. The people here are great including the mods and admin. I can't say enough about how much I enjoy this place.

I just happen to not understand exactly what is wrong with debate.

And thank you guys for putting up with my little rant. I do apologize if I came off sounding mean to any particular person.

 

[ruth]

Quote:
No, it's about Me, My Chickens, My Family and each and every person who has posted has posted about them, their chickens and their family. I have been moved to tears to read the posts - so beautiful.

I loved your post - I could picture you in that swing watching your children playing barefoot on the cool grass. Thank you so much for sharing.

I too, like you, was getting tired of seeing threads turn ugly, and those were about chickens for goodness sakes. I can only imagine what threads about naturally heated topics would produce.

We've lost enough good members/posters due to hurt feelings because of people who don't think before they type.

Also like you, I come here to escape and to end my day feeling good. If I wanted to be on a highly contentious forum I would be. The moderators here allow amply for non-chicken topics - there are many. They have their hands full monitoring the people who get out of hand just talking about chickens. Let's give them a big hand for the unpaid work they do and let's not make their jobs any harder for them.

 

[earthnut]

Quote:
Nowhere did I say I did not want moderation...

Moderation is what makes forums like this fun to be in.

Nifty-Chicken, thanks for your explanation. I was not aware that off-topic posts were allowed in Me, My Chickens, My Family, because I've seen a few non-contentious off-topic posts get locked there.

Quote:
Absolutely. I've never found "say whatever you want" boards to be friendly or useful. I hope I was clear that it was never my intention to want that. Disallowing contentious topics are fine by me too. I just wasn't seeing a place for hangout and chat threads.

 

[playswithfowl]

I agree with adoptedbyachicken