I've heard it mentioned more and more often that "It's just a forum". This is perfectly true. Now. I was here in the early days and the reason I stayed and contributed so much to the forums was because of the friendliness of the forums. Everything was Flower Power back then and everyone loved each other. As the membership grew the Trolls stepped in. Whenever I had occasion to deal with them, even before I was made a Don, I had backing and support from Joe Poster. How often do I gain support nowadays from insults, backbiting and disagreements?
The forums have developed from their distinctive friendly atmosphere to "just another forum" like millions of others on the internet. OcUK GD has lost it's distinctiveness, lost it's former glory. It's now "just a forum", like the many millions of others, which is sad in a way for long term members. OcUK GD was unique; we had our own avatar theme and distinctiveness. We, the posters voted to retain it. The friendliness attracted more and more members and the friendliness subsided. We are now left with a backbiting community.
Having done a rethink, the problem is not about spam, but of friendship. It needs to be nurtured and brought back to the GD forum. Backbiting/insults, no matter how low key, should be jumped on with a vengance. Those who don't like it can leave. Dons, too, need to curb their toungues in some instances, including my good self, and I will mention this in the DR.
Bring back the friendship which once existed on these forums. That, I think, is the answer to GD woes. Make GD to be distinctive on the net, as opposed to being "just a forum". It won't be easy, it'll take Dons to implement it stringently and posters to accept it. Rid ourselves of argumentative and backbiting posters with stringent suspensions/bans similar to MM. Take no prisoners.
GD was a Mighty Fine forum once upon a memory. It's now just a semblance of it's former glory. The magic has gone, the glory has gone, it's been invaded by posters who no longer see eye to eye. Those who were around at the time will know what I mean. It doesn't mean because you're a different age group that you should segregate yourself from the rest of the community. This is what seems to be happenening, though, with "cliques" of posters sprouting up all over the place.
GD should not be "just a forum". It should be unique and distinctive. If not, GD will continue to decay with more and more demoralised posters. It's a challenge we should accept to try and restore it back to it's former glory and show once again how OcUK supports the internet, not just contributes to it. It's all very well having millions of members and a fast response to posts, but not at the expense of friendship.
All worthy ideas that crop up in this thread will be considered and, who knows, may even be implemented.
I'll defy anyone to find spam with my name on it though 
" then the thread would die quicker.
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