If you've got nothing to say ...

[Ventilhorn]

I hope people won't all follow VH's advice ...

I don't believe that I have advised anybody to change their behaviour. I have simply stated my own position, regarding contributions to the message boards.

VH

[Serial_Apologist]

I was just amazed by VH's OP. What got my goat was that anybody should feel it necessary to declare their self-absenting from here. Are we really that important? Why not just slip away, like a wounded fox?

[french frank]

I'd like to dispel any thought here that 'lurking' is a negative activity - though in general the word sounds derogatory. The boards themselves are fully viewable by anyone with internet access (though some parts of the forum can only be accessed by members) and all are welcome.

People who do join may only be interested in one or a few forums (if you haven't discovered, you can collapse the whole homepage view by clicking on the small Up Arrow on the right of the red forum bar, just leaving the forums you want to read).

What's New? will always provide the latest from all the forums in a jumble, so individual threads may attract your interest even in places where you Never Go (like Platform 3!).

People are free to post as much or as little as they want and, within the House Rules, say what they like. You do make virtual 'friends' and 'enemies'. Please be tolerant of your 'enemies' and of individual posts which may strike the wrong note with you.

Give what you want, take what you want, ignore what you want.

[Tony Halstead]

"Give what you want, take what you want, ignore what you want"

Excellent. exactly so!

[aeolium]

I'd like to dispel any thought here that 'lurking' is a negative activity - though in general the word sounds derogatory.

I completely agree with that. I would only say that no-one should be discouraged from posting out of a fear that their opinion will not be of interest or value.

[Serial_Apologist]

[Nick Armstrong]

it is paradoxical in some extent to announce reticence .... and it claims a moral privilege for reticence

Nicely put.

And Frenchie is as ever right. (I stay clear of the endless bad-tempered political and religious threads, but don't announce I'm doing so. Except that I just did. .... where's that *doh* smiley?! Frenchie's not always right! can we have it back, pleeeeeeease miss??? )

[salymap]

Nicely put.

And Frenchie is as ever right. (I stay clear of the endless bad-tempered political and religious threads, but don't announce I'm doing so. Except that I just did. .... where's that *doh* smiley?! Frenchie's not always right! can we have it back, pleeeeeeease miss??? )

Exactly so Caliban

[Mahlerei]

No, don't bring back the doh smiley it's just become a symbol of intransigence/laziness. If you feel so strongly about a given post take a few minutes to explain why rather than use that awful shorthand.

[Nick Armstrong]

No, don't bring back the doh smiley it's just become a symbol of intransigence/laziness. If you feel so strongly about a given post take a few minutes to explain why rather than use that awful shorthand.

Interesting point - though I would add that I only tend to use it about myself, when I've said or done something stupid... in which case it's a nice light-hearted 'mea culpa' I think...

[Mahlerei]

Caliban

Not everyone is as engaging as you are and I suspect the doh smiley is most often used as a contemptuous riposte that really contributes nothing to to the debate. I'll admit to using it in exasperation but generally regret doing so. We're an articulate lot so smileys shouldn't replace a coherent response.

As for VH's argument, I reckon the MB would be a very dull place if it were forced into such a straitjacket.

[french frank]

I started replying to Caliban over half an hour ago, but the front door bell rang and it never got posted:
...

Except that I just did. .... where's that *doh* smiley?! Frenchie's not always right! can we have it back, pleeeeeeease miss??? )[/COLOR]

I'm going to break my silence on this subject

It was mentioned - and I agreed - that the doh smiley was being used too widely as way of sneering at something that someone else had said, since it clearly meant: "You are [s/he is] an idiot!" The only acceptable use is for it to mean "I'm an idiot!" or "Silly me ..." If people got out of the habit of misusing it, I would reinstate it.

[cavatina]

No, don't bring back the doh smiley it's just become a symbol of intransigence/laziness. If you feel so strongly about a given post take a few minutes to explain why rather than use that awful shorthand.

True, but if we're going to advocate banning anything, surely "gun" and other violent smileys from that horrid .gif site are far more deserving. Ugly to look at, and it certainly sends a threatening message that likely makes its "target" extremely uncomfortable...it doesn't do the forum any favours at all. Surely we can have a conversation without an implied threat of violence, no matter how "jokey" posters like to think they're being. Not funny.

And even "contempt" smileys like vomit and rolling around on the floor laughing are inappropriate when it comes to talking about presenters and programming on Radio 3. If that's the best you can come up with in lieu of explaining yourself, there's no reason at all anyone should read it.

[Ventilhorn]

I think the OP is misguided, perhaps betrayed by the misquote - as far as I know, it is "if you haven't got anything nice to say, don't say anything". It's all about how you do something. Yes if you rip into someone else in a scathing manner, belittling their views, then it might offend. But it's very bracing to find someone in an intelligent, maybe humorous way, taking a different view from me, offering a different perspective.

As usual, it's not what you do but how you do it that counts.

Agreed. And if nothing else, this thread has at least raised 28 posts in less than 7 hours.

Of course I will continue posting on these boards, but I am determined to avoid controversy.

VH

[Chris Newman]

I started replying to Caliban over half an hour ago, but the front door bell rang and it never got posted:
...

I'm going to break my silence on this subject

It was mentioned - and I agreed - that the doh smiley was being used too widely as way of sneering at something that someone else had said, since it clearly meant: "You are [s/he is] an idiot!" The only acceptable use is for it to mean "I'm an idiot!" or "Silly me ..." If people got out of the habit of misusing it, I would reinstate it.

I always understood it meant "Silly me...".

The smileys that I think are sad and pathetic are those childish things that lie down waving about and gasping like dying fish out of water. The people that use them try to dismiss free discussion with the excuse that it is boring when really they are angry that anyone dares to question them and their views. Sadly, like viruses, it is hard to stop them when the user is determined.