Southern UK Jive

TeeDee · Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:51 am Post subject: Housekeeping

Hi All,

Wanted to get other peoples thoughts on the "house keeping" that is done on this forum - I suspect that we've all noticed threads and posts removed that were there once upon a time...!

Why am I opening this up for discussion now?

Last Tuesday (6th Oct), Nicky posted under the News Topic, a new thread to wish me good luck for the opening night (that night) in our second venue in Falmouth.

Over the following weekend I replied with a - wow, brilliant, what a night, 130 people, and so on.

Nicky replied very promptly with a big "Congratulations!" - thanks Nicky, by the way!

Then, yesterday (only 2 days later), the thread was gone. Why?! Evil or Very Mad

Apparently it is "no longer recent news"...

Hmmm - a lot more recent that some stuff still there.

I realize that the good it may do for Le Jive is limited being it that we are all the way down here in Cornwall, but that isn't the point. The point is that the "house keeping" seems unnecessary and out of touch with how an open forum is (in my mind) supposed to work. Could this be one reason for the much lower usage of this forum? I mean what's the point is bothering to post anything at all if it is likely to end up being removed?!

Why remove anything at all..?

So, What do you think? Question

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RichardP · Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 11:12 am Post subject:

Hmmm agreed. Would be interesting to get SJ's view on this. I can't see storage space being an issue as forum posts are tiny amounts of data.

A few weeks ago I wanted to look back at some feedback from a Minstead night earlier this year I was DJ at, unfortunately all feedback on all freestyles more than 4 months ago has gone Sad

There is another dance forum I use where there are over half a million posts - threads are never removed unless they are offensive.. I prefer this method of allowing the forum to grow!

On a final note TeeDee - don't be surprised if this thread is 'removed' too!

TeeDee · Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 11:16 am Post subject:

Thanks for your comments RichardP. Agree that storage shouldn't be an issue - and, like you say, would be good to hear from SJ on this.

Southern Jiver · Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 12:07 pm Post subject:

Ok, you asked, I'll give you my thoughts. I agree, in some ways, that posts should stay on the Forum unless obviously long outdated. However, other people have asked me to remove older posts as they claimed that they were now irrelevant. Now this is rather a subjective issue and obviously different people will have different views about it. I think it has to be dealt with under categories of information. As far as the freestyles feedback section goes, it seems redundant to leave very old feedback up as the likliehood of anyone reading it is almost nil. Alternatively, dates and website addresses of weekenders should probably stay indefinitely (although the dates would change each year). As far as the Jive News goes, I endeavour to only leave the most current items there so that people visiting can see only current items. I apologised to you TeeDee about removing your posts and , on retrospect, should probably just have transferred them to the Jive Classes section rather than deleting them. However, I stand by my contention that only relevant items should remain in the Jive News section and I'm not sure what you mean by "a lot more recent than some stuff still there". It's mostly things that will occur in the future and class changes etc. The fact is, your new class had been posted, had happened and it was no longer news so it, appropriately in my mind, was no longer relevant for the Jive News section. As for your comments "The point is that the "house keeping" seems unnecessary and out of touch with how an open forum is (in my mind) supposed to work. Could this be one reason for the much lower usage of this forum? I mean what's the point is bothering to post anything at all if it is likely to end up being removed?! " I find them mildly offensive and if you find this Forum so useless then I wouldn't waste any more time on it if I were you. SJ
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"We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance."
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TeeDee · Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 1:03 pm Post subject:

Hi SJ - thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.

Let's just get one thing perfectly clear before I respond - I certainly didn't start this tread to get personal or to be "mildly offensive"

Instead, you could, if you choose to, use this threat as a potential means of useful feedback.

Since you already think I have been offensive, I don't think I have much to loose by being blunt:

Southern Jiver · Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 1:30 pm Post subject:

Let me respond to your questions one at a time :

TeeDee · Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 2:34 pm Post subject:

Thanks SJ - that makes things a bit clearer.

I can understand an organizer wanting a negative post removed if the issue was later rectified - but then again, younger posts would nullify the negative one by stating that "all is fixed"... So to speak.

Also, that is a specific case requiring your judgment and doesn't (necessarily) warrant a blanket sweep and ALL posts. The costs involved is something that I admit hadn't occurred to me - so fair enough! On that note: Have you thought about getting sponsored links to help fund the forum - that way you could allow the forum to grow organically ? Just a thought

Yeah, I was having a rant, but it wasn't just about that one thread being removed - that was just the trigger as its something that been increasingly bugging me.

With the News section, I guess a good analogy would be a library - we've all seen those scenes in a movie where they go to the library to research something that happened years ago. The Library doesn't turn around one day and say "Oh, these old things are way out of date. Let's bin them!"

But then the Library is funded by the tax payer..!

Anyway - I've said my bit... I'll now leave it alone and see what others think.

Thanks again SJ.

Oh, yeah - Le Jive has had a fair amount of exposure on this forum - lots of people up in the South Central area know about Le Jive!!! Laughing

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Southern Jiver · Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 2:41 pm Post subject:

Nicky · Forum legend Joined: 22 Feb 2009 Posts: 401

Just caught this thread and have read it with great interest as I can see both points of view.

SJ wrote:

lilblue · Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 4:56 pm Post subject:

Like Nicky I just caught this thread this evening, as it rapidly developed over the day. I agree with her view on people asking for particular posts detailing problems being removed - also that the people in question could post a reply saying what was done/planned to rectify the problem therefore showing that they are a considerate and current provider.

I mainly wanted to say that I love the idea of an 'archive' of Modern Jive goodies and I feel it is an excellent compromise.

Also SJ, didn't realise you had to pay for the forum/calendar (though of course it makes perfect sense, it's not something that pops into our brains) and I am now even more appreciative of it's weekend planning uses!

Southern Jiver · Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 6:03 pm Post subject:

Thanks, guys. It's nice to have my efforts appreciated. Laughing

_________________
"We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance."
~Japanese Proverb

danceitup! · Casual Poster Joined: 01 Jul 2009 Posts: 28

If I left my comments on teedee, they would be removed Smile

This is a great site and I think SJ does a great job, but I no longer leave comments (with the exception of this one) as last time I made a simple comment, I was ganged up on by teedee and members of a large jive organisation (which I no longer attend) and from what I have read, I am not the only one. The site does seem to have been taken over by a couple of people.
I still enjoy reading the comments. Keep up the good work SJ.

Chrissim · Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:25 am Post subject:

Like Lilblue said, I too hadn't realised that SJ paid for this forum. I just want SJ to know that we couldn't be without the monthly calander. Thank you SJ.[/quote]

Southern Jiver · Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:33 am Post subject:

danceitup, I'm sorry you feel that way. I would prefer that this Forum be available for anyone to make whatever comments they feel like making without being intimidated by other members. There will always be people that have a different viewpoint than your own, however, that's not to say your own views aren't valid. I tend to treat it a bit like a newspaper, there will always be critics but you don't have to take any notice of them. Please continue to post your opinions without feeling intimidated. SJ
_________________
"We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance."
~Japanese Proverb

danceitup! · Casual Poster Joined: 01 Jul 2009 Posts: 28

Thanks SJ.
I wasn`t having a moan at your site. We love it. Its very entertaining reading all the comments and arguments and I have found some great jive venues of late, from your calender. I now find myself regularly going to venues I had never heard of before comming on here, so we Thankyou for that Smile