Oh boy, oh boy. I'm beginning to see now why a lot of the older members of this forum (older as in been here longer, not older in age) seem to heave a collective sigh when certain topics crop up in Tickling Discussion. And it does seem that the question of tickling strangers is the worst offender where this stuff is concerned.
The trouble with these threads is not that they exist - after all, nobody is FORCED to pay them any attention (apart from the moderators, I suppose). No, the trouble is that they are so alluring! You want to contribute freely, as you would a normal conversation, but you know what it is likely to lead to. Further edifying, decorous, level-headed discussion, perhaps? Er, no. Just an increase in intensity of the general shitstorm lol. I am quite proud of myself because I just now managed to override a very strong urge to contribute to the latest example of such a thread, a comment which could have been regarded as incendiary and which would, I dare say, have only added to the climate of hostility and petty one-upmanship. It wasn't anything horrible, I should say. Just a lampoon of another member's comment. Shame really. Might have gotten a couple of chuckles. Then again...
I think there are some discussions where the true victory comes not from getting one over on one's perceived adversary, but simply from knowing when to stop. Indeed, a lot of the time people are either too daft, too stubborn or, more likely, too proud to acknowledge when their argument has been struck a blow anyway. They'd rather be like the black knight from that Monty Python sketch who, instead of admitting defeat, continues to fight despite having had all his limbs completely severed. ("I'll bite yer legs off!")
Having said all this, I think overall these threads are good for the forum. Hours can go by without a single comment being posted on Tickling Discussion: not so when a shitstorm thread gets up and running! It gets members interacting, you can't deny that. Much better, I think, than what one might call the 'preference threads' (example: "where do you prefer being tickled?") which, to my mind resemble surveys more than they do discussions. And I've noticed that less frequent posters tend to be drawn out of their dens by the commotion caused by these threads - which can only be good thing.
Anyway. That's it for now, I reckon.
The trouble with these threads is not that they exist - after all, nobody is FORCED to pay them any attention (apart from the moderators, I suppose). No, the trouble is that they are so alluring! You want to contribute freely, as you would a normal conversation, but you know what it is likely to lead to. Further edifying, decorous, level-headed discussion, perhaps? Er, no. Just an increase in intensity of the general shitstorm lol. I am quite proud of myself because I just now managed to override a very strong urge to contribute to the latest example of such a thread, a comment which could have been regarded as incendiary and which would, I dare say, have only added to the climate of hostility and petty one-upmanship. It wasn't anything horrible, I should say. Just a lampoon of another member's comment. Shame really. Might have gotten a couple of chuckles. Then again...
I think there are some discussions where the true victory comes not from getting one over on one's perceived adversary, but simply from knowing when to stop. Indeed, a lot of the time people are either too daft, too stubborn or, more likely, too proud to acknowledge when their argument has been struck a blow anyway. They'd rather be like the black knight from that Monty Python sketch who, instead of admitting defeat, continues to fight despite having had all his limbs completely severed. ("I'll bite yer legs off!")
Having said all this, I think overall these threads are good for the forum. Hours can go by without a single comment being posted on Tickling Discussion: not so when a shitstorm thread gets up and running! It gets members interacting, you can't deny that. Much better, I think, than what one might call the 'preference threads' (example: "where do you prefer being tickled?") which, to my mind resemble surveys more than they do discussions. And I've noticed that less frequent posters tend to be drawn out of their dens by the commotion caused by these threads - which can only be good thing.
Anyway. That's it for now, I reckon.
