The off-topic thread

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  • #618115
    Meno
    Participant

    It seems as if lately (over the past few days) many threads in the Coffee Room have just gone off topic and have turned into arguments (or discussions?) between many of the same posters about things like Modern Orthodoxy, College, OTD, Frumkeit, etc.

    I figured it would be helpful to start a new thread for all that stuff so we can have it all consolidated in one place.

    #1166866

    Great idea. It’s been pretty draining. So do I just delete all the perseverative posts or do I have to redirect them?

    #1166867
    Sparkly
    Member

    Meno – no because we talk about more than one thing per topic….

    #1166868
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    Guys, it’s Erev Tisha B’Av!!! Let’s turn this thread into a contest to see who can find the most positive things to say about Am Yisrael!!! (while being careful not to give validity to anything that might be anti-Torah)

    #1166869
    Joseph
    Participant

    What’s the weather like in Cincinnati?

    #1166870
    Rabbi of Crawley
    Participant

    The reform and conservative groups are experts. They are experts in failure.

    #1166871
    Sparkly
    Member

    lilmod ulelamaid – I agree.

    #1166872

    You hit the nail on the head! The problem lies in the different viewpoints of what supports anti-Torah. Much of the mud slinging is done by people are genuinely defending Torah as it was taught to them. Even when it seems “clear” to ask that it is anti-Torah, that is not what they understand it to be.

    #1166873
    Meno
    Participant

    Sparkly,

    Many of the discussions have nothing to do with the threads they’re in.

    Anyway, I think this is working out nicely so far.

    #1166874
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    My point was that everyone can find something nice to say that is clearly not anti-Torah and not controversial.

    I do have to leave for Shabbos already, but meanwhile, I’ll start:

    1. One year when I was in Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet (the Chassidish part of Ramat Beit Shemesh) for Pesach, I decided that I wanted to go to Shul the night of Leil Haseder. So I went outside to look for a Shul with a women’s section. I asked some little Chassidish boys for help and they went out of their way to help me. I think they even walked me to the Shul. When I got to the Shul, the women’s section was locked, but some Chassidish men saw me, and went all the way around the shul to get the key and unlock the door just for me (I was the only woman in shul that night)!

    #1166875

    Why don’t we shut down the coffee room until after Tisha Be’Av-fast and everyone devote themselves to feeling for the loss of no Bais Hamikdosh still today. Wouldn’t that be a big zchus for k lal Yisroel and for Mashiach to come quicker?

    #1166876
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    “lilmod ulelamaid – I agree.”

    Thanks Sparkly!

    #1166877
    Sparkly
    Member

    lilmod ulelamaid – your welcome!

    #1166878
    Meno
    Participant

    The Coffee Room has been out of control the past few days/weeks. It’s interesting to see that all the old regular posters have just stepped back and don’t get involved any more.

    Honestly I don’t really like it. Too much drama.

    #1166879
    Sparkly
    Member

    Meno – what drama are you referring to?

    #1166880

    sigh…

    #1166881
    Meno
    Participant

    “sigh…”

    I just literally laughed out loud, in an office full of people…

    #1166882
    Meno
    Participant

    There should be a section of the coffee room just for men

    #1166883
    Sparkly
    Member

    Meno – maybe you shouldnt be on yeshiva world while at work. yes there should be a section for only men and only women.

    #1166884
    Meno
    Participant

    It’s my lunch break. Thanks for looking out for me though, I appreciate that.

    #1166885
    NeutiquamErro
    Participant

    Meno:

    Thank you. Sincerely. I couldn’t agree more. I’ve been waiting for quite a long time just to see if there’s any discussion that follows even a vaguely interesting topic in something approaching a coherent fashion.

    I considered making a plea for more interest (shameless self-plug for the #KTCRIM), but that didn’t seem to be the issue. There are plenty of reasonably good topics, and plenty of people are getting involved. But the tone just seems to be off, and it slightly disconcerts me. I simply haven’t the patience to decipher much of it. Mostly, it’s just frustrating. I’m happy to elaborate further, and more specifically, I just haven’t the strength right now.

    Perhaps the CR has simply moved on, even in the relatively short period of time I’ve been here. I think it might be a good idea to dedicate this thread to figuring out what’s actually going on. Because the really established posters, the reason I ever got involved in the first place, seem to have voted with their feet, and are nowhere to be seem.

    #1166886

    I always find those types of comments very bothersome for reasons I will not waste time on now. I agree that many of the posting is difficult to decipher as well as highly redundant and painful to engage with. For that reason I have increased my posting but I am trying to work around the issue. I can only do so with others joining in.

    There are many people missing right now probably for the same reason that you are not missing – because it is bein Hazmanim and many many families are spending time together, thankfully without wifi. For you to decide they “voted with their feet” is highly speculative at best. I would be beyond grateful to you, and whomever else feels similarly, if you would use the displacement theory to change things.

    Lamenting is the lazy way, and it isnt fair to the host or those present. It is, if you will, it’s own form of “drama”.

    #1166887

    Sparkly the drama he’s referring to us…the young girls who have no one to ask our questions the ones who come up with the original topics….and make this Coffee room interesting. Even if they did separate the guys from gurls the guys would wanan join our discussions cause ours are serious and fun!!! We will not feel stepped on

    #1166888
    Sparkly
    Member

    Sadgirlygirl – i agree.

    #1166889
    NeutiquamErro
    Participant

    Syag:

    I certainly hear your point, and agree with you up until a point. In fact, I’m glad to have got an erudite, well argued response to engage with, as those have been few and far between.

    I don’t think the issue is the absence of good posters due to holidays. A quick perusal of the threads reveals that plenty of those are present and posting. I just feel that the fact that certain posters seem to be less active, despite clearly being present, is due to the prevailing tone of the CR at the present moment.

    With regard to your ‘displacement theory, I have looked to engage. Interesting discussion is why I participate, and I did try to find an inroad. But the reason why I’ve found it so frustrating is that certain very active posters seem to be setting the tone, and leading the discussion in particular directions. And others have followed. And that is their prerogative. Nobody is doing anything ‘wrong’, as it where. I just dislike the tone immensely, and by the looks of things, so does Meno, amongst significant others.

    In the past I have got involved with the express purpose of striking some life into the CR. But there’s plenty of activity in the CR at the moment. And some of it is great. But finding the gems amongst the dirt, and trying to have a good discussion between the rubbish, is difficult. You feel that by getting involved, the tone will improve. Perhaps.

    But I find it difficult to engage in a thread moaning at the Mods for ridiculous reasons, a girl going to Las Vegas, boy’s who smoke ‘not being frum’, a college student trying to high-five someone, or hair dye. And even the good threads get sidetracked into incoherent, over-dramatised mulch.

    Of course, there’s some interesting stuff too. But when even a decent thread like this one turns into a ridiculous teenage gender war, I’ve lost all patience. I mean, seriously. Look at the post following yours. I find it impossible to engage with that. Ignoring it is a solution, but that’s not what people are doing. Again, nobody is ‘wrong’. But people have tastes, and it seems quite a few agree that the tone tastes bad.

    If I sound jaded and annoyed, it’s because I am. But on a positive note, it appears much of this has passed and things seem to be improving. And I don’t appear to be alone on this. PBA has made a far more pertinent and succinct point on the aforementioned ‘Moan at the Mods’ thread. And I couldn’t agree more.

    #1166890
    Sparkly
    Member

    NeutiquamErro – it cant be mostly teenagers if im not a teenager and neither are many others who also post a lot on here.

    #1166891
    NeutiquamErro
    Participant

    Sigh…

    Fine. I’ll clarify. Not necessarily actual teenagers, merely people acting in a manner generally typical of teenagers.

    #1166892

    #tryingnottotakethispersonal

    #1166893
    NeutiquamErro
    Participant

    #whywhatsobadaboutteenagers?

    #1166894
    Sparkly
    Member

    NeutiquamErro – well i do try acting younger since i like trying to live my life out since im still not married and want to enjoy my life young but i wouldnt say that i write younger only that i try acting younger.

    #1166895
    NeutiquamErro
    Participant

    #maybeitstheendlesshashtagging

    #1166896
    Meno
    Participant

    This thread OMG

    #amidoingthisright

    #1166897
    Person1
    Member

    Think how much trees it would save of we actually stopped using whitespace.

    #1166898
    Meno
    Participant

    Person1,

    That sounds intriguing. Please explain

    #1166899
    πŸ‘‘RebYidd23
    Participant

    Think of how many trees we could save if we didn’t build houses and just slept in trees.

    #1166900

    Omg #imsettingatrendhere

    #1166901
    Person1
    Member

    If we stopped puting that redundant space between every two words and just WroteEverythingAsOneLongStringOf characters all books would shrink in size (something between 10%-20% if I have to guess) smaller books – trees saved.

    Reading the hashtags above gave me the idea.

    As this is an off-topic thread – any idea why I see new messages in two hours delay?

    #1166902

    >>stage whisper<<

    psst, meno, NE, lookin’ up, no?

    #1166903
    Meno
    Participant

    Mod29,

    Did you do what I think you did?

    I was gonna suggest it, but I didn’t think it would be nice to do it in public

    #1166904
    Abba_S
    Participant

    Person1 If you want to save tree just buy e-books no paper needed. This is happening with many newspapers and magazine. Writing a whole page as one long run on sentence may sound like a good idea but it would be difficult to read and comprehend.

    #1166905

    : X

    #1166906
    Meno
    Participant

    Is it permanent?

    #1166907
    Person1
    Member

    Abba_s you’re right but I was actually trying to be funny (:

    Dear moderator and Meno I’m not sure whether I’m the butt of the joke but I sure don’t understand it. I was seriously asking why I experience long delays in the forum. Am I the only one having this problem? Or do the moderator here have to read each and every message before it gets posted?

    #1166908

    person: No joke about you, not at all. And the post delay? Sorry about that – I was consulting on a very confidential issue at the white house that just couldn’t wait (peripherally connected to world safety but I can’t share the details). I left a bit early when I realized how much time I was away. I would have approved posts from there but was a bit concerned about using their internet servers…

    #1166909
    NeutiquamErro
    Participant

    29:

    >stage whisper<

    Yep, things do seem to be looking up a bit.

    #1166910
    Person1
    Member

    YW Moderator-29 to be honest this is the first time I’ve heard about a forum that doesn’t publish comments until they are reviewd by moderators. I wish it was more widespread concept.

    I hope we someday get to the point where computers are able to do your work, so you can spend all your time in keeping the world safe. In the meanwhile keep up the good work.

    Also my original comment has dissapeared so your answer looks out of context.

    #1166911
    NeutiquamErro
    Participant

    Person1: The BBC website is also moderated.

    #1166912

    #OMG #TotesAgree

    I agree with Neu… and Syag. I’ve been here for a few years and in the most recent year my threads sound like a 5 year old’s thought.

    Example for a thread “Monkey’s are the worst”

    OP: We went to the zoo and the monkey ate my hat.

    Comments: “Football is the worst”

    “I tried eating a hat once”

    “Why is football bad?”

    “Where did you buy a new hat”

    “I love monkey faced shaped cookies”

    “Football is the stupidest (goes on rant about football)”

    “You don’t love Harambe then”

    “See soccer is worse than football”

    “Why?”

    “I think that laama’s should have rights to vote”

    Although I enjoy funny sarcastic comments I’m ussually in the wrong time zone to make it in during the conversation, and Ihave np patience reading 3 pages when I wake up in the morning.

    I write my opnion, sometimes get into a conversation, but that’s it.

    #1166913
    Person1
    Member

    Sparkly:

    Smartphones are asur if they give you access to inappropriate sites. modified

    Smartphones are very easy to get addicted to. They cause a huge waste of time otherwise spent on good things.

    #1166914
    absan
    Participant

    I just caught interest in the coffee room lately hoping or beleiving we could help each others out. But quiet frankly most of the topics or discussions are like teen age type of talk.I find very little to grow on.I wonder if you can make a different section for adults.But then again these young teenagers get into everything .True they probably need our help most…It would still be nice if we can have a private room like for parenting or help section etc..Can you 29 come up with something ?

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