Just to be clear, we just had a near-flap on the fluteboard
about this, where somebody responded to the
political content of signature that went on for nearly
40 words, without quotation. This response was in turn
responded to and the thing was apparently
going South.
I then wrote:
The tag ends of posts, which began as pithy and epigramatic quotations,
have had a tendency to swell into political statements
considerably longer than the post. This naturally invites a
response, especially when the statement blasts
the country of some of the readers.
Which defused the thing, in fact.
I do think thereās an issue of fairnessāitās possible to take
advantage of the signature format to make out and out
political statements that are prohibited on the music boards.
Weāve had some problems about political statements
there. One of the reasons theyāve been prohibited is that folks
who disagree canāt respond without breaking the rules.
Shifting a political statement prohibited on the board
to the signature line, so as to skirt the prohibition,
doesnāt seem to improve the
situation or to avoid the difficulty. It does tend
to look like what it is.
I didnāt write to the moderators about what just
happened, by the way.
I do hope the signatures wonāt be used
as a cover for something else, but if it does happen, I donāt
think everybody should pay the price.
Oh donāt be nervous. Your post implied some here may not be enamoured with you but I wanted you to be assured that I am so infatuated with your brillient knowledge of the celestial sphere and equinlology (?) that I will happily follow you all over and take pictures of your every move and worship the footprints you leave richer in the barren soil.
Jim Stone: āDenmark is a swamp of debauchery, the pornography capital
of the universe, in which the socialist system has irradicated
the faintest glimmer of individualism and personal creativityā
An interesting thread drift on the very subject of siggy lines came up in the Flute Forum. Hereās my take on a particular twist to the topic (12th post down from the top):
I voted status quo. I kind of like it when people have info or make posts about their offerings. It keeps me informed about what is available in the whistling world. As for politics and religion, I am fine with them, but maybe if they are too outrageous, people should just save it for the political board.
Are you kidding??? Wouldnāt YOU jump at the chance to have a siggy line that basically says, "See? See? Free speech! So there. Neener neener neener. "?
Commercial links in sig lines donāt bother me. But then, Iām not given to tediously dissecting policy to utter death by letter of the law. I prefer its spirit, thanks.
I started putting the whatever it is I have in my signature lines because I was posting in a bicycle forum and people would always PM me to ask what kind of bicycles I had (2 recumbents and an ordinary mountain bike in case you want to know.)
Seemed like a reasonable thing to do in the flute forum because same thing: people would PM me and ask me what kind of flute I play.
For those who get confused where the post ends and the political mumbo jumbo begins, thereās a little line indicating where the sig starts. Just stop reading at the line.
And how come those folks who get most offended by siggie lines tend to be even more opinionated in their regular posts? Pots and kettles if you ask me.
Some of us, such as myself, who post mainly on the flute board (fancy that - actually talking about music on a board that was set up for that purpose) are using the sig line to contain the link to our playing clips. This is in response to a consensus of opinion on the flute board that it would be a good idea to know whether or not someone making comments about flutes or flute playing can actually play the instrument theyāre pontificating upon. If you disable the sig line, that capability will go away for us. But then again, weāre only talking about music, so why should the rest of you bloviators care a whit about that?
Personally, I donāt give a feck what anyone chooses to say or not say in their sig line. Itās not like we donāt know what everyoneās leanings are anyway based on reading their posts. And allowing only 250 characters encourages one to learn how to craft a concise argument, which is a good thing no matter what the position is thatās being advocated.
Iām just guessing, absent a moderatorial discussion on the subject, but if I know my peers, you can be sure thatās not gonna happen to the general population. Thereās no point to it, so fear not; itās just an option on a poll, and administration isnāt beholden to a poll. However: I just checked, and a moderator CAN disable sig line visibility on an individual basis. If someone REALLY offended, one could use that option as a penalty. But, I think that sort of offence would normally mean the member being deactivated, or the account deleted, anyway. I mean, why keep a bad egg around?
yeppers!
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