Rockmeister
pfm Member
and some who never dripped a drop, but were just upset and still try to be reasonable about the whole thing.
The world is full of assholes. I wish they had a better mirror.
Wam on the verge of change
- Thread starter whatsnext
- Start date
-
- Tags
- change have your say renovation wam
The world is full of assholes. I wish they had a better mirror.
I tried that on Google translate, but even it couldn’t work it out...
I’ve just had a look... omg!!
Joe Hutch
Mate of the bloke
The process seems to be thus: person is banned or flounces from forum(s). Person sets up own forum, and promptly bans owner(s) of forum(s) from which he was banned/flounced. Rinse and repeat.
HFW is one of the few forums I've had little to do with. I posted a few times a year or so back, but it was going through one of its periodic crises, and the discussions dried up.
BARNEYS DAD
pfm Member
The Wam has become totally unrecognisable from the forum it was even a few months ago
The values we fought for, that once were the backbone of the forum, are gone.
Consequently with regret, but with huge relief, Danny (Duvet) Stuart (Cambs) and Steve (Barneys Dad) have all terminated their accounts.
The values we fought for, that once were the backbone of the forum, are gone.
Consequently with regret, but with huge relief, Danny (Duvet) Stuart (Cambs) and Steve (Barneys Dad) have all terminated their accounts.
Wam and 'values' in the same sentence? Surely some mistake.
My short experience of it was a cess pit of oddballs, bullies and knowalls.
gintonic
50 shades of grey pussy cats
you mean like all fora? I see those characteristics here.
True. But on Wam (during my time) they were all in the same gang and hunted in packs.
Tony L
Administrator
One “problem” all forums have is large numbers of people do actually know each other, and as such tend to write in a way where subtle piss-taking, irony etc is often lost to casual observers outside that loop. WigWam had more issues than most in this area, but beneath the sometimes rough exterior was a very real community. The Scalford show always brought out the very best of it, and it was there that you really noticed that everyone knew each other and the vast majority of it was just banter. My issue with this sort of online culture is that it can be very alienating to newbies, and every forum obviously needs to attract new members, which is why pfm aims for a rather less aggressive/more work/child-friendly presentation.
Sue Pertwee-Tyr
Accuphase all the way down
Completely agree. That was my experience of the Wam, as a newbie. I left when a moderator piled in as well - clearly the site's ethos was not conducive to reducing that bullying. Over the following year or so, I had the occasional peek back in, and nothing had changed as far as I could see, so I never went back, and settled here happily instead. Many people relate how great the Wam was, which probably indicates that they were in the clique. They overlook how unappealing that made it for outsiders wanting to join.
crimsondonkey
pfm Member
Not aimed at anyone, just a general comment, but bloody hell its only a forum and it died some time back, so surely time to get over it. If you had a bad experience - so what? Presumably you’re an adult and can just move on? This was years ago and people are still holding on to bitter feelings!
If you like and have found a home here then I don’t understand all the clenching and nashing over the past. After all, it doesn’t look like it helps.
If you like and have found a home here then I don’t understand all the clenching and nashing over the past. After all, it doesn’t look like it helps.
Tigerjones
Bagpuss
My thoughts exactly, Crimson. No one's died. Move on and shut up about it.
Sue Pertwee-Tyr
Accuphase all the way down
I think it sheds some light on why it died, so it's entirely relevant. If you want a cosy little thread where the clique can exchange happy memories and express regret, don't you think it's a bit rude to impose yourselves on another forum entirely?
gintonic
50 shades of grey pussy cats
and I think it mostly achieves this, especially in the latter two aims. But I recognise bullying and aggression here as well.
Mr Cat
Owner
yes, I'm on another like minded forum and the craic there is spot on - all good banter and people support each other rather than belittle people etc...
Tony L
Administrator
The off-topic room is unusual in that I do allow political discussion and as such it bats a little harder than the other rooms. It is certainly moderated though, e.g. I will never give a platform to the far-right, racists, homophobes etc.
Over the past decade or so a fault-line has opened up in audio discussion between so-called ‘objectivists’ and ‘subjectivists’. This takes some serious moderation to keep within accepted bounds IME assuming moderatuon doesn't taje the easy route of nailing the forums colours to one side and moderating accordingly. I’m not prepared to do that, but those who get too arrogant on either side will get a bit of a slap!
Other than these two areas I don’t recognise anything that could be misconstrued as ‘bullying’. Certainly nothing gets reported as such (as with most sites the ‘report post’ function is a very useful barometer and one that is always assessed by the mod team even if a specific case is rejected).
PS One thing that that is worth noting is just how much crossover there is between forums. The high-end audio marketplace is in reality fairly small and over-saturated. I don’t know the exact figures, but I suspect the majority of members of any of the main UK forums (say pfm, WigWam and AoS) are members of at least two of the three and likely some US ones too. There are lots of far smaller alternative forums/splinter-groups these days with just a handful of members, but life is too short to keep track of those! If I had to guess my bet would be that about 55-60% of pfm members are also a member of either WigWam or AoS. As such folk complaining about one tend to be complaining about many folk on the forum they like and use!
crimsondonkey
pfm Member
Reflection and analysis are one thing, and yes agree with you that they are valid.
Some of the views expressed appear to go beyond that though and suggest some angst or bitterness, which I don’t think it’s helpful to cling on to.
Anyway I think Tony’s posts above articulate the dichotomy between the different perspectives and show great understanding of the topic.
I don’t think that (many) people go on fora to be deliberately mean, to bully or be bullied, but the stark nature of the medium can make perspectives artificially polarised and the subtleties of relationships and interactions get lost.
It is only about your stereo and records after all.
