The off-topic section

[bogbrush]

Our forums have an off-topic section called "The Green Room" which generally works very well. Most threads have the day's date as the title and people chat about what they've been up to that day, talk trivia, or have a general moan about their health, etc, which is fine. I've thought for a long time that new members are put off from joining in, as it appears that everyone who posts there knows each other and it can sometimes appear as a closed group. I've had that confirmed recently following a feedback survey. Now, I know that you can't eliminate that entirely in an off topic section, as certain members will chat to each other and become friends, which is also fine, but ...

We have one particular member who is almost always the first to post every morning and mentions about 4 people by name, all of whom are members of another forum and chat room, and conversations spill over from there to the point that no one (except the named people) know what he is talking about. He also posts exactly the same in the other forum to the same people. It's like he's treating it as his own personal chat forum and he's getting right up my nose. He also only posts in the off-topic forum and never in our core support forums (we are a support group for brain haemorrhage and stroke survivors). I did have a small rant the other day mentioning this and he seems to behaving lately. He has not broken any rules, although he has in the past, so I can't give him an infraction. How would you deal with this? How do you make sure that new members feel comfortable posting in your off-topic section? How do you make sure that cliques don't form and make new members feel unwelcome?

I will add that I'm a co-admin, but the forum owner also shares my views.

Regards
Keith

[STS]

It is sounding to me like you want this member to discontinue these posts. In that case, do you think it would help to privately message the member and remind the him that forum conversations are generally geared to be open to the entire member base, and that conversations amongst a small group of people can be better handled via pm or AIM? On one of the forums I admin, we have a "no shout out" rule. Meaning, for conversations that are geared to 1 person (like, "answer your PM" or "Amy - loved the cake you sent me"), we ask they are handled privately.

Because of the context of your member base, though, I'm wondering if there might be some reasons, cognitively, that this member is cross-posting. I would think the other members might be a little annoyed by it, and eventually say something to him. How long has it been going on?

[jinx94]

What I would do is tell the user that if they are addressing a specific user or group of users to use the PM system.

[bogbrush]

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It is sounding to me like you want this member to discontinue these posts.

Well, it seems that he's got the message after my rant And for the last couple of days has posted only in general terms unless he's replying to a particular post.

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I'm wondering if there might be some reasons, cognitively, that this member is cross-posting.

Yes, he does have some problems, being a stroke survivor, and I don't think that he sets out to do it deliberately.

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How long has it been going on?

It has been going on for months, and even the odd sarcastic remark is lost on him.

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we have a "no shout out" rule. Meaning, for conversations that are geared to 1 person (like, "answer your PM" or "Amy - loved the cake you sent me"), we ask they are handled privately.

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What I would do is tell the user that if they are addressing a specific user or group of users to use the PM system.

That's a good idea. Thanks.

Regards
Keith

[STS]

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Originally Posted by bogbrush That's a good idea. Thanks. Regards Keith

Sure. Best wishes to you, bogbrush.

[t34b4g5]

Greetz.

I noticed that you are using the latest Vbulletin, maybe encourage the member/s to start a Social group and use that for the above mentioned discussions.

and that way it's not on the main board and can be used as there lil own area.

honestly though the member is adding content to your forum, it sounds like he posts regularly what would you prefer members whom post once or twice then post nothing.

Or members to return daily and start new threads/posts and give your forum more content for the spiders to cache..

i feel that you are just looking for a reason to stop this person from communicating with other people from other sites.

So encourage them to start a Social Group and use that.

sorry if i sound harsh or negative, just thought i'd try posting how it sounded in my head.

[Enraged_Angel]

I'd have to agree with the members here, at my site we have an off topic section as well, and a lot of the members have know each other for a while, but a rule of our board is no discussion threads between members, that is what the PM system is for... just be polite, but stern... and maybe incorporate that into your rules.

[bogbrush]

Well, the member concerned had their posting permissions removed from the off-topic section, due to an accumulation of infraction points. Firstly for violation of posting rules (using large bold text, for which he has received a previous warning), ignoring a request not to engage in private conversations (PM reminder plus a sticky thread), and finally for the rude PM he sent me. He was lucky not to get a ban and I think I've been more than fair to him. All the infraction points expire today, so it will be interesting to see if he comes back.

All his previous posts are pretty much copy and paste from day to day and the off topic section is excluded from the search bots/spiders and is viewable by members only, so his contribution is virtually nil anyway.

The comments made here about having something in the rules about private discussions between members is a good idea, so thanks for that. It looks like it's time for an update of the rules.