Quote from: Steve on August 30, 2011, 03:54:12 PM

Quote from: Piper67 on August 30, 2011, 03:31:47 PM

Quote from: Steve on August 30, 2011, 03:29:19 PM

Are there any good moderated forums for bitcoin that people can recommend? I don't really like the thought of someone having that kind of control over forum postings, but this forum has degenerated to the point where I think such a forum is an unfortunate necessity. And, btw, this kind of thing is not unique to bitcoin. Almost every community that achieves some degree of popularity has to take such steps at some point. I would also recommend shutting this forum down (an action that I think, while unfortunate, is probably in the best interest of bitcoin).

Have you thought of just using the ignore function. Not sure how it works, but whether you can ignore a whole thread or a particular user, that would work nicely. It would be sad to see you guys leave, you're among those doing really good work for Bitcoin.

I don't need tools to ignore certain people or threads, I just do. I just want a place where I can engage in serious discussion about bitcoin without having to wade through pages and pages of people's personal quarrels and other nonsense. I also want a forum where people new to bitcoin can land and not be completely turned off by such nonsense. I suggested shutting down this forum not because I'm against having unmoderated forums, but because this is the oldest and hence most popular bitcoin forum. And in my opinion this forum is no longer deserving of being the place where people are first introduced to bitcoin discussion topics. I'm sure another unmoderated forum will be started in short order and it can stand on its own merits.

I can relate completely with what you're saying, Steve, but it might be a case of an unmoveable object against an unstoppable force. Shutting down this forum is probably unrealistic. If it was shut down, that would be the proof the anti-Bitcoin camp needs to say "told you so, Bitcoin is doomed". The best possible scenario would be for the community itself to mature to the point where these issues are a non starter.

If another forum is opened (check out the one Vladimir was talking about, for example) as long as it quickly rises in the search engines, it could then become the place where the uninitiated land, and this forum would slowly descend into obscurity. That might be a good thing.