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We could use a chat room on this forum, what do ya say????

The Good

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,361
Location
California, USA
I didn't read everything, but is this idea dead? I think it really can work if a couple more moderators were enlisted, if there currently is too much work for the ones at present. I'd rather not have to start a whole new thread for every single little thing I'd want to discuss, and I'm pretty sure there's other members that feel that way.
 

scotrace

Head Bartender
Staff member
Messages
14,373
Location
Small Town Ohio, USA
...I'd rather not have to start a whole new thread for every single little thing I'd want to discuss, and I'm pretty sure there's other members that feel that way.

Which is why we preach using the search engine and finding instances of previous discussion from which to learn and to revive for others to rediscover.

As Feraud very tidily pointed out, a chat room would add a great deal of work for our Bartenders. We have most certainly considered it and revisited the idea several times. Could we add more staff to handle it? Yes, of course. But long-timers know that we add staff very, very slowly and carefully. Right now, we have an EXCELLENT group of Bartenders who are all soundly "on-message" and know exactly what The Fedora Lounge is, and is not. A chat room would need 24 hour oversight. I'm not prepared to ask anyone to take on that kind of work without pay. And Bartenders do what they do for love of the joint, and because they believe, as MK did and we all do, that what we do here is important in preserving the everyday world of an extraordinary and fascinating period in world history.

We're not ruling it out, but it isn't on any burner, back or front, at present.
 

Blackjack

One Too Many
Messages
1,198
Location
Crystal Lake, Il
[ A chat room would need 24 hour oversight.]

I know I opened this unfortunate can of worms and this will be my last word on it but to your last statement, Why? I'm on three other forums with chats that are not moderated unless someone makes a direct complaint (which has never happened to my knowledge) about a member the same as a thread would be, and there are no problems. What makes you think the folks on here are so immature that they would need 24 hr. observation by a grownup, you do realize thats just a tad insulting to most of us don't you...
 

Barbigirl

Practically Family
Messages
915
Location
Issaquah, WA
[ A chat room would need 24 hour oversight.]

I know I opened this unfortunate can of worms and this will be my last word on it but to your last statement, Why? I'm on three other forums with chats that are not moderated unless someone makes a direct complaint (which has never happened to my knowledge) about a member the same as a thread would be, and there are no problems. What makes you think the folks on here are so immature that they would need 24 hr. observation by a grownup, you do realize thats just a tad insulting to most of us don't you...

Blackjack, you have been on FL longer than I have. In the almost 6 years I have been a member of the FL I have noticed numerous people exhibit bad behavior to the point of being banned from this site, as well as a group of folks who felt the FL bartenders were so rigid they started a break off website that was very short lived. The bartenders work very hard at cleaning up that naughtiness to keep it the place all of us long timers know and love, it is very time consuming for them - purely out of their love of vintage. Please choose to not be insulted, there are people on here age low as 15, so there is the possibility of immaturity rearing its head whether it is age related or not.
 
Messages
13,369
Location
Orange County, CA
Barbigirl said:
Please choose to not be insulted, there are people on here age low as 15, so there is the possibility of immaturity rearing its head whether it is age related or not.

In one of my old chat rooms there was an individual named Ray*. Ray developed an intense hatred of another member named Dylan* to the extent that Ray would follow Dylan to other chat rooms, post his personal information, create insulting user names like "DylanIsAScumbag" and just constantly harass him. As a result, Ray lost his account at least several times but somehow found ways to start another one and before long he'd be back in business and up to his old high school drama queen games again. And here's the kicker: Ray was in his late 70s or early 80s!

Needless to say, I no longer frequent those rooms.

*Not his real name nor user name.
 
Last edited:

Shangas

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,116
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Reading the replies on just this page alone, I thought I'd reply to a few. I hope I still have my head on my shoulders, safely unbitten, after all this...

"Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional".

Age has absolutely no baring on maturity, as, I think, V.C. Brunswick, who I'm familiar with on another forum (he knows the one), has very clearly demonstrated here. The age of the members counts for nothing. It's their online conduct that does. Online, the only thing that sets you apart is how you act and how you type. Age doesn't. Besides, I doubt that anyone here would discuss inappropriate subjects in a public chatroom and risk their reputations.

I'm still in favour of a chatroom. I don't see the need for 24/7 moderation on it and I do believe that self-moderation of said proposed chatroom would be possible. I don't see why extra bartenders would be required to monitor it, unless such monitoring was deemed necessary and was asked for, by the members using it.

People have expressed concern that people would act inappropriately in the chatroom. That's as maybe.

What? They would act inappropriately there, but be angels on the forum? Get real. If they'll be idiots in there, they'll be idiots on the forum. And if they are, the bartenders would remove them anyway. I absolutely fail to see how (apart from the fact that the chatroom would make the forum physically BIGGER) this would adversely affect the amount of work done by bartenders or necessitate the recruitment of additional bartenders JUST because we would have a chatroom here.

I haven't been a member here for as long as others, but I really like this forum. It's funny, it's informative, educational, interesting and it ehm...feeds my addiction of the 1920s-1940s (Damn you all!l). I have seen forums (which shall remain nameless) where overmoderation caused a social collapse. I don't think that's an issue here. Some people just have different standards and expectations of moderators. If you're a member here, you get used to it. If you don't, you leave. You might approve and stay, you might disapprove and leave. The internet is a democracy (or I should damn well hope it is).
 
Messages
10,881
Location
Portage, Wis.
Shangas - I think you worded that all very well. I do agree with you. Anybody who misbehaves in any form of chat, would likely misbehave on the forum itself and would likely have been banned by now. That's not to say that I think it would be perfect. There's posts that get deleted on the Lounge or threads that get locked. I do think a bit of self-moderation would go a long way. If someone sees something out of line, it could be reported by others and would likely take a load off the Bartenders. I would not want to see any extra work made for them. If an additional Bartender could be selected, I think that would be the very most it would take.
 

Tomasso

Incurably Addicted
Messages
13,719
Location
USA
I joined this forum in 2004, and many times I would have liked to have a conversation with someone who had knowledge about something I was interested in without posting it publicly. Im sure I would have spent much more time on here if that would have been a possibility.
My query was ignored the first go-round so I'll ask again......Doesn't PM serve this purpose.






What makes you think the folks on here are so immature that they would need 24 hr. observation by a grownup, you do realize thats just a tad insulting to most of us don't you...
I'm insulted as well.



And I'm sick and tired of these guys buzzing all over town when I'm just trying to have some fun..........:rolleyes:



033111coplondon.jpg
 

Puzzicato

One Too Many
Messages
1,843
Location
Ex-pat Ozzie in Greater London, UK
I'm still in favour of a chatroom. I don't see the need for 24/7 moderation on it and I do believe that self-moderation of said proposed chatroom would be possible. I don't see why extra bartenders would be required to monitor it, unless such monitoring was deemed necessary and was asked for, by the members using it.

People have expressed concern that people would act inappropriately in the chatroom. That's as maybe.

What? They would act inappropriately there, but be angels on the forum? Get real. If they'll be idiots in there, they'll be idiots on the forum. And if they are, the bartenders would remove them anyway. I absolutely fail to see how (apart from the fact that the chatroom would make the forum physically BIGGER) this would adversely affect the amount of work done by bartenders or necessitate the recruitment of additional bartenders JUST because we would have a chatroom here.

I no longer use chat rooms, having had a couple of experiences where someone who on a main forum came across as nice and pleasant became blisteringly abusive in chat. And they weren't banned because the forum moderator said it happened in chat so it didn't matter. I would have agreed with you had I not had those experiences, but some people can maintain their facade of decency much better on fora than in chat.

Whether it gets the go ahead or not I won't use it, but do not be deceived that a community of 20,000 people or whatever it is would be able to have unmoderated chat without flame wars. And those flame wars do end up spilling over eventually, which definitely WOULD add to the moderators' burden.
 

Blackjack

One Too Many
Messages
1,198
Location
Crystal Lake, Il
Ok, one more thought...

This being a public forum is only as strong and enjoyable as it is because of the people who come here to talk, regardless of age. It is nothing but an address on the web without it's members, and is certainly not all about the moderators. I highly encourage the "powers that be" to re-evaluate their purpose after reading their responses. When you start saying no because we say no, your no longer moderating, your telling us whats best for us.

I've been coming on this forum on and off for a loooong time, and I enjoy the topics and diverse people who are here. This is a nice group, they don't need to be "policed".

If the majority of members want something, do it, if it causes problems take it down...simple

Smaller government gentlemen, it's not about you.
 

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