AudiogoN Forums: Thoughts about these forums

Thoughts about these forums

I would like to make a few comments. I have been away from Audiogon for quite a while now and thank all of you who have so warmly welcomed me back.
My absence has been two fold. First my health has made it difficult to be involved on a daily basis. Secondly and far more importantly is a philosophical view of how we use this site.
Over the years a number of us “older” members have had the opportunity to share, grow and learn as audiophiles, as people who enjoy music, as people who share a passion for a hobby and in our communication abilities. I applaud all of us for how far we have come over these past six years, and the incredible knowledge base shared here at the best audio web site on the planet. I also must thank Arnie (founder of A’gon) for his passion and concern for making this work. We once had to shut this site down as the threads lost their direction and purpose, but Arnie stood up and asked twelve members to help rebuild this site with a stronger wiser vision. Many hours have been spent by a large number of people trying to make this the great site it is.
So… so my point. Please let us try to remember what we (some of us) are trying to achieve here at Audiogon. What is the purpose of these threads? For me it’s education and sharing of a passion with other audio people. For me personally I enjoy sharing the experiments in tweaking, this is what I have become known best for. My purpose is education and sharing of experience. I love having constructive conversations with knowledgeable informed and educated people who can push my thinking forward and expand my knowledge through other people’s experiences. I enjoy people who put the effort into learning, pushing the norm to a new level, always trying to improve on the systems and musical qualities our systems present. Constructive discussions with people who have credible experiences are great.
What I dislike about this forum and have always struggled with is the comments made flippantly by people who have no known foundation from which they speak. These people as not educating, they are not growing and they are not enjoyable. They simply live here, under rocks waiting for the opportunity to make comments detrimental to the discussion going on, or they are unhappy people who wish to drag down our enjoyment. Many of these trolls left when the site was shut down and the forums required monitoring, but it is not possible to eliminate them completely, nor would it make an interesting site without all views.
I guess what I’m asking is that those who have nothing constructive to offer, to please leave your keyboards alone. There are plenty of threads available where people are simply chatting and not actually intending to learn. But if there are threads that are exploring ideas with knowledgeable and educated experienced people, leave it alone. We do not need your flippant off color remarks. I hope those of us who want to share and learn can have the respect to be allowed that right. The other option, which I have resorted to is private emails. These are great, but input is limited and thus my opportunity to learn is limited, as is yours.
Do you understand? Please allow truly constructive threads to be just that, Constructive. I am back to try one more time to share my ideas and knowledge and to gleam more wisdom from so many old friends, I just thought I’d ask for the respect we deserve and ask the trolls to leave the educational; threads alone. There are so few truly constructive threads at any one time; we can not afford to lose the momentum of the truly good discussions. There are tons of threads where trolls and the ill informed can do there work.
Just my thoughts as I return to Audiogon, and begin to see the old behavior creep into the couple of places I’m talking right now.

Thanks for your respect
J.D.

Jadem6 (System | Reviews | Threads | Answers | This Thread)

04-08-05

Responses (1-46 of 46)

Click title to read one, or click date to read all below it.

04-08-05 Welcome back j.d.! when i read your opening line i jumped t ... Brianmgrarcom

04-08-05 Thank you for your post. as you, i have enjoyed and learned ... Jependleton

04-08-05 Wow--some people can just babble on about just about anythin ... Rives

04-08-05 Just thought that i'd like to say that i've been a member he ... Iseekheils

04-08-05 I have probably been as guilty of this as most people, but i ... Nrchy

04-08-05 Welcome back j.d. Elgordo

04-08-05 Hmmmm...obviously a john adams fan. me, i am jeffersonian a ... Unclejeff

04-08-05 I totally agree with you jd,what i enjoy most in this forum, ... Jayctoy

04-08-05 I agree with you 100%. i know it's difficult to adequately c ... Lugnut

04-09-05 Long read;all good. been here a while;coming up on 6 years. ... Avguygeorge

04-09-05 J.d., as another of the old gang of twelve, it's good to se ... Cornfedboy

04-09-05 Good to see you back at audiogon jadem6. i intended to se ... Albertporter

04-09-05 I, for one, am glad that life, and audiogon, does not fit in ... Jax2

04-09-05 Welcome back jd, i stopped participating in the forums for a ... Hack

04-09-05 Welcome back, jd!!! it's great to have your knowledge, pass ... Trelja

04-09-05 Civility is vastly under rated. i find that it often comes w ... Entrope

04-09-05 Representing this forum as an audio mother theresa is certai ... Mt10425

04-09-05 I agree 100% that comments made should be constructive and i ... French_fries

04-09-05 Jadmo6, i agree with your sentiments.....and welcome back. ... Mikelavigne

04-09-05 Read the comments listed above, and you have a perfect mirro ... Boa2

04-09-05 "pending moderator approval"---- mr. hack seems to ... Avguygeorge

04-09-05 "2) the same issues are raised time and again, people d ... Kana813

04-09-05 Howard (boa2) - you're just pointing out the hole in the hol ... Jax2

04-09-05 Funny, i have not visited this site in about a year. i come ... Killerpiglet

04-09-05 This forum also provided me some good laughs,comedy, at time ... Jayctoy

04-09-05 J.d., a truly heartfelt welcome back! i hope this means your ... Bin

04-09-05 Marco, sorry for the confusion with my post. i'm having a r ... Boa2

04-09-05 I forgot to respond to your other point, marco, which is to ... Boa2

04-09-05 I'm sure the long-time members remember the brew-ha'; re. wh ... Avguygeorge

04-10-05 Brian, rives, elgordo, bin, thank you for the warm welcome. ... Jadem6

04-10-05: Newbee
Jadem6, I'd love to say "welcome back" but I didn't know you were gone! :-) I'm a relative newbie here.

So much has been said, by you and others, about civility it's almost pasee to mention it again. But, in my view civility in talking with other folks, even those whom we do not particularily respect, let alone agree, is the greese that keep the social machine running smoothly, much as our legal system keeps us from killing each other over boundry disputes.

That said, I think if we attempt to restrain our recognition of an obnoxious post the authors will either reform their conduct and become a productive member or leave the forum for lack of the recognition that is so important to them. Unfortunately too often folks strike back when its really not necessary, and one nasty shot takes over the thread. We should all think more before we pen our responses. I don't exclude myself.

Beyond that I think our dialogue should be as free and diverse as possible, with each poster sharing whatever factual or subjective observations they feel appropriate, keeping the thought in mind that its all towards the ends of our hobby, not to enhance our own egos. At lease that is my personal goal, to be helpful.

The only folks who's post really disturb me are those who have a financial interest, usually undisclosed, in promoting a (or denegrating another's) product for their own financial benefit, and are attempting to take advantage of the guilibility of newbies who are trying to improve their systems. For experienced folks they are fairly easy to identify. But for the less experienced they may be viewed as authority figures. I think the senior (experience wise) members should not hesitate to challenge such posters (civilly of course) when they find them at "work".

Judging from all that has been said, and what I have seen of your recent posts, its no small wonder that folks are welcoming you back. Welcome...
Newbee (System | Reviews | Threads | Answers | This Thread)

04-11-05 The technical aspect would be good enough by itself,theres a ... Usblues

04-22-05 "bump" Speedball

04-22-05 Interesting and heartwarming to see some old names here. don ... Swampwalker

04-22-05 hey...your welcome swampwalker..you lugnut and a few of the ... Speedball

04-23-05 Hey swamp man, you are one of the people on audiogon i respe ... Jadem6

04-23-05 J.d. thanks for your kind words to me specfically and of cou ... Swampwalker

04-23-05 J.d. couldn't agree more with your position and plea. plea ... Jkmw

04-24-05 As another of those 'dirty dozen' members who refused to let ... Bob_bundus

04-24-05 J.d., i'm usually not at a loss for words. he he. reading w ... Lugnut

04-24-05 Bob, great to see you. i'll email you... here’s the most am ... Jadem6

04-24-05 Wow. well said, jd. better than well said. right to the h ... Swampwalker

04-30-05 i think some need to lighten up a bit, everyone learns here ... Chadnliz

05-01-05 Hey, youre right chad...some do need to lighten up. how a ... Speedball

05-03-05 I say you should not have to behave in any way you do not fe ... Timf

05-03-05 good point tim Chadnliz