[NSC] NSC - what it has become, and how can it be made better

[Bry Nylon]

In spite of what some seem to think, there is no prize for 'winning' NSC and never has been. (Unless of course there is and I've just been particularly unlucky, spectacularly rubbish or both. Even a book token once in a while would have been nice ffs).

Anyway, having said that, it feels to me that there is a small handful of chums who seem hell-bent on carpet-bombing certain threads until everybody else dies of boredom or slips quietly out the back, never to return. If that's what victory looks like, err, well done. PM Bozza for your book tokens.

@hart's shirt recently pretty much summed up how I feel on this when he posted:

"Occasionally I feel certain threads should have suggested maximum daily posting limits for users to protect themselves and others, and for NSC unity. It's usually where there's more heat than light generated, a lack of civility shown to other contributors, or where a few monopolize the discussion. Ideally it should be a self-imposed restraint as I always like to think most people on NSC would know when they're close to stepping over the line. It is possible to robustly argue and fundamentally disagree whilst remaining civil, courteous and respectful of differing opinions.
At times like these, it's much more important that we are useful than just being right."

TL;DR?
Look, you know when you're being an arse. We all do. So please, if you think you're monopolizing the discussion or being a bit of tit, chances are that your are; so just log off for a bit.

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

@Bozza I'd imagine there's a site option that allows you to flag up old threads being bounced. Sometimes a poster needs their wits about them to realise that they're about to engage in a thread from, say, 2013 that some wag has decided to bounce, just because they can

Personally I'd appreciate Bozza investing in a site option that automatically chopped such people's goolies off.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

NSC is what it is.
Sadly any thread is interupted at some point by someone going off on politics or complaining a member has upset them with a comment.
Limiting posts is no good but maybe limiting posts per thread per 48 hours would stop the endless posts I don't want to read.

You wouldn't say that to Tommy Robinson's face

 

[ChickenBaltiPie]

You’re doing a top job chap, in the grand scheme of things, no one could/should possibly complain about a thing.

We are all graced with an amazing environment to discuss all manner of topics with like minded supporters with a one true, shared love and passion for our club, regardless of our various alternate views and ‘style’ of posting haha

Personally I embrace diversity to the max and embrace everyone as best I can (with very few, unacceptable exceptions) and have never blocked anyone, and hope I never will, haha, I am a HUGE advocate for free speech above almost all else, almost to the point of being extremely stubborn about it. If I feel the need to block anyone, I will consider it a huge weakness on my part! I believe true strength of character comes from our ability not to let anyone else affect your sense of self respect/belief. I personally, each to their own, won’t take the easy option and block someone out in order to cope with the their views or manner of communication. My own self belief and strength of character will endure haha

BUT, the adverts! OMG!

I entirely understand the necessity, I support your use of adverts to cover costs, hell, make a little profit for all I care, you deserve it, but the NUMBER ONE thing that drives me away, time and time again is the page flicking up and down as adverts ping in and out and push the page out as they resize etc. it’s INFURIATING! I have even thrown my phone down on the sofa on occasion haha I’m sorry! When I have to search back to the post I was half way through as the page shot either up or down, over and over again, almost every couple of minutes drives me round the bend and has to be counterproductive? If anyone else has the same experience as me, surely the adverts will get more clicks/views if we stay on longer, as opposed to being driven to porn hub or something? Much love.

Edit: it’s already happened five times since my post, so I’m going back to work haha, surely, it must just be me doing something wrong, or there’d be riots, no?

 

[Gwylan]

Well done.

Now look very carefully at the area covered, you'll discover it covers the whole South East somewhat proving my point. If 29% are not in the South East are you stating of the 71% only 20% live outside Brighton but within the South East. That I doubt very much.

I'd say there are very few supporters who live in Hampshire, so, yes the vast majority of the the fans live in Sussex. I'm sure the club did a survey a few years back and found most supporters lived within (I think) 10 miles of the Amex.

 

[ChickenBaltiPie]

How about when you start a thread you have to put a filter option on it..yeah….ok. Can you then filter your landing screen so it shows all the filter options and you choose what topics you want to,view. Or can you do that already?

it would be great to just see for example threads about football only for a change. Maybe that could be an personal option.

how about a button called “ I agree with this person” or “ this person agrees with me”. And you could filter out all the people who you don’t want to,see or who disagree with on your screen.

also remove the quote option to remove the need for tediously long threads.

worth a shot

Come on! If we all agreed on every subject NSC, hell, the world would be a VERY boring place. What would we even talk about? haha

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Personally I'd appreciate Bozza investing in a site option that automatically chopped such people's goolies off.

Yup, slice them off

 

[marlowe]

Puns. My bream is a button that people can press if the post is just another lame pun so that I can ignore all of those posts that add nothing to the thread.

Interesting threads that get derailed by a couple of the usual suspects having a scrap are always a shame, but not much you can do about that I imagine.

Corrected for you

 

[Han Solo]

One somewhat time consuming but in the long run good change would be some more stickys. Right now there's on thread on Everton tickets, one about Everton busses and one about Everton parking on the front page. I haven't read any of them and I do understand they're probably more useful than 99% of the threads, but there's no reason why it could'nt just be a reoccuring "Everton away practical info" or something.

Thats just an example. I think by having one or two (one football, one practical) official pre-game threads would save the board from some 20 threads a normal week. Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with the threads - but it easily makes the environment feel a bit "spammy".

 

[Commander]

NSC brilliant. Same as it always has been.

The only thing I'd be considering as a change is the Albion women's team as that grows. Does it need a sub forum, at the moment it's all bundled on a couple of threads, which maybe doesn't quite reflect the interest of a team that get a few thousand watch every week.

I agree. A completely separate forum would be better.

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

Yup, slice them off

With a spoon.

 

[Dorset Seagull]

I find it excellent for learning about different subjects as you tend to get both sides of view or a better understanding of the topic. The current USA election is a fine example of that. However I do think there needs to be a way of preventing a few from dominating proceedings and certainly their input can derail threads.

I don’t tend to pay too much attention to the writer of a post but it is fairly obvious after a few sentences in the case of a certain few. I have never used the ignore function but maybe that is something I should consider.

 

[jackalbion]

NSC brilliant. Same as it always has been.

The only thing I'd be considering as a change is the Albion women's team as that grows. Does it need a sub forum, at the moment it's all bundled on a couple of threads, which maybe doesn't quite reflect the interest of a team that get a few thousand watch every week.

This would help my dream of bringing back 1066 for sure.

 

[Han Solo]

If I was to recommend a change, I'd enforce a maximum post length. Some posts normally on non-football threads can go on for quite a while.

As for the politics of the board I'd say most users are of the centrist variety rather than the left. Opinions of all persuasions are welcome on this board, left, centre or right. However the line the is drawn on offensive posts be it on the topics of race, gender, sexuality or religion. In the event that for want of a better phrase "strong" opinions have made it past the moderators gaze, they tend to get debated robustly by those who have the patience to do so.

IMHO NSC is just fine as it is, if you have the hump with a user or a thread use the ignore function and get on with your lives.

Maximum post length makes it difficult to run quizzes or do ambitious guides etc. Not that this happens to often but would be sad to see the opportunity go away.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

I'd say there are very few supporters who live in Hampshire, so, yes the vast majority of the the fans live in Sussex. I'm sure the club did a survey a few years back and found most supporters lived within (I think) 10 miles of the Amex.

You're moving the goal posts! You stated within the city I said not, now all of a sudden it's Sussex. Sussex is 75 miles wide!

Just a little fact I've lived in Copthorne, Horsham, Haywards Heath, Ardingly, Piltdown, Sedlescombe, Icklesham, Sedlescombe, Robertsbridge and now Hurst Green. All of these places either in West or East Sussex. During my time residing in those places they have all had a Tory MP and Tory local councils. My politics? Maybe yes maybe no but nonetheless facts.

 

[chaileyjem]

I wrote this about NSC 5 years ago now but i still stand by it. Not sure much has changed since then.

IN recent weeks apart from the football stuff i've got real advice and support about my Dad's dementia, a recent health scare , buying a new oven and finding a good used car salesman. And then boring everyone else with daily football pedantry, arcane lists and stats, and unwitting support for PBOBE is also fun.

PS: All communities are a mix of high volume , high posters, smaller posters and lurkers, have real issues with moderation, and all niche communities suffer from managing politics (i think NSC does this pretty well - i never really experience any of the politics stuff - easy to hide from it) and also moderation - which i think NSC again does v. well compared to other forums/boards. (No bots, interventions if things get out of hand, lots of goodwill, dedicated volunteers who sort that out).

The tools are also good now giving you lots of ways to tweak / adjust how you experience NSC etc (blocks, cosmetics, private, threads) . The upgrade to the new software made a real difference last year.

I'm not a new user so i wonder how easy it is to join in , be welcomed , and refresh the community but that again is something that all communities find difficult to manage. Not easy . Thanks @Bozza and the team for still doing the work they do to keep NSC going...

Club forums are a haven for football fans in an ever angrier online world

Whereas YouTube and Twitter amplify rants, club forums offer kinship, humour and a place to open up to like-minded people

www.theguardian.com

 

[Commander]

You’re doing a top job chap, in the grand scheme of things, no one could/should possibly complain about a thing.

We are all graced with an amazing environment to discuss all manner of topics with like minded supporters with a one true shared love and passion for our club, regardless of our various alternate views and style of posting haha

Personally I embrace diversity to the max and embrace everyone as best I can (with very few, unacceptable exceptions) and have never blocked anyone, and hope I never will, haha, I am a HUGE advocate for free speech above almost all else, almost to the point of being extremely stubborn about it. If I feel the need to block anyone, I will consider it a huge weakness on my part! I believe true strength of character comes from our ability not to let anyone else affect your sense of self respect/belief. I personally, each to their own, won’t take the easy option and block someone out in order to cope with the their views or manner of communication. My own self belief and strength of character will endure haha

BUT, the adverts! OMG!

I entirely understand the necessity, I support your use of adverts to cover costs, hell, make a little profit for all I care, you deserve it, but the NUMBER ONE thing that drives me away, time and time again is the page flicking up and down as adverts ping in and out and push the page out as they resize etc. it’s INFURIATING! I have even thrown my phone down on the sofa on occasion haha I’m sorry! When I have to search back to the post I was half way through as the page shot either up or down, over and over again, almost every couple of minutes drives me round the bend and has to be counterproductive? If anyone else has the same experience as me, surely the adverts will get more clicks/views if we stay on longer, as opposed to being driven to porn hub or something? Much love.

Edit: it’s already happened five times since my post, so I’m going back to work haha, surely, it must just be me doing something wrong, or there’d be riots, no?

Pay your £5 a month.

 

[Chicken Run]

Whilst I can only apologise profusely for the demise on this once great establishment that has happened under my watch, I'm all ears...

I'll consider anything, other than...

- Make it more aligned with your political views. I am repeatedly told NSC is too left-wing. I am repeatedly told NSC is too right-wing. I suspect that some folk are very sensitive to views that differ from their own - possibly a symptom of the main social media platforms creating one-sided echo chambers.

- Get rid of user X. You may think that Bozza is a complete and utter ****, but this isn't the place to stay. There's no need to name names.

So, how would YOU make NSC better?

Firstly as someone who is having challenging times wit my elderly mother my thoughts are always with you an anyone else facing similar challenges.

It goes without saying that you don’t need to change anything on the strength of anyones individual preferences, however if you genuinely wish to stop all the trouble and hostility, make the whole board about nothing other than Brighton & Hove Albion FC and Football, let’s be brutally honest a subject that as definitely worth arguing amongst each other about rather than all the other tosh going on in the world

 

[chickens]

Carry on as you are is my personal view.

If you don’t like someone’s posts Bozza has provided an ignore function.

If you don’t like talking politics then Bozza has provided an Albion Threads Only function.

In short, somebody who is getting irate with somebody else on this board is deliberately and knowingly going out of their way to get upset, and not using the tools that have been made available to them. The tools already provided are comprehensive, plenty of accommodation for our most fragile members has been made.

As to not liking the content, other sites are available, but I honestly believe the change in tone is across most internet discourse, and more a sign of the times we live in than NSC specific.

TLDR - Carry On Regardless

 

[Arthur]

Ability to ignore a prefix would be a welcome addition IMO.

Getting rid of the full site take over ads. And no I'm not paying £5 a month into @Bozza disneyland fund.....sorry mate