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Decline of GT; due to societal changes or site policy changes?


PNWguy
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44 minutes ago, Duc748s said:

I been on forum that had Off-Topic sites that were a blast. The only rule was no harassment and targeting of members. Everything goes well as the community gets comfortable. The issue you have now is that you get "sensitive" people who join and the expect these communities to change to fit their whim, instead of conforming to the group and assimilating, and cry about being "offended". It then becomes a downward spiral, I have seen it happen to new groups/forums and old established ones as well. These type of people can not create anything, have an original thought or have any inspiration. They instead infest others, their works and cause chaos. You see this in society as well. To me they are petty individuals that are seeking attention (besides your trolls that do it out of boredom), maybe they didn't get enough hugs? Too many participation trophies? Hopefully you can find a group that will not kowtow to this, but it's getting harder and harder. I am more of the don't like it..leave as there are plenty of other forums around, but I guess I am more old school. Crap....I am my Dad now.......

If there are any rules here about repeatedly offended people, it should be something along the lines of "you are banned for being too easily offended and a detriment to the forum.  Don't let the door hit you on the way out"

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43 minutes ago, gwalchmai said:

I never had any problems with RussP, or with any of the mods over there. Some of the members, OTOH, need to go back to DU.

Counterpoint: I was over there probably as long as you, and I quit hanging out there once the blatant authoritarianism got to be too much to deal with. Back in the GNG days, the crowd had different opinions but at least most people believed in freedom -- folks like JBnTx who said stuff like "freedom of religion is only for different flavors of Christians" didn't have nearly as many friends as they do now.

Edited by devildog2067
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4 minutes ago, devildog2067 said:

Counterpoint: I was over there probably as long as you, and I quit hanging out there once the blatant authoritarianism got to be too much to deal with. Back in the GNG days, the crowd had different opinions but at least most people believed in freedom -- folks like JBnTx who said stuff like "freedom of religion is only for different flavors of Christians" didn't have nearly as many friends as they do now.

:goodpost:

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The more opinionated new kids in GT have accused me of being a Liberal when I tried to be sensible. Hell, I voted Republican when it was not cool: i.e.  Goldwater,  etc. in 1964. 

It seems that some of them think there is no room for diversity in opinions among those who are legitimate conservatives. They also want a lock step conformism that they accuse the new Progressives of. They are just as dangerous to our freedoms as the left.

I leave this problem to our children and grandchildren, it is in good hands.  Good Luck with this new endeavor.

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9 minutes ago, Richardb said:

The more opinionated new kids in GT have accused me of being a Liberal when I tried to be sensible. Hell, I voted Republican when it was not cool: i.e.  Goldwater,  etc. in 1964. 

It seems that some of them think there is no room for diversity in opinions among those who are legitimate conservatives.

It's funny -- having been a Marine, then a graduate student at a university, then a consultant who works across industrial clients and the US department of defense, I'm usually viewed either as a hardcore right wing conservative or a pinko commie liberal depending on where I am. Rarely does anyone realize that my main political belief is around freedom: freedom to own and carry weapons, freedom to pay less in taxes, freedom to marry whomever you want, freedom to come to the United States if you're willing to work and pay taxes and be a productive member of society, freedom to be left the hell alone.

Over at the Corral, when I started saying that anyone who believes in trade barriers is not a true conservative, people accused me of being a Hillary supporter. When I started saying that maybe the religious freedom lens is the right way to think about Muslim immigration, I was accused of being a commie. I got tired of it. Freedom is freedom and it's hard to imagine any more conservative belief than that.

Edited by devildog2067
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Many excellent replies in this thread that have IMO pretty much covered the various reasons. I discovered GT purely by accident when I had a question about my then-new G19. Liked what I saw so I joined and although I have nowhere near the "seniority" of  lot of members I too have noticed a change. It just doesn't seem that too many people want to just have fun and get along.

I missed out on the days of Sharon and Okie, and threads about a certain "Mall Ninja" and I'm sure a lot of other great and hilarious things. And as someone pointed out it appears to me that liberalism is getting or already has a firm presence in GT. I can tolerate many things in life...even registered Democrats. What I can't tolerate is a dyed-in-the-wool liberal elitist and I let them know it.

I've no doubt TBS is going to become another great accomplishment for Eric. Even if it eventually involves poop threads and debates on peeing in the shower. :D

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1 hour ago, devildog2067 said:

Counterpoint: I was over there probably as long as you, and I quit hanging out there once the blatant authoritarianism got to be too much to deal with. Back in the GNG days, the crowd had different opinions but at least most people believed in freedom -- folks like JBnTx who said stuff like "freedom of religion is only for different flavors of Christians" didn't have nearly as many friends as they do now.

Yeah, I think that's true. Back in the day there were spirited disagreements but everyone seemed to know we were all on the same side. Now I'm not so sure, but then again I may just be getting old.

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Gun forums have a legit need to discuss politics, but in the right place, and in the right way.

Lately I would click on a new thread about a classic revolver and less than a half page in the political poo flinging and trolling started.

Seemed interesting guns and shooting topics had taken a back seat to drama.

And with no one to run the trolls off it just got worse and worse.

I’m pretty sure some anti-gun liberals made their way into there just to troll as well.

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i have not been on that forum for long at all compared too some of you all but the longer i was there i realized some of the long term members could be straight up dicks and get away with murder. granted i posted some stuff not allowed and i tried to reason with russ p and he would have none of it. i wont bash the guy but i dont like him. at least i could have back and forth with eric when i messed up. i really like the vibe of this place.  

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Aside from Eric selling GT, how many members truly knew the evolutionary changes in ownership and their policies? I suspect few beyond the insiders. 

The lack of civility is a symptom of the increasing evolutionary speed of modern society. Technology such as 24 hour news fails to allow for people to hear shocking news, assimilate it, and determine how it affects them. It also increases the growing perception of insecurity in the West - even as crime is declining, I.S. has been militarily defeated and A.Q. has been weakened, North Korea is being more compliant, and other factors have changed. Governments, through politicians, have learned to take accidents, natural phenomena/disasters, and other non-human incidents, only to 'anthropomorphize' them into human influenced situations that call out for the intervention of politicians to "save constituents". Examples? Global climate change, hurricanes in Puerto Rico and the northeastern US, asteroids crashing into the planet, volcanoes erupting in Mexico and Hawaii, etc. Add this factor with the meddling that politicians and government elites do with human related issues -  wars of hegemonic power, international power relations between states, promoting of special interest fractionalization in society, etc. and we have a mess. Societies and their populations are being manipulated and in response to this discovery, they are reverting back to nationalism, religion, and systems that made 'sense' to them from previous generations. People tend to be inherently opposed to change, unless it is explained. When change is increasingly relentless, people do not react well emotionally.

GT became a huge forum. It encompassed a vast swath of American society, including both the positive and the negative peoples within it. While Eric initiated safeguards and set up sub-forums for these conflicting opinions to play out safely, too many decided to take their personal brand and impose it in and on other sub-forums not designed for these exchanges. Once, GT was mostly self-policing. As it grew, it got more anarchistic and mods had to be appointed to deal with the increasing conflict. Eric could either do as he did with the negative freedom model or go the SiG Forum method.

I hope TBS grows well, but I far prefer quality over quantity in membership and this site reaches what GT did prior to its' sale. 



 



What was the Sig forum method?
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tolerance for other peoples opinions has drastically declined in the past couple years.

it seems like any difference of opinion is a personal attack on their values.

there's no discourse or conversation left its all what tribe you belong to and everyone is going batshit crazy over the smallest infraction of their delicate sensibilities.

i`m still on GT and still enjoy it i don`t think its just there its everywhere people have lost their damn minds.

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I joined GT in 2002. Not a prolific poster but I've been around for a while. The first big canges I saw were after Obama was elected. The general tone of the site went downhill quickly and never really recovered. Either you blamed Obama for everything and joined the group think or you were branded a liberal. 

 

It got to a point when I could read a post and determine if that person had joined pre or post Obama just by the content of said post. I'm hoping this place will be more like the old GT. 

Edited by JJOHNSON
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3 hours ago, gwalchmai said:

I never had any problems with RussP, or with any of the mods over there. Some of the members, OTOH, need to go back to DU.

You cannot tell me where I need to go back too.

 

I made some real friendships on GT, even met a few ITRW.

 

And I have "lost" friends online that truly made me grieve. Okie was a great guy, but I don't understand why he is put on a pedestal over others we have lost. ElRon, CJ, Jack, mitch, and many others were lost, and I miss reading their words. 

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What was the Sig forum method?
I have been a member over there as long as I have been a member at GT. I didn't post nearly as much there because they didn't have an LE subforum.

As far as how they handle things they are a smaller forum so it is less chaotic. Last I heard the owner is still the original owner and does it for fun. He also tends to roast people when they are asses on the board. He will leave the thread up and open as people flame the offending party. Not like GT has tended to handle things out of public sight.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

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