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On Fri, Jan 18, 2013 at 5:37 PM, Kyle Banerjee <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > In every "noisy" forum that I participate in (BTW, none of them are tech or > even work related), there are always people who dislike the noise. The > concerns are analogous to the ones expressed here -- irritation factor, it > keeps people away, it's all about the "in" crowd, etc. Likewise, the > proposed solutions are similar to ones that have been floated here like > directing the noisemaking from the main group elsewhere or silencing it. > > For things to work, everyone needs a reason to be there. People with less > experience need access to those who have been around the block. But a diet > of repetitive shop talk isn't very interesting for people who have a decent > handle on what they're doing. They need something else to keep them there, > and in the final analysis, many come for entertainment -- this normally > manifests itself in the form of high noise levels. But even if people spend > the vast bulk of the time playing around, nuggets of wisdom are shared. And > if something's truly serious, it gets attention. > > It's far better to help people learn to tune out what they don't like, and > this is much easier to do in c4l than in communities where interaction is > primarily physical. All communities have their own character and > communication norms. It's important for people to be mindful of the > environment they're helping create, but reducing communication to help > avoid exposing people to annoyances screws things up. > > In all honesty, I think the silliness on the sidelines is far more > important than the formal stuff. I know I learn a lot more while goofing > off than in formal channels for pretty much everything I do. > > kyle +1 I'm all for removing specific offended responses and commands as some others have suggested, but I agree trying to remove some of the lighter stuff will in the long term, be more likely to be detrimental then a positive.