Our good and new intentions for 2017!!

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number 6
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Re: Our good and new intentions for 2017!!

Post by number 6 »

I'm happy to have non-related Blyton threads on the forums. I've discovered that I've got a lot more in common with some formites due to the diversity of their interests in other things. As friends, we can openly talk just about anything that concerns us, irritates us or makes us smile! Formites have helped each other overcome personal problems, technical queries & cheered us with jokes, etc...all non-related Blyton! It's a friendly community, full of wonderful, interesting people. This can only make the "Blyton Family" stronger. However, I can appreciate & fully understand why the threads can be considered intrusive to some, but you have a choice. You either read them or you don't. Diversity is healthy, keeps things fresh. That's what makes the Enid Blyton Society site so great. :D
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Carlotta King
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Re: Our good and new intentions for 2017!!

Post by Carlotta King »

I hope I don't ruffle any feathers here by being blunt as usual but if I'm perfectly honest I think that people saying they're 'put off' by general chattering is really rather strong, a bit unnecessary and a bit of an insult to Tony and Anita and the rest of us.

It never ceases to amaze me what a wonderful, kind, friendly community we are here - all good friends, all looking out for each other, all offering advice, shoulders to cry on, friendly banter, etc etc.
I have made some really great friends here and feel really at home (hence why I feel totally comfortable talking about things like my health etc).

I don't know who these people are who are put off by our threads, but is there really any need to totally dismiss such a wonderful forum just because there are a few threads that they're not interested in?
To claim that these threads 'puts them off' joining us is really strong and makes the place sound awful.

If someone said to me (and I didn't know this place) "I was going to join the Blyton forum but I was put off by some of the threads", I would be expecting it to be a questionable place. But obviously, it isn't!!

No one is holding a gun to their head and making them read every thread.

There are lots of threads here that I don't participate in, such as the Song thread (I don't really listen to music), the other authors threads (because I read mostly Enid!), the Dr Who thread (never watched it, no idea about it, not a fan) and most of the Games threads, but seriously, those threads would never in a million years stop me from joining in or put me off. :roll:

None of our threads are nasty, bitchy, crude, unnecessary or about subjects that are pointless; they're just pleasant friendly, chatty threads about our favourite foods, drinks, interests, hobbies, etc, so I fail to see what is so off-putting about those. :roll:

Yes I'm one of the 'guilty parties' who posts frequently about food, drink, shopping, hobbies, but I honestly can't see anything wrong with that.

I think we live in a horrible world, full of cruelty, war, illness, violence etc, so in the broad scheme of things, what on earth is wrong with a few nice chatty threads.

The following is what I wrote in the same subject a few weeks back (for anyone who missed it)
I've never had a problem with the tea thread, I find it really interesting to read about everyone's preferences for food and drink. (probably because I'm a gannet and obsessed with eating and drinking!)

The tea thread is tame and pleasant in comparison to some of the other ridiculous GN threads that we've had in the past!

I like talking about everyday things, I think it makes us all closer because we can bond over normal human interests like food, drink, animals, shopping, hobbies, etc.
And we can help each other with advice and info about things!
It doesn't detract from our love of Enid, we still post about her too! Its not 'one or the other.
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Re: Our good and new intentions for 2017!!

Post by sixret »

Anything related to Enid Blyton will have my interest. Pete's digging of old thread related to Enid Blyton's interest, Rob's thread, recently bought books thread, currently reading Enid Blyton books thread, most threads in enidblyton society section, admin's annoucement section, journal threads- anything Blyton. :D
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Re: Our good and new intentions for 2017!!

Post by Rob Houghton »

Courtenay wrote:Why is it, by the way, that "the tea thread" always seems to get blamed for putting people off the forums?? :evil: :twisted: It hardly ever gets posted on compared to, say, "Last Song You Listened To", "What Are You Doing Now?", "What Makes You Annoyed?", or indeed "Football" — and it's only 35 pages at last check, not "hundreds". :wink: And plenty of the games threads, some of which have only tenuous connections to Enid Blyton (if any at all — think "Change a Letter") get more attention than even the general natter threads.
To be honest, I think the tea thread is just a scapegoat, lol. It's the one 'off topic' thread people remember. I have nothing against the tea thread (or the carrot cake thread, lol!!) and I've contributed to both in the past. I think the off-topic threads keep the forums alive. If there were only Blyton-themed threads and contributors weren't allowed to post about any other subjects, I'm sure the forum wouldn't be as busy as it is.

Although I joke about the tea thread etc, I certainly would hate to see them shut down or banned. If people don't use the forum because of such threads, then its their loss, quite frankly!
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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sixret
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Re: Our good and new intentions for 2017!!

Post by sixret »

I don't mind unrelated threads at all. I don't get annoyed. I don't feel anything. They are free to write in any thread they like to participate. I may post here and there in other threads but my main interest is anything related to Blyton. :D
I stand with justice and the truth. Palestine will be free from the river to the sea.

Learn the history. Do research.

The hypocrisy, double standard, prejudice and bigotry own by some people is so obvious.Shame on them!
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Moonraker
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Re: Our good and new intentions for 2017!!

Post by Moonraker »

We seem to have two threads running on this topic. I posted my comments here:

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... 80#p290377" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm quoting your post from that thread, Nigel, as I think it's useful for people to be able to read it here without having to go to the other topic. - Anita :
Moonraker wrote:
Tony Summerfield wrote:A lot more people than you think read these serials, but they are not registered on the forums as they get put off by some of the utterly irrelevant threads which have little or nothing to do with Enid Blyton.
That is interesting. I did wonder if there was a way of you seeing how many 'hits' a page on the website gets. I have noticed that you sometimes say that very few people look at items you add to the Cave. It is good that you can see which efforts are appreciated and note those where your time could be better spent. I can well imagine the frustration felt by anyone spending hours writing or compiling only to find hardly anyone notices or reads the content.

Do you know for a fact that many people are "put off by some of the utterly irrelevant threads which have little or nothing to do with Enid Blyton"? A forum can be a broad church. However, there is only so much 'Blyton' one can discuss. I think you yourself mentioned that you hadn't read a Blyton for many years. I, too, rarely read any these days, although obviously, I still have a great love of her books. Speaking for myself, I joined the forums as I couldn't believe that I had found such a website and forum where (mainly) adults could reminisce and talk about these wonderful books and stories. The Society Day was such an added bonus. I have so many memories of these wonderful events organised by you, Tony. I am sure some, if not most of us, think the forums are the Society. Of course, the vast majority of members don't look at the forums. Maybe a regular display ad in the Journal might not go amiss.

I must also admit that I don't look at many of the threads you call totally irrelevant. That is made easy by the thread titles being displayed in the New Posts page. However, it doesn't put me off the forums - and there are several off-topic threads that I find entertaining. I have made many personal (as well as online) friends through the Society forums. That such a group of friends might like to discuss their favourite type of tea doesn't surprise or irritate me - even if I don't find it that compelling to read!

As I see it, a website-forum has two functions. To provide a platform where like-minded people can discuss topics that are of interest to them - whether they be on or off-topic. A forum such as ours, dedicated to an author, should obviously have a large content of on-topic material, which it does. The second (which is debatable, but personally I think it is important) is to provide a shop-window of the website and purpose. It can advertise and if it persuades people to join the Society, that has been a success.

One thing that can put people off more than off-topic 'irrelevance' is if a forum becomes cliquey. I have looked at forums that I don't belong to and found it so. To post would seem to be butting in on a closed community. I left one forum because there was so much creeping around the administrator - everything he posted was met with "how true. Aren't we lucky to have you running this forum" when I saw this man as a bigot. Thankfully, we are a friendly bunch of people with an approachable administrative team. It can be difficult to all get along all of the time - especially between people who have not met personally. That (for most of the time) we do, speaks volumes of our society

Without researching, it does seem that we have several contributors that only discuss off-topic matters. That does surprise me. We had on contributor who mainly posted about Doctor Who. I often wondered why he joined the EBS forums when there are excellent DW forums out there.

I think if the forums were restricted to on-topic discussion (I belong to one of those where off-topic discussion is not allowed), they would be a 'lesser-place'. It can be frustrating for an owner or administrator to see topics that they would rather not see - I have first hand experience of that on my forum (although this is not dedicated to a single theme, so is a little different)! However, it is my policy that the members of a forum should dictate the conversation and if they are happy and the atmosphere is friendly, then so be it. After all, there is no need to read every topic. Just pick out the threads that are of interest.

Come on, visitors, don't run away if you don't like talking about tea, write a post about your favourite Blyton! :D
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Re: Our good and new intentions for 2017!!

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

Maybe here is the best place as I've just read your posting Nigel on the Serial Thread, but I do understand you were replying to a posting from Tony.

My own view is, if I'm not interested in reading about Tea then I don't read that posting. I read mainly the Blyton related threads, but if something does interest me I will read it, whether I reply or participate is whether I'm free to do so at the time of reading.

8)
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Re: Our good and new intentions for 2017!!

Post by Bannerman65 »

Fiona1986 wrote:I'm doing really well with my resolution so far. I have 21 books set aside to be given away. That's enough room to now shelve all my new books with room to spare. I think I hear the bookshop calling :lol:
Err, will some John Bellairs books be going to the bookshop, Fiona? If so, which bookshop will they be going to?
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Re: Our good and new intentions for 2017!!

Post by Courtenay »

Carlotta King wrote: None of our threads are nasty, bitchy, crude, unnecessary or about subjects that are pointless; they're just pleasant friendly, chatty threads about our favourite foods, drinks, interests, hobbies, etc, so I fail to see what is so off-putting about those. :roll:

Yes I'm one of the 'guilty parties' who posts frequently about food, drink, shopping, hobbies, but I honestly can't see anything wrong with that.

I think we live in a horrible world, full of cruelty, war, illness, violence etc, so in the broad scheme of things, what on earth is wrong with a few nice chatty threads.
Well said, Cathy. Nigel, I completely agree with your long post on the "new weekly serial" thread as well, but didn't want to take that thread off topic further! :wink:
Rob Houghton wrote: To be honest, I think the tea thread is just a scapegoat, lol. It's the one 'off topic' thread people remember. I have nothing against the tea thread (or the carrot cake thread, lol!!)
Oh yes, I'd forgotten about the carrot cake thread!! :lol: :mrgreen: :wink:
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Re: Our good and new intentions for 2017!!

Post by Eddie Muir »

Moonraker wrote:We seem to have two threads running on this topic. I posted my comments here:

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... 80#p290377" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I posted my response to your comments on the "New Weekly Serial" thread as follows:

A superb post, Nigel. I had considered writing a similar one myself, but you have said all that I wanted to say and more. Thank you. :D
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Re: Our good and new intentions for 2017!!

Post by Tony Summerfield »

Nigel's post has really gone into the wrong thread, which was meant to be about the Weekly Serial, but I have checked it out and I will give you some statistics. In 2010 600 people registered on the forums but the number has been going down steadily since then. In 2016 the number was 175 and that figure is down over just over 100 from 2015.

This website is actually called the Enid Blyton Society website and for the benefit of Society Members I am happy if they are able to post on other things that interest them, but there are a number of people posting regularly on the site who have no interest in the Society at all, they are not members and never intend to become one as they aren't particularly interested in Enid Blyton. I quite understand that for some who are interested that the pennies have to be watched and also for those living overseas it is a bit more than the UK 20p a week, but even so we have some posting openly about the huge amount they spend on their Blyton collections who don't go near anything to do with the Society.

So in my opinion I do believe that people are put off by some of the threads, but if they interest our paying members there isn't really anything I can do about it.
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Re: Our good and new intentions for 2017!!

Post by Rob Houghton »

Tony Summerfield wrote: but even so we have some posting openly about the huge amount they spend on their Blyton collections who don't go near anything to do with the Society.
This poster excepted, I hasten to add!!! :lol:
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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sixret
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Re: Our good and new intentions for 2017!!

Post by sixret »

Actually I don't quite understand the meaning of Tony's statement. What does it means really? :D
I stand with justice and the truth. Palestine will be free from the river to the sea.

Learn the history. Do research.

The hypocrisy, double standard, prejudice and bigotry own by some people is so obvious.Shame on them!
Tony Summerfield
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Re: Our good and new intentions for 2017!!

Post by Tony Summerfield »

I don't mention names, but clearly I am not referring to anyone with a bit of blue under their posts! As I haven't I suppose I could be looking in the mirror!! :D
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Re: Our good and new intentions for 2017!!

Post by Fiona1986 »

Bannerman65 wrote:
Fiona1986 wrote:I'm doing really well with my resolution so far. I have 21 books set aside to be given away. That's enough room to now shelve all my new books with room to spare. I think I hear the bookshop calling :lol:
Err, will some John Bellairs books be going to the bookshop, Fiona? If so, which bookshop will they be going to?
I have no idea who that is or why you would guess that was what I'm clearing out?

And Anita, no, the number 21 is not at all significant. The pile is made up of Sophie Kinsella books which my sister is getting, and the first few Morganville Vampire titles.
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