So many people HATE mscl! why?

[emma14]

I love the show!It couldnt be any more like teen life.I go on The-n.com and all these peope on the forum say they hate the show.I dont get it.Its like the only show on the air thats actually worth watching now days.
AGREE??

[Natasha (candygirl)]

I doubt you'll get a very good answer here at MSCL.com about why there are people who hate the show - everyone here loves the show. You might want to pose this question to the people at the-n forum and ask them to explain what they don't like about the show. If you are simply asking us, fellow fans, as a rhetorical question, you have come to the right place.

[Angela_Catalano]

I never checked out the N's forum... I cant beleive that people actually hate this show! This show is really awsome!! Ill have to check out that forum and do some B*tchin!!!!

[Angela_Catalano]

Oh, I was reading the different polls and topics you started. I think you should be able to start those topics over again so that the newest people to the website can start new conversations about, Maybe an older topic!!

And since there is already so many topics on the same subject, what is one more??

( Yes this is obviously about the other topics you chose to start and are now locked)

[Natasha (candygirl)]

Per the forum rules:

(C) Search before posting!
Please don't open a new topic for every small information or question! Try to "re-use" existing topics. If you have a question or comment, look to see if a similar thread already exists either by browsing the existing threads or by using the search function. Look for FAQs about special topics (DVD Forum FAQ, MSCL show info, etc.) Duplicate threads are subject to closure and members will be redirected to existing threads.

[Angela_Catalano]

Well that is just my opinion!! Some of the topics are so old now. And I would really just like to start new fresh conversations on some of the subjects that were used before. I am new to this site, and im sure alot of new people have been joining, because of it airing on the N. It would be great for the new generation to be able to discuss some of these topics!

Sorry I just thought it was an ok idea to start some of the topics over again!

[Jody Barsch*]

Were all of those exclamation points necessary?

Yes, some of the threads are old, but there is no reason why people cannot revive them and continue posting on them. When duplicate threads are started, rather than taking the time to read what has already been written, the forum gets too messy and fractured, and the same ideas and questions get posted over and over. Not only does this result in unnecessary repetition, but hinders everyone from communicating in ongoing dialogues. New comers are very welcome to participate in the forum, but they should take the time to read the forum rules and to read the already existing posts before they post (it may come off as rude and self-involved if one doesn't bother to read what others before them have written, but expect others to read what they themselves have written).

"Make sure you have something to say before you say anything at all!"
Mike Glenn
Project Manager for MSCL.COM

Anyway, welcome to the forum all Newbies! Have fun (and play by the rules)!

[Natasha (candygirl)]

Well that is just my opinion!! Some of the topics are so old now. And I would really just like to start new fresh conversations on some of the subjects that were used before. I am new to this site, and im sure alot of new people have been joining, because of it airing on the N. It would be great for the new generation to be able to discuss some of these topics!

Sorry I just thought it was an ok idea to start some of the topics over again!

I understand if that is your opinion, but this forum has certain rules which we ask members to abide by, and one of the things we ask people to do is to search for existing topics rather than starting new threads when there is already a thread about the exact same thing. Why? As Jody said, it cuts down a lot on repeating what has already been said. This site is run at no charge to the users, but someone does pay to run it. Having multiple threads about the same topics takes up unnecessary space, so by asking people not to start new threads about the same subjects is efficient, but is also a matter of respecting the site owners and their server. Ultimately, we want to facilitate discussion and having one thread is one means to help achieve that rather than having multiple threads about the same topic scattered throughout the forum.

If you want to start a fresh new conversation, feel free to do so; however, if you want to talk about something that has already been discussed at this forum, there is no need to start a new thread. We have no problem with a new generation of MSCL fans talking about the show - we just ask that if you are sharing your thoughts about a topic that has already been discussed, you post it in the appropriate thread (and read what other people have previously posted about the same topic).

TWoP said it best, "in my humble opinion" :

I can't possibly read all these messages; I'd just like to post my own thoughts.

Oh, is that so? Well, that's rather rude of you. If you have time to post, you have time to read what others have posted before you.

We know it's a lot to read on some forums. Tough. Show your fellow posters the courtesy which you expect, and read what they've written to make sure you aren't repeating what dozens of other people have already said.

You are expected to read -- and not rehash -- the content in a thread.

[grim4746]

I can definitely see where you are coming from Angela Catalano. You've just watched the series and you have a lot to say about it. It's probably more stimulating to go to a site and carry on a current conversation than it is to read one from six years ago and say "I agree with what ______ said in sept 2000" and then someone else can reply "No way _________ was totally right with what he said in July 2002". Repitition is becoming more and more likely all the time on this site. As far as I can see it's the only downside of the posts being permanently saved. There may be an infinte number of things to say about this show but certainly many of the things recent viewer might wish to express are going to be the same things other viewers have been saying for years. There is a satisfaction in expressing your own ideas and impressions even if someone else had the same ones years ago. I think a lot of websites are built at least partially to provide that satisfaction. The internet is a great venue for that sort of thing. I think there is certainly plenty of room in this forum for new viewers though many will sometimes feel stifled by the likelihood of rehashing what's already been discussed. Perhaps you could start a new forum so you could express your ideas without concern of repeating someone else. Here is some info on free forum hosting. I don't know much about the reliability of this provider but I have seen some of the forums that use it and they work similarily to this one but have ads. Or maybe you could start an email discussion group. Good luck and I hope you continue to enjoy discussing the show! Whatever you decide I hope you still come here and post too.
Though I understand how a new viewer might feel about the things discussed above I also understand the forum rules. Obviously I love this site and am grateful Mglenn, SAB and all those who keep things running.

[MyLifeIsBrians]

Getting back to the original post....I think the reason that people on the N forum hate MSCL is because they are too young to appreciate it. They`ve grown up in a different generation. The fans I have met were eithier in their pre-teen, teen or young adult years when the show fist aired. We can appreciate the show more because it kinda takes us, well I should say me, back to 1994 when everyone wore those plaid shirts, guys had long hair like Jordan and R.E.M & The Cranberries were always on the radio. The show is more relatable as opposed to he age range that posts at the N, which I would guess is are teens. They just can`t relate to a show that real and honest. They are used to watching melodramic, unrealistic shows like The O.C and One Tree Hill. I don`t know. I think that might have something to do with it.

[Angela_Catalano]

I understand what everyone is saying. I didnt read the rules so I didnt know, but now I have. And I did read through many of the posts and I guess Ill just start replying to the older subjects and try to get ppl talking about them again!! And I look forward to talking to you all about My so called life! I want to start some new topics to talk about... Thanks!

[Greybird]

On the one hand, you the moderators have an expressed concern about not having threads multiply beyond number, whether for relatively trivial (to me) matters of clutter, or server space, or perhaps both.

On the other hand, you've got newcomers to "MSCL" who are enthusiastic enough to want to make their points without having everyone in the past looking over their figurative shoulders.

You have more server space than you do new enthusiasm for this creation, especially after a full ten years. I believe that this makes an insistence on newcomers' following the preset categories (if they happen to exist somewhere already) into a huge mistake.

At this point, you'd do better -- if this is to remain a viable Website, and assuming this matters to you -- to have newcomers run with their insights.

Your policy is exalting proper filing protocols above creativity. That's the kiss of Net death.

I was on the So-Called Mailing List for the first four years of this "MSCL" decade, long before this Website was set up. As my five megabytes of files attest, threads came, threads died, threads persisted, but threads were always lively. People would know fairly clearly how often the topics had been hashed or re-re-rehashed.

Threads also drifted. No two discussions followed the same tangents, and two sets of participants would find different insights, almost within three or four discussion steps. This is how the Internet works, people.

If such a policy as you're using here were in place, we'd have quashed any fervor for this show quite quickly, and "MSCL" would be no better remembered in many precincts than "Relativity" is now.

You can continue, moderators, to insist that "respect be paid" to all past opinions within a certain distance of a topic -- however narrowly or arbitrarily defined. You also can thus stomp on enthusiasm, and help create a depressing flock of "locked thread" icons that will turn this site into a ghost town, even faster than the sheer passage of time will do so.

Yet you don't have to do this. This is, to paraphrase Vic Racine (playing now in the background from my discs), filing for filing's sake, it's total manure, and this site should be about giving articulate people a voice, not first about having all their thoughts properly classified.

Think twice, please, about what you're doing.

[Sascha]

As you already wrote, our main reason for closing duplicate topics is the danger of cluttering the forum with twenty topics à la "Jordan is hot!" or "Why was MSCL cancelled?". We have already existing threads to many discussion areas of "My So-Called Life" and I really don't see where the problem is to access such an existing thread and just add your own opinion or viewpoint. And there are plenty of discussion threads here in this forum to prove that we have "lively" discussions - even in the fifth (or sixth?) year of this forum.

This is not about server space or hard disk usage (that's really not a problem at all) - it's about usability and providing a healthy "environment" for all forum visitors. This forum was never much about "filing protocols", especially in the AU.com age, we did let run things way too far and things ended in a big chaos with many users leaving. We went through a learning process like probably every big community does. If we were only about "protocols", we would close all topics except those 19 topics with the episode discussions -- because, that's all what's needed for the discussion of the show...

And if you look at our forums, you will see that we don't close every duplicate topic. Our moderators have a pretty good feeling for when a new -- maybe on first sight duplicate -- topic could open a new viewpoint on a certain aspect of a discussion. So they leave the thread open, maybe with link(s) to older topic(s) which center around the same or similar topic to provide some background. That way newcomers can post their viewpoint and also can get informations about how older/other forum visitors looked at that certain aspect. Because, let's be honest, only a very small fraction of newcomers uses the "search" function and probably don't even scroll beyond page one of the topic lists. I don't think that newcomers feel any pressure of oldbies looking "over their figurative shoulders" or that we even "stomp on enthusiasm" when we're using this technique, au contraire, I think this is a valuable input for everyone who seriously wants to discuss this show.

We're also very tolerant towards off-topic discussions in threads, probably a lot more than in other boards. But just like renaming of discussion threads on mailing-lists, we "split" discussions into seperate threads, when they get too far off-topic. And I was on that "Liberty" MSCL list too (I still am - for 7 or 8 years now) and I saw the "death" of on-topic discussion and the "big fights" on the several incarnations of the list over the years. But just like here something else grew: A community of good friends.

You see, we have to "serve" two parties: The oldbies, who will get tired when day-in, day-out the same questions/remarks appear on a board and on the other side the newbies, who maybe just discovered the show and want to share their excitement/questions with others.

[JammerMan]

I've been to The-N.com and I don't think any of those kids are capable of putting thought into a television show. They're just concerned with the hookups and breakups on Degrassi.

[starbug]

Actually I think the mods and owners of the forum have been very tolerant. I would have a 'no banal posting' rule if it were my forum, judged by me...

Don't forget that people have this running on their own personal time, and using their own personal bandwidth or whatever it is. It's their forum. what they say goes. I speak as one who has been reasonably inflammatory in the political discussion threads and I've never been edited. I don't think it's fair to accuse the site of shutting down discussion; clearly that isn't the aim or the result here.

as one of the relative 'oldies' (though I fully admit not as oldie as some here ), I find it quite frustrating to see multiple threads on the same broad topic. If you can't be bothered to use the search (even I can do this, and i have the technical knowledge of a potato) then you deserve to have your thread locked IMHO. It's happened to me a couple of times and I don't think it's offensive at all.