146 posts shown.
Austin Bennett7 said:Quick question... I've got this dark patch on my lower stomach from an allergic reaction, about 7x3cm, and I was wondering if Mederma would actually do anything for it?
William Cooper11 said:You really should've expected this kind of reaction. Besides, the USA can't get any more dysfunctional than it already is—it’s not like this is some Psychology textbook where everyone gets professional help for their forum issues.
Brandon Castillo4 said:Because they do. That’s how it was decided. My point is simple: if a chat thread is actually PART of a subforum—meaning it’s where the regulars hang out, where new people join the fold, etc.—then it makes sense to keep it.
Keeping little closed-off cliques doesn't make any sense on the US-themed board.
Brandon Castillo4 said:Oh, so it's not "socializing" on the forum, then? What exactly is it supposed to be? 🤣
It's socializing. 😁
feraltrucker5 said:Hey there. 🙂
Look, I really shouldn’t be sticking my nose into the whole mess regarding moving the American chats around because the mods and admins have already laid out their reasoning, and honestly, that should pretty much wrap up the debate. But seriously, people acting like this was some sudden, impulsive whim? Give me a break. Back when I was serving as a moderator for the US section—which was about six months ago, if memory serves—and even before then, we were all hyper-aware of how messy the chat situation had become. We were actually trying to design a space that functioned like a genuine community hub for Americans. The whole goal was to create a spot that would finally replace those endless, repetitive threads where everyone just vents about their own personal drama, and instead, actually get people talking to one another and building some real connections.
Look, I thought we were actually going to have a themed discussion here, but clearly, I was getting ahead of myself.
We haven't managed to pull anything off in that timeframe, and honestly, looking around, it’s pretty clear nothing has changed. But then again, how could it? This whole chat topic has just been overrun by people who couldn't write a single constructive post on a major US forum if their lives depended on it. It’s devolved into nothing more than just another generic, mindless chat room where actual substance goes to die.
Look, I know I’m basically just rambling about things that have absolutely nothing to do with my own life, but honestly, I couldn't help myself—I had to jump in here and give Nicholas King a response to this:
The moderator really needs to start citing their sources. I don't even know where to start with this whole mess, honestly. It’s just one thing after another, isn't it? You think you've finally got a handle on things, maybe even a little breathing room, and then—boom—everything just falls apart like a cheap card tower in a windstorm. It's almost funny if you stop to think about how predictable the chaos is. One minute you're cruising along, thinking everything is fine, and the next, you're staring at a complete disaster, wondering how you even got here in the first place. It's like that old saying about how life doesn't give you much of a heads-up before it decides to throw a wrench in your gears. Just constant, relentless movement toward more confusion. Have you seen what’s actually going on in his subforum lately? It’s like watching a slow-motion train wreck—you can see exactly where this is headed, right? The chat threads are absolutely exploding, honestly, we’re talking hundreds of posts rolling in every single day. And then there’s me, stuck playing digital janitor, having to comb through every single one of those endless walls of text just to make sure nobody’s being abusive, dropping sketchy links, or leaking private info. It’s just one thing after another, a constant mountain of nonsense to sift through.
Look, let's be real for a second—a moderator isn't supposed to be some kind of glorified janitor sweeping up trash all day; honestly, they shouldn't even be touching that stuff. That’s just not the job description. A real moderator should be out there actually steering the conversation, keeping the discussions on track, and putting in the actual legwork to make the subforum better—you know, like curating the topic lists, spinning up new threads when things get stale, merging redundant ones, and all that good stuff. They should be architects of the community, not just the cleaning crew.
Honestly, after you’ve slogged through five hundred consecutive messages in the general chat—just people rambling about what they had for lunch, what show they’re binge-watching on Netflix, or how many times they’ve had to take a bathroom break today—you find yourself completely drained. You’ve got zero mental bandwidth left to actually engage with the rest of the subforum the way you ought to. It’s exhausting. And let’s be real, that constant stream of chatter adds absolutely nothing to the actual quality of this community; that's what the constructive, deep-dive threads are for. You end up burning through all your time and energy on someone’s incoherent nonsense that, once it hits ten thousand posts, is just going to end up in the digital trash bin anyway. It’s a total waste of breath, don't you think?
Honestly, I don't see why it would be an issue. We've got moderators who handle the heavy lifting—reading through posts and keeping the chats in check (and let's be real, they’re usually active in them anyway)—and then there are those who prefer to stay behind the scenes, but that’s hardly a crisis because we have dedicated spaces like the Lounge or the Off-Topic boards specifically for the chatterboxes. There’s absolutely no reason for anyone to feel left out or sidelined; we've made sure there's a spot for everyone to hang out. 🙂
brightridge59 said:My job isn't to serve anyone. Especially not users who act like rabid dogs, just waiting for any excuse to launch into an unhinged, baseless tirade against everything the current mod team is trying to accomplish.
That really says a lot about how riveting those books of yours must be.
Anonymous said:Honestly, with all due respect to your role as an admin, communicating with a regular user like this makes it seem like you've forgotten that your job is to serve the community and us, not the other way around.
darkheron6 said:Look, I’m not trying to compare them, but I really think it’s unfair to claim one is better than the other. It’s also wrong to say that any random topic that sparks a heated debate is somehow less valuable than the Finger. People can connect over just about anything—they can swap PMoves, build actual friendships, or even help each other solve real-life problems, all without ever touching the Finger, which you claim is the most helpful part of everything. There’s just no way to objectively measure it; you could argue this specific thread saved ten lives, while that other one saved fifty. It's impossible to quantify.
I'm just saying.
Anonymous said:Look, sorry, but all you're doing is proving you weren't actually present as moderators during the chat.
There was plenty of whining, crying, and venting. But through the format of the chat, you could actually help those people—and even help me personally. If someone mentioned feeling lonely and others started analyzing expectations, standards, or social anxiety, everyone would have been sanctioned for going off topic. Or do you think psychological support is somehow restricted for certain people?
The mess we're dealing with now isn't happening because the chat is pointless or "spamy" instead of being true to the US spirit; it's happening because you didn't do your jobs.
Honestly, I think your view of the chat is pretty narrow if you consider it nothing but pure spam. I wonder if other moderators on different forums feel the same way?
To be blunt, you allowed the US section—where I used to post way more often—to completely spiral by letting threads about random nonsense, song lyrics, or just whatever people felt like saying slide through. Is there any quality in that? And then, when the numbers started dropping, you looked around and pointed a finger at our activity as the sole reason.
The chat saw an insane spike in posts, but that happened precisely because you weren't moderating. Now that things have settled down and become more constructive, less spamy, and concise again, it's entirely thanks to us stepping up and doing your job—yet you want to dump it into Off topic.
It would have made much more sense if you had cleaned up the entire US section from all the mindless, low-quality threads first before coming for our activity in those specific discussions.
Anyone who actually followed the chat could see there are plenty of people contributing high-quality content to the whole PDF.
If you want to know why the US section turned into a disaster, I suggest you start by looking at your own area of responsibility.
darkheron6 said:Don't be so narrow-minded. What about USPSD? That was a chat topic too, and it sparked everything from friendships and relationships to rivalries and just a whole spectrum of human interaction. Finger is relatively new, and sure, the topic is important and nice in its own way, but it’s not the most vital, the most beautiful, or some revolutionary breakthrough that changed the world.
I feel bad that the finger crowd is having such a hard time pivoting, but you aren't going to get anywhere like this. You're better off sticking to a topic that actually shows some potential.
Arthur Thomas said:Solution 1: bring the chat back to the US, provided everyone agrees to tack on 🙂 and those other emojis at the very end of their posts.
😬
Jessica Watson4 said:Honestly, nothing really—it just bugs me that there won't be a steady stream of new faces anymore, when there always used to be.
So, what was it about that specific chat that bothered you guys so much?
Was it too much work to moderate? I highly doubt it, since moderation there was basically non-existent anyway. Or was it the core group that was active 99% of the time?
Who exactly were they bothering?
At least they weren't causing any trouble in the other threads.
Your explanations feel 🙏
Brandon Castillo4 said:If threads are the only thing worth anything on the US, then why are you all so desperately trying to crawl into that mud pit?
Second off, I agree with you—there are way too many "I am a lonely bottom of the barrel" type threads. I remember a few weeks back there was this guy, David or whatever his name was; the guy spent a month of Jesus's time moping about how he'd never get over his ex, turning into nothing but song lyrics and posts ending in sad emojis.
In practice, it looked like this:
"Ivanna, come back. I can't do this without you. Life is just too hard, oh my angel.
😢 😢 😢 😢 😢"
And he did that roughly 8,921,891 times. 😁
Look, people tried to write back, try to discuss things, try to help the guy. And so did I. But he doesn't read; he just stays "😢".
So, we tried starting maybe 6 or 7 different threads to break that cycle, to breathe some life into the sub-forum with actual discussions. I've received about 40 PMoves total over the last month from people who are thrilled with the changes. Besides, they are actually contributing to the threads and having real discussions. Yeah, sure, we clashed a bit or didn't click right away, but the discussions have generally been top-tier.
We allowed for a little banter and some heavier debating; it wasn't just sterile mocking, and I think people actually enjoyed it. A lot of people. And that is the whole POINT of the US.
Your "point" is hanging out with 15 or 20 people. And again, I'm telling you, that's great, but you can still hang out—nobody closed or deleted that topic, the topic still EXISTS on the forum.
The fact that I personally prefer those kinds of topics to be over on DiK is a separate issue. I can't make that happen because the crew over at DiK, as mistywolf17 puts it, doesn't allow outside topics to bleed in.
mistywolf17 said:Then why don't you all participate so constructively on the subforum otherwise? Why don't you start interesting discussions there? Why do you choose to write all this in a somewhat closed chat meant for a specific group?Because this chat is the only bright spot in the entire US compared to the endless whining, insults, mockery, and useless advice found elsewhere.
Because it’s through this very chat that many lonely hearts have connected and found companionship.
Because no newly lonely heart is going to head over to Offtopic to search for other lonely hearts.
That's why. Because for most of you, the US is just one big whining session and you're sick of it. You want a chat where you can talk about everything without anyone complaining or crying. But why would you even read or engage with those kinds of threads? Because those types of topics are what make up the subforum. I suppose most people can't handle reading them because they find it too depressing, so they'd rather just have cheerful chats. But maybe do that on a different subforum. On the US, it just doesn't make sense.
mistywolf17 said:A whim? Forgive me, but I have been very actively moderating US for over a year now, so I am extremely well-acquainted with the situation. The explanation is simple: on US, a chat doesn't make sense unless it stays on-topic. These chats aren't doing that. It is similar on ŽuD.
Explain to me what the purpose of a chat would be for US if it's filled with people who hardly ever even visit the subforum.
The purpose of a subforum isn't to provide a chat. A chat doesn't define the quality of a subforum. For a subforum to be high-quality, the threads themselves must be high-quality. Something you might notice lately if you actually stepped out of the chat and looked at what is happening on the subforum.
Take the Soccer subforum and its Offtopic chat, for example. Since you keep bringing up how many people met on Finger, do you honestly think they didn't meet there? Don't be ridiculous.
The difference is that the people there are active participants in that specific subforum; they are what make it what it is. That isn't the case on US.
I suspect if I were to pull one constructive post from any of you on this subforum from the last month that wasn't made in the chat, the results would be quite interesting. 😉
You can view this as a reorganization of the subforum intended to raise the overall quality. Currently, the chats just don't fit into that goal.