jim.r wrote:I 've completely given up on TOP, used to be that one learnt a lot from informed debate there, its now just dominated by "yes it is" "no it is'nt" arguments.
BTW the post on the kdnap was probably the daftest thing I've ever seen Webbie write!
Or you get threatened with violence.
They now bore me, which is a good thing, I have not only decided to 'do a webby' and bog off, I have stopped reading it all together.
[quote="Julian]Or you get threatened with violence.[/quote]
Oh dear, Jools, didn't realise that it got that bad.....
A great shame imho. I followed Scuttlebutt and the PBO threads for a couple of years before I finally registered in 2004. I was a pretty novice sailor and learnt a lot from the threads which were generally conducted in a friendly and fairly positive manner. I was also impressed by its "community" approach, a good example being your own website's contribution for new members on how to submit photographs helped liven up the thread texts with pictures.
I think the rot started when the Lounge was set up. It seemed to remove the earlier checks and balances. I agree that debate is now "oh yes it is/oh no it isn't" and sarcasm, ie there is little real debate. Indeed, some of the posters appear to have outsourced, by hyperlink, their opinions and cognitive processes to articles from the press and blogs. Shame.
