Changes to the Sam and Jack ship threads

[Bekki]

As a person who has only lurked in the discussion only thread, I wouldn't mind at all if the two threads were merged. That being said, I totally understand that other people might only want discussion and/or news of the ship, not the 24 hour party in the family thread.

Choosing one of these, to me, requires the question: will shippers use the discussion only thread? Who uses it? and do those people feel it needs to stay?

In other words, I dont feel I'm qualified to judge whether or not a thread that I don't use should stay

[Solo]

It seems to me that if we're all to be allowed to continue posting what we do at the moment, then a merger of the discussion-only thread with the ship family thread would naturally necessitate much more acceptance of change on behalf of the discussion-only posters than it would on behalf of the ship-family posters. While the discussion-only thread lies dormant during lulls of S/J activity, the ship family thread rumbles on with fluff, picspams, artwork and OT stuff. The discussion-only group would need to put up with that, unless the ship-family group is to be curtailed in its picspams/fluff/artwork etc stuff.

Frankly, I like the ship thread (mostly) as it is. I think things work as they are, because I do take the point that when there is news to discuss (a bit hard after the series has ended and all we have at the moment are rumours which have been kicking around for a while about the content of the third film) the discussion-only thread will pick up, and they won't want the reams and reams of fluffier content to wade through to find their relevant bits. It also seems, from the posts above, that a number of the fluffier-thread regulars lurk on the discussion-only thread for news or other tidbits, so it's useful from that perspective as well.

What we have currently seems to work, and, apparently, it didn't before, as evidenced by the fact that we HAVE two threads. I think we can safely ditch the Resort thread (which sounds like a prelude to the Lounge thread) and just rename the existing two threads to add the surnames, and effectively leave the status quo as it is. A merger could result in more frustration and resentment bubbling up, and that's never fun.

[DutchIndeed]

Adding to the discussion, while probably repeating what others have said:

I vote to keep the threads seperate, too.
I do think we could have the 'fluff' (and Shippy Hippyness ) and the serious discussion in one place, but as others have pointed out, they're two different things. For the (more pessimistic) discussing Shippers, I can imagine it's annoying when someone interrupts the heavy discussion to post, say... a corny poem about confirmation and Sam's hair.
While those on a Shippy High can feel guilty about posting letters to TPTB, praising their Awesomness, while someone else has just expressed their heartwishes about ''installing a new team of writers and producers, for the current PTB suck at Ship for the following 57 reasons:''.

*blinks*
Ok, bad examples.

What I was trying to say: There's Shipping (Squeeeeeeeeeeeee! Confirmation NOW!!! Squeeeeeeeeeeeee! Fluff! Gutter! Angst! ''Why do birds, suddenly appearrrrr?'') and there's Shipping (Did you notice how in that one scene Sam looks at Jack tilting her head like that? Well, if you look at ep ... You'll notice that she does the same thing when saying Shippy line...)

Yeah, so... I'm not helping am I?


EDIT: Loose the resort though.
We have a home, a lounge... A Bus...

[Rachel500]

Hmmm, well, the 'resort' thread I wasn't even aware existed. So no strong opinions on that.

The Family and Pro-Discussion threads I have visited, and my own experience has been that I started out visiting both and then ended up defaulting to the Family because that's where most of the day to day posting happens - news tends to hit there first.

My view is that their purpose is different:

The Family is more of a 'home' for S/J shippers on GW. The content is varied: pics, vid links, fanfic links, some OT, some discussion. Because it is varied that's why it tends to attract more activity. The vast majority of the time every one lives happily together although occasionally tensions and spats between members will rise. At times, it can be frustrating for those wanting serious discussions especially when the OT stuff gets a little too much.

The Discussion thread is only for discussion. No fluff or OT. It's less of a 'home' and is in its purest sense a discussion forum. From my experience there, you will sometimes get posters who haven't posted in the Family thread (for whatever reason) but who will engage in a discussion on the Discussion thread.

Having said that, personally, I don't have an issue with the two being merged. I've had great discussions on the Family thread and never felt like I was unable to start a discussion there or participate in one.

My suggestion would be to have one thread called 'Sam Carter/Jack O'Neill Ship Appreciation and Discussion'. Appreciation would cover the pics/links/pic stories/captionary/alphabet games, etc and Discussion would emphasise that it is a discussion forum too and needs to incorporate that element. I also think that possibly when the name change comes in, there probably should be more of an effort to take the truly OT/chat stuff off to the Shipper Lounge.

[jasminaGo]

I haven't been in the ship thread in a while now for several different reasons, like not enough time to keep up with all the posts, a lot of which is OT, and the general feel of the thread lately. I'm feeling a little low on shippy mojo, and I don't feel like I can express my 'less then positive attitude' without having my head ripped off (as I have seen happen in the past), so I left. The discussion only thread has a totally different feel to it. You obviously have to be a shipper to post, but all views, positive and negative were treated pretty much the same. A shame that that thread isn't used more often.

For me personally, it doesn't matter if the two threads are merged. There is the LJ community that's S/J discussion only, where most of the people who left the family thread recently hang out and it's more used then the discussion thread here on GW.

But I do hope I'll be able to go back to the family thread when I find my mojo, and I like Jack O'Neill/Sam Carter Ship Discussion for a title.

[JenniferJF]

For me personally, it doesn't matter if the two threads are merged. There is the LJ community that's S/J discussion only, where most of the people who left the family thread recently hang out and it's more used then the discussion thread here on GW.

Wot She Said.

Though, tbh, it might not be a terribly bad idea to keep the thread separate and alive, assuming it's not too difficult a thing to do for future use when there is actually new show/information to discuss. Because as some have said, folks will post there who don't post on the other thread.

I definitely don't think it's necessary to merge to two threads. If it's decided not to keep the one, I have no problem with it's simply going away.

[DutchIndeed]

Just to be nitpicky here, but in voicing one's opinion, is there a difference between ''not minding'' merging and ''wanting'' the merging?

And did that question even make sense? Hm.

[Skydiver]

let's see if i can answer questions

we'll discuss this for about a week

why are some 'anti' threads still in existence. some of them are due to be closed in the near future. their fate was decided weeks ago but the implementation date is later on this month. some of them aren't as much anti threads as they are a place for critical discussions about an aspect of the show. We have no issue with critical discussions, as long as those discussions are held in a respectful and rule abiding way.

Some people are expressing ideas i've heard before about the shippy thraed. that some posters have a more resigned attitude and have critical ideas that they want to express. And we have some shippers that simply cannot tolerate anything less than 100% optimism. That's one reason i'm not too fond of merging both major ship threads into one. And why I'd feel the need to be convinced by posters that it'd work. I remember the meltdown a couple of years ago that resulted in the split and really don't want to repeat it.

I know there are some shippers that can tolerate the opinions of others well, but there are also some that simply cannot handle it. And I don't want it to get to the point that one 'side' feels the need to chase out another.

So please, keep those opinions coming. I am more than willing to merge the threads if posters can prove to me that y'all are willing to work at getting along.

[Rac80]

I would like appreciation in the title of the threads so I don't have to scroll through crap I don't want to see.

post a poll on the merge?

[Sarai]

My short answer to that is "No!"

I agree with VSS, SJS93, Buc252 and Luvnjack, in that the two threads, although having similar purposes, are very different in style and quantity of posts. I think merging them wood cause a lot of problems.

To throw in my two (pennies) worth...

I'm going to say outright (so you can skip past this entire post if you wish ) that I do not think merging the threads is a good idea.

Whilst I haven't frequented the discussion thread, reading what other people have posted about it has made me a little concerned. The Family thread encompasses so many things, including discussion, and yes, it can get a little negative from time to time but we always pick each other up. I think it's all very well and good saying 'yes merge the threads' but sadly I believe it would be too much of a shock to the posting style of many. Shippers who want to post positive or negative would (IMO) feel restricted to what they can post and therefore not post at all, leading to the threads simply becoming inactive.

And yes, even on the family thread some shippers have felt curtailed in what they can and can't post and have taken a leave of absence, but I believe that is purely down to a lack of shippy mojo and news atm. IMO it would be a shame for them to come back to GW when we get some news of the 3rd movie to find the threads completely changed.

To end the ramble, I just want to say that the reason I de-lurked and joined GW in the first place is because of the ease and friendliness of the family thread. And while I'm not saying I can't take a little bit of negativity (hey, show me a shipper that's been waiting for conformation for 4 years () doesn't get a tad negative from time to time!) I am saying that allowing 'negative' posts, albeit in the spirit of discussion, to become part of the thread would probably drag the general atmosphere and all-round mojo down.

Hmm. So yes, to sum up, I do not think merging the threads is a good idea. Get rid of the resort, tbh never heard of it , but keep the ship family and discussion threads seperate.

[RepliCartertje]

To be honest I would prefer if they didn't get merged. Cause I like the idea that we always have a discussion thread there. I mean sometimes the family ship thread can get a bit too fluffy and to much guttery.
Granted atm I have no time to actually check much of GW but I loved the fact that we had a discussion thread cause it is like a safe haven for good in-depth discussions. Cause in the family thread that is hard to do.
Yes I know there is a LiveJournal for it but I really have not much time for it atm...

[JenniferJF]

Whilst I haven't frequented the discussion thread, reading what other people have posted about it has made me a little concerned. The Family thread encompasses so many things, including discussion, and yes, it can get a little negative from time to time but we always pick each other up. I think it's all very well and good saying 'yes merge the threads' but sadly I believe it would be too much of a shock to the posting style of many. Shippers who want to post positive or negative would (IMO) feel restricted to what they can post and therefore not post at all, leading to the threads simply becoming inactive.

And yes, even on the family thread some shippers have felt curtailed in what they can and can't post and have taken a leave of absence, but I believe that is purely down to a lack of shippy mojo and news atm. IMO it would be a shame for them to come back to GW when we get some news of the 3rd movie to find the threads completely changed.

That's really why I'm not sure it's worth bothering to keep up the other thread. As Jasmina said, those of us who found we can't have the sort of serious conversations on GW we'd like have already found other places to discuss the ship and hang out with fellow shippers, and keeping the 'discussion' thread alive isn't going to change that. It's not so much about a place to safely be negative for me - I find that's generally not that unacceptable on the other thread - as it was an attempt to have serious discussions. Yet, as it's still GW and restricted to GW rules, we'd still have all the issues present which caused many of us to leave the main thread in the first place. So, personally for me, I don't see a real use for the second thread in place of the main thread... And don't get me wrong, I still love GW and hang out here a lot. It's just not a place really conducive to indepths conversations about the Sam/Jack ship for a variety of reasons.

Is there anyone who - personally Right Now and not simply theoretically - can see a real use for the second thread? Because if I'm not mistaken, when Movie #3 (or anything future) comes out, we could always start a specific thread without spoilers for discussion of the new info. Or am I wrong?

Though again, if it's not a Big Deal to keep the second thread open, it might as well stay...

[DutchIndeed]

I think that keeping the thread shouldn't be about making/keeping the Shippers who want to leave or have left happy. (No offence, I love you all dearly. Do come back ). To me, it's about the Shippers who do post or lurk on GW on a regualr base... I'm glad there's other ways to have a serious discussion outside of GW (Cause well, variety and change of spices...), but I think it's only practical to keep the Discussion thread here, in case there are Shippers around who feel like discussing without interrupting the flow.
On the ''big'' thread, we welcome a lot of newbies, and I would hate to see them run because they feel overshadowed by flashy posters, picspammers and overly Happy Hippies all the time.
(And vice versa)

[AstraPerAspera]

I think the point is, most of us who at all recently posted on the Discussion-Only thread, haven't. It's been dormant for over 3 months. If people want to keep it, it's not a problem from my perspective. I just see it as superfluous these days as many of the people who once posted there have found other venues for their discussions and aren't likely to make use of it any more.

But...if there's a need to keep it, then by all means, keep it. I just don't happen to think it makes much difference.

[RepliCartertje]

Jenn: We still have the episode of the week. And to be honest i tried to go in-depth disccusion about it the other week. But it was a discussion with me and oh yeah... me!
So yeah the normal: omg i love Sam/Jack together. I think they are cute in this moment. So married stuff is always there in the ship family thread but discussion is hard to get.
Maybe we can use the discussion thread to actually discuss stuff. And I mean with maybe a smaller group, start an in-depth discussion there.
The real time viewing can sill be in the other group but more in-depth discussion can then be there. I am sure I am not the only one who loves in-depth discussion. And wished there was more discussion.
I mean that was the reason why that thread started to begin with...to get more discussion.
It is just an idea though...

I for once would love the discussion thread to be more there so I can discuss more and not to have to go through loads of pages of pictures and all that. Yes it is fun from time to time but sometimes all I want is to read some good discussion or some good post about Sam/Jack.