Have copycats been outlawed?

[Renew Deal]

Am I missing something?

[jonnyblitz]

1. hopefully. they are lame. n/t

[Renew Deal]

3. I love them.

Always good for a laugh. i've fallen into the trap a few times too, but it's worth it.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

6. Yes I know

You love copycat threads, sex threads, calling out the mods, and pushing the envelope of reasonableness.

That sort of consideration has made it to where no one can have a little fun or even start a thread the least bit suggestive now because everyone has now been punitively dealt with thanks to a handful of antagonistic people who don't know when to stop.

Gee...what fun.

[Renew Deal]

8. Let me set my position straight.

I love copycat threads. Sex threads can be cool with me personally if they are not pornographic or perverted. If we're not supposed to have them then that's OK. I am not cool with calling out any mods. I do like to push the envelope in life, but I'm not sure what you define as reasonableness.

I understand why this is a problem, but everybody needs to relax a minute. Many of us were unruly last night. Many of us have apologized and hope to move on from it. I don't think there was one malicious person here last night.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

23. No there were simply people who KNEW the mods asked you to stop

and you thumbed your nose at them and continued in spite of it. I guess malicious isn't the word to describe it.

You've apologized for this before. Sorry doesn't help.

[Renew Deal]

25. Prove that the mods asked me to stop and that I didn't stop.

Prove it. I'll be waiting here. You have been making this false accusation of me since last night. All the while, you have had to defend some sex thread you were involved with. What have I apologized for before? I surely didn't apologize to you for anything.

[skygazer]

2. Only copycat sex threads, I believe

But I may be wrong. It's happened before. :silly:

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

4. No..request have been made to a small contingent of people

who decided to plug their ears and say *la la la I can't hear you* in response to the request.

[skypilot]

5. I hope I don't sound self-centered but...

...I suspect I might have started this. There was a thread this morning with a heading like "How do you feel about the Lounge lately" or something like that. I responded "Too many copycat threads, frankly". That one line itself spawned numerous copycat posts and then copycat threads. Since then its seems that copycat threads have been debated for much of the day and the pro-copycat and con-copycat camps are becoming apparent.

[dr.strangelove]

I copycatted your post

I don;t have any problem with copycats. I think they are pretty funny. It is a great way to get a laugh. I use the lounge to unwind. I spend time in GD and feel pretty tired after fighting over whether the Deep Impact NASA probe is actually a plot by W and Co. to extend their control over the world. After a lot of that bullshit, the lounge is very relaxing.

[dr.strangelove]

11. deleted

double post, sorry

[CO Liberal]

7. I Don't Think So

But I get the feeling that people are thinking twice before they start a new thread.

[curse10]

9. I wish. They are infantile and far from funny.

eom

[StopTheMorans]

10. yes you are. people are making broad pronouncements about what

they believe to be the correct course of the lounge, and they act as if they are speaking for the greater good rather than for themselves.

[Pithlet]

12. They're annoying, in their excess.

People are speaking out about how annoyed they are about them. That is all.

[StopTheMorans]

13. and others are speaking to the same issue, but from the other viewpoint

which is just as valid. these people find the same threads to be amusing, and find it annoying that others are attacking these threads. if you count, each side appears to have roughly the same number of adherents, when many of the people who claim that they are annoying appear to be suggesting that it is 2 or 3 posters. that is all...

[Pithlet]

14. What some people on the pro-copy cat side are doing

is blowing the other side way out of proportion, as if they're lounge nazis. And I wouldn't put it at 50/50, because some people don't feel like dealing with the hassle of daring to voice their opinion. I'm sure I'm going to be sorry that I ever did. I'm not a humorless person, and I don't want to ruin anyone else's fun. But, that is exactly what I and others are accused of. It is ridiculous.

Most people I've ever talked to about it find the excess annoying. It is clutter. It becomes the equivalent of spam. It isn't so much the idea of the copy cat thread as it is the sheer volume.

[StopTheMorans]

16. well, it appears that we have some common ground, and that we've

already discussed it. i see your points, and see some validity in them, but ultimately, i still feel that this is the lounge, and it's full of useless shit. i guess that i just don't see what all of these "other people" you are referring to see with respect to the greater purpose/sense of meaning/etc... of the DU lounge.

on edit: fixed grammar

[JohnKleeb]

17. I have the middle ground view myself

I bet that surprises a lot of people but its my view that too much copycat threds is annoying and yes, spam like but them in theirselves arent so bad.

[Pithlet]

18. That's how I feel.

I've seen some funny ones. I don't know that I would support an outright ban, though I'd understand it. This isn't in response to you, because I think you've been reasonable, but too many people are being defensive and attacking those complaining about them instead of listening and taking that into consideration and trying to tone down the volume a bit. I bet if there were far fewer copy cats, it wouldn't even be mentioned.

[JohnKleeb]

24. well you know I dont like them in excess, I was actually against all the

kleeb threads. I don't think people who have a problem with them are being jerks, I can see why they get annoying, everything in excess sucks, but as you say, some can be down right funny.

[Pithlet]

19. We see what everyone sees

Not everything has to have substance. The lounge is about fluff. But, originality wouldn't hurt. The occasional witty copycat can be hilarious. But just copying for copying sake, and cluttering up the lounge with it, dilutes the original posts. Mindless fun is what the lounge is about. But even THAT can be diluted.

[StopTheMorans]

21. good post

:thumbsup:

[StopTheMorans]

20. i feel that a lot who like copycats are refraining as well

i really don't think that i'm being unreasonable here, but maybe i am :shrug: were you ever in the lounge when it was full of yak threads, thong threads, and sex threads? they weren't any better than copycats, and it was way the hell worse than it is today (in terms of certain threads taking over), yet noone complained. i don't think that the volume is that horrible either, to be honest (my opinion). they come up once every few hours, get crazy, and die down. there aren't always hundreds of them filling up the front page, although i feel like that's what everyone is trying to say. it's a random occurence at different times throughout the day, not a constant...

[Pithlet]

22. Yes, I was here for all that.

The difference is that those examples you give are about types of content. Not everyone may agree about their quality, but at least they had content. But, copycat threads, by definition, are just copying another thread, usually an original one with some content to it. There is no content. They take up space without adding anything. They usually have little if nothing in the body; only the subject line.

I'm sure it isn't a constant volume. But, I tend to visit the lounge during peek time, and that is when they're more than likely at their peek as well. So, a majority of the times I've visited the lounge, there have been tons of copycats. And the few times I've ever started an original thread, it's been swamped off the page by copycats, sometimes even of my own thread.

Of all the stages and trends the lounge has been through, the copycat trend has had the biggest effect, if not the biggest change. It truly seems to have changed the pace. I guess, as an old timer, I remember the lounge when it was a bit slower, and had more of a community feel. Not just any community, but a community of funny, intelligent posters, and I didn't have enough time in the day to click on all the threads I wanted to. That has changed. Copy cat threads aren't the only reason, but they're a big one.

[crispini]

15. When copycats are outlawed, will only outlaws

own copies of cats? :silly:

I, as usual, see both sides. (Silly always-balancing, Libra, I'm no fun, eh?) :P