The cancer afflicting CAA

[Nate]

Ladies and gentlemen of our great site, I come to you with a revelation.

Lately, things around here seem to be bleak, dismal. Something has changed at our beloved CAA, and for a time, I thought long and hard about what that could possibly be. Today, deep in thought, I have discovered what this change is. It is a horrible, terrible thing, and it goes by the name...

Serious business.

Yes, serious business seems to be a parasitic plague. But you may ask, what IS serious business? My friends, serious business is a problem wherein a fun, light-hearted subject is turned into something far more dark and sinister. It is taken to be something OTHER than fun and light-hearted, into a matter of life and death.

What can be done to combat this scourge? What can YOU do to avoid serious business? Well, it is simple. The next time you see a thread on CAA and want to respond to it, think about the three R's!

1. REREAD - Read the thread again. Is the person being silly, or serious? Sarcasm is hard to detect in text sometimes, so read it a second time to see if the person isn't being totally serious!

2. ROLF - Channel the spirit of the wise and sagely Rolf, king of the Goof Off. What would Rolf do in the situation? How would he be amusing and funny? What witty quip would he unleash, or what hilarious image macro would he link?

3. ROFL - Once you have increased the hilarity, sit back and chuckle at the results. Perhaps someone will play off of you and make your amusing contribution even funnier!

In this thread, we can see how people who have taken the three R's to heart helped a serious business thread become something of mirth and cheerfulness. Thanks, guys!

But remember! Serious business only affects certain threads. For example, a person posting a thread about their suicidal friend should not be made light of. Here is a handy chart for you!

When Can I Use the Three R's?

Any political/theological thread - Yes

Thread about Tianenmen Square - No

All threads in the Prayer Forum - No

90% of threads Savannah posts - Yes

Any thread in Goof Off - Yes

Hopefully this should give you an idea of when to use the Three R's, and with your help, serious business can be purged from CAA for good! Thank you for your time!
------------------------------

Okay. On a serious note, I really think this is a big problem with CAA. Guys, not everything has to be taken completely seriously. There are some things, yeah. I'd like to think our members are smart enough to realize when to be silly, and when to be serious, but some threads lately, apparently this isn't the case.

Look, they've done studies. A study in the Journal Of The American College Of Cardiology says that anger and other strong emotions can trigger unhealthy irregular heart rhythms. In other words, ALWAYS BEING SERIOUS CAN LITERALLY KILL YOU.

I hate to bring up a locked thread, but think about it, is something as insignificant as what a room on a space station might be named worth endangering your life over? Is it really? But that's not even the worst part. Lately CAA has seemed to have a problem keeping new members. Why is this? Well, think about it.

When we claim to be a friendly, loving Christian community, and a new member comes in and sees people arguing, literally flaming each other, over something as trivial as a room being named "The Colbert Room," what does that say about me? What does that say about you? What does it say about THIS SITE? Arguing about things like, Biblical history, and theology, that's one thing. We're all different denominations, and we all believe a little different. Scrapes like that are bound to happen. But how does it reflect on CAA when we say we're a welcoming site and then we bicker pointlessly over something like that thread? Are people going to want to stay on a site like that? Are people going to believe we're that friendly when they see this?

There are times to be serious. There are times when we'll disagree. We don't have to be insulting or take it so seriously when someone holds a different opinion. Let's look at the word of God:

[quote="2 Timothy 2:23-24"]23 Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord's servant must not quarrel]

"Would Jesus get mad about this?" We're called to be more Christlike, and while we're only human and some things will annoy us and make us angry that He would be patient about (traffic jams, errrgh!), I think we can look at a lot of things and think, "Would He get serious about this? Would this be worthy of Him getting worked up over?" and most of the time the answer will honestly be no. It's probably best to keep this in mind.

Guys, CAA is a place to gather and have fun. There are times when we should be serious, when a friend is hurting, when something terrible has happened (like when Katrina hit), but for the most part, we're here to fellowship and have a good time! And when we're arguing about seriously petty things, that's not fun for anyone. It's not fun to read, it's not fun to write, and it's certainly not fun for the mods to lock. Wouldn't it be better to come on to CAA and say, "I wonder what fun threads there are today!" rather than "I wonder what everyone is arguing about today?"

This thread might get locked, deleted, whatever, because of specifically referencing "that" thread, but I still felt it needed to be said. Whether you listen to me or not, is up to you.

Thank you and God bless.

[Fish and Chips]

And knowing is half the battle.

[ChristianKitsune]

Great thread... xD I'm sure I've been guilty of the Serious Business...

I think sometimes people (like myself) just type whatever they feel like at the moment, and not think of the consequences...

I will take care to not do this in the future...


You're right! CAA is a great place to have fun and be happy...not be annoyed and angry...
I needed this reminder, thanks a bunch, Nate!

This thread is made of Win and Awesome, to create Winsome!

[ShiroiHikari]

I've nothing witty to say, but I did want to give this thread my stamp of approval. Nate speaks trufax.

[Mister Frodo]

Wow... that was an awesome post. I haven't been on CAA much lately, so I can't really comment on the state of things, but I pretty much agree with you one hundred percent. I joined CAA and stayed around because it's awesome; I'd hate to see it stop being awesome and become just another internet forum.

Though, come to think of it... wouldn't laughing too hard also endanger your health? So, either way, you're possibly hurting yourself, right? Well, even if that's the case, I'd rather pick the awesome way rather than the alternative.

[Zarn Ishtare]

I have felt the same for quite some time, which is why I have stayed away from General and much of Goof-Off. I remember the community as a different breed of animal than it is now...not really comfortable with most of the changes. I actually disagree with you on some points; Image macro's/wierd/random internet things aren't what I (used to come here for). But the end result is the same; something here has changed.

I think it's an issue of the community. Things have not improved for the better; I feel as though we've lost what made CAA unique and special. Perhaps I am wrong, and most people are satisfied with CAA the way it is. I don't know, but I don't love it like I loved the older days, when the only "Church" and "Body Of Christ" available to me was through here.



This isn't attacking anyone, or going after mods, or anything of that sort. But I've been quiet for a long time now, and I decided to say something about it. Oh well.

Que Sara Sara

[ChristianKitsune]

Though, come to think of it... wouldn't laughing too hard also endanger your health? So, either way, you're possibly hurting yourself, right? Well, even if that's the case, I'd rather pick the awesome way rather than the alternative.

But at least you die happy! 8D

[Roy Mustang]

Alf agrees with this thread!


[color="Red"][font="Book Antiqua"]Col. Roy Mustang[/font][/color]

[chibiphonebooth]

90% of threads Savannah posts - Yes

ahahahahahahahahahahahahah XD


but in all seriousness, i totally agree with you, nate. srs bsns has taken over caa and this community really should be about loving eachother, not flaming eachother because you had bacon for breakfast or not.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

[quote="Zarn Ishtare (post: 1301224)"]I have felt the same for quite some time, which is why I have stayed away from General and much of Goof-Off. I remember the community as a different breed of animal than it is now...not really comfortable with most of the changes. I actually disagree with you on some points]
Perhaps the core group simply has been growing, and thus has adopted different viewpoints on stuff.

[Zarn Ishtare]

Perhaps the core group simply has been growing, and thus has adopted different viewpoints on stuff.

Perhaps.

[Kaligraphic]

Nate's right. Remember the story of the SRS that I told you guys about here. It caused great destruction once, and it was only by great struggle that it was overcome. Do not let it take hold in your heart.

Or else the terrorists have won.

[Stephen]

I support Nates post.

[Ratrace]

Perhaps the core group simply has been growing, and thus has adopted different viewpoints on stuff.

I would say changed rather than grown. There are quite a few people I couldn't go two days without seeing, even if I only ever lurked in their preferred forums, who apparently haven't posted in months.

[Sakaki Onsei]

I come here with hat in hand.

Being as I am the person who is probably wholly responsible for this conversation actually happening, it is the right thing to do to start off with an apology for those who had to deal with my ranting and generally unfavorable attitude. My conduct was, to say the extreme least, reprehensible. And I was in the wrong to be as flippant as I was with the type of language I used.

Nate's post is a good start to things. I also believe there is wholly room for Zarn's statements about the ever-changing group dynamic as well. Whether these can go together, it is up to all of us. Which is one of the reasons why I plan to take a breather from here for a few weeks.

The thing to remember is that fun and happiness are great, but without the ministry aspect and a healthy dose of respect, the board is just another chat board like every other. CAA is special, different, and serves a special purpose that lends itself more responsibilty than normal chat boards. I know in my examination of my behavior, I have not been following that purpose at all in the last few weeks. I have hurt the ministry, in a way.

In short, Nate and Zarn are both correct in their statements. And I intend to start taking a bit of their statements to heart in the upcoming weeks, upon my return to the boards from my needed exile.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

And knowing is half the battle.

And the other half is violence!


GI Joooooooooooe!

[LadyRushia]

Good posts; good thread. In the words of Abraham Lincoln "Calm down, just calm down."

[GeneD]

I’ve only been here a little over a year and have noticed the change at CAA even in that short time. (<-- That sentence looks weird, but hopefully you get what I mean.) So in my experience the change has been a fairly recent one. Apart from the serious business there’s another point I’d like to mention and thought this was an okay place to do it. (Note: I don’t want to single out anyone so evaluate for yourself whether this applies to you or not)

There seems to be a bit of a divide between older and newer/older and younger members here. I don’t know if anyone else sees the same thing, I am usually not here at the time most others are (African time zone) so I can’t really comment on the dynamic in the chat when most people are on, but I think it’s prevalent in the forums as well.

Now obviously people of a similar age will “hang out” together, if I can say it like that, and people who have been on CAA longer know each other better. It’s also not possible to get to know everyone at the same level as the forum grows and naturally you just get along with some people better than others.

Steve said the following in this thread, which is basically what I am trying to get at:

“But one common theme I have picked up on from members is that people feel that the core member base is very unforgiving and even overly aggressive towards new members and old members alike.”

From personal experience, I think I can put it like this; I have been here for over a year and yes, I know I’m not online extensively (at least once a week) and I’m usually on at the quieter times, but sometimes I still feel like an outsider. Sometimes I get along better with newer members because they are friendlier and more ready to chat/interact. It’s not that any members have been “unforgiving and even overly aggressive” to me, sometimes it just feels like when I try to be friendly and get to know someone, I’m met with an unseen resistance that is almost as if I am disregarded and ignored.

Of course some of the members know each other outside of the internet or even just outside of CAA, which makes a big difference between how they interact with each other and with other members, but then it may be possible for said members to make an effort to draw in newer members while at CAA.

I know I have been very guilty of forming a tight group of friends and excluding anyone who doesn’t like the things I like/understand my slang/get my inside jokes. From a real life experience, the cell/life group of the church I go to consists basically of my 3 best friends from school + 1 boyfriend accepted into the circle + our leaders and even though we have had new members numerous times over the last year or so, we have not been able to keep a single one. I’m actually ashamed as I type this because I know the number 1 reason why this is so is because my friends and I have shut those people out of our lives/conversations/jokes and not made the effort to get to know them better.

I can imagine how awful it must be to sit in the same room as my friends and I and listen to us going on and laughing about anime/school/TV/other totally random things and not actually having a clue what we are talking about. It was not often that we invited those people to share of their own lives, even if it may not have been as entertaining as mimicking a funny youTube video.

That is the experience that I, myself (and possibly some of the other members) have had here on CAA sometimes.

This kind of thing obviously works both ways and you can’t expect everyone to be your best friend from the get go, but I think it is worth thinking about and is a part or maybe a result of the "cancer" Nate mentioned.

I’m not sure if I have expressed myself clearly, but this is a long enough post so hopefully I got the idea across. I’d like to hear what you think and if anyone feels like I’m attacking them, you can PM me if you want.

Also; there are a heck of a lot of "I"'s in this post, but at least you can see that this is my opinion. XD

[ilikegir33]

Yep, I've definitely noticed, and I am guilty of this "serious business" thing Nate's talking about. I support your post, because it's epic win.

[Whitefang]

Serious business is my Modus Operandi. I'm diseased!

*ahem* That said...

Ok, maybe this isn't my place, but here's how I see it.

Nate, you and I had a fun argument. I don't see anything wrong with seriously debating a topic as ridiculous as the name of a room in a space station. What I do have a problem with, however, is certain users (there are many guilty parties, so I am not excluding anyone) seemingly using every opportunity to disparage certain other users. It seems like there are certain rivalries going on here, and at the drop of a hat people will use a post to, whether directly or indirectly, poke fun at or ridicule a person (or more specifically their alter ego here on CAA, but perhaps people forget that there is a person behind that moniker). I think that could be the root of the problem.

[Jingo Jaden]

The elected despot of the goof off does not approve of the 3 R's, but sees the point and thus approves the overall meaning of the thread.

The goof off election got a bit out of hand at both sides, and it is probably the primary example of a power struggle on CAA. Personally I think it is nice for a non-modded member to get the chance to gain a position of influense at CAA by going through with it. The goof off is an ever expanding morph of chaos, but turning it personal is a bad way of conducting buisness. Now, I am not pointing myself out as innocent regarding this. However when one of the newer members posts a thread claiming himself to be the king of the goof off, which has occured before and will occur again it seems as if some members have a hard time restraining themselves, since a few comments made personal hurt a bit more in first person than they do looking at them in third person. Then again I will be hosting the next election in a few months time, so hopefully by then the core point of this thread will be held more at heart with all of us. In a way we all rule the goof off, but we all carry the responsibility to not let matters get out of hand.

We should let this picture be a monument to the goof off.

[EricTheFred]

WWRD?

I'm adopting that as a secondary motto, I think. Might even put it into my sig, if Nate gives me permission.

I might suggest that if a silly topic has invoked a serious conversation, that moving it to a new thread outside goof-off might be called for. After all, we have a place for the serious in CAA too, and I have seen many times when it is an important service of this fine site.

There are some things are definitely not CAA-worthy, because of its cross-denominational and cross-political nature. To maintain the peace, we save certain discussions for other sites and maintain the peace in our little online congregation. Because, after all, that is what this place is. A sort of church in cyberspace, that grants sanctuary and solace to all our brethren.

But pain, discomfort, concern... these things should always be welcome here. They should simply move out of Goof-off when the goofing off is over.

[Fantasy Dreamer]

Nice post, Nate. Its true. I think there have been a few times here recently (and definitely in the past) that I've been way to serious. Oh well... here's to being more light-hearted when appropriate!

[Radical Dreamer]

I am extraordinarily tempted to sticky this thread. In fact, I think I will. I couldn't have said it better myself, Nate, and I agree with your post 110%. I really do love this website; it's been my internet home for nearly four years now, and I hate to see the division and bickering and ridicule that so often takes place (even if I may have participated in it myself). I think we definitely all need to start taking a step back and thinking before we respond to someone, not just on CAA, but in every aspect of our lives. Whitefang has it right when he says that we often forget that we're not talking to a name in our computer, but a person, and that can often keep us from feeling remorse when we say something we most likely shouldn't, or if we say that in a way that is ungodly or unkind.

I think this is a fantastic thing to remember on CAA, and I think we all need to practice acting this way; otherwise, what sets us apart as Christians? We are supposed to be mirroring Christ, and though we're human and we definitely make mistakes, I think we need to start making every effort to act more like Him every day. I know this is something I need to work on in my own life, and I hope it becomes a new attitude behind CAA as well. Anyways, thanks for posting this, Nate!

[Robin Firedrake]

Oooh... I got rofl'd. I've been very guilty about this srs bsns stuff...

[Kkun]

Thanks for posting this, Nate. I think it's needed to be said for a while that people need to, well, relax. Some things just aren't worth letting them ruffle your feathers.

I also want to emphatically agree with a point GeneD made about the divide between older/younger, older/newer members and say that while I have been guilty of this, I think it's a good time to take a step in the right direction. I know I've been hard on new people for making new people mistakes (to quote Steve's thread from not too long ago) on occasion and I know I'm not alone in that. We used to be better at welcoming new people, but I think our core group just got kind of insulated (or we developed multiple core groups or something?). Anyway, I'm going to be thinking about this over the next few weeks and what I can do to change my behavior in that regard (this does not mean going all SERIOUS BUSINESS).

Anyway, thanks for posting that Nate. Thanks to everyone else for the gracious responses to Nate. I think this needed to be said.

[minakichan]

Nate, I think I love yo--

I mean I think this is awesome.

[Peanut]

Thanks for posting this, Nate. I think it's needed to be said for a while that people need to, well, relax. Some things just aren't worth letting them ruffle your feathers.

I also want to emphatically agree with a point GeneD made about the divide between older/younger, older/newer members and say that while I have been guilty of this, I think it's a good time to take a step in the right direction. I know I've been hard on new people for making new people mistakes (to quote Steve's thread from not too long ago) on occasion and I know I'm not alone in that. We used to be better at welcoming new people, but I think our core group just got kind of insulated (or we developed multiple core groups or something?). Anyway, I'm going to be thinking about this over the next few weeks and what I can do to change my behavior in that regard (this does not mean going all SERIOUS BUSINESS).

Anyway, thanks for posting that Nate. Thanks to everyone else for the gracious responses to Nate. I think this needed to be said.

Quoted because this sums up just about everything I was going to say...

I think Zarn also has a valid point to be considered as well...I think occasionally, the posting of hilarious images goes a little to far and can be either misinterpreted as something more then just harmless fun or end up looking like an incredibly immature attempt to be funny. I'm not saying that we should stop posting funny images/comments, I am saying that we should think before we post.

Finally, going off of what Whitefang said regarding personal rivalries, I've noticed this as well and to be quite honest it really, really bugs me. Obviously in any community conflict is going to happen and not everybody is going to be best friends. However I see little reason for the rivalries/hatred between members/general meaness that has arisen from time to time, especially when I read verses like Luke 10:27 and John 15:9-17. This is going to sound incredibly cliche...but can't we all just get along? I mean, I think it's a little hipocritical of us to claim to be Christians and hate our own. Might I suggest that while we are on the topic of trying to change and improve our community that if any of us have an unresolved conflict/hatred towards/problem with another member on this site that we will take this time to extend an olive branch and try to make things right...just a thought...

[LadyRushia]

I second Corrie's and Jamie's posts. Ever since I first joined I noticed that there was a difference between the core group and everyone else. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, nor am I saying that the core group is exclusive because I really don't think it is. I think what happens, though, is that in the chat the core group already knows each other, so in-jokes run wild and new members often become intimidated or start to think poorly of the site. I've seen this plenty of times, and while I don't think it's fair to say "Hey, don't have your lulz when there's a new person in the chat" I think there must be some way to make them feel more welcome. I remember when I first started going in the chat I hardly had any idea what was going on between members, but I kept going in the chat anyway. I dunno, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I see a lot of new members who don't really try to be a part of the community (as in they join, make an intro thread, post a few times, maybe go in the chat, and then they don't come back). There are other ones who make newbie mistakes and, as Jamie said, they get hounded. Still, there are other members, old and new, who bring a lot of serious and irritate other members, which leads to arguments.

Basically, I think there's a two-way problem involving some members' actions and other members' reactions.

[PrincessZelda]

I completely agree with this thread.