Muppets on SE

[mac]

One can only wonder where such an outburst from Scotty C came from

I've been concerned of late about the "dilution" of Scottish Elises and what I percieved to be a subsequent down turn in driving standards.

There's been a bit of debate about this way from the forum as to whether I was talking through my @rse or if it was a valid concern. The answer, not unsuprisingly for me, was a bit of both

I've notice a change in SE since the adoption of this format, for one it's much more social - can't recall there being many if any CityBeers and for sure if any of these events did happen it was very much for the males only. This format of SE, to my mind, has opened up what we do to other better halfs and for that I think it's a much richer collection that we have.

However, with the drop in used car prices, the car becomes more accessable to a different demographic - but money isn't a measure of class, there are some fairly poor folk on here (myself included) who probably got themselves into more debt that is wise to buy the car (again I fall into that catagory) who are lotus through and through - if you shake them they too rattle, that's how Lotus they are.

So, what do we do if we get folk that perhaps ruffle a few feathers? The same thing as we've been doing all these years, as a group we educate and moderate - through gentle nudges, PM's or if required bringing it to the attention of the forum moderators. In the past folk have either aligned to the "likemindedness" or left - it's worked in the past, it should work in the future.

And should that fail - we can just lock them in a room with tut for 10mins


Mac

[j2 lot]

This and every other forum is like your local pub, people come and go and sometimes you have people around you don't like, if they don't fit in they will eventully move on and life goes back to normal, or maybe they stay, bring mates along and the atmosphere changes and everyone else moves on.

[mac]

So what classes a 'Muppet'.

Do your post illict an angry or disparing reaction on a regular basis?
Do you claim feats of driving talent whilst on public roads?

Are you interested in promoting SE in a positve way - by participating in threads and offering advice or comment in a range of issues
Does sitting in your car give you a sense of Pride?

If your a "no" to the first two and "yes" to either or both of the second two, then your not a muppet.

[Andy G]

yup - i think everyone should think about how they respond to female newbies as well.

chaps - there are different sites if you are looking for love

[Alex 111s]

See, this is the problem. I don't think anybody was referring to you guys, along with the vast majority of new members, as muppets. Of course, if you're new, you don't know quite what folks are going on about and if they are referring to you...

So, great - more gum flapping and it's putting off new members who have nothing to apologise for....

I was trying to provoke a response to what is classed Muppetry? comments like that won't deter me (or, I hope, the majority of Newbies) taking an active part in SE and certainly doesn't reflect how I feel aboout the site.

[mac]

yup - i think everyone should think about how they respond to female newbies as well.

Indeed - Mandy was quite upset when she read that particular comment - quite upset indeed.

Once her sobbing subsided she comment "he has never ask me"

[StiflerMR2]

Jeesh you should take a visit to vx220.org.uk if you want to see real muppetry in action. Is muppetry a word ? Who knows.

Seconded, i stopped posting on that forum as the muppetry was so high. I think SE works well, i often find that scanning the new posts lets you see any real relevant posts you might be after while filtering out any 'tales' of heroics on the road which may or may not be off interest to people.

[GregR]

Sheesh.. I make one daft comment after having some teeth out (and disobeying Dentist's and Doctor's orders on post-extraction alcohol intake)..

[Alex 111s]

So what classes a 'Muppet'.

Do your post illict an angry or disparing reaction on a regular basis?
Do you claim feats of driving talent whilst on public roads?

Are you interested in promoting SE in a positve way - by participating in threads and offering advice or comment in a range of issues
Does sitting in your car give you a sense of Pride?

If your a "no" to the first two and "yes" to either or both of the second two, then your not a muppet.

No
No
Yes (even were my tee-shirt in public)
Yes

Thank god for that

[s29ttc]

As a newbie I have been welcomed very well. The 2 events I have attended everyone was more than nice, the banter was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. With my car at present and my young age I could see why people could have easily jumped to the conclusion of silly wee boy racer who doesnt have a clue. Mabye some people have that opinion but through meeting people on both days I felt that I wasnt judged on stereotype, everyone seemed to take their time to introduce themselves and have a chat. Also lots of people where open to share their knowledge and more than willing to take me pax laps and drives which I think is much more than I could have asked or expected.

I can see where the older memebers are coming from but as has been said everything is forever changing. 10 Years ago modifying was a lot more popular with huge wide arched body kits being favourable and neon lights going everywhere. Today the big plastic bodykits are outdated and more subtle mods are being done such as smoothing everything off with a set of rims. The point I am making is that peoples tastes and interests will change through time and hence the whole car scene changes along with this.

With newbies joining its bringing new opinions, interests and questions so the forum is forever changing. This cannot be monitored or controlled by mods as its not really wrong for someone to post question they feel relevant or points/opinions they feel right. I feel it could be annoying as before there was mabye a more close knit community with similar views and opinions and now with the newer memebers growing the opinions, tastes, interests etc widen somewhat.

I agree there can be a few annoying folk and you will get this anywhere, on a forum, on a bus, at a concert, you will always come across someone who you feel you dislike or will annoy you, just part of life.

Simple way to deal with the problem is just don't read their posts, skip by their replies no one focuses you to read it. If you see a subject that is not of interest don't click and read on it. There are clearly marked sections on the forum where you can nagivate to your interest. You cannot possibly expect a forum to be run where every single post made will be of interest to you its just something you need to deal with.

Don't let it bother you to much end of the day its a forum on the internet, writing on a screen! Read whats of interest, ignore what is annoying, not of interest etc. Most people are here for the common interest of lotus cars but all have their different reasons for reading being part of it. Take what you can from it and enjoy it, just don't let niggly little things annoy you!

[Dominic]

Well said S29ttc.

I think there are two seperate issues emerging;

1. Forum behaviour

2. On road behaviour.

As others have said, regarding the forum, just stick to the sections, or threads that interest you. 'NLC' where relevant could do with some more use.

As to the on road conduct, I think it comes down to individuals to point out to others where their behaviour is not in line with the unwritten ethics of SE. IMHO

[whaleys]

See, this is the problem. I don't think anybody was referring to you guys, along with the vast majority of new members, as muppets. Of course, if you're new, you don't know quite what folks are going on about and if they are referring to you...

I was just kidding I didnt think it was targeted at newbies. Even if it was (but I know it wasnt) I'm thick skinned I can take it .

This is the second post now that I've seen that actually turns into an interesting debate (last one was about road runs) with a lot of people sharing opinions. Its not too much to do with Loti as such but does make for an interesting read. Also since I havent been on a run/track day/beerfest yet it lets you get to know people a bit better, because they start being honest.

Just my 2p

[Stevoraith]

If by muppets you mean people who thought they were logging on to elise-cruise.com then I agree there has been a general increase.

Since I haven't been here for a long time and have never owned an Elise I probably haven't noticed as big a change as the more established members but what I would do is echo Martins comments.
Despite having sold my pretend Lotus 6 months ago I still come here pretty much every day. The general level of clever/witty banter is far higher than any other site and it gives genuine laughs on a regular basis. There are great stories of epic drives in amazing cars and old hands giving advice on everything from track driving to which telly to buy.

There are plenty of disagreements but points of view are always backed up with reasoned arguments and when it becomes apparent that two parties will never agree, there is no huff taking or swearing. Instead the thread descends into amusing and harmless piss-taking. Most of the folk here are adults and act like it (most of the time).

To back up the "fit in or fcuk off" point, I can think of a couple of members off the top of my head who didn't "fit in" when they joined and were clearly thought of as 'muppets'. The constant gentle piss-taking seems to be working and they seem conform more to the general views of the forum these days. I've no doubt there are plenty of muppets who didn't hang around and I can't think of many muppets who frequent the place now.

By contrast I rarely visit VX220.org anymore, or the VW Golf forums which I frequented years ago. If you think this place has gone down hill you should visit one of those forums. You'd lose the will to live after drowning in "which sub?" and "I raced a..." threads.

As Shug says, the place will change. The owners demogrphic will shift and there's nothing we can do about that.

However, the only sure fire way to kill it off is if the people who made it good in the first place give up and leave.
Stick with it guys.

[BigD]

I think we just need a good ol SE beer session where we can bully the weak. http://s83.photobucket.com/albums/j309/ ... 007020.flv

That clip is hilarious Sanj, my dancing is fecking awful, but Ed's reaction speeds are shocking!

Dave

that is brilliant he's mangled made my day

I think we all were, just not as bad as Ed.

I had hoped that clip had been lost for eternity.

I have noticed the increase in muppets on here and other forums. Shug, your spot on, what's the point in spitting the dummy and stopping contributing. Surely we should be trying to mould the younger generation (god that makes me feel old) into SE's way of thinking, and yes puting up with their youthfull exuberance. We were all there once before we found the way of the force.

[dezzy]

I definitely think there's a change in the nature of some of the "General" posts on the forum, but I think the core is no different to when I first bought a Lotus almost 2 years ago. There's still loads of interesting, intelligent chat, advice on technical issues, track day organising, events, etc. I just use "View New Posts" and skip the stuff with a title that doesn't interest me. The rest is very useful, interesting and informative.

I've met some genuine friends through this forum, not just online personalities I'll never meet in the real world. I hope that continues and I meet lots of new people.

However, the thing I would say that has changed is that there are definitely not as many road runs as when I first joined. We've discussed this at length before, so I'll not go into too much detail, but I think there was a general perception that somehow driving standards on road runs had dropped. That is nonsense. I only know of one accident (my own) on a road run and IMHO this was not due to my driving standards!! People talk about driving standards, but I think it's mainly people posting up about their own personal activities on their own, and not the things that happen on road runs.

I hope that we get more road runs organised and get into the way SE was when I first joined. I remember going on countless runs in my first few months of joining and that's where I met all the good friends I've made through SE, so hopefully if we organise more then the newbies will get the chance to come and meet us all and enjoy the completely varied backgrounds and personalities on the forum. At any run or social event I've been to, I've yet to meet someone I would class as a muppet!

D