A Plea to Preserve an Important Resource

General Discussion
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Over the years Survive France has been invaluable for me in providing useful information, being a place to gossip, a place to laugh and a place to mourn.

I never take this place for granted. There are people on here whom I really appreciate, I enjoy their company, I learn a bit about their lives and I admire what they have coped with, what they know and their willingness to share with others. I am sad when familiar names disappear. And that is what I have seen recently and I think I know why.

Without doubt, for some of you this place is less important but I beg you please, for the rest of us, to treat it with respect and behave accordingly. I have mentioned elsewhere that a very useful thread has been ā€œpollutedā€ with what I see as aggression and anger. Elsewhere I have seen what I believe is growing intolerance and creeping racism.

Those who have expressed such views may feel entitled to do so and believe that all they are doing is defending their position robustly. Of course, you are entitled to do so. However, I would ask, please, that you contribute such views in an appropriate place (such as the politics section) or start a new thread with an appropriate title.

This forum has the lightest of touches in terms of moderation. Without doubt that contributes to its success. The assumption is we will behave as adults and by and large we do, but sometimes threads turn into a snarling contest.

Obviously I do not know what those of you who get angry here have going on in your lives. This may be a good place for you to let off steam, confront and belittle - after all you do not know (or care) about those you involve. And you may not know what they, too, are going through.

If you recognise any of this and can understand what I am asking for, please, please, think twice about pressing that blue button in anger or aggression in response to someone else (however much they may irritate you, or however ā€œwrongā€ you think they are).

This forum is special and (usually) a pleasure to come to, letā€™s all keep it so, please.

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But you seem to have forgottenā€¦ā€¦

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(But I do fully agree - keep the discussion friendly at all times)

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Iā€™m considerng muting the second person I will have ever muted, on here. Trying avoidance as a way of not getting wound up by their smugness, condescension and unprovoked nastiness to other posters.

I consider it good going compared to other platforms, that in the years here Iā€™m only just beginning to contemplate the 2nd poster I might mute.

Long may SF stay as it is.

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Hopefully, we can keep on keeping on together :slightly_smiling_face:

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Who else is wondering if itā€™s them? :thinking:

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Well put, @SuePJ .

Iā€™d just add that none of us knows what the person who just made that remark is going through.

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I have a lot of sympathy for those points of view. Survive France ā€˜belongsā€™ to a wide variety of people who are members and itā€™s that variety that a lot of members like. Itā€™s never been and will never be a restrained and polite blog, there is opinion and disagreement between members and I have no issues with that as long as it stays within the bounds of the sites Ts&Cs. There are some members who do sometimes take it too far, some being downright offensive and that I do have a problem with. I myself was once censured for being rude when what I should have done is use argument to destroy what was to me a very offensive position. Very few of us are completely innocent (except perhaps for @Stella :grin:). Iā€™ve never blocked anyone on this site, but I may change my mind for one member.

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Erā€¦I dunno. Perhaps, anyone that hasnā€™t ā€œlikedā€ my post is wondering this.
:slight_smile:

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I have looked at this forum for some time and made the occasional contribution. It seems to me that, when the political upheaval took place across the pond, the tone of this forum started to change. It seems to me that there are people out there with time on their hands and with views on almost everything.

What would happen if there was a limit to the number of posts per day. I would have thought two a day are enough

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The place would die, fortunately we dont have to rely on input from those who only happen by occasionally.

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Start a thread about it, others may agree. Others wonā€™t. Personally I donā€™t think two limiting the number of posts per day would work. Some ā€˜specialistsā€™ like Kim and Badger might not contribute for weeks but then three or four different posts needing their attention might might all turn up at the same time.

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Now if you said 20 posts, that might be more reasonable, but sometimes you just want a conversation, and putting a post limit on it would be counter-productive. SF is a community, not a debating society or a help desk, though it can be those things too.

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I only joined the site in 2020 but I wonder if there was a similar change in tone after the Brexit referendum.

Although I imagine not many (any?) on here wouldā€™ve been Brexiters.

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ISTR there were a few :roll_eyes:

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And still are. :slight_smile:

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I still donā€™t understand the mentality of that but there you go.

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Different strokes for different folks (no sniggering in the back). It would be boring if we all thought alike. Some of my family voted for Brexit, but we never fell out at all about it. They did subsequently feel betrayed and regretted it.

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But Iā€™m guessing they werenā€™t living in, or interested in living in, France. Those are the ones I donā€™t understand.

Anyway, Iā€™m going to stop there as the subject will just get me annoyed and thatā€™s quite counter to the point of this thread.

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I agree. Another point. I have, so Iā€™m told, a strange sense of humour which is taken the wrong way by peeps who donā€™t share it. I must remember to include happy faces to show I am joking.

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No, but one of them does love France and has visited us a few times. They basically voted for what they were promised i.e. have your cake and eat it with no downsides.

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