It is nice that chatters want to wish each other a happy birthday, it really is. However, it has a negative side effect.
Since birthdays are such a common thing, posts of well wishes are as well. Because of this, the actual 'discussions' (which I think this forum was created for) get pushed off the page an deep into the backgound. Would it be a beter idea to have a subtopic just for chatter birthdays?
One of my Worthychat blogs was posted on another Chistian forum (non-Worthy) I discovered it there and signed up so I could make a comment on the comments on my blog. The comments there were about some specifics, but missed my point altogether, so I wanted to point that out. I did, then soon forgot
about that 'other forum' That is until I started recieving messages through their messaging system wishing me a happy birthday. For several days they kept rolling in. I thought it was very nice that people who did notknow me took the time to send me well wishes.
Perhaps that is even a better way that creating threads for birthdays. There is nothing wrong with that, but I am thinking that the way we do it here, ends up
being a referendum on popularity, or at least it could be construed that way.
You know that some chatters are sensitive. How will they feel if chatter A gets ten birthday wishes posts, while sensitive chatter B gets none? If it were done through messaging, no one knows who got how many - just a thought. My first reaction to my own suggestion in this paragraph, is that many people will never know about birthdays unless the see them posted here. That could be, perhaps the people at that other forum, are just more considerate and take the time
to look at who's birthday it is, I do not know. I know that I wish people a happy birthday in the chatroom, and here, if I happen to notice them, but i have not wished people a happy birthday that I have not met, like that other forum did to me - might be a nice habit for some to cultivate, I just never thought of it.
My main question is:
Should we have a separate birthday sub-topic?
Similar question would be:
Should we have a separate subtopic for personal discusions and questions? By that I mean: "Has anyone seen Chatter A?", "Guess what, I am pregnant!', "Please pray for me, I have an operation tomorrow!", "I will be missing for about three weeks, so don't worry about me." That sort of
things, things about specific chatters, while leaving another topic just for discussions of substance, world events, theology, the Christian life or expansions of discussion from the live chat etc.
Just thoughts.
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OK Just so I do not have to explain later, here is how the Topic Description relates to the topic itself:
I am a guy, a mechanically minded guy, a guy that fixes things. Sometimes I fix things that are not broken, I call that improvement. This forum is not broken, I think it can be improved. As I see it now, this forum is trying to be an all in one tool, but there is no such thing. I like to have a wrench for each size nut I turn, adjustable wrenches are fine, even pliers can do the job, but not as well as a specialized tool can. If you are the type of person who might try to drive a nail with a screwdriver, there is no need for you to comment, because I know you exist and know you see nothin wrong with this forum, just as it is. It certainly does not need to change for my sake, I hardly ever visit here, and I can scroll past the pages of outdated birthday wishes if I have to. Just offering a suggestion that someone might think is good and pursue it, that is all. Happy hammering!
OK #2 If you don't buy my explanation above about the Topic Discription, how about this explanation:
I put it there so you would go "Huh?" and then see what I was blabbering about now.
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