Is there any real point...

[whambam]

... to Chatterbank anymore or can AB-ED shut it down as another welcomed but failed attempt to give people a place to chat, and concentrate on bringing the Q&A theme of the site back to a decent quality.

All Chatterbank is doing is ruining the entire site and turning people away from using much of its Q&A offerings and go towards other sites such as Yahoo Answers.

There are far fewer responsible questions and fewer answers nowadays than there was 12 months ago and its been declining rapidly since the Chatterbank was re-born (or re-gurgitated more like).

I'm often asked for a good site to ask questions about techincal support etc, and in recent years i always referred to this one, recently tho it has become so embarrasing to mention going to a place where rampant cloning of usernames, constant disruption and aggresive behavior, mixed with inane ramblings that are far removed from anything in real life and instead appears written by someone that has spent the past 20 years smoking cannabis all day long, that i refuse to even mention being associated with the place!

The original version of Chatterbank, although not without problem, was a pretty good place to unwind or let off steam... but Mk2 of it is now very much rated as a Black Mark by everyone that visits it or ever used it. The fact only about 10 - 20 names regularly post on it shows how there is a huge lack of interest from most people.

Something needs to be done soon otherwise the entire business venture is in danger of going down the pan and we ALL lose out on what was and could again be a very good Q&A website.

And if anyone gets defensive over Chatterbank.... look back over the past few weeks of posts and you will see your only getting protective over an online cesspit where you believe you have friends, but really cant trust whether you are talking to who you think you are, and just making the rest of the

[whiskeysheri]

I can't add anything to what B00 has already said. :)

[4GS]

Getting rid of CB would only move all the crap to B+S. Before CB was re-instated good, relevant questions on Body + soulwere pushed down by the inane, nasty posts you see on CB now

[jonnoman]

I totally understand what your saying, but at the end of the day peple want to chat and they will probably use 'Suggestions as the new 'CB'

[whiskygalore]

I rediscovered this site a couple of weeks ago (used to post quite a lot between 2003/5).
I stopped posting in late '05, partly because a lot of the questions posed were repetitive and the amount of facetious answers received if you posted a question, was starting to increase. I put this down to the website starting to attract a different demographic to the one using it when I first started posting.
Looking through the site now, the above issues are still prevalent. Moderators were more active a few years ago and although the presence of moderators cannot control users' behaviour, they can react to it, and increased vigilance would mean unacceptable behaviour would be slammed down quicker and perhaps trolls would move on to a website where it is easier to operate.

[VINNY100_2]

(((*_*)))the point (:O)

[LoftyLottie]

"a small minority and their sychophants..............."

You have hit the nail on the head BOO!

[Octavius]

As I see it �chatterbank� is for chatting and we all like to talk nonsense every now and again. Some people surround it with trivial football facts which, is the most extreme of course. Anyway I digress.

In amongst the chat there is often something meritorious about some of the questions posed or the ensuing debate. Of course there is your fair share of numptiness but in general I think most people there are just looking for some base opinions on a light-hearted framework of inter-chat and friendly banter. The billy-no-mates that apply the tools of their talents in vast quantities are an added attraction for those who wish to experience superiority and point fingers at �the poor wee mite who has no friends�.

It may well be that the base sense of Chatterbank could be considered low-brow, but that would detract from the many enlightened and genuine users who frequent this area of the site. I would proffer that many of them may fee bewildered and intimidated by other areas of the site where they feel there is a pretentious �ownership�, or �controlling� by the dogmatic intelligentsia that would take their innocent yet valuable question, chew it up and spit it out, then send them packing with their tail between their legs. Unfair I agree, and rather presumptuous of those who continue to dominate topics as though they are defending their castle.

In essence, if you don�t like a part of the site, find a part that you do like or fight for your own corner. It�s a dog eat dog world out there. Ruff.

[sir.prize]

The last time the 'Ed' took the time to write a blog was 5 March. Shows there is a definite lack of interest on their part. But whambam is 100% correct in the comments. A sad day when some insecure twonk has to call themselves EDITORS GIMP and then make non constructive and incredulous postings; is that attention seeking? RIP Chatterbank.

[O'Reilly]

I think the Ed has long since given up and AB is left to run riot. I think whambam's comments are very valid BUT with all due respects why want the topic closed just because it does not float your pwn personal boat? There are about 5 topics here that don't float my boat so I simply don't read any of them. Chatterbank is a bit of a clique/free for all and it does not float my boat and so I don't go there - so why try and get it closed for those who do go there and enjoy it and post/answer questions?

If the topic is of no interest to me then I am hardly going to go there regularly and post facts and figures to try and argue my point of view. There are so many topics that are of interest that I read so why try and stop a few topics just because I don't personally like them?

However, I do see that on many topics a few seemingly have taken over as wannabee editors/moderators and without the actual Editor bothering to edit then AB is on borrowed time.

[whambam]

The reason i brought it up and why ignoring that section of the site can be related to Chernobyl.
Chatterbank is a nuclear reactor going into meltdown and eventually its going to blow and the radioactive toxicity is going to spread across the whole site.

To ignore it isnt going to make the rest of AB safe for the future, as you have pointed out, if the lunatics are now running the show on CB... how much longer before they rub their braincells together and realise they could have a bigger playing field to go and play in on the rest of the site.

Chatterbank in theory is great, and there are a lot of great people on this site, but because of a small section of people, and a serious lack of moderating it is becoming the start of a much bigger issue. As I said already, if i ignored Chatterbank fair enough, but what has ignoring it done for stopping the idiots posting on Suggestions? And what has stopped them from having other members banned that used the Puzzles section only... eventually what is to stop them posting in Body & Soul for devilment and mischief, and when the moderating again doesnt appear, what boundaries will stop further problems in other catergories.

I am not suggesting censoring people, that goes on far too much as it is, but as with any free society, there have to be rules and there has to be boundaries to all actions and the internet is no different. This website has already lost its place as a family site, it is rapidly losing its place as a SAFE one too! If Chatterbank is to be kept then AB-ED is going to have to come forward and put into place some proper safeguards and strong moderation to protect the users of the site and the site itself from what is just a very small minority who are abandoning the AB principle and instead treating it like an ASBO Youth treats his street when he is bored and angry!!

Stay safe peeps xx

[LoftyLottie]

Ultimately, the fault is with the site and it's administrators. Obviously, they do not care anymore. Perhaps the rest of us should just abandon AB totally for an agreed time, sit back and see what happens! The idiotic few will certainly get bored and go away and the advertisers will not support AB anymore.