I'm leaving CP

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by troutman

There is growing concern that social media is bad for our mental health.

This kind of old school bulletin board form of social media isn't the algorithm driven flex fest that is the worst of it though.

[Harry Lime]

There are a few threads on here that are dominated by a couple of posters that are pretty hard to stomach. Especially if you don't have time to engage in a really in depth and long conversation, it leaves the possibility of simply getting eviscerated by someone, and that's not fun. Sort of like trying to play an online game and getting owned by some 13 year old.

Someone brought up the 'bubble effect' on social media, and to be honest the worst threads are the ones where posters are trying really hard to create a bubble here. The free-for-alls are way more interesting.

I still come to CP for certain topics, such a few fantastic posters in the Ukraine thread.

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

We have all gotten old. We may be what has changed, not CP.

[DoubleK]

@zamler Take a break and then come back. I enjoy your banter and your humour.

[Jbo]

CP is great for Flames news, PGT, and most of the non game related threads.

Game threads are, and will likely be forever, the most toxic place you can hang out. People spend 3 hours with hot takes about every single thing that happens. Why any fan would want to do it is beyond me.

I've met so many awesome people through this place it will always be my Flames home.

[NuclearFart]

This place is better not knowing any of you personally. So much easier to just step over the filth in the gutter and keep on tooting without a care.

[Barnet Flame]

Troutman has hit the nail on the head - social media can be bad for our health. When that happens, you need to step back. That isn’t easy to do sometimes.

For me, this forum is a godsend. It’s kept me in touch with Calgary and the team I’ve loved since I was a kid in 1980. I would’ve killed for something like this when we had to move for family reasons to the North of Ireland in 1984 - a really dark time for me. It would’ve made a serious upheaval for me easier.

Anyway, Zamler - I’ve loved your posts - you’ve added a lot to this forum and I hope you will again.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by zamler

This place is not fun anymore at least for me a small minority who are so sure of themselves ruin the entire experience. Maybe I'll be back after the Flames win the Cup maybe not but for now I'm out.

Peace to all the great people here.

I'm a fan of your contributions zamler so that sucks.

I kind of get where you're coming from though. There are some posters that are so arrogant and condescending when they don't agree with someone's viewpoint.

I didn't bother looking for WoS content last win because my enthusiasm was pretty well drained because of people using unrelated debates to throw shade at me because I made it. We'll see if that changes but I dunno.

There are a number of people that can't take a joke. A group of posters think they're above others, or that their viewpoint counts for more than someone else's, and a number of posters make harmless debates border on personal and it sucks the fun right out of this place sometimes. And whats worse is some egos here are so inflated that after they've been a dick they won't acknowledge that or show any remorse for acting that way, and just rinse and repeat.

This run should be fun. And it is. But CP isn't working in favor of that lately. CP should be making this more fun, not less!

Now PGTs turn into slugfests over something someone took personally, or arguments over small petty things or semantics, instead of a celebration and reason to come together.

I hope we can get better going forward. I'd like to see this be a fun place for humour even if it doesn't resonate with every one and not have half the board trying to police what every one else does on here.

I don't know how that can be fixed other than every body taking a step back and chilling out a little.

Hope to see you and Yanet back before the end of our run! Hopefully that's after we lift the cup!

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by troutman

There is growing concern that social media is bad for our mental health.

The people who design our platforms come right out and acknowledge it. They reward certain behaviour (outrage, dogpiling, snark).

Civility on a forum like this depends on the users policing ourselves not to give in to our worst instincts. But even a small cadre of people who routinely indulge in those behaviours will eventually drive the rest of participants away. I know I’m not the only long-time member who finds CP much more rancorous than it used to be.

[handgroen]

I thanked the OP for the wrong reasons. Boy I sure hope the doors open at CP tomorrow morning.

[indes]

Yup, just like all social media once you take it too seriously it will have negative impacts. Not sure it's CP, or people just have a hard time brushing off different views these days.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by troutman

There is growing concern that social media is bad for our mental health.

It's so new that we haven't even been able to quantify the kind of negative effect it is having on people yet, and how that translates to things like physiological health and social/work functioning.

What I've ascertained from CP/forums/comment sections is that people can be ruthless when they are provided a veil of anonymity to work behind. Without that accountability, people can be cutthroat in the way they interact with others. Is that their true nature coming out, or is it them giving their emotions full reigns to take over because they won't be held responsible for whatever they say?

In any case, its disturbing in some cases just how low people can stoop.

[PepsiFree]

When it comes to bringing the vibe down on CP, I think we can all agree that it’s definitely those other posters (you know, those certain ones).

Not us though. It definitely is not us.

[CroFlames]

Well I hope I didn't say anything to put you off zamler. You were a great poster, it would be great if you came back one day.

Would it be too much to ask for a clearer explanation of what led you to this decision?

[Sr. Mints]

It's possible you're just outgrowing the place. That's happened to me many times on many different communities.

I've been toiling away on usenet, IRC, BBS', message boards, and the garbage its evolved into: Twitter, FB, etc. since I was like 12. Conversing online certainly has changed for the worse, especially in the past few years. There've been lots of of month-long to year-long breaks on my time on the Net, and I try not to take anything too seriously or personally. But I mean my interests change, I change, and the people around me probably change. That's just life.

I can't say I've noticed much of a change around here, but to be honest I tend to stuck around the same threads.

[Cowboy89]

I think it's the bubble effect. Bring up an 'Off Topic Forum' style thread in the FOI because it has some connection with the NHL and you get a completely different kind of thread with a more free for all style than the Off Topic Threads because the audience there is more of a true cross section of Flames fans. I think the algos on other social platforms serve huge confirmation bias, not so much that some posters would have different views if not manipulated by it's effect, but they wouldn't feel so damn sure of themselves that they feel so correct as to be condescending to people simply because they have different views. It's such that when confronted with a critical viewpoint their tone takes on the position that someone posting something opposing their views must be mentally, morally, or otherwise deficient to believe such 'nonsense' despite such 'nonsense' being way more widespread then they would think because the algos shield them from it.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Cowboy89

I think it's the bubble effect. Bring up an 'Off Topic Forum' style thread in the FOI because it has some connection with the NHL and you get a completely different kind of thread with a more free for all style than the Off Topic Threads because the audience there is more of a true cross section of Flames fans. I think the algos on other social platforms serve huge confirmation bias, not so much that some posters would have different views if not manipulated by it's effect, but they wouldn't feel so damn sure of themselves that they feel so correct as to be condescending to people simply because they have different views. It's such that when confronted with a critical viewpoint their tone takes on the position that someone posting something opposing their views must be mentally, morally, or otherwise deficient to believe such 'nonsense' despite such 'nonsense' being way more widespread then they would think because the algos shield them from it.

Yeah, there are fewer and fewer places online where we interact with people who have different stances on contentious issues. As a forum built around something with a broad audience like hockey, this might be the only place a lot of posters encounter people with opposing views. So the knives come out.

Eventually almost all online forums become echo chambers. There’s no reason to expect CP will be different.

[Azure]

Is it the bubble effect? Not sure I agree. Politically we've always had people on both sides, and there have always been threads that resulted in personal attacks, bans and subsequent apologies. Some bans were longer than others, some were permanent, some posters were just warned.

I'm not sure what it is, but I notice it as well. The Flames side of the forum is extremely toxic for starters. I used to enjoy the Flames content a lot more, and even despite the success of the team this year, I'm not sure how anyone here can stand the game threads, or even PGT if they lose.

Outside of that I think CP has gone the way most of the world has gone. Condescending, snarky and extremely arrogant towards people who hold other views. The COVID threads made it 100x worse. It is either my way or the highway with zero room for any movement. Absolutely an echo chamber.

Zamler had areas he was interested in, and in many of the threads he posted in I absolutely noticed the condescending attitude. Especially on the EV side. People simply can't comprehend that someone who look at things different and tend to respond with a #### attitude.

[Jiri Hrdina]

What’s the EV side?

[greyshep]

Unfortunate. I think a lot of older posters have stepped back over the years.

I will definitely miss zamler's gif prowess. The salt mine with the oiler salt shaker on the conveyer belt is one of my all time favorites. Hope you are well. Enjoy the rest of the playoffs.