Only verified members can view the lounge category.
sigh
I wish.
2 Likes
Iād say no, itās not too cliquey at all.
Frankly, like āreal lifeā, people can choose to chat and get involved in the banter, or they can choose to observe and (hopefully) enjoy that too.
Yes I definitely see some more familiar chat amongst the regulars here, and it seems like thereās some well formed friendships, but I donāt see how thatās cliquey. To be cliquey would be to make others feel unwelcomeā¦ But Iāve never seen someone trying to get involved and being shunned in any way.
Whether or not thereās a particular age range or demographic, thatās not really something that bothers me, itās just another network of people that might be likeminded and Iām interested to hear the views of as a collective anyway. And again, as in real life, if you feel youāre an āoutsiderā in terms of age or whatever, all the more reason to get stuck in and open the debate with a different view on the topicā¦ thatās how we broaden our lives isnāt it?
The ONLY thing that I find a bit irksome is the regular discussion about whether something should move to politicosā¦ To be fair, I havenāt fully understood what it means, but if itās generally that we should avoid making threads too heated and political, I find that sometimes puts me off posting, as I donāt want to be told offā¦ but maybe thatās the school kid in me 
3 Likes
This forum is more alive than the other place and isnāt full of trolls or those looking for a wisecrack as on EDF.
5 Likes
All forums feel cliquey, this is in their nature and not a criticism of anyone, but this one is very welcoming to my mind. I am sure its good effects operate as much via its many lurkers as via those who participate.
Other special-interest forums I use have an āoff-topicā category which people can choose to ignore/opt out of, and I think we need one. Itās a different function to āthe Loungeā and should not require the same level of qualification in order to post to it. Favourite movies etc belong there.
āVerificationā is an unfortunate and rather Orwellian term but I completely support its intentions ā I am sure this is a more civilised place because of it.
Dick (aged 64 & 5/6)
4 Likes
Thanks Dick
I like this idea. What do others think?
1 Like
That sounds like a good idea from my perspective.
In terms of cliquey, there is a certain amount of that but no more than you can find in regular social circles and people do put in an effort to try to include non-regular posters as well. Overall I donāt find it off-putting.
Also I do recommend people to go to the meet-ups as they make you feel more included on the forum afterwards and also meet a great bunch of people.
4 Likes
It may be time to review the purpose of the Lounge, which was set up in the early days of the forum. I think the idea then was to have a safe space from potential trolls and spam - correct me if Iām wrong, Chris.
I like the idea of morphing the Lounge into an opt-in Anything Goes / Off Topic section. The reason I suggest opt-in is because of how the landing page here works. Rather than having sections we have a āfeedā style home page. I think we would want non-members browsing to see SE23 related topics on the home page and not random musings of regular members.
But having a place for random musings does seem like a good idea. Pedants Corner, for example, is entirely off-topic and would fit in nicely with a new section.
5 Likes
I think the feed system works well and gives you the most active at the top which generally is there for a reason. These are the posts that people are passionate about whether serious or trivial. I think the forum being cliquey is neither good nor bad but other forums do show the last poster which allows you to skip threads that you sense may not be to your liking.
This one does too, although by avatar rather than name. Beside each thread is a little line of avatars: original poster first, most recent last, and a few frequent contributors to the thread in between.
1 Like
The Lounge is a standard feature of all Discourse forums and is designed as an additional area reserved for highly-engaged members of the community who have been around long enough to understand the culture of the forum and who are able to take more of a role in steering it.
But this definition is just an āoff the shelfā guideline and weāre free to use the Lounge for whatever we like. Although since itās a standard part of the forum structure I donāt think weāre able to change the name. We are able to delete it, though.
1 Like
How about a poll seeing if the users want a forum for general chatter, for things just like general ramblings.
The more āareasā which have appeared, opt in this, certain level to see this really does fragment a forum structure to the new user.
Unsure of where to post things, I have lost track of the times threads have been moved. Probably quite rightly so, but it goes to show the level of knowledge which is needed to post on a forum.
I said a long time ago that there should be a section for general anything. It should not be an opt in thing, as it is something you can mute anyway. But gives users a chance to lighten things up a bit. Ask silly questions, have a rant about life, or just post something that has nothing to do with Forest Hill at all.
Once you have a user base, donāt suffocate them with only being able to discuss the walls within which we live.
A chance for new users to stretch their legs before getting stuck into local debate with āthe cliqueā. 
3 Likes
Iāve chose to not post on this as I donāt think itās fair of me, but Doh! I canāt help it after your post Michael which I think is a brilliant idea
How about a āFunā category on the forum for people to post random topics @anon5422159 it could work maybe. I would love this but others might not, so just a suggestion from me & Iāll step back out now & let others decide.
1 Like
I hear you @anon64893700 and I do remember when we started out there were some very popular threads that were general āgetting to know each otherā threads. They were really fun and interesting - especially as we were all starting on an equal footing and had the common experience of opening a brand new meeting place online.
Now that a lot of us know each other, it would be tempting to allow the forum to roll with this and for the conversations to get more interpersonal. Iād enjoy that, personally.
However, in real life when I approach an established clique I find the banter can be unintentionally exclusive - in-jokes, references to past conversations, more esoteric topics (of the kind you can discuss with closer friends).
Iām torn. I want two forums. One for the early-adopter crowd on SE23.life, which I am fond of and want to know better and have a laugh with. And another forum that fits the SE23 monicker and is about local issues, news, photos, events etc.
It may be that the two forums can co exist. But we have to be careful to keep the kerb-appeal for new visitors who havenāt yet been āinductedā into the circle of friends and who may not understand what the forum is for.
1 Like
You may think Iām to blame for this. My position is that many things can impinge on politics, and vice versa, so I think putting political discussions where general readers of the Forum will not see them is artificial. The admins donāt agree, and since I have no plans to set up an alternative Forum, I can live with it. However, I think it better to split forums by tone rather than content, so on the Sydenham Town Forum there is the Town Pub, where discussions can be much more robust, while Town CafĆ© is for the warm and cosy. The main Forum, Town Hall, can take political discussion, but they get moved to the Pub when they become too heated.
2 Likes
Sorry I said I wouldnāt give my opinions on this subject, but my feet are itching to reply with this idea 
Do feel free to ignore this if not appropriate.
But is it possible to have a:
- āRegular Posters Threadā where we are all visible after x amount of posts on here & can welcome all new members & point them in the direction of chats that may interest them.
Just a thought I think might work, but please discard if others donāt agree.
ETA This could be anything from the 80ās topic to D Rd Improvements, quotes & everything in between.
I know what you mean and Iām often sad to see stuff that Iām personally fascinated with relegated to the ~100 members of Politicos.
However, we have to respect those people who find politics unappealing. A lot of our members feel this way.
1 Like
One thing which might be worth considering is to slow down the rate of change. A poll is often used as a means to made a snap decision on the same day. Why not leave these open for longer (is it possible to have a timer running on them?) to allow people who might only check in every few days to have their say?
4 Likes
That seems to be the fork in the road youāve arrived at. My #1 interest in this site is your second option. A community website. Iād be happiest with just that along with the closure of Politicos. More recently it feels this isnāt the right place for it. And yes, I know Iām a regular user. I have no will power.
The rest feels too much like an SE23 Facebook and Iāve already got that with my SE23 mates AND non SE23 friends together.
1 Like
Speaking only for myself, I mute the Politicos section not because I find politics unappealing but because of the way the discussions are inexorably steered towards party political sound bites that frequently have scant, at best, relevance to local issues.
4 Likes
Good point and letās leave the polls on this topic open for at least a week before considering any action. Ditto for the SE26.life plan, which I took too far too fast.