Is this group going downhill?

I haven't been posting here long, so maybe someone can set me right.

I logged on today and most of the new posts were substandard. There's someone posting mainly in capitals, hundreds of posts (with replies) by someone who froths about 'the Jews' and their role in world affairs (always a good sign) and one guy who actually types 'hehehehehe' as sinister laughter fighting with another bloke who'd be an embarrassment in 1930's Alabama, each trying to out-cliche the other.

Is this a seasonal thing? is it the war? Is there anything to do besides ignore it? Are any of these people actually trying to recruit people to the opposite side by posing as memebers of one side and then alienating and irritatiing people? Does taking the piss out of these people help? Is moderating an answer?

I'm hoping if we ignore it, it will just go away. I'd hate to see this group end up like rec.sport.pro-wrestling: a once great newsgroup that got completely taken over by trolls a few years back and has yet to recover.

Um, I know what you are refering to. I however try to ignore the political discussions as they are just wacko. But to answer your original question, Yes I think this group is going downhill. And not cause of the stupid political posts. Comics are loosing a lot of interest, and less and less people buy comics each week. With less people buying comics that's less who want to come to a news group, and read and post good thought out, through questions. So the questions and posts seem to be less in both number and quality. And if you take into those that read, but never post anything, then the number that start a thread, and those that respond get even smaller. The smaller the mental pool, the less swimming is done.

Moderating is not an answer IMO. I've seen groups go from standard to moderated and lose 95% of their posters. I think the answer is to ignore whatever you're not interested in. I skip most posts on this board. It has nothing to do with their quality. I just read what interests me. The stuff about Iraq is recent. I don't respond to it because this isn't the place to do so. What little of it I've read hasn't informed me of anything I didn't already know so it's pointless.

Cyclical rather than seasonal, I think, though the weather may play some role.

> is it the war?

It's people cross-posting randomly about the war.

>Is there anything to do

Use your killfile liberally, respond to off-topic posters via email and ask them to stop, and report them when appropriate (which is rarely) to their ISPs.

>Are any of these people actually trying to recruit

Impossible to know.

>Does taking the piss out of these

No. It makes the situation worse. While people who unintentionally cross-post or post off topic can be shown the error of their ways with civility, genuine trolls can't be helped by any means. Responding to trolls in kind with negative reinforcement gives them exactly what they come here for. Killfile or ignore them.

>Is moderating an answer?

I don't think so. This group

More cyclical than seasonal

Ignore it. Just ride through and it will go away. They always do. Sure, some folks like highseark pisses some off, but with all his on-topic comic stuff, he's not so much a troll as he is someone who just has really differing opinions on some matters. He can be an asshole, yes.

It's been my observation that the quality of the posts in this group seems to diminish soon after the release of a Marvel movie. We get inundated with hundreds of posts about the movie, and it gets to be a hassle wading through them all, and I think that drives some posters away temporarily. And the various racist/inflammatory posts poping up lately certainly aren't helping, but continuing to ignore them will drive them away before too long.

Please, don't be silly. 'The jews' have nothing to do with world affairs. It is very tragic that there is still people willing to pull tasteless joke like this. All Jews were eliminated by a man called MR Hitler in 1440, and were the first human species to be declared extinct. Pleae don't try to make humour out of things that don't have the slightest potential to be fun.

May god forgive you.

That's really ridiculous. Native American peoples don't read 'Comics'. Come to think of it i don't think they read anything. They have smoke signs for that. What a bad place to do that.

Someone should start a good VS. thread. That always gets the juices flowing. LOL.