Brixton features in 4 page feature in Qantas flight magazine

[editor]

I suspect posts about 'aspirational lifestyles' would meet with a lot less animosity these day...

With two long-term left-leaning posters made to feel permanently unwelcome from just this one thread, it would appear the lifestylers will soon be at even more at ease to chat about the things that really matter to them.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I suspect posts about 'aspirational lifestyles' would meet with a lot less animosity these day...

I'm aspirational. I aspire to staying living in the same area in social housing.

 

[hendo]

Well, I apologise for forgetting your apology. Still, my point holds; this is a tough environment for new posters. Without embarking on a yougov style assessment on why people stop coming here, I'll leave the point parked by suggesting that the atmosphere is unwelcoming to posters who don't pass an ideological health test. That's why I quit; I didn't want to be judged.

 

[ViolentPanda]

These articles always piss me off for many reasons, but mainly the way they casually dismiss the area before it came under their radar, when it was creative and vivid (in the real, as opposed to estate agent, definition). But then, as I've said many times, that's when these "lifestyle" writers and their audience were too scared to come down here.

But now there's a sanitised, safe version of Brixton on offer, they swarm like flies on shit.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

I don't think anyone could deny that a thick skin is a requirement for anyone who wants to be part of the urban landscape.

 

[editor]

Well, I apologise for forgetting your apology.

It's not just my apology you forgot. You misrepresented the entire thing and made up nonsense about the poster leaving for good, in an attempt to slur me. Not nice or necessary.

Still, my point holds; this is a tough environment for new posters. Without embarking on a yougov style assessment on why people stop coming here, I'll leave the point parked by suggesting that the atmosphere is unwelcoming to posters who don't pass an ideological health test. That's why I quit; I didn't want to be judged.

Yet posters have been free to express opinions totally different to mine for years on end, and I get 'judged' by those very same posters in a manner that is entirely one sided for the reasons I've already explained.

This isn't Mumsnet and I've no problem with a wide range of opinions being expressed robustly or with passion and anger either, if that's what the poster feels. There's a lot of reasons for some people to be very angry about what's happening in Brixton now.

What I do object to however, is the tiresome attempts to turn every single Brixton debate into an opportunity to launch another sneering point-scoring personal attack: this thread being a perfect case in point.

 

[ViolentPanda]

While I wouldn't say I've been 'bullied off the boards' there's a couple of things that have put me off posting here for months; the first is the aggressive, rude and one-sided way people are dealt with if they dare to post a view that doesn't chime with yours, editor. The ad hominem attacks are used by both sides here, often by your squad first. If you doubt that look at the reaction to my posts on this thread.

"Squad"? Has it even occurred to you that a multiplicity of different people expressing the same opinion,might be doing so because the opinion happens to be a widely-held one, rather than the result of "squaddism", or the actions of an organised clique?

There's a kind of visceral fury (which I sympathise with) aimed at incomers, people who develop property in the district, people who 'own their own home' lifestyle writers about Brixton, and then it transfers smoothly into anyone who posts off the agreed line getting a kicking from Team Urban. I too have met people who've given up posting here. I was one of them.

I can't remember when anyone who owns their own home has been treated with "visceral fury".
I can remember when landlords, and people owning more than one home have, though. Perhaps you're conflating the two?

As for "Team Urban" my thoughts on that are the same as for "squad", with added "grow up!".

There's two sides to this, and people sometimes tell me the way this forum is moderated is at the root of the problem. We've been friends for years but the way you let posters get insulted on here really disappoints me. It's as if having been powerless to prevent the changes we both decry in our area your response is to run - and police -an anti gentrification zone on these boards.

Well, you're free to do that, and Urban 75 is a big positive thing - I'll always believe that. It's saved lives, and enriched mine. But you should acknowledge that the bullying problem is experienced both ways on this forum. And the one-sided modding is an issue. It shuts down debate and encourages both sides to tackle off the ball.

I'm not convinced by any argument that has as a premise that editor lets "posters get insulted". He's neither omnipresent nor omnipotent. Most of the time, barrages from both "sides" have landed way before he gets involved, and expecting him not to engage with it himself, given some of the vile shite hurled at him, is naive in the extreme.

 

[editor]

For the record, here's a thread started by the poster who I was supposed to have scared off a year before.
She received nothing but helpful advice.

 

[editor]

I don't think anyone could deny that a thick skin is a requirement for anyone who wants to be part of the urban landscape.

I think that depends on what topic they're discussing - some of the threads are all peace and love compared to here - but I'd say that because people can speak their minds here, it's a far a more compelling forum than most.

 

[hendo]

I haven't looked back at that thread, so please accept my apology for not remembering your apology to that poster and her subsequent contributions. I took a step back at that point because I was so disappointed by what had happened.

What I remember is my sense of her being a complete innocent in the Brixton Forum. This is a place you have to be very careful in. Just look at your anguished reaction to my criticism; somehow I'm posting 'bollocks' and embarking on a smear campaign. No. It's a straight point based on my flawed recall of what happened; you've refuted it and I've accepted that. You've got the power here remember, you can ban me with a click and erase my remarks. It's against this background I make these points and I have to think about that every time I post reply.

The paradox is striking. You're in charge here and yet you feel victimised. I'll ask a straight question; if it's that bad why not stop modding the Brixton forum and become a poster like the rest of us? Find a straight outsider to referee. It would be a better environment for people to make their arguments - including you.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

I think that depends on what topic they're discussing - some of the threads are all peace and love compared to here - but I'd say that because people can speak their minds here, it's a far a more compelling forum than most.

There's risk of being called a name or attacked in most areas of this forum....and that is part of the way things are here. It does make it compelling, but at times it also makes it really tiring and obvious.

Urbs have a knack for turning the simplest subject matters in to a scrap.

Anyone who has ever asked me about U75 and joining it, I have advised to proceed with caution, because it's not an easy place to just join in and be a part of.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I don't think anyone could deny that a thick skin is a requirement for anyone who wants to be part of the urban landscape.

Of course people need a thick skin. If you post your opinion, you leave that opinion open to critique.
Separate from that, however, is the fact that some people express an opinion, can't deal with critique by actually unpacking the argument against their position, take offence at their intellectual offspring being questioned, and decide to spend their time on Urban indulging in baiting and other such practices.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

Of course people need a thick skin. If you post your opinion, you leave that opinion open to critique.
Separate from that, however, is the fact that some people express an opinion, can't deal with critique by actually unpacking the argument against their position, take offence at their intellectual offspring being questioned, and decide to spend their time on Urban indulging in baiting and other such practices.

None of that is new though is it? It's been like that for a long time. Go look at that thread about the personal trainer. That could have happened yesterday, but it happened 4 years ago.

 

[editor]

What I remember is my sense of her being a complete innocent in the Brixton Forum. This is a place you have to be very careful in. Just look at your anguished reaction to my criticism; somehow I'm posting 'bollocks' and embarking on a smear campaign.

It wasn't 'criticism' you posted up. You completely misrepresented what happened to paint a negative picture of me as a bullying poster who was so unpleasant to an innocent poster that I scared them off the boards forever. And none of that happened. You made the entire thing up.

It took me a minute to look up that thread, so why didn't you bother checking your facts before using your deeply flawed memory as a basis of an unpleasant personal slur?

You've got the power here remember, you can ban me with a click and erase my remarks. It's against this background I make these points and I have to think about that every time I post reply.

Except that never happens and you damn well know it. So why say it?

I'll ask a straight question; if it's that bad why not stop modding the Brixton forum and become a poster like the rest of us? Find a straight outsider to referee. It would be a better environment for people to make their arguments - including you.

You think I haven't tried to find a mod? I repeatedly asked the mods here if they'd take over the modding of this forum but you know what - no one wants to touch it because it's so fucking toxic.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I haven't looked back at that thread, so please accept my apology for not remembering your apology to that poster and her subsequent contributions. I took a step back at that point because I was so disappointed by what had happened.

What I remember is my sense of her being a complete innocent in the Brixton Forum. This is a place you have to be very careful in. Just look at your anguished reaction to my criticism; somehow I'm posting 'bollocks' and embarking on a smear campaign. No. It's a straight point based on my flawed recall of what happened; you've refuted it and I've accepted that. You've got the power here remember, you can ban me with a click and erase my remarks. It's against this background I make these points and I have to think about that every time I post reply.

The paradox is striking. You're in charge here and yet you feel victimised. I'll ask a straight question; if it's that bad why not stop modding the Brixton forum and become a poster like the rest of us? Find a straight outsider to referee. It would be a better environment for people to make their arguments - including you.

We both know exactly what would happen if he stood down - whoever took over would get exactly the same shit, regardless of whether their position followed editor's or not.

To paraphrase a quote from a well-known film: "some people, they want to watch the forum burn".

 

[editor]

Anyone who has ever asked me about U75 and joining it, I have advised to proceed with caution, because it's not an easy place to just join in and be a part of.

But like a lot of things that are hard, it can be immensely rewarding once you get in

 

[Nanker Phelge]

But like a lot of things that are hard, it can be immensely rewarding once you get in

Agreed. There's a lot good going on here.

 

[ViolentPanda]

None of that is new though is it? It's been like that for a long time. Go look at that thread about the personal trainer. That could have happened yesterday, but it happened 4 years ago.

Sure, I'm not saying it's new. My point is that such people exist on here. We've got two choices - to be permitted to post or not permitted to post (banned). I'd much rather people weren't banned, except for utterly egregious shit like racism, which means that in my book, we should all rub along, arguments, insults and all.

 

[editor]

Anyway, I created the Brixton Noticeboard where people can post up and ask about hearing zero hour cleaners/butlers/chauffeurs without comment, so that's one problem solved.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

til we meet in real life. Then's it's clobbering time.

 

[Rushy]

I'll always remember a thread on U75 from years back. Someone was naive enough to come on here and ask if there was a personal trainer anyone could recommend. As I recall, she was promptly set on. She'd broken all the rules. She'd posted about an aspirational lifestyle on the Brixton boards. God help her.

Was she the same one who was told that it was her own fault that she had received a flaming because she had not openly declared in her first that she needed a personal trainer to help her deal with long-standing depression?

 

[editor]

Sure, I'm not saying it's new. My point is that such people exist on here. We've got two choices - to be permitted to post or not permitted to post (banned). I'd much rather people weren't banned, except for utterly egregious shit like racism, which means that in my book, we should all rub along, arguments, insults and all.

Truth is that barely any one gets banned from here. If I lived up to the criticism that I'm a despot that simply bans everyone I take a dislike to, there'd definitely be a few on my hit list - but they're still here, posting the same shit.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

Here we go...

 

[ViolentPanda]

But like a lot of things that are hard, it can be immensely rewarding once you get in

At the risk of being accused yet again (by people for whom I have no respect) of sycophancy, I'd say it's not just rewarding for individuals and the Urban community, but for the wider community too, in a more diffuse sense.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Truth is that barely any one gets banned from here. If I lived up to the criticism that I'm a despot that simply bans everyone I take a dislike to, there'd definitely be a few on my hit list - but they're still here, posting the same shit.

Has it occurred to you that some of those posters want to be banned? That they revel in the "badge of honour" that a temp ban from Urban is for them?

 

[ViolentPanda]

Here we go...

Football hoolie!!!

 

[hendo]

Ive offered my apology in turn, so shall we move on? Your modding in that case was flawless. My memory was faulty, it happens at my age. My forensic grasp of the Urban Brixton forum is slipping.

Seriously, I've a lot of respect for you as I've pointed up here and I'm happy to repeat that as many times as you like in any company you want.

But as you admit the Brixton forum is scary toxic, what's the solution?

 

[Pickman's model]

You think I haven't tried to find a mod? I repeatedly asked the mods here if they'd take over the modding of this forum but you know what - no one wants to touch it because it's so fucking toxic.

i would be happy to take on the role.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

i would be happy to take on the role.

lord 'elp us

 

[Nanker Phelge]

Football hoolie!!!

Just a hoolie, fuck football