Syag:
I certainly hear your point, and agree with you up until a point. In fact, I’m glad to have got an erudite, well argued response to engage with, as those have been few and far between.
I don’t think the issue is the absence of good posters due to holidays. A quick perusal of the threads reveals that plenty of those are present and posting. I just feel that the fact that certain posters seem to be less active, despite clearly being present, is due to the prevailing tone of the CR at the present moment.
With regard to your ‘displacement theory, I have looked to engage. Interesting discussion is why I participate, and I did try to find an inroad. But the reason why I’ve found it so frustrating is that certain very active posters seem to be setting the tone, and leading the discussion in particular directions. And others have followed. And that is their prerogative. Nobody is doing anything ‘wrong’, as it where. I just dislike the tone immensely, and by the looks of things, so does Meno, amongst significant others.
In the past I have got involved with the express purpose of striking some life into the CR. But there’s plenty of activity in the CR at the moment. And some of it is great. But finding the gems amongst the dirt, and trying to have a good discussion between the rubbish, is difficult. You feel that by getting involved, the tone will improve. Perhaps.
But I find it difficult to engage in a thread moaning at the Mods for ridiculous reasons, a girl going to Las Vegas, boy’s who smoke ‘not being frum’, a college student trying to high-five someone, or hair dye. And even the good threads get sidetracked into incoherent, over-dramatised mulch.
Of course, there’s some interesting stuff too. But when even a decent thread like this one turns into a ridiculous teenage gender war, I’ve lost all patience. I mean, seriously. Look at the post following yours. I find it impossible to engage with that. Ignoring it is a solution, but that’s not what people are doing. Again, nobody is ‘wrong’. But people have tastes, and it seems quite a few agree that the tone tastes bad.
If I sound jaded and annoyed, it’s because I am. But on a positive note, it appears much of this has passed and things seem to be improving. And I don’t appear to be alone on this. PBA has made a far more pertinent and succinct point on the aforementioned ‘Moan at the Mods’ thread. And I couldn’t agree more.