General Discussions (Abuse of this Category)

Question

Heidita and I have been monitoring this category for some time now and we have noticed a number of posts with no relevance to the learning of Spanish or English whatsoever. Celebration threads, 10k and the following 20k, 30k etc, which incidentally can be opened by anybody, are acceptable. Also as are serious occasions like the latest thread by Seith. As a general rule the discussions are meant to be about imparting information on the two languages applicable to this site and not about general chatting. Some examples of poor posts are as follows.

How are you today. Do I tell my friend I like her boyfriend. Is it cold where you are.

Posts of this type should be on the chat room and not on the main forum. We do not want to appear heavy handed by removing the “General Discussions” category so Heidita or I will in future delete any thread we consider to be irrelevant. Many Thanks.

Queridos amigos: Hemos visto que hay un cierto abuso en la categoria de "Hablemos..." en el foro. Debemos recordar que mientras hilos de felicitación tanto de cumpleaños como de 10k en posts (de 10k en 10k por favor), que por cierto puede abrir cualquier amigo del foro , u otros más serios como el último del amigo Seith, pueden tener cabida en esta categoría, pero no tanto otros, además repetitivos, como los mencionados arriba.

Rogamos no abusar de dicha categoría ya que hemos recibido alguna queja al respecto. Gracias.

Eddy & Heidita

Answer 1

I keep returning to this topic hoping some clear guidelines have been posted. My earlier question of whether my posts in General Discussion were appropriate or not weren't answered. I don't think I'm the only one still confused.

Can we get some examples of what is or is not appropriate?

I am reluctant to use the Chat because I would like the ability to present a topic or ask a question (in Spanish) and come back to it later - not only for the sake of convenience but to give more people the opportunity to respond and contribute.

So I'll ask a couple questions:

1. Can I start a topic about una película?
2. May I discuss mi niños?
3. Could spanishdict.com add a category for libros? películas? música?

I´d like to see those questions answered as well. I´m not looking to start an argument, just to practice my Spanish in fun, interesting, and relevant ways. - Lrtward, ENE 31, 2010

Answer 2

Maybe people are confused about what this site is for. I personally use it help enhance my language skills.If I write something a general nature, it usually has to do with Spanish. I don't mind the personal posts as long as they are not too explicit.

Answer 3

Hi Jay

It is impossible to be explicit about what can or cannot be posted. Have you had anything deleted from this category? If so let us know and we will provide an answer for that specific post. My advice is to read Heidi´s post dated Nov 17.

Answer 4

I think webdunce and sheila make excellent points. They both got my vote.

mine too :) - edgedonkey, NOV 23, 2009

Answer 5

I think that Heidita has summed this thread up in the best way, What they want to do is to get away from the morons who have nothing better to do than find this site and post asine things such as; i am bored, how are u? etc.

The simplest thing would be to have an "antii-spam" box where instead of typing in some letters, you would have to answer a simple IQ question like: 22-11=____

You could even put the same thing in Spanish, 22-11=____

Answer 6

Good move. I approve. However, it is ironic (and maybe a paradox?) that some of those irrelevant "topics" seem to attract the largest number of votes "up" and Answers.

By the way, where is the "Chat Room?"

Under "More," of course, of course! - 0057ed01, NOV 16, 2009

By the way, what I mean by irony and paradox is that I sympathize with the challenge you and Heidita have in making decisions as to whether a topic is appropriately posted. - 0057ed01, NOV 16, 2009