The Prime Objective

[Ugly Duckling]

The very first line of our T&Cs is very clear as to AvCom's Prime Objective:

AvCom is an aviation forum and the content will reflect that.

The above is our main reason for having setup this forum, but we do understand that we do from time to time, engage in non aviation topics. We have seen much value in the past from being able to chat with like minded individuals about other aspects of life.

In recent times however, we have seen that many of these discussions are taking a direction that is divisive and can only be put down to wanting to incite and sow discord in our community.

Historically, the subject matter of these topics were mainly driven by religion and politics, hence why they are excluded topics in our T&Cs. Today, this appears to have grown and focus around subjects around what one of the moderators has aptly described as 'Culture Wars'. Baiting and trolling in this type of subject matter is at unacceptable levels. It has begun to affect contributions towards our prime objective.

We are tightening our reigns on this subject matter and the authors of the offending content.

We will always endeavor to moderate and clean up aviation related topics. Non aviation topics are still welcomed, but any that are heading in a direction that will cause dissent, will be given 30 seconds by a moderator, which is the time taken to hit the delete button on such a topic and issue a warning to the parties causing the dissent. Please respect our prime objective and not start up a new thread on the same topic, or a topic on asking why the thread has been deleted. That will earn you a timeout.

Our requests from you:

• Always be respectful of your fellow community member
• Consider the tone and the language used in your posts
• Use the Friends and Foe lists to hide or highlight posts from other community members. Access it here: ucp.php?i=168 .
• Don''t take the bait and feed the members you consider as trolls. Use the above to hide their posts.

[ou toppie]

The Death of Civilised Debate

https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/10/the ... ed-debate/

I think this just about covers what you are saying, even though it is targeted at the UK. If Mr Murray is correct in his reasoning, the world has got a lot of work ahead of it if we want to get back to a civilised ??? way of dealing with life.

OT

[Christopher]

<We are tightening our reigns...>

Of course, Roger meant <reins>, since only kings and queens reign. But we know what you meant...

[Roger]

You just rained on my parade Homophones!

[snoopy]

[kudu177]

<We are tightening our reigns...>

Of course, Roger meant <reins>, since only kings and queens reign. But we know what you meant...

Given how the mods rule the rest of us dumb peasants like (unelected ) royalty, maybe he did mean "reigns".

[HJK 414]

Social Media and “old fashioned Manners”?.

Are we forgetting how to play “nice” - or are we simply ventilating our thoughts as we have always had them – yet now have the possibility to share them via anonymous platforms and without facing the ones we are “communicating” with.

Avcom is a social media platform that attracts people from all walks of life.
Aviation has always been a magnet for many people and the old “romance” of flying to faraway places still lingers in the older generation. It had a magical feel to it – and many of us have dreamt of the old flying boats that travelled the continents with the well to do guests being pampered in luxury on their journey.

Yet – as flying has been commoditized over the years – so have our manners and our way of interacting with each other it seems. No longer are we able to extend respect unquestioningly, it has to be “deserved” first. No longer do we simply accept that there are mismatches in the “experience in life” that the current society brings along – we jump on the opportunity to condescend and or ridicule as soon as we see an opportunity to show our “superior knowledge” and or “insight”.

Why can a group of people not share their common passion without lapsing into a war of words that seems to end in conflict or ridicule?. Is it the fact that the current formula for success is that you have to demonstrate that you “have been there and done that” ?.- do you have to be able to demonstrate that you have qualifications that are superior to the opponent? , therefore you have a higher standing and have the right to be heard and your opinion is more valuable ?

What is it that brings out the racial taunts?. Yes – of course we all made the “inappropriate jokes” and slants behind closed doors and have felt the embarrassment of actually laughing at it afterwards.
Yet – as social media allows us to do it “anonymous” - it thrives.
What brings us to demanding that someone “verifies his statement” on social media as being “correct” ?. How is it possible that stating that a Hamburger from a specific chain was not to your liking – will lead to being asked to explain in detail what you know about bread composition / beef content – acidity of onions and the possible strain on margins that the restaurant industry has?. And failing to do – quickly brings ridicule and condescension.

Should we al subscribe to someone's opinion or interpretation of “facts” or their interpretation of “scientific findings” ? Without question – for the fear of being ridiculed or called names?. Many of us are from a generation that has seen the rise of Internet – yet how many asked at the outset what we would have to do with a “search engine” - as we had not “lost anything”.

Would we ask the same questions with the same veracity if we were sitting in a hangar facing each other – or would the old “respect” and deference to manners be the leading guideline?.

We often see an interaction that degrades to a level that we would never allow to happen were we sitting across the table from each other – be it Pilots – Enthusiasts or (ex) Mods – we all fall prey to the same reaction of going “down to that level” it seems.
How do we all (and I mean all of us) get back to a normal interaction on a media platform that represents all we stand for – all the passion that we have had since we saw the first aeroplane in the sky – and felt that we had to be a part of it, come what may?.
I see more and more older generation aviators walking away from interacting on Avcom, the debate is slowly dissipating - and the same reason and arguments seems to be the norm.

Yes – times have changed
Yes – the older generation did things differently
Yes – the younger generation are smarter (due to new technology ?)
Yes – we need to understand there is a generational gap
Yes – we are sincere in trying to convey our experience – and our passion
NO – we are not irrelevant – and we are not “struggling” with modern technology
NO – we should not be prepared to bow out - regardless of the tone of debate

Yet – the owners of Avcom – the Moderators are also struggling to keep the house clean. Directives – leniency – do we ban someone / do we close his account for dissenting views – it is not easy.
The world has changed and what is “normal” in the new age?. Do we adapt – and simply bow to the new “ways”/. Do we wait for the standard to become untenable or too toxic before we act?
Do we accept the change in mannerism – do we accept the new “modern way” of communicating – or do we uphold the standards of old – and demand that “if you wish to play” you have to play “nice”?. It is a conundrum that will take some time to sort – yet it is affecting our lives – and in my humble opinion – the modern way still has to prove to me that it is “better”.

For me – Avcom is a platform on which I can interact with like minded individuals and or participants that wish to follow the footsteps I made in the past. I value their opinions and in some cases I will even accept their judgement, as it is a congregation of peers that have similar passions and in some cases have shared the skies with me throughout the decades.

The morale here:
Unless we all shape up – this platform will degrade in the same way as many others and I for one would hate to see that happen. Let's accept that we all share a passion that is valuable and realize that tearing down a house is much easier than building one …...... Avcom is sort of “our home”.

JK

[Triaan]

I wanted to chime in on here a lot earlier but refrained from doing so.
If the "Prime objective" is what it is, then WHY was the global warming thread allowed to go on for YEARS before being closed down. I've put in a lot of time into that thread as many others, just for it to disappear like smoke in front of your eyes !

I will now refrain from getting involved in any lengthy discussion ever on this site because of that. Today they decide its fine, tomorrow they make up a "fitting" explanation why it's not, while leaving those who contributed to bite the dust.

A Lot of truth was pointed out in there and there are not many threads around the world that is an eye opener like that.

[snoopy]

3 forums which have received the most engagements from AVCOM participants

So in a nutshell, AVCOMs main interest lies here as a group.

Listed by number of posted topics engaged with.

General Aviation Chatter
Topics: 48297, Posts: 588598

Model Aircraft
Topics: 11917, Posts: 128661

Academy & Flight Safety
Topics: 10743, Posts: 231724

Listed by number of engagements per forum.

General Aviation Chatter
Topics: 48297, Posts: 588598

Academy & Flight Safety
Topics: 10743, Posts: 231724

Model Aircraft
Topics: 11917, Posts: 128661

[Roger]

There is one other metric that would have to be added to the statistics to form a complete picture - and that is 'views'. For instance the highest number of views is the 'Seen at Rand' thread in the photo forum.