Have any of you (mods and admins), confronted a member of the Lowyat forums face to face to discuss issues at hand?

With only pure, table discussions, and nothing more.

Most probably not. Since they are all volunteers who have their own jobs.but I remembered ah wang and another admin/mod did make a trip to kuching though:)

Meaning they will avoid honest, face-to-face discussions whenever possible? That can't be right.

I'm sure they simply do not care, thinking "it's just an idiot in the forums who wastes his time trying to make it serious".

Yes, I know what all of you are thinking. In fairness, I should also ignore you as well in order to proceed accordingly with our lives, except that you assume that everyone is wilfully ignorant about those things that make us human.

nothing serious issue here and this is not yearly budget forum for real table talks .. just behave appropriately in public forum, solves everything

If the issue can be solved without having a face to face discussion, I don't see why they need to meet up.

What's the big deal that you had to request such?

They've too many things to manage and there's no need to meet up face-to-face. Its just a random situation, but we might never know if the member decides to bring his/ her gang to meet the staff/ mod over a disputed case. Plus, there are no differences between discussing via PM and IRL, except of seeing each other's face.

Plus, Staffs/ Mods have privacy too. No way they'll show their faces to tens or even hundreds just to get the message across.

Deadlocks, you're presenting a false dilemma here. If we decline to meet up face-to-face, it does not mean that we do not care nor does it mean that we want to avoid honest discussions.

There are personal reasons not to meet up. Safety and my busy schedule are two reasons why I would decline meeting up with a stranger from the forum. Do these reasons sound alright to you, or are they unacceptable? I would really like to know, Deadlocks

Lastly, Deadlocks, may I ask for an explanation of your logical thinking process? In particular, I am interested to know how you arrived at your conclusions. Thank you.

Wow.
If you find it hard to laugh at yourself, I'd be happy to do it for you.

I wonder how a face-to-face meeting can help in conducting a honest discussion. We are not exactly hiding our faces behind our pc/ tablets/ smartphones. However I believe that any issues in the forum can be resolved via the forum itself, and it always does. And thus brings me to the question above.

Deadlocks,

who says we don't? - excuse for the "we"
I've met a number of friends via LYN and we grew close together as well.
In fact a lot of us hang out with members across the states

If you are talking about disputes, we too did that before (subject to mod/admins self willingness)

Doesn't see or hear doesn't mean it never happens.
Alas, safety and busy schedule also needs to be taken into considerations (depending on who we are meeting)

somehow i see this coming after his potential racist thread got hidden

I will use your post to quote and to answer to all those who seemed to be curious about this thread.

Online discussions are prone to instantaneous, self-removal from the discussion. Meaning if one can simply bail from the discussion because he/she has nothing to say.

Organic, verbal discussions on the other hand, means that instant response will be required, leaving no room for escape from the discussion. The point of the discussion is to reach a conclusion, and unlike online discussions, you cannot simply log off from an organic discussion. You take your time to think during the discussion before you speak, but know this...there will be no bailing out. Conclusions must be drawn, and both parties of the discussion must accept it.

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Added on October 28, 2012, 9:36 amYou see how nobody replies after a while? This is why I prefer to face-face conversations. Instantaneous response, and no-nonsense.

This post has been edited by Deadlocks: Oct 28 2012, 09:36 AM

LOL, did it ever occur to you that in real life, anyone also can end the discussion with "no comment, I shall take my leave here." ?

Your logic is flawed when you assume face to face discussion meant you will get immediate answers.

You may be true, but it reflects badly on the person to simply leave the discussion without a proper understanding of both sides.

Plus, it will be impolite to just leave a discussion hanging without a mutual agreement of a conclusion drawn in the discussion.

Imagine a job-interview situation. Each party will be required to make a good, acceptable, courteous impression.

That means, with an organic conversation, people may not give you immediate answers, but immediate responses can be defined clearly. That is why in online discussions, people can say things like brb, or afk whenever they wish to ignore you, and if they ever come back they can pretend as if they were really away being busy about something.

However, in real life conversation, you can't do that. You are glued to your seat, and if you simply leave without a mutual agreement during the discussion, you will be seen as discourteous. Again I will say, imagine a situation like a job-interview, or even a courtroom meeting where you will be required to attend, and only allowed to leave where conclusions and agreements are reached in both sides.

This post has been edited by Deadlocks: Oct 28 2012, 10:24 AM

you want face to face conversation, please go out socialize more, and not in online forum =.=...

seriously, that 2 examples are the best you can come up with which have conclusions and agreements at the end of the sessions?! I thought you could have done better.

Anyway, times spent in LYN moderating or engaging in discussion doesn't equal time free enough to meet up with others. Would rather catch up with my friends if indeed i have the time. Commitmments does catch up with age.

Btw, wouldn't it be better and clearer to have a judgement over some clear air rather then like you mentioned; pressured by time, I.e. in your words "reach a conclusion at the end of the session". What is your profession in real life which led to a presumption like yours above?

It is easier to remove yourself in the midst of an online conversation. Not so in real life. That's why.

And don't worry. I am not bringing a lawyer into the conversation.

One can choose to decline to answer your questions on real life. Only difference between the scenarios is that one takes up more time than the other.

This thread serves no purpose. Answer already given to you - discussion stays on the forum.

In arranging a meeting, surely you would have to inform the other party on what the discussion is about. So in such cases, most probably we would have replied you the moment we know your topic, sparing the hassle of meeting up.

Even if you have a list of issues to discuss, we would still be replying you via walls of text.

So unless you have a superb proposition that cannot be express through words and can lead to a super multiple fold improvement of the forum - I don't see any reason why anyone should even spend time to meet you.

Anything else, there is helpdesk@lowyat.net

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