Ferrari Chat vs. Other car forums

Fchat is awesome, but judging by your impression I'm guessing you don't spent time in the P&R forum.

I've heard the F1 forum can get even bloodier, "but I ain't one to gossip so you ain't heard that from me".

 

It was not always a peaceful place...

The original subscribers had much more testosterone flowing years ago..
Now ...well now that everyone has gone flacid....it requires a little more stimulation to start a fight!

 

Too civil and polite is boring. I love healthy and passionate debates as long as the comments are sincere and professional. Fchat, in the general forums, does very well IMO in allowing slightly heated discussions to happen without interference.

Fchat P&R is a cesspool in my opinion. Not because the discussions are heated, but simply because there is so little original thinking that goes into most of the discussions. Opinions are etched out along party lines and very few think for themselves. Moderation in P&R is fine also, it is the discussion itself that is almost never constructive or educational in my opinion.

 

That's interesting to know. It was actually someone at Ferrari who recommended this site to me, years ago.

 

I don't go to other automotive sites, just Fchat. I sold my 328 and got all pre-purchase info about the 360 here.

 

It works because:

1. Its moderated pretty closely
2. The mods pay attention to the "notify Moderator" notification from users

The notification is the "lunk alert" of car forums...LOL

I hit the "lunk alert" probably 6-10 times a year for various reasons that break forum rules, and except for the one time a "special" poster showed he could get away with anything, have been satisfied with the outcomes.

 

Overall I think the is the best online forum I have seen. Some trolls, some overly snarky members, but overall very good.

Aaaand this would be the exception that proves the rule. If it helps at all, you are not the only one that thinks this. I just ignore that section.

 

It does help to hear that. On the rare occasion that I drop into P&R, I have learned a lot about human nature, and I've gained vast insight into why the country is so screwed up, but I've seldom learned anything about the topic being discussed.

 

Gerald Roush hated the anonymous nature of chat boards like Ferrari Chat. He believed you needed to stand by your own opinions, which was the case with the Telaio email group. I agreed with him at the time based on my own experience with professional email groups on taxation. He also hated the "instant experts" on the Internet who frankly were clueless.

However, as time went by, all of us became more savvy about what we read on the Web. You learned to ignore the obvious idiots, and you slowly learned to add more and more weight to what some said. It turns out anonymity could provide a useful purpose. It allowed insiders to say what they think without blowback, or express opinions without the threat of lawsuits from wealthy owners.

But still, I admire people like Marcel Massini who posts here under their own name. I realize he has little to gain and lot to lose by forgoing anonymity; but I pay attention when I read one of his posts.

 

P&R works if you don't take it seriously. You learn to ignore certain posters and pay attention to others. I particularly enjoy hearing from our international buddies. I rarely agree with them, but it is interesting to read a different POV.

Nice car, BTW.

 

This is easy
If you are just a hard core "car" guy NEVER click on the silver subscribed or P&R section.
That's what I did when I got here, when I was seriously shopping for a car.
To bad for my simple mind ...... I started reading P&R just for entertainment mind you.
Then I spotted the "reply" button and I got sucked in quicker than a crack head looking for another hit ........lol

 

The discussions don't get under my skin at all. It's just that the signal to noise ratio is so horrifically bad. It is, at best, 95% noise and 5% signal. If that was the only problem, then it might still have a chance to be constructive, but the problem is that, on the rare occasions where there is "signal", the 95% of noise generators just pummel the signal into oblivion.

While I don't take forum discussions seriously, the topics and the issues being discussed are unambiguously serious. Far more serious now than they have ever been. There has never been a time when it has been more risky for people to have their brain disengaged because the decisions being made now by government directly affect our existence in very real and extremely significant ways -- and yet I've never seen a time when more people don't think at all, have outsourced their thinking to media, and have been programmed by the media. I'm not surprised that programming happens in certain elements of the population, but I am perpetually surprised it happens in the Fchat community that I otherwise highly respect.

 

True. My secret is I have disengaged from all mainstream news organizations. I will occasionally scan their websites, but I don't take anything seriously. Unfortunately, a lot people in P&R must actively follow this stuff. You call it white noise. I call it Bright Shiny Objects. Because the news biz is a profit making institution, they must find something to talk about 24/7. Sadly, this stuff spills over into P&R on a daily basis. I just don't click on any threads about Bright Shiny Objects.

 

WEll, the f.1 section isn't a very peacefull place...but i wouldn't want it any other way..a bit calmer now after some permanet bans, and temporary bans amongst other things....we lost a lot of good guys in the process but we got rid of the Trolls...it's been a fun ride...all in all i love the place

 

Heated passionate debates are the best in my opinion. Debate threads where everybody is singing Kumbaya always put me in a coma. But in P&R, the discussions aren't based upon individual considered opinions of the actual facts, they are just regurgitating media and special interest fabrications that are so poorly supported that they are nothing less than comical. Most of the "research" cited in P&R (on the rare occasion that any research is cited at all) is so thin and obviously fabricated that it can be picked apart and disproved by any intelligent, objective person within minutes. The only thing worse than the monotony of a debate thread where everyone is singing the same song, is when the song actually sucks so bad as to be a poor joke, and the implications of the song are so horrific.

 

I have a suggestion for you. Why not start a thread on a topic you like? Can't hurt.

 

Do you know all of them ?

 

Good suggestion. I'm not sure it's a safe bet that it "can't hurt", but I might try it anyway.

 

Yes, FChat is a very good forum. I am in a couple others that are also very good.

I was a subscribed member for several years, but I did drop that because I found some posts in there were very rude and I thought I didn't need to pay even a pittance to read that stuff.

What I found funny was I was warned because I posted "As Johnny would put it, "you can't make this **** up"." except that I was quoting an article and it didn't read "stuff". What was funny is there is far, far more offensive "stuff" in the P&R forum and nobody cares.

What I do miss is the business and investments forum. Unfortunately when I was bored I didn't have the self-control to avoid the other two forums!

 

B&I is worth it.

 

I think this forum is the best.There's something for everybody.At the moment I'm hooked on the "What's For Dinner" thread.

 

I think that moderators sometimes jump on people too heavily,but that only applies to P&R. Otherwise love it. P&R should be no holds barred.

 

You should take a look at the f.1 section...there were times were gatting banned was the menu of the day...i understand the mods needed to act..but it was hard to be so restrained.....oh, i managed to get i day ban because i said something about Trump and the last government in portugal in the "Pretty girls and Ferraris" section! I think there was no need for it, but all is fine, no place is perfect, and i surely am far from it, as i said, it's my favourite place in the web, and i have learnt tons about vintage Ferrari.