"Look at what I found/bought/like" threads

[spidermom]

I've done it myself recently, but I have to agree. "Look at me; look what I bought; look at my new style." Yup.... getting old. The other threads I really dislike are the "I saw someone with long hair today." Whoop-de-do. I see someone with long hair every day, usually in a reflection. O.k. - now I'm really getting grouchy. I'm also bothered by the "can't live with my own hair color, got to change it" threads running alongside "how am I going to get rid of this awful color/damage? threads" Oh, and "got a ton of split ends, looks really icky but I don't want to lose length, what can I do?" Those are tiresome. Hmmmmmmmmmm...... I just realized something (this is a lie; I've known it for a long time). It's time for me to fade.

[jessie58]

I think we should use the article and review section a bit more since that would make it easier to build up a stash of (organized and usable) information.

Agreed!

[trolleypup]

This is something the mods have been discussing, in between the more immediate duties of moderation. Keep up the discussion!

We certainly want TLHC to work better for everyone, both new members all excited by the shiny, and more experienced members who are settled into the community...as well as everyone in between.

[Ursula]

I also miss seeing groups of updo, such as Hairstyle of the Week. It would be nice to have a board to post photos and discuss updos. Perhaps there could be rules banning old-style photo journals which were mostly a place to chat, and instead have more topical conversations.

I'll ditto this, sort of. I didn't use the photo boards much, but there were several times when I needed visual information on doing an updo or style, and the on-topic discussion there was quite useful.

The Albums are an improvement over the old photo journals, where people would post their own pictures, and others commented. Having the comments associated with the photo helps avoid wading through page after page of "wow, wonderful picture" to find the actual pictures. They fall short of replacing the photo threads, where multiple people could post pictures on a common topic.

Having names associated with Albums would be nice - people don't seem to remember to put their name in the title of an album, and it can be impossible to tell who an album belongs to when just browsing through the albums. The lack of names may be reducing the commenting on the photos, since people don't know who they are addressing the comment to. Which then provides a push towards people starting threads for their photos on the Mane board when they want comments, rather than putting them in an album and getting comments there. It is just socially awkward to be commenting on someone's pic when you don't know who that someone is. If one wants comments on a photo in an album, it might help for the poster to put their own coment with the picture, to kick start the conversation, and make it clear what sort of feedback is wanted - "oooh! nice hair!" or "I have this technical problem with my updo, as you can see in this pic, any advice on how to fix it?"

I find the lack of restricted access photo threads troubling in that it seems to have pushed a variety of photo-related discussion to the Mane board. The Mane board, of course, is completely public. Photo-heavy threads there are apt to draw unwelcome attention from the f*tish types. Particularly the topical threads which are the most useful, but which collect a lot of pictures from a lot of different people. The mods shut down these threads when it seems to be someone looking for wank material (such as a newly registered member whose only posts are starting threads asking for pictures) - but when regular members start the same sort of threads on the public boards we give these people the exact same material, without them having to do any work for it.

It is also worth noting that the "Articles" section is completely public, and people who are worried about having their pictures loose on the net may well hesitate to post there - even if they could do a wonderful pictorial tutorial on a new updo or technique. Likewise with the "Reviews" section - people may hesitate to put in-action photos involving the hair toy being reviewed, if the pictures are fully public.

[icydove]

Let's take the current review section, for instance. Under hair toys, there are multiple threads for the same makers (60th street and Nightshade/Nightblooming). Because a lot of artists make unique hair toys, I can see that section getting cumbersome very quickly. One thread per hair toy maker makes the most sense for me.

The problem with "milestone" posts is that "everything" starts becoming a milestone. A perfect example of that is the "can I call my hair X length?" thread which gave a name to about every 1/4 space of the human body If 6000+ members start a post on every "milestone" they hit, it would be exhausting to read. If you want to brag, brag in your blog. If people want to congratulate you, they will. If you want everyone to be able to read it, then make your blog public.

Another related example are the posts about anniversaries. If people just did yearly anniversaries, it would be tolerable. However, people start posting on their 1-month, 3-month, 8-month, 2-week, etc., anniversaries. At some point, it just gets to be too much.

I've noticed that a lot of boards have a "beginners" forum. Usually, anything and everything is posted there, and the members expect that and tolerate it well. That could easily be built in here (changing the introductions forum to include both), but I don't know where one would draw the line on what would be appropriate there compared to appropriate for the mane forum. Of course, maybe the Mane Forum really just is a "beginners forum," anyway

[eadwine]

No need to make a long post where I am concerned.

I would like a "new toy" and "new hairdo" thread/forum.

Putting up an article on a hairdo/toy actually puts me off, why? Because it takes way too long to show up, plain and simple. I understand the pollution avoidance, but it is annoying when you want to share something. "Hey yea I made a new bun/got a new toy, you can see it in a week or so, when it gets approved".

Also, I want the hairstyle of the week thing back, I loved that.


And then as a solution for all the irritated, there is the all well known saying: if you don't like it, don't click on it. I do that and it works wonderfully!

[Ursula]

The problem with "milestone" posts is that "everything" starts becoming a milestone. A perfect example of that is the "can I call my hair X length?" thread which gave a name to about every 1/4 space of the human body If 6000+ members start a post on every "milestone" they hit, it would be exhausting to read.

Egads, you're right! What monster have I unleashed upon these boards!

And is it the sort of monster to be vanquished, expelled, exorcised, banned or deleted?

[eresh]

I'm not annoyed at all.

Me, I post more about my hair-tries in my blog than on the forum but I really like to read these posts from others at the forum.
I joined a hairforum to read about (and look at) hair, hairdo's and hairtoys
Enthousiastic posts showing new styles or first time successes (no matter how many times I've already done this myself or seen it) always make me smile.

Maybe a subforum for toys and hairdo's, so the general hairforum can be only about general hairquestions etc., so others won't be so annoyed would work.
I personally don't use the review section much, I like the more spur of the moment written posts rather than the "I'm going to write a review and send it in so maybe it will get placed sometime" stuff.

[eadwine]

I need to add one thing.. thinking about this more. And I am going to be REALLY blunt/sarcastic about it too, but it is the cold hard truth.

EVERYTHING has come by before; every style, every hair whine, every joy, every new toy, every henna, every dye problem, every single thing you can think of.. I can bet it has been here before.

So you might as well close all forums now and tell folks to just read back instead of post, because it is getting annoying to read it all again.

[prosperina]

I like your threads eadwine, and have no problem with them being in the mane forum at all. I do wish you'd do some articles though....I lost one of your buns, and couldn't find it again...don't remember which one. I guess I'll just look on you tube, I believe your username is the same?

icydove I think you're exaggerating. I haven't seen that many milestone posts, and I sign on to these boards every day several times a day. A few 6 months anniversaries yes, but not nearly as many as you've implied are out there. I repeat: putting things in the blogs lessens the sense of community; it is *harder* to see anniversary posts you might want to comment upon if they are in the blog section, since that section is a lot harder to navigate. Further, while some may find this all tiresome, and passe, others don't. Furthermore, what if your blog is private and you want a public milestone post? Too bad some posts can't be made private and others public.

Speaking of sense of community, why, and this isn't directed at just one person, must we be so grouchy? Yes, people post "I'm dying my hair threads" then three months latter it's "I'm sick of this stuff how do I get it off my head?" And that's bad? Do some of the older members just not remember what it's like to be young, have their identity in flux, and to change your hairstyle drastically, or frequently? I've noticed some impatience with younger posters changing their hair....and well, do you have to voice it? And by the way, this wasn't a rant, just a concern.