Please could the Silent Majority...

see the 'bullying' continues with the usual suspects. I am appalled to see that since I quit posting back in February - Gransnet is no longer friendly and informative
still lurk for the recipes though the nice part of the forum.

I think GN still is those things mollie but it seems to go off at a nasty tangent sometimes.

Not sure Millie exactly what you mean by bullying on this thread. I certainly an referring to the way that some people talked about other members of Gransnet telling us at the same time it was all in good spirit and a joke!

It is still friendly and informative, Mollie. It is like a small town - there are streets where you have friends and others where you don't much like the people living there. So you go more often to the parts you like. If you hear the inhabitants of the more "outspoken" areas having a set-to, you watch from the road-end and only join in if you want to. If not - there are plenty of other conversations, and a coffee shop or two.

Good analogy!

Well said Elegran!!

Nothing wrong with silence.

Sometimes, "It is better to remain silent and risk being taken for a fool, than speak out and remove all doubt."

Very well put Elegran. Exactly like life. There are certain situations I give a wide bearth and others where I am comfortable. I am long enough in the tooth now to let some things go in one ear and out the other and no longer give them the time of day.

I do appreciate we all have off days, I personally have had days when I think "what's the point " but I would not be rude to anyone because I am dealing with my own problems..

I hope you are OK j08

Well put Elegran

about the purpose of this thread. Am very confused today, though.

You do know this thread is an off-shoot of the f effing burka one, don't you? It's to do with something another poster said on that thread.

It's a JOKE!

I'm fine Agus thank you. (why wouldn' t I be? )

I can't see the slightest reason why any member should be obliged to post if they don't want to do so. What are they taking from the rest of us? I don't post out of a desire to please other members, I do it because I enjoy a good discussion. If silent members help to convince advertisers that the forum is worth subsidising, they are just as useful as those of us who are happy to enjoy posting.
I say, welcome to all members, and if you don't feel like posting, you are still welcome!

It was a joke!!! Which bit of that don't you understand?

When said we shouldn't dismiss the views of the "silent majority". And it went on from there.

I'm not really getting at the lurkers of Gransnet.

I second that Greatnan, some may not have the confidence to post or simply don't want to and why should they be made to feel they have to. I'm sure there is still something to be had from GN if you just want to read through the various posts, or just want some information.

Perhaps some Lurkers would get onto posting if we had a [Like] emoticon? At least then we'd know they were there.

SCREEEEAM!!!!

(Into not onto)

But are there Lurkers? Do they really exist?

Plus, there was a suggestion that some of the 'silent majority' were reporting posts they didn't approve of. Some of us wondered why, and others believed they were perfectly entitled to do so.

Of course there are lurkers, NfkDumpling! Some have even posted and admitted to it - didn't you test the waters, so to speak, before you joined in?

I called them the Silent Majority because someone else referred to Disgusted of Tonbridge Wells and seemed to imply that only posters complain, when it's quite likely that lurkers also complain, given that there are more than 15.000 Gransnet members and only a tiny fraction actually post.

So you did, when, but I'm still not convinced that many of the thousands who don't post would be bothered enough to read all the threads on the forum and complain about the odd swear-word on one...

The lurking silent majority are sort of virtual people because you would not know if they exist or not. Isn't that something like the Schrodingers cat conundrum.
They might be sleepers like unsued spies.
Its too profound for this time of night. night all!

Why is it a joke? Aren't jokes supposed to be funny? Why is this funny? Is anyone laughing?