h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Also, I have always thought, on here, that the lack of 'clutter' in the conversation threads; not having a 'like' button, a 'share' button, an 'edit' button, a 'rate this comment' button, etc. etc., makes the threads more easier to read, and quicker to navigate through, and kinda more actually conserned with the content of the threads, rahter than having more than 50% of the pages, taken up with all the extra accruitments....

I have to admit, I'm not a fan of like buttons. I find that while they're quick, they don't really provide the feedback they set out to.

Just because someone clicks it, doesn't mean they actually like it. It's not much more than a habit that companies are now desperately trying to exploit.

I'd far rather someone took the time to write a couple of words, telling me why they did like it, or even why they didn't. Maybe I'm old fashioned like that, but I prefer to know what people think, rather than what they click.

IMHO if you want dross like that, as in like buttons, share all buttons and able to post all manner of pics then FB or Google+ is the place you need to go.
We're not a social media site in that sense and I hope we never will be. When you see the stuff posted in the likes of FB and Twitter it amounts to nothing more than fodder for the braindead at times. They all have there uses but h2g2 isn't in that category and folk should see that, realise that and accept it. Constant clamour for change for the sake of change and to "keep up with the jones" isn't what we're about.

We used to be able to post our own pictures to entries, but the way it was done is a legal minefield, so the BBC got rid of it. The other way of doing it, the way used by Facebook, should be easy enough to implement.

But *why* have photos here, in conversation and non-edited entries? I'd be interested to know.

I'll let you know why *I* think it's not such a good idea:

Links: Pliny now opens external links in a new tab, so if you have photos on flickr or google photos or some other site, people can easily see them there, and conveniently stay in the right place of the conversation.

Space: photos are big, potentially very big, and I suspect our site and servers are not at all built for potentially massive amounts of photos. And until we have the income to pay for servers (thanks, Noesis, for still hosting us!) we shouldn't press our luck.

Legal: Copyrighted images. We are really careful to ask permission if we're not using images created by our own artists. What would happen if some major company got angry at an image here? I don't even want to think about it. "Naughty" images. Any illegal content might hurt us badly, as a site. Again, I don't really want to think about it.

But again, if there are reasons that outweigh those risks, tell me!

and... if someone... accidentially got drunk... say... and posted an... explicit photo

In some ways, I agree totally, that we don't IMO, need* to have them; espeically with the ease now, with which people have various online photo hosting/placing thinggies, so its easy to drop a link in, I'd have thought, to a photo, if one wanted pah... photos are rubbish anyhow; a thousand words is worth,, hmm....

h2g2 is like a dusty library full of well-upholstered, well-used armchairs and gentle table lamps creating intimate circles of light, in a world of brightly lit, noisy communal spaces.

I wouldn't want it to change.

Deb

Ah! That's exactly how I see h2g2 in my mind, too

That's something else that I like about this place, that we share ideas

Deb, you are a poet.

I would like to post my own artwork though..

If it's for an entry that would be excellent. Or for the Post - lots of art goes there! Or write an entry about the piece!
That's totally different than what worries me (copied photos, memes, etc) and your own art as a contribution to the guide is welcome!

I knew there was something about h2g2 that hadn't been mentioned so far -- topic drift!

topic drift? us? hoh no.... well. maybe. sometimes. err, what were we talking about again?

For me, it's all about the quality of the guide entries and posts in the conversations. There are some *amazing* people who come here regularly, and I'm incredibly grateful to them for the light that they have cast on my world.

I wish Hoovooloo would stay, as he is quite knowledgeable about some things I know nothing about. Will he find some other site that makes him happier than this one does? I tend to doubt it, but I could be wrong. As Shakespeare said [if I'm remembering correctly] the fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves. [Not bad for a playwright who seems to have owned no books....]

I guess I'll stick around, I do feel h2g2 has a unique character - somewhat homely. Things do seem rather quiet at the moment, but at times it has been awash with trite convos or ones that move too fast for me too keep track. On the whole I think it's better than the latter days under bbc rule.
Haven't met anyone in real life but there are lots of familiar names around (including Hoovooloo) that I enjoy coming across.
This is a site where I feel that real conversations & airing opinions can take place without the banality that proliferates in Facebook.

>> took the time to write a couple of words, telling me why they did like it <<




~jwf~

Our conversations lists and permanent archiving of past threads
are the main things I miss on FB. In any FB group there can be
more than a dozen conversatations raging at the same time and
posts disappear off the bottom of the page never to be seen again.

All conversations are under a single group page header and
there is no way to search because they do not list convos
by their subject header. In fact there is no subject line.

Nor is there a dated archive.

If a couple of happy trolls start batting at each other they
soon drive all the other convos down and off the single page.

Here I can go back several thousand 'older conversations'
and find my earliest postings.

Their 'edit' function is handy for correcting silly typos.

Their smileys suck. And h2g2 smileys are my second language.
I type them into emails and all my online writing even knowing
no one will see them appear - but many are well-named and the
meaning is not lost.



~jwf~

>> conversatations <<

See. Even I make typos.
I coulda fixed that if we had an edit function.


~jwf~

I'll be here forever, working away, doing my bit. So if you get ever the code for a Create badge and don't know why, just ask - you never know what you may have collaborated in

This place is 'home'. I know I can find something interesting to read everyday. I care about the other researchers here. I may not comment, but I do read and I am concerned, happy, worried etc about all the peeps I 'follow'.

It may be 'different' to social media (thank the gods) but this is 'writing site'.

Having said that. Words are good, but also loves pictures.(hint, hint)

Did someone say there's banality and profiteroles on Facebook?