Return of the Dog Pound

Off Topic
161

Correct me if I’m wrong or this was already mentioned but the new Dog Pound would be a place where new people could go and READ up on serious discussions of ideas.

Even if these discussions are few are far between like the old Dog Pound, it would still be more valuable than wading through the millions of troll jobs and poor advice from people new to lifting.

I believe the new Dog Pound would also be a great spot in discussing the current articles that are posted daily. How often is it that in the current discussion sections, there are no discussions of the theories but people saying, “This is the best idea EVER!”? People new to lifting could read through the posts in the new Dog Pound and actually see intelligent discussion from people with in the trenches knowledge.

I doubt anyone who gets voted into the new Dog Pound will become such an elitist that they stop posting in other sections. You would still have Bushi posting in the steroids section, Prof. X yelling at the 150lb kids to get a burger, and Rainjack putting dumb people in their places.

I can’t see how a section where only people truly interested in furthering the site are allowed to post can hurt anything. If nothing else it may bring some very smart people out of lurking so that they can eventually join in on the intelligent discussions.

As for who should get in, I would propose an online test. After a year or so on the site you have access to an online test of basic principles to see if you have actually learned anything during your time here. If you receive a passing grade the forum is unlocked for you to start posting in. This should keep out the trolls, allow only people who know their stuff in, and be easy for our mods on here. It would also set a standard marker for people to get so it wouldn’t be based on if people like you are not.

Clearly I vote for the new Dog Pound and hopefully made some decent suggestions.

162


I honestly thought at first this was about THE Dogg Pound lol.

I vote yes, as long as us newbs can access the threads. If that section of the forum is totally restricted to us then I think its unfair. I learn so much from what the Vets post on here.

Also I have seen restricted forums hacked time and time again.

163

[quote]rainjack wrote:
tom63 wrote:
Stricter oversight and moderation is the key. I belong to a college football forum were name calling and vulgar language is not allowed, and it’s enforced. It really wouldn’t be to hard to clean up a problem forum.

Unless the site has a million members, and not supported by advertising.

You were the one that said it is all about the bottom line, more oversight, and more moderation is not free. Plus, since the problem seems to be concentrated to one forum - it would not make very much sense to have the mods concentrate more time on one forum than the others. That would drag down the quality of the entire site - just to improve one forum. [/quote]

Good points. Whether or not they add a dog pound or moderate more, this is the nature of the internet. Same old same old for some of us. Totally new cool stuff for a newbie.

People that like stuff like to talk about the stuff they like. There isn’t always new info out there. A lot is the same old same old. So people look for soemthign to talk about and the net is avaialble 24/7.

Before you talked lifting with lifters in person while lifting or after lifting. There was a lot less talking and a lot more lifting going on.

Louie is quoted as saying he has spent no time on the net talking about lifting, but a lot of time reading about lifting. And talking to lifters, and learning about lifting.

The whole all this info is available all the time leads to this nonsense. I’ve figured how to wade through the silliness and get the good stuff I could use. Now if this is the what and why of the dog pound, go for it. I don’t know how many times I have even gone on that forum.

But every site I’ve been on gets goofy after awhile. It seems the goofs will always be goofs and will always show up, since the net offers that privacy. The real world has consequences for speech and actions that these people don’t have here.

164

[quote]CrewPierce wrote:
Correct me if I’m wrong or this was already mentioned but the new Dog Pound would be a place where new people could go and READ up on serious discussions of ideas.

Even if these discussions are few are far between like the old Dog Pound, it would still be more valuable than wading through the millions of troll jobs and poor advice from people new to lifting.

I believe the new Dog Pound would also be a great spot in discussing the current articles that are posted daily. How often is it that in the current discussion sections, there are no discussions of the theories but people saying, “This is the best idea EVER!”? People new to lifting could read through the posts in the new Dog Pound and actually see intelligent discussion from people with in the trenches knowledge.

I doubt anyone who gets voted into the new Dog Pound will become such an elitist that they stop posting in other sections. You would still have Bushi posting in the steroids section, Prof. X yelling at the 150lb kids to get a burger, and Rainjack putting dumb people in their places.

I can’t see how a section where only people truly interested in furthering the site are allowed to post can hurt anything. If nothing else it may bring some very smart people out of lurking so that they can eventually join in on the intelligent discussions.

As for who should get in, I would propose an online test. After a year or so on the site you have access to an online test of basic principles to see if you have actually learned anything during your time here. If you receive a passing grade the forum is unlocked for you to start posting in. This should keep out the trolls, allow only people who know their stuff in, and be easy for our mods on here. It would also set a standard marker for people to get so it wouldn’t be based on if people like you are not.

Clearly I vote for the new Dog Pound and hopefully made some decent suggestions.
[/quote]

You make some good points, but one problem is the very serious won’t necessarily sit around all day and discuss articles. I spent a lot more time on the net while I was single than now. I don’t remember the last article I read. but why should I read every one every week. I don’t read all the articles every week at elite. Some don’t apply. Some are a rehash of stuff. Some i have no interest in.

It might sound snooty, but the heavy hitters have people they talk to outside the net. I’ve met some great guys through some of these sites, and I mean actually met them. The big guys have the network and resources already.

Every forum goes through ups and downs and I really don’t think this one is to bad.

165

[quote]tom63 wrote:
6 years ago, to get in you had to request admittance and had to be approved. they did use a type of criteria, and not being a total tool wasn’t part of the criteria. It was having more to offer in one way or another.
[/quote]

I was in the old Dog Pound. I have nothing particularly valuable to say about training or nutrition. I believe I was let in because I had been on the forum long enough to prove that I wasn’t a liability.

Now, I’m not even saying that I should be admitted to a new Dog Pound, were it created. Guys like Professor X and rainjack are several levels beyond me. But my point is that “not being a tool” can be an entry qualification. I can envision lots of ways of addressing that from a technical perspective, as well.

166

Another vote

167

[quote]nephorm wrote:

I was in the old Dog Pound. I have nothing particularly valuable to say about training or nutrition. I believe I was let in because I had been on the forum long enough to prove that I wasn’t a liability.

Now, I’m not even saying that I should be admitted to a new Dog Pound, were it created. [/quote]

I was also a member of the original Dog Pound.

If I remember correctly it wasn’t such a success. The problem with having a forum consisting of ‘knowledgeable members’ is the overall lack of traffic it generates (as was the case). Experienced trainees ask fewer questions, stick to basics, don’t get caught up with the latest trends, and realize that ultimately you have to try something for yourself to see if it works for you.

If the powers that be are listening I would instead recommend:

  1. Changing the current sub forum names to:

-Strictly Bodybuilding
-Sports Performance
-Beginners
-Women (consolidate)
-Over 35

Ditch “Rate my physique”

Keep the other off topic sub forums

A handful of selected “poster mods” could be granted permission to move (not delete) certain threads to their correct sub forum.

This way “noob” questions will be moved to the correct forum (which will also let the person know “where they stand”). Same thing for sports related questions.

  1. Personal logs should be kept in profiles and off of sub forums because they just clutter everything up (or create a new sub forum for them)
  • If logs are required to be maintained in profiles (and people think they will be forgotten or go unnoticed), you can add a function to “nudge” a fellow poster you respect to get his feedback on.

I’ve never run a website, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

168

[quote]Sewerhooker wrote:
nephorm wrote:

I was in the old Dog Pound. I have nothing particularly valuable to say about training or nutrition. I believe I was let in because I had been on the forum long enough to prove that I wasn’t a liability.

Now, I’m not even saying that I should be admitted to a new Dog Pound, were it created.

I was also a member of the original Dog Pound.

If I remember correctly it wasn’t such a success. The problem with having a forum consisting of ‘knowledgeable members’ is the overall lack of traffic it generates (as was the case). Experienced trainees ask fewer questions, stick to basics, don’t get caught up with the latest trends, and realize that ultimately you have to try something for yourself to see if it works for you.

If the powers that be are listening I would instead recommend:

  1. Changing the current sub forum names to:

-Strictly Bodybuilding
-Sports Performance
-Beginners
-Women (consolidate)
-Over 35

Ditch “Rate my physique”

Keep the other off topic sub forums

A handful of selected “poster mods” could be granted permission to move (not delete) certain threads to their correct sub forum.

This way “noob” questions will be moved to the correct forum (which will also let the person know “where they stand”). Same thing for sports related questions.

  1. Personal logs should be kept in profiles and off of sub forums because they just clutter everything up (or create a new sub forum for them)
  • If profiles are required to be maintained in profiles (and people think they will be forgotten or go unnoticed), you can add a function to “nudge” a fellow poster you respect to get his feedback on.

I’ve never run a website, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.[/quote]

I agree with everything written here…including the blonde in the bat outfit…in spite of the fact that her ass appears to be slightly deficient.

In fact, I vote for more ass in all pictures.

169

[quote]Sewerhooker wrote:
If I remember correctly it wasn’t such a success. The problem with having a forum consisting of ‘knowledgeable members’ is the overall lack of traffic it generates (as was the case). Experienced trainees ask fewer questions, stick to basics, don’t get caught up with the latest trends, and realize that ultimately you have to try something for yourself to see if it works for you.
[/quote]

But what you just mentioned is what would make it such a success. Then noobs would be able to see that anyone with a lick of sense isn’t doing BOSU exercises or other fads. The can read the meat and potatoes of what’s going on, without other clueless people interjecting with their thoughts on how our methods are “out dated” or inferior to their new plans they read in the magazine.

170

[quote]Professor X wrote:

I agree with everything written here…including the blonde in the bat outfit…in spite of the fact that her ass appears to be slightly deficient.

In fact, I vote for more ass in all pictures.[/quote]

Hey…could that be a new use for synthol?

171

[quote]Professor X wrote:

I agree with everything written here…including the blonde in the bat outfit…in spite of the fact that her ass appears to be slightly deficient.

In fact, I vote for more ass in all pictures.[/quote]

Damn X, your superpowers have improved to the point where you can now evaluate a chicks ass based on a front shot. The force is strong in you.

172

[quote]Professor X wrote:

In fact, I vote for more ass in all pictures.[/quote]

i second that and vote for the dog pound.

173

[quote]Sewerhooker wrote:
nephorm wrote:

I was in the old Dog Pound. I have nothing particularly valuable to say about training or nutrition. I believe I was let in because I had been on the forum long enough to prove that I wasn’t a liability.

Now, I’m not even saying that I should be admitted to a new Dog Pound, were it created.

I was also a member of the original Dog Pound.

If I remember correctly it wasn’t such a success. The problem with having a forum consisting of ‘knowledgeable members’ is the overall lack of traffic it generates (as was the case). Experienced trainees ask fewer questions, stick to basics, don’t get caught up with the latest trends, and realize that ultimately you have to try something for yourself to see if it works for you.

If the powers that be are listening I would instead recommend:

  1. Changing the current sub forum names to:

-Strictly Bodybuilding
-Sports Performance
-Beginners
-Women (consolidate)
-Over 35

Ditch “Rate my physique”

Keep the other off topic sub forums

A handful of selected “poster mods” could be granted permission to move (not delete) certain threads to their correct sub forum.

This way “noob” questions will be moved to the correct forum (which will also let the person know “where they stand”). Same thing for sports related questions.

  1. Personal logs should be kept in profiles and off of sub forums because they just clutter everything up (or create a new sub forum for them)
  • If logs are required to be maintained in profiles (and people think they will be forgotten or go unnoticed), you can add a function to “nudge” a fellow poster you respect to get his feedback on.

I’ve never run a website, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.[/quote]

I also do think this route would be useful, including the forum for logs or just use the blog in your profile. This is pretty much what I mean by by a finer delineation of forums or sub forums. If people had somewhere to post all the stuff that winds up in the bodybuilding forum maybe we could actually have bodybuilding discussion there.

Rainjack is the first to outright state that T-Nation is now a general fitness site which to me reflects on the population of the world, not the weeniefied nature of the site honchos. That being the case where are the hordes of people who are unavoidably going to be here who do not want to be big supposed to post if there isn’t a forum for them?

For me it’s people’s attitude and goals that should define where they post more than how necessarily advanced they may or may not be.

174

I vote for the ever classy never trashy
DAWG POUND

175

Vote Yes

176

[quote]Sewerhooker wrote:

A handful of selected “poster mods” could be granted permission to move (not delete) certain threads to their correct sub forum.

This way “noob” questions will be moved to the correct forum (which will also let the person know “where they stand”). Same thing for sports related questions.

[/quote]

Another aspect of this that could/should be addressed is the listing of threads based solely on posting activity. The idea that the most recently active thread is on top and most heavily active threads stay on the first page is inherently flawed. Thousands of members can read a post, decide it’s not worth of comment and ignore it, only to have it bumped back up to the top of the list by one person posting (in many cases, the original poster bumping his/her own thread). There is a rating system for threads, but it doesn’t seem to be used heavily, forums can’t be sorted by rating, there are apparently no published rating guidelines or standards, and the 0-5 star system is rather generic.

I would recommend the addition of a system akin to the flagging feature on craigslist or the digg/bury system from digg; some sort of system to allow members to determine which threads are quality and which aren’t; which stay up on the front page of the forum and which fall off or get removed. Even if it’s just an overhaul of the current rating system and the addition of the ability to sort by rating instead of recent activity.

Just my 2 cents. I could write a lot more about this but I’ve got work to do.

177

As I recall the original Pound was simply before it’s time, as the site was quite a bit more specialized and hardcore when I joined up.

I was much like Push when I came here…I read and listened for about a year before I felt like I had a right to say anything. More people should try that out, you might be suprised how fast the Forums clean up.

I think a new Pound could work, but it needs to be thought out well.

178

[quote]UtahLama wrote:
As I recall the original Pound was simply before it’s time, as the site was quite a bit more specialized and hardcore when I joined up.

I was much like Push when I came here…I read and listened for about a year before I felt like I had a right to say anything. More people should try that out, you might be suprised how fast the Forums clean up.

I think a new Pound could work, but it needs to be thought out well.[/quote]

True, I was posting on this site from it’s inception. I stopped for awhile, for various reasons. but whether or not here is a dog pound is irrelevant to me. There will always be problems with an internet forum that only moderation and enforcement of the forum rules will help.

179

[quote]Sewerhooker wrote:
nephorm wrote:

I was in the old Dog Pound. I have nothing particularly valuable to say about training or nutrition. I believe I was let in because I had been on the forum long enough to prove that I wasn’t a liability.

Now, I’m not even saying that I should be admitted to a new Dog Pound, were it created.

I was also a member of the original Dog Pound.

If I remember correctly it wasn’t such a success. The problem with having a forum consisting of ‘knowledgeable members’ is the overall lack of traffic it generates (as was the case). Experienced trainees ask fewer questions, stick to basics, don’t get caught up with the latest trends, and realize that ultimately you have to try something for yourself to see if it works for you.

If the powers that be are listening I would instead recommend:

  1. Changing the current sub forum names to:

-Strictly Bodybuilding
-Sports Performance
-Beginners
-Women (consolidate)
-Over 35

Ditch “Rate my physique”

Keep the other off topic sub forums

A handful of selected “poster mods” could be granted permission to move (not delete) certain threads to their correct sub forum.

This way “noob” questions will be moved to the correct forum (which will also let the person know “where they stand”). Same thing for sports related questions.

  1. Personal logs should be kept in profiles and off of sub forums because they just clutter everything up (or create a new sub forum for them)
  • If logs are required to be maintained in profiles (and people think they will be forgotten or go unnoticed), you can add a function to “nudge” a fellow poster you respect to get his feedback on.

I’ve never run a website, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.[/quote]

More good points especially about the more experienced lifters do waht works and don’t try every little new thing.

180

The more I think about this the more I would be happy with a “Post your fucking log HERE” forum. Every other post in Supplements and Nutrition is a V-Diet log, and frankly, I don’t give a damn. I know what the V-Diet is, I know that it works and I don’t need to read about a bunch of dumbasses that don’t follow the guidelines laid out by Shugs and then claim it doesn’t “work”.

I’m also starting to get confused about what exactly the “Dog Pound” would be. It sounds like a lot of people just want a place that weeds out the dumbasses, which I’m in favor of. But what else, and why? I can sort of foresee it becoming irrelevant once the newness and novelty wears off.

Personally, I’d much rather see the return of the Thinktank. Seeing Berardi, Lowrey, and DB battle over nutrition issues was better than porn.