Show your Birth Certificate and take a Breathalyzer test before posting in 50+.

That breathalyzer thing could work either way. Which group are we going to exclude?

Be careful what you wish for! NOS responded to one of my posts recently and....Oh! I don't even want to think about it!

Posting drunk is half the fun.

My birth certificate is located in a foreign country currently not friendly to the USA...but I can get a fake one if you like. :D

If he were a moderator none of this would have happened.

So, it's come down to this...

Can't speak to any other issues, but as someone who just showed up here in the last couple of months, I've had no reason to feel unwelcome, nor have I had any occasion to feel abused, despite asking a lot of dumb newbie questions.

All in all, this seems to be a pretty civil place - and I've been hanging out with online communities for over 20 years, so I do have some basis for comparison! :)

Duh. It just dawned on my that our wonderful moderators must have found we had grown a bit boring of late and needed some stirring up so we would post more.

Fewer posters mean fewer pages and fewer page views mean less add revenue.

Easier to just drop a weight weenie bomb in the 41.

Or mention Grant Peterson.

You've been here long enough (yes, I know) to remember several years ago when this happened. It seems to go around every now and then.

My guess as to why there may have been few newcomers is the same reason why I seldom post here.
1. Too clannish (every time I see the word pie I cringe), though the list is much improved and less cutesy since the Koffee Klatch house cleaning of several years ago over the Diego dustup.
2. Too oriented towards Road Cycling technique and "how many miles did you/I ride today". Nothing wrong with these subjects but there is nothing 50+ oriented and if anyone wanted to read about those subjects there are other forums that already devoted to those subject. I tried discussing bike commuting years ago and got nothing but guff in return, the 50+ elders in charge did not deem it a subject of interest.

This.

Speaking of bike commuting, I'm sure I didn't make any brownie points here when I made a mention of getting a work out navigating urban traffic with a load of groceries on board.

Changes made appease the few, not the many. Oh well, back to Socialcyclists.

All of this talk about the 50+ being clannish, cliquish or irrelevant is nonsense.

This forum, like any other forum, is what people want to make it. Changing the forum's rules will not change the people who post here. IMHO, all that will be accomplished by changing the rules is to put a damper on an otherwise thriving online community.

Yeah, I don't get all the talk about pie. That, however, has not kept me from posting here (or elsewhere in BF).

I am an immigrant to this country (USA). I know a thing or two about being "excluded." I have never felt excluded here.

Now, for the love of God can someone please explain to me all this talk about pie. :D

This forum has been very instrumental for me at 53 years of age. It seems 50 is kind of a turning point generally speaking for most people because we are talking about a physical activity in cycling. Some people may age quicker and some slower but the air is more laid back and the opinions on certain subjects are vastly different than if they would be talked about on other younger forums. I contribute to the commuting and the 50's plus forums, and they are very different. You still get some of us geezers that think they are still young whipper snappers and have no respect for the people feeling their real age and thats great for them but time will catch up and things will slow down eventually. I'm not sure what problems the moderaters had but if things have to resort to getting heated, then yes, they should step in. The main difference with this forum is if your getting disagreements of any kind, you can bet that both sides are more than likely to have valid reasons for their opinions because it would be based on experience more than just ego. So most of the discussions are very useful and you have to consider everything presented.

In your opinion. Other people have expressed a different opinion. It is characteristic of those who identify with, and feel comfortable in, a small group that they are dismissive of any suggestion that others might find them insular and clannish. And, of course, describing other opinions as nonsensical is the best possible way to show how much you wish to accommodate different viewpoints.

Well, I consider the Bike Forums in general, and the BF 50+ forum in particular, to be very civil in nature.

I frequent a number of auto, motorcycle, and other "sporting" type forums, and what I sometimes see are people who, from the beginning, admit that they "know little or nothing" about "XYZ." Yet these same people (who are all too often "new posters") then proceed to argue and/or disagree with what experienced forum members have to say (this could be considered as being trollish behavior imo). But hey, I think everyone should be able to express their beliefs regardless of how much, or how little, experience they have (we always have more to learn right?).

Other issues might be centered around the posting derogatory comments that have absolutely nothing to do with being 50+, cycling, or anything to do with what someone else was discussing in here. I'm not interested in reading about how someone "dislikes their boss at their (non-bicycle related) job" here in these forums. But then again, nobody is forcing me to read such posts either.

Then there are the "hot" topics that almost always tend to stir-up "disagreement". These topics include, but are not limited to: helmets, disc brakes, chain maintenance methods, and other issues that seem to be clouded by personality driven beliefs rather than any real facts.

I'll also mention that accusing people and/or bike shops, etc, of theft and/or other criminal behavior has no place in public forums imo. This is especially true when the accused are not given the chance to defend themselves. The same might be said of posts that ridicule specific bikes shops and/or on-line retailers of bicycles and/or bicycle accessories and parts. The fact is that I've never seen any forum that allowed businesses to accuse certain customers of such behavior...

Note: I'm not perfect and, as such, I sometimes give advice that isn't the best (or that is completely wrong). Sometimes I'll admit that I'm wrong, while other times I simply learn and move on.

I also try to keep in mind that moderators are human beings just like those of us who frequent public forms.

Pie is integral to this forum. Integral.

Well, online communities are just that - communities - and reflect the makeup of the people that have chosen to associate themselves with that community. There will always be inside jokes, and there will be a predominance (at least amongst the active participants in an online community) of activities or orientation or preferences, and this can change over time as active members come and go. These are characteristics of any community, and to suppress them may make the group appear to be less "clannish", but also removes some of it's character as a community. For me, if I were into commuting, or mountain biking or whatever my specialty is would encourage me to seek out like-minded folks within the community, not be put off by the fact that most of those who are active seem to be into something else. That's how communities grow, expand and evolve.

There are some people that are shy, and easily feel excluded from any group that has a collective memory, recognizable personalities and established relationships. There's not much that can be done about that, the important thing is that there is respect for everyone whether they be a noob or an old hand, so that folks aren't actively discouraged from becoming involved. One thing that can happen is that people that have been hanging out together for along time (particularly the guys) can be absolutely merciless in ridiculing and teasing one another ENTIRELY in fun, but a newcomer may not pick that up not knowing the context, but again, that's the nature of a community.

Again, as a new guy around here, I would consider this forum "clannish" if my posts or questions were ignored because no-one "knows" me. That has most definitely NOT been the case.

It is covered in all conversational circles here.

Well that is your opinion. You are, of course, welcome to your opinion.

I believe, however, that the majority of posters here don"t share that opinion, nor do they have a problem with the current format of the 50+

To call something clannish, cliquish or irrelevant, without any proof or evidence is nonsensical.

Not all "opinions" carry the same weight nor are they entitled to the same consideration.

If I stood on a soapbox and claimed, without proof, that the world is flat...that would be an opinion and people would be entitled to call it nonsense and to call me a nut, or worse.

Thank you for the explanation...now I can sleep better at night. :D

Nicely put... :D

More observation than explanation. Please, sleep better at night. Dream of pie. (I've been on a diet of late, as I am actually 50+, and have had to remove desserts. I wax nostalgic.)

I suggest you ask the mods whether they have evidence of discontent with the current tone of 50+. You may be surprised.

Or not.

Until the mods tell us, everything is just uninformed supposition.

Yep...that is about right. :thumb:

I only allow myself pie at Thanksgivings.

I have been hit with a double-whammy.

50+ and diabetes.

I do, however, indulge in the occasional scoop of gelato.

Happy to be able to sleep better.

It would be inappropriate if they provided details of who complained about what...