From my vantage point, the "ugly period" as McGrath referred to this summer at Mudcat, seems to be a problem with truly obnoxious flaming and trolling by members.

Now, there ought to be a way for people to keep their threads on topic. Ignoring disruptive behavior in a thread is usually not that difficult, unless one feels they must engage with the person because they are accepted members of the forum. But one really doesn't need to comment upon another person's inflammatory posts, just because it's there. It can be ignored.

Shunning works. Those members who are currently showing a very ugly/very stupid side to themselves WILL change their behavior and do so quickly, if they are ignored consistently by everyone participating in a serious thread.

The strident religion threads are getting a bit tiresome.    I haven't seen a decent political thread in weeks now--it's all right wing screeds and trolling. And the Brit driven shite and rubbish threads are really a bore.

I'd like to say the music threads are a good alternative, but there hasn't been much of interest there either.

It seems like the forum has been taken over by lager louts and frat boy types. These are the times when Clinton Hammond's arguments for forum moderation might be listened to and appreciated.

This place is WAY out of control.