This is a x-post from the Suggestions Forum.....just to see if any other members may think this is a good idea:

I am SOOOOOOOOO tired of reading debates about "cake mix vs. scratch" and "legal bakers vs. at-home illegal bakers" that it would be nice to have a specific forum for debates. Then, the moderators could just move the thread to the debates forum if any thread gets a little "debate-ish". Any thread that gets off-topic or gets heated would then have a place to go.

I have noticed that the same members are involved almost every time that there is a debate. This would give those members that enjoy debating an outlet to vent their opinions without it taking over all of the other more positive threads where most CC'ers just want to read and learn.

PLEASE JUST CONSIDER THIS!!! Thanks for reading!

Hi Derby,

You need to pm Jackie and Heath about this

Yeah, I agree SugarCreations... that's asking for trouble. There is no reason to be arguing & being ugly to others. To me there is no room on CC for any of it. It's a shame that our moderators have to be the refrees & babysitters to hateful CCers all the time. I think Heath is doing a great job of putting a stop to the ugliness that goes on~

Your suggestion is meritable, but there are just too many factors to consider - the maturity level, defense mechanisms, and control issues that participants may have. There have been so many threads that ended up in ugliness lately, that I am not sure this would work.

Theresa

I don't mean to degrade your suggestion, but that would just incite unnecessary arguments and would cause a lot of trouble for Heath and Jackie, as they'd have to pretty much be locking every debate forum thread.

A paradox here!

hey lets debate about it!

LOL....I agree with you all! I don't want ANY ugliness on CC at ALL......I'm just tired of all of the debates lately. Heath and Jackie do an AWESOME job with locking the ones that get out of control. I just wish that the threads would go away when they begin debating the same old junk over and over again. I don't mean that the debate forum should encourage ugliness, just that any thread that turns into a debate could be moved there. If it got ugly, then have the same CC rules apply for locking it.

I want it to be easier to avoid the annoying threads. I guess that I'm a dreamer, though.

It seems like the same old people are involved in every thread that goes "wrong". GRRRRRR...

I want CC to be my happy, helpful hideaway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR REPLIES!!!

This is intended with humor and love for my fellow CC'ers.

I think people who feel strongly about certain issues should register their own domains:

www.theresnothingwrongwithcakemix.com
www.scratchisbest.com
www.homebakersunite.com
www.licenseddecoratorsonly.com

I like it here...where we talk about cake.

dear kellym,

You forgot the most important forum group of all:

www.iknowiknowitall.com

LOL!

Theresa

LOL!!! That's the spirit!!

Ya'll's sooo funny!

Aww tm, you stole my web address If only!

I agree with the poster - some people actually like debating, don't get sensitive about it and have a harder hide than others and it would be good to have a place for those people to sound off without offending people and without worrying about everything they say.

I think the idea is nice and if used properly would work. Unfortunately, we have had a lot of arguing and mean spririted conversations going on here lately at CC and I think that a debate forum would only increase this. I just try and stay out of these awlful posts. Although, it is hard not to want to step in and stop people from being so mean and rude to each other. What has happened to us here at CC? Just must opinion!

I'm still fairly new to CC, but I just want to apologize if I have said anything in any of my posts or replies that might have been taken the wrong way. Cake decorating and making desserts is a passion of mine and I just love looking at the wonderful pics on here and learning from people that know a lot more than I do. I'm a southern girl through and through and sure don't want to offend people; but my DH (and most people that know me) tells me I have a weird sense of humor, so please don't take anything I say wrong.

I think that we should help the moderators put an end to any posts that have turned nasty by reporting them as "Bad posts" (bottom right hand side of each post). If we just did this, they will soon get to know the regular mean spirited people and then Heath can remove the people who could not "play nice with others" (which I have noticed he has done recently)

We are here to Help each other and we sometimes do this by stating our opinions which is perfectly fine to do. Its just the "attacking" that needs to be stopped. Because there are always new people joining our community, we will always see the same debates pop up over and over again.

I think we could ask for the common topics to be put as sticky posts in the top of the General section so new threads about the same things eg, scratch vs boxed mixes etc. would be less likley to be rehashed. If a post in the sticky post gets nasty and is reported then the moderators could remove that post and the thread could continue. Maybe the removed post could be replaced with "post removed by moderator - play nice or you won't be allowed to play!!"

Take care everyone and have a happy and safe holiday!

~Sandra

Don't we all just love cake? No matter if I make it or Betty Crocker does? Why do people argue over things that don't matter in the big picture? I think the haters and the arguers will always be haters and arguers so can't we all just get along.....and eat cake
ha ha ha
Seriously.....
Feeding the argument fire just makes it burn higher and brighter. Moving the arguments to a special argument place won't make them stop. So as my mom used to tell me.....ignore it! If somebody posts a thread that is annoying, argumentative, or hostile and nobody responds.....then they are stuck arguing with themselves.

Let's all just talk about cake and help each other be better decorators.

Oh and let's eat cake too

I think it is really sad when people get down right mean and rude and so I have decided to just click that post off my screen and move on to the next one when I see that going on. I see no reason to get myself upset over what others think and/or do.

I love this hobby of baking and decorating and I don't want to become taken back because some I don't even know may not like what I do or how I do it.

So if others want a debate place that is fine with me. I won't be going there. If we don't have a place and it starts to go on well I won't be hanging out there either.

There are way to many good fun helpful posts to read and I have enough stuff in my life to get upset over. I surely don't need cake and baking to become one of those.

Just my point of view.

When I first found this website, I found the debates interesting and educational ..... so many views, so many experiences! Maybe the debate is useful for those who have just discovered CC and for the first time are hearing both sides. Eventually you find that the topic is repeated so it's easy to just skip over them because since you've now been on the site for awhile, you just know there's no "new" information in those posts.

And I agree that Heath does a great job. There's been a couple that I've read lately and found myself thinking, "uh-oh, Heath will be shutting this one down" and sure enough, the last post is from Heath!

I just dont understand why things have gotten so crabby lately- and i guess that just ignoring it and moving on to something else is the answer- but gosh it feels really bad to get jumped on for a comment that wasn't meant with ill intent geez!!!

I have been staying awat lately because of the ill feelings- i used to spend hours here!!

As for me- I think it is a fine idea- but it seems like a lot of innocent posts are highjacked by "debates" and a lot of "inocent" people are feeling kinda bad about it all

That's why as moderators we take it seriously when something starts to go wrong. Also if we think a thread is starting to take a turn for the worst, we step in.

I think for the most part that are very few nasty threads, and they don't really ruin this site. If something nasty is going on, report it, and move on. The moderators do an excellent job.

Plus, sometimes people are just sensitive and others are more open and verbal, so of course, things will get heated even discussing a mundane topic.

Even if there are alot of repeat threads about common topics that most of don't even want to go near, there are new people and new insight, and debating the merits of something is not a bad thing. If there's a topic you're bored with, then don't look at it. This site evolves, and as long as we're respectful of each other, it is possible to disagree with someone. It's not the end of the world.

As for a specific debate area, I don't know. Might be interesting to see how that would go.

Angie

thank you all for your replies!!!

Just want to reitereate that I am NOT interested in fueling any fires or causing/creating debates. I would just love to see it shifted to its own place so that those of us who want to see less debating can just avoid the debate "section" instead of accidentally bumping into it all the time.

The moderators do a TERRIFIC job! I think that this would just be an added tool for them to just move a thread into the debate forum for those people that love debates.

I know that the ugly people will always be ugly people. But, people who love a debate and love to express their stong opinions could then have a specific forum to do so separate from those who just want to relish in the learning process and fun of cake baking/decorating.

Can't we all just get along?



Uh, NO!

That is why I believe that we should go with this ingenious idea! Kudos to you for thinking up this idea. Wait! I am bummed I didn't think about it first! Whaaaaaaa! Wait! I DID! You stole my idea! Hey, I want to fight about this! Put me in the Debate Forum! LOL!!!!!!!!!!

(Just teasing you gals! Please don't send a bunch of PM's....I am playing!)

For some people the whole idea behind this website goes right out the window sometimes. We all need to remember why we are here. I have an old saying that goes "there are experts everywhere but there is always something they don't know" and I will be the first to admit that I get a little crabby when someone questions my info but after a few hard lessons its best to either just ignore the thread and move on or logout and cool off.

There is too much knowledge here both technical and otherwise to let hot heads prevail and thats what would happen in a debate forum of the type that is being suggested it would be especially tough on the moderators because their time would be consumed by the debate forum all the time making sure it did not go awry.

We are all adults here and as adults we need to learn to temper our need to strike first. Rational and calm debates can be found all over this board. I mean when someone ask about a mixer for example like whats the best one to buy? They have essentially started a debate.

Lets leave the debates to the news media and stick to what you all do best and that is CAKES.

Sorry to debate this

I remember exactly why I am here. I am here because one day I was searching online for a way to teach myself how to decorate cakes and I landed here in this WONDERFUL land of you terrific "cake people." I enjoy posting and reading others' posts so that I can participate in this cool world.

I have belonged to other boards that are 150% about cooperation, community and sharing of positive information. They had debate forums and they were considerably helpful. The moderators were the ones who created them and they made their job easier, not more difficult. The whole reason that I am suggesting this is because there will ALWAYS be people that want to debate. That's just life. I think that the debates deserve to be in a separate place so that the rest of us can MORE EASILY avoid them. It's really easy to SAY to "just ignore it," but if you're already reading a post, then you're already affected by it.

Thank you Sugarcreations for your reply! Here are some of my responses:

I agree, but I would much prefer to have a higher chance of avoiding the heated ones if they were moved to a place that I would avoid visiting.

I don't believe that relegating those debates (that are the same old rehash that always tend to go nowhere and get everyone's feathers ruffled) to their own place is allowing the hotheads to prevail. It would be sending the message that the stronger debates don't belong in the regular posts.

Well, apparently this post has created a debate. Well, adults don't always behave as they should. That's just simply how the human race is. Rational and calm debates are great and positive and helpful. We won't be able to stop people on CC that want to stongly debate from doing so. I don't believe that setting up a debate forum is an invitation to saying, "Come one, come all, let argue and fight like pitbulls and see who survives." It's just a place for debaters to debate without clogging up the other posts.

This would be nice, but it is absolutely impossible to irradicate the debaters. It's just not possible.

Cakesunleased wrote:

LOL... Put 'em up!