Drama drama in DS today! Nice to have a few pages to catch up on.
I have to admit to being a hardcore lurker myself too!
Basically I work silly hours and by the time I get home all the chat has finished, it's not like in the old days (well, many months ago) when people use to chat to midnight and beyond!

Also, we made it to 100 pages today. Woo!

Several sambucas later, I am back. Well, it has been a day of somewhat anguished discussion. What does the future hold? Well, I don't want to follow the Jessica model and wrap up DS. We are leaders, not followers! But I cannot carry on with things in their current form. I take on board what has been said about off-topic chatter. I was one of the first to warn about this . It's reform or die! But I don't want this thread to die, or become a ghost like the other OTR threads.

All in all, plenty of food for thought. But a message to all regular posters: don't give up. This thread means a lot, which is why I joined.

I always read the thread, but it is nearly always nothing to do with Danielle. And no offence to most of you all, but I don't know you all, care free chatter is something I do face to face with friends.

I don't want the thread to die, but I'm not going to be posting random things just for the sake of it, I have better things to do. If it is something to do with over the rainbow or Danielle, or the occasional personal experience then I'm cool. But it should stay on topic as much as possible.

I think this thread will re awaken properly once Danielle is back out there, once the show starts.

Well, I've had a read of the forum too and there seems no great will to keep DS on. I am surprised by this. I joined DS after the forum, after lurking for ages, but I never thought this was the idea. I never thought the forum would displace DS totally. I love the forum, but was that the idea? I still firmly believe that the forum and DS can serve different, but not mutually exclusive, purposes.

Message received loud and clear. Off topic chatter has alienated people. I did warn about this a long time ago on the forum, but it was never properly addressed. We need to do something about this and quick, or the thread will become one which gets a few posts a week, which no one wants.

Ok, back to why we're here in the first place:

Here's a video of Danielle singing about rainbows, blue birds, chimney tops and lemon drops: Link

Nice one Baby! There has been a lot of navel gazing today. I know I started it but I have been quite shocked by the general mood.

After opening a can of worms yesterday, perhaps I had better state what I, personally, look for in DS. The weekends are when I get time to post. Therefore, I would like this to be an entertaining place at the weekend. I have many other forms of amusement but I would like DS to be a small part of that amusement. Other people will have a different vision but I can only state mine.

However, I sense a growing consensus that we should be like the remaining OTR threads. Kept alive with irregular posts, but with days or even weeks of silence. If that is the consensus, that will happen. I will say quite frankly that I want no part of a thread like that.

Right I've posted an idea for the future of DS on the forum, its not a final solution but hopefully something good will come out of it.

I read your idea. Am I missing something? Yesterday we were fighting for this thread. Now we seem to be disposing of the body! Of course I will have to accept the overall mood, but I don't understand how fight turned to surrender in so short a time.

Apologies. I hadn't read your last forum post. I was referring to your post last night, which seemed to go against what we had agreed before.

No, I've woken up today with a determination to find a solution!!! We'll probably have to accept that our general chit-chat will have to slow down considerably, but I don't see why we can't find a general solution.

We need a way of converting general chit-chat into Dan related chit-chat??

But then my question is: Talk about what? We have talked about almost everything. If there isn't anything new than what is there to talk about? I like the idea of a sort of quiz, but i have a feeling that most of the regulars want to talk about news and not our personal opinion about OTR, WOO. But don't get me wrong i want this forum to keep going and i'll keep posting and helping.

I just put this on the forum thread but thought I would post it here:

Yeah Great idea Rob, I think whenever there has been Danielle specific topics, questions and quizzes it always gets things going on there, and gets the lurkers and the original posters out.
Another option is to create a second Danielle Hope thread on DS just for the random chatting stuff, like a place to socialise a bit. And then leave the main thread on there for less often use but just for discussing news, when people meet Danielle, go to the show, or if there is a topic of discussion or quiz related to Danielle? So you could call it Danielle Hope Fans Social Thread or something, or perhaps we can think of something more mafiaesque!
That way you guys can keep up the DS community spirit going too, which I have valued! I am sure others will chip in to a convo thread now and then too...
I do understand the strong feelings as DS is very close to my heart too and I would like it to continue being part of our expanding amazing community.
dhf


I definitely dont think any of us are or will 'give up' on DS. It is just that its role is changing a bit and we need to work that out. I hope you lot will all stay on DS as I enjoy lurking and all the enthusiasm. But I do think having the 2 threads mihgt help somewhat to get the lurkers/original posters back to the DHAT a bit more? or maybe not. It might be that people just had more to say durign the show or are just mainly on the forum now. But I think this could be worth a try. I think there will be as we said yesterday, quiet times. And then sudden exciting surges e.g. things like insperanza, palladium debut, royal variety etc etc.

The first place I am coming to when I get home from the show on 2nd March 2011 is here!

Put as simply as possible....

1.Random chit-chat (thread doesn't bring any new or old members in, therefore we're back to where we started)

2. quizzes (hopefully attract some other members who'd like to voice their opinion, also keeps us on topic, if you can't think of what to talk about I could name dozens of questions to ask, last time I did questions we got pages of conversation and the thread was alive)

3. do as Emma said on the forum, make another thread for chit-chat and call it something like 'The mafia room' this way we've got a thread for discussion (pleases all) and a chat room (pleases all who like conversation).

If there are more options please do share them...

Right this isnt going to make me popular but I cant not say it. Sorry if I offend anyone, its definitely not intentional.

I am really annoyed this morning reading some of the stuff on here and thats never happened before.

Yes we go off-topic but how on earth can we be expected to stay on topic all the time when we have no new topics to discuss and probably wont for at least another month. The forum has sections for this, where poeple can skip it if they dont want to read it but we on DS dont have different sections to work with. We have one thread and to keep it moving general "chit chat" will inevitably creep in.

I always liked DS because you could come in and discuss Danielle and talk to people who I did sort of consider to be virtual friends at least, the home of the mafia where we as group express our support for Danielle and for each other (like in the last weeks of OTR everyone backed each other up). Guess I was wrong about this, as most people seem to only consider this place to be about Danielle and not about the mafia fan group in general.

Plus I really think its unfair that we (the regular posters) in a way are getting blamed for alienating people when all we were really trying to do was keep DS moving. I personally was trying to keep the thread alive by any means possible. If some of the people who are criticising us have anything Danielle related to post to at least start a topic/discussion then why didnt they do it, that would have broke us from general chit chat that seems to have so annoyed them.

I know this post is harsh, unconstructive and probably uncalled for but this is the first time ever I have ever considered not posting on this thread again and i really never thought id say that. Hopefully this feeling will go away soon because I really do consider this thread to be home on DS

ETA: It took me so long to word this that I havent read some of the suggestions above, so will do that now.

Lemmo, I want to say how much I agree with the general tone of your post. I am not in the blame game, but why are we being made to feel like we are guilty of something? What have we done? We have kept the thread going. There has been off topic chatter but that is a fact of life on DS. Spamming has stopped and there has been good talk about Danielle as well.

I share your annoyance, Lemmo, and I know I can meet you on Siophie, but my personal plea to you is for you not to abandon the thread. Well, at least talk to me first! You are passionate about this thread and it is passion which will keep this thread alive.

In short, things have not been as bad on this thread as some people are trying to make out.

Like you, I will ponder some of the constructive suggestions.
Last edited by sonnycorleone : 10-10-2010 at 12:17

I think chit chat will inevitably creep in on any thread and it would be ridiculous to try to ban it! Also I like the social side of things on here too so am happy for that to continue and to be part of it. I just think having the two threads would be a good solution. One will 'generally' be on topic (as described above) and one 'generally' more social/community/mafia chat etc. That might help to bring back lurkers/old posters more to the original thread? which is what we have been asking for this week.

I really love everyone on DS new and old and value being part of the mafiaaaaa!!!

Maybe we should wait for some more views on solutions before making decisions - and then if we did try something new it could be a trial basis.

dhf

Happy to consider any suggestion motivated by affection for the thread. I had always assumed that the silence of old posters was a generally benevolent silence. Lack of time etc. I am now having to take on board that there is such a thing as a hostile silence.

Thanks Sonny, I just hope we can sort this out soon. I really have enjoyed this thread and although we do have other threads to meet on its not the same tbh.

I hope so too. The thread will be what we make of it. I have never seen this as purely a news thread. It has been a thread where, within reason, people can interact. I accept the off topic chatter has got out of hand at times but at least we have made this thread a lively place to be.

Sorry 'hostile silence' no idea where this has come from.
People on here were asking where all the old posters have gone and I just suggested why I and a couple of friends have moved on.
I loved this thread and I always came here first when I knew there should be news. I still do but the news is so difficult to find that I have almost given up and I don't give up easily, especially when it involves someone like Danielle who deserves as much support as possible. All I was saying that there are hundreds more posters and lurkers on here than on the forum and to try and get them back there needs to be somewhere that is fairly relevent to Danielle.

Really feeling as though I shouldn't have bothered but the question was asked.
There was no hostility intended and a certain amount of chat is fine.

OK guys now I'm really annoyed and it's not for the same reasons as lemming. I'm annoyed because I think you guys are making way too big a deal of this. Let ds be. People are talking and I don't think it will die. We'll get spasms of news every couple of weeks or so and people will flood back but this conversation about how to sort it out is frankly boring me. You're all having an unnecessary conversation. People have lives ok? We are going to school or uni or work. We have friends and family. Now that the appreciation for Danielle is expanding it's lovely but people just don't have time for it. For me personally the first place I check after school is facebook and then ds. I appreciate ds a lot more than the forum and it will always be my first home. Just let it run it's own course ok? Please enough of these silly conversations. It's just not needed.

I do agree with some elements of this, I also tbh think people have supported Danielle and then moved on to other threads for the likes of BB, Strictly and X factor etc.

Whatever will be will be.

Right I've made my decision!!! This whole debate is ******* pointless, the thread was perfectly fine before hand therefore it doesn't need changing. All this debating has just made everyone annoyed and frustrated with each other, which is quite stupid to be honest. We'll have to accept there will be days when the thread doesn't move, days when all there are is chit-chat and days when there will just be Danielle news chat!!!

This is the way things will always be...live with it!!!!


Now on a positive note, the sun has finally appeared!