...and arguments on this forum has certainly declined this year, apart from some notable exceptions (matt b., ben 4321, KriZ, Edna, mesostim and apologies to any others I've forgotten). I'm just waiting for the moment that someone replies to a well framed argument with ...'I'm gonna set my dad on you .. my dad's bigger than your dad'.....

Childish, but no more so than the thinly veiled personal vindictive or the dogged refusal to see another's point of view. There have been some absolute gems of put-downs, but I think that they have been harder to find than Scott's needle. Wit? Sarcasm? Debate? They seem to have vanished, or been absorbed into a new code of conduct that states that if you liked one housemate you must:
a/ have a pathological dislike of at least one other
b/ refuse to accept that your favoured housemate could have any flaws, and deny that your least favoured has the right to speak, move or even breathe without it being offensive in some way
c/ demand proof of snippets of conversation that happened weeks ago, and then, even if that proof is given, ague that it has been misconstrued.
d/ overuse smilies in posts, rather than using them to make a concise point
e/ include at least one howling spelling or grammatical error per posting.

A Blue Peter badge to those who have kept the art of witty repartee going amidst a wealth of banality.

Just seen your latest posting, MacattacK - sorry to have left you out of my list of stars.

Last year, there was so much to discuss that very few FMs bothered with minutiae. All the housemates had clearly-defined personalities, and there was plenty of on-screen activity to help us judge. We didn’t all come to the same conclusions, of course – that would have been no fun at all. But, we were enjoying the show (in a gory car-crash sort of way), and that helped us to enjoy the forum.

This year’s snorefest left everybody angry and bitter, and it’s been reflected here. I blame Endemol!

Thank you!

[SIZE=1](Was that a concise enough point to accentuate with a smilie? I'll get my coat... )[/SIZE]

eYE Putt a lot off time and HEFFORT Into my Gammer und speling. uNd eye Verly rareluly uSe SmILLies

I can see your point, John.

I have enjoyed almost every minute of being on these forums and my other half regrets ever sending me the url for digital spy.

But sometimes it gets so difficult to hold back from lashing out at these people who spoil it a bit. Yes I liked Jon, yes I disliked Cam. I hated Fed and have warmed to him post-BB. But that's what I watched the show for. I try so hard to back up my opinions with reasoned argument and I'm willing to hear any argument to the opposite and I also enjoy agreeing to disagree. All the HMs had their merits. Even Cameron!

It's just so tiring trying to remain calm and reasonable when faced with people which dizzy has mentioned on points b/ and c/. Point a/ is to be expected and the smilies only annoy me when they aren't used correctly. Point e/ hacks me off because of the pedant in me (I learned that irk from BBG and Pedantic ).

But this forum has been so much more interesting than BB4. Especially because of some of the stars that Dizzy mentioned and so many more besides (you know who you are). It's a shame that you haven't posted more Dizzy. I can probably guess your reasons as so many posters from last year have sat on the side lines this year - watching with the kind of morbid fascination that you would equally expect to see at the site of a car crash. I hope BB5 brings you all back in to the fold.

[DARIUS]Can you feel the love in this thread?[/DARIUS]

Oh, up yours big nose.

stil laffing

i changed my mind about fed too.

well dizzieblonde, i just do not like cam and i like jon. and most of it is ment tongue in cheek. I am well aware that Jon has flaws. And that Cam has not (yet?) killed anybody. And the smilies, i cant help it, they are they .. to the left ........ argh

Would i discuss something of elementary importance, global warming etc.. I would likely be serious. But after all its a TV Show.

Well, I try to keep things in perspective, and I'd have liked to post more often to give a reasoned view but have found it very difficult to be honest. If you try to be objective you're accused of being a fence sitter. If you do dare to challenge what you see as an extreme or unfair view you're often attacked or belittled. I've tried using what I thought was wit, but got accused of "misplaced sarcasm", or "sounding like Ian Lee" so have mostly given up. You have to be VERY strong to not feel upset when you're personally attacked, even if it is only electronically. Frankly, I feel that some posters are "internet bullies" (if there is such a thing), and not everyone is bold or able to shrug it off! Also, it sometimes feels rather cliquey - the "old-timers" of the forum seem to be allowed to say whatever they like without being challenged, whereas relative newcomers often have to tread on eggshells.

But having said all this there have been a few threads that offered some great debate, so on the whole I've enjoyed this year's forum.

P.S. I myself find the use of smilies welcome - unfortunately tongue-in-cheek humour isn't always obvious in this environment and with me being completely over-sensitive they help to clarify what is and isn't meant aggressively.

Take your points (and agree with you) matt b. And reading your posts, I know that when yu do use a put-down, you do it with flair, and often make me smile in the process. Sadly, some others seem to have lost their senses of humour.

Oh, and MacattacK - I felt guilty after for not posting more 'stars' such as swingaleg, but I didn't want my list to sound exhaustive, and so really just used the people who had impressed me just before I posted. I think that thinking about another thread (forgotten the name - it was about posts that had made people smile) there are more gems than I probably considered. It's just I do get so fed up with the 'let's generate a pointless argument' brigade.

Oooooooo! I'm a STAR!
Just heading off to the RI:SE Studdio to get my presenting job now!!!

Thanks for the mention anyway!
I think with me it's just a case of having written so much, one or two posts made sense !!!

I agree with this.

I would add that many of our most informed, argumentative & witty members from the BB3 days, just refused to be bothered with this year's effort. I would often see them sitting in the gallery, swap a pm with them asking them to join us only to be told that they felt totally bored & uninspired !

Thankee Dizzyblonde

I'm not surprised a lot of people from last year couldn't be bothered posting. This year I found the forums to be a lot more fun that the show itself.

Seconded. Last year there were brilliant lively debates.

Dizzyblonde I agree with the main body of your post particularly the refusal to see one anothers point of view - it has become childish. It's getting like a flipping cult on here and if you don't agree there are howls that people are being 'stifled' . Pile of crap.

Personally I feel last year's lot were far superior as were the put downs...with a few exceptions there has been no laughing my arse off this year.

Hats off to Mesostim, Eejay, AlrighMate and others who have kept up what a forum should be about.

Following on from this, the absence of many of the more intelligent and/or witty FMs has led to the Forum being dominated by chat trolls who on the whole were not present last year and were not, in most cases, even particularly interested in BB.

I found it quite hilarious how, without fail, we would see at least half a dozen threads discussing each and every event in the BB4 House. All the trolls competing with each other to be seen as the 'leader', starting the threads, being the most outrageous etc etc. It became almost impossible to have any sort of sensible or serious discussion without the trolls ruining it, shouting down the opposition etc.

Thankfully they are now beginning to move on as the 'flavour of the month' has now changed.

I wasn't a forum member last year (although I did read it from time to time - very impressed! ) so I can't comment on the atmosphere as BB3 was being shown. I completely agree with your assessment this year - BB4 has been thoroughly underwhelming on the whole and I think this accounts for the negativity of some of the threads.

Actually, I think BB4 was terrific up until Endemol started with the gimmicks and that sodding double eviction and by and large, the forum initially reflected that. I do get the impression that the overall feeling towards BB4's finale was one of great relief that it was finally over - a real test of loyalty.

Thanks Candice,..that's very kind of you to give me a mention.

But I will be the first to admit, that I haven't been that noticible since Federico and Jon were evicted,....after that, I simply couldn't be arsed.
The last four or five weeks,..I've just felt bogged down, and unable to write anything of much worth...I would post something every two days or so,...but my heart simply wasn't in it.
I think I even ended up resorting to getting involved with threads with titles like,.."Justine is as Fat as a Pig"

I enjoy reading your posts Candice, as you are a forum member I remember from last year and liked as a FM.

I wish I could have written better stuff over the last month or so,..but for the last few weeks I've just been bitter that BB4 got ruined by Gigi,....and It's hard to see BB recover from such a setback.

You might not have been a forum member last year,...but you're certainly one of the newcomers this year who I have enjoyed reading, and have contributed something of value to the forum...despite having to post in a generally negative atmosphere.

WOW,....you joined in May this year.
I joined about a year before you, and you will soon have nearly double the amount of posts I have already,...and I thought I was quite a prolific poster in the BB and IACGMOOH forums.

You'd see many good threads, just get going,..then some joker would jump in accusing somebody of not being grammatically correct,..or telling somebody to get a life,..get over it, sour grapes,..you're bitter,..are you watching the same show as me,..etc.....(And I'm sure there have been many other forum cliches which you could add here)

Thanks.


I have no life you see.

I must admit that I have done that - but only to trolls.

Thanks for the mention, dizzy

Like a few of the others here I started off all bright eyed and bushy tailed but the programme and the forum just ground me down and I contributed very little in the last few weeks

But here's a tip - what I did was not read any thread which had a HMs name in the title. ( I didn't stick to this 100 %, but as a guide. ) I'd lost interest in the HMs and these tended to be the threads which deteriorated into slanging matches, so I figured i wasn't missing much.

Anyway I survived, and live to fight another day !!

Well there is the occasion where it is completely acceptable.

That instance being, is when some smart alec swans in here to dazzle us with their intellect, then condemns another forum Member for their lack of educational experience and bad spelling,.....only to make some terrible spelling errors themselves.

Actually,..come to think of it, I can remember such an instance.

A poster came on trying to prove their verbal dexterity, and took issue with some innocent poster for their spelling and low educational standard.
However, this incredibly superior individual, who we were priveledged to see grace this forum, actually spelt "educational",...as...."eduational" ........some other guy pulled him up on this....so the poster tried to use his superior intellect to rectify his mistake by trying to edit the original spelling, so as to make things look like there wasn't a mistake in the first place.

Unfortunately, he needed to educate himself how to edit his own posts,..as it took him three attempts before he got it right, as it was blatantly apparent that he kept repeatedly "replying with quote" to his own post,....doh.
So not only does he spell badly,...he also can't edit posts for toffee.

It was a moment I particularly savoured, the poetic justice was so sweet to taste on that occasion..