When non-tickling related clips get posted here, the same arguments in defense of it seem to come up. The four that I have noticed most often are along these lines:
1. This clip is of something in the mainstream world, so therefore it's OK to post here since this is the Mainstream Clips section. That's what 'mainstream' means.
2. As long as the clip is labeled as non-tickling, it should be OK to post since people can easily move past it.
3. Some people here liked it, so it should be OK.
4. We should tolerate other people's preferences that are different from our own.
I basically disagree with all of these arguments and here is why point-by-point.
1. The history of the Mainstream Clips section as well as its description "Post your video clips of mainstream tickles here!" indicate that the Mainstream Clips section is for tickling-related clips.
2. Even if all of the off-topic posts are marked as such, and they haven't been, people go to specific sections of this site looking for specific types of postings. There are 25-30 different sections within the entire Tickling Media Forum site. Why not just have one giant forum for all posts if each person is expected to just skip the postings not of interest to them? While there were only a few non-tickling clips posted to this forum this week, a year ago there were virtually none. The frequency with which non-tickling clips have been posted has increased quite a bit lately and I think if allowed to happen, this trend will continue.
3. For just about any clip you can find at least one person that likes it. By that logic, it should be OK to post just about anything. There are probably people here that like cars, so how about car-related clips? I know there are people here who like music (as demonstrated by a recent post), so why not have everyone post clips of their favorite music. Or bastinado clips? Those always draw a lot of responses (few positive as I recall).
4. I don't see this as a tolerance issue; instead, I think that some people come to this section for its advertised purpose (see my first point) and expect to find clips that match that purpose. This isn't like the times when someone complains about a legitimate tickling clip just because it doesn't match his preferences. For example, someone who prefers upperbody tickling may complain about a clip that focuses on tickling the feet. I think that is a legitimate case of a lack of tolerance.
I once got chewed out for posting a split file at TickleTheater (the other tickling forum) in the section for complete clips. At the time, I didn't realize that a separate section existed for clips that had been split. Now if I post split clips, I do so in the section devoted to such to respect the rules and the other people who visit the forum.
I think that one reason that the tickling forums have succeeded while the newsgroups devoted to tickling have died off is that the rules of the forum have been largely adhered to. When someone has posted something off-topic or inappropriate, which typically has meant posting something tickling-related to the wrong section of the forum, the moderators have stepped in to correct the problem. I don't blame the moderators; it would be a full-time job to try to catch every inappropriate or off-topic clip and I doubt any of the moderators are being compensated for their efforts. In fact, we wouldn't really need moderators if everyone adhered to the rules. And that's one of my points; if we start having a free-for-all, I'm not sure how the forums will be any better than the newsgroups.
nimrod
