Power of the Forum

[Swinging bee]

I was wondering....... Just how much power does the forum have to influence what goes on in MJ?

Are the opinions of forumites a proportionate view of the whole of the MJ scene?

I have met many people who deride the whole ethos of the forum. Does this mean they have a different view on the MJ scene?

But there are others who value the Forum....are we a minority? What proportion are we in a percentage I wonder!

What has been the general reaction disclosing to someone that you are "on" the forum who themseves is not, or even heard of it for that matter.


It would take a carefully structured poll perhaps to evalute where we stand....What are your thoughts? Are we a bunch of oddballs? .....
(lights the blue touch paper and retires)

[philsmove]

http://72.232.2.194/~fpauly/forum/showthread.php?t=7428

This poll shows fewer than 5 % of us are beginners

I would guess more than 50% of the dancers in Bristol classes are beginners

So NO we not representative of the average class

But very few beginners go to events so we might be representative
Of intermediates and above

[David Franklin]

Originally Posted by Swinging bee

I was wondering....... Just how much power does the forum have to influence what goes on in MJ?

Are the opinions of forumites a proportionate view of the whole of the MJ scene?

Are these two questions supposed to be related? After all:

• Are the opinions of Mike Ellard a proportionate view of the whole of the MJ scene?
• How much power does Mike Ellard have to influence what goes on in MJ?

[under par]

My thoughts for what they are worth are that forumites are in general rather more obsessive about their dancing hence using the forum to get further fixes.

The longer the forum has existed the more time there has been for the obsesive few forumites to become extremely talented dancers/DJs etc and then organisers and teachersor DJs and therfore start to become part of the establishment of MJ.

Examples of this are Andy McG, Will, Ceroc metro, Dance Demon, Mikey, Gordon J Pownall, Sheepman, TWK, Dancing teeth, Keith from C2D, Angelina, Tiggerbabe, Silverfox, Bradders Lounge Lizard, Hitman, Trampy etc etc etc many many more out there but I hope you get my drift.

Not all are at the same level or have the same skills. All there bioraphies are varied but a high proportion of MJ establishment are now forumites and most will use the forum to sample opinion or attempt to create opinion oppurtunities for their own ends.

It is a fantastic virtual reality where we all go to meet our mates and organise our real dance lives, or just have an argument or a laugh.

Long live the Forum

Franck

[David Bailey]

Originally Posted by Swinging bee

I was wondering....... Just how much power does the forum have to influence what goes on in MJ?

Loads. Buckets. Oodles. More power than a really powerful thing. No, really. I'd say about 3035.45 power, give or take.

OK, OK... it's the only decent-sized Ceroc discussion group, so clearly lots of people who are involved in the MJ scene are aware of it, and make use of it for marketing and research purposes. In fact, lots of people who are involved in the MJ scene are forumites, posting occasionally or regularly. So presumably those people think the Forum is a useful tool for those purposes.

Originally Posted by Swinging bee

Are the opinions of forumites a proportionate view of the whole of the MJ scene?

Absolutely not. I think it's fairly well-established that most forumites are committed (!) dancers, and most MJ attendees aren't.

Originally Posted by Swinging bee

I have met many people who deride the whole ethos of the forum. Does this mean they have a different view on the MJ scene?

But there are others who value the Forum....are we a minority? What proportion are we in a percentage I wonder!

Honestly, why does it matter? It's a discussion group to talk about things - as long as there's enough people to talk about things, I'm happy. The misrepresentation thing is only relevant if you want to find out about the MJ scene in general, or if you want to mount a campaign for change.

Originally Posted by Swinging bee

What has been the general reaction disclosing to someone that you are "on" the forum who themseves is not, or even heard of it for that matter.

I dunno - I don't honestly recall ever doing such a thing. It seems a strange thing to do, to me. I mean, do people go up to other people and say "Hi! I'm on the forum!"?

This thread discusses Forum power - I think the conclusion was that Ethel was the one with all the power, as the only public Ten-ite. Seems a completely sensible conclusion to me.

[Swinging bee]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Swinging bee
Are the opinions of forumites a proportionate view of the whole of the MJ scene?

Absolutely not. I think it's fairly well-established that most forumites are committed (!) dancers, and most MJ attendees aren't.



Then are you saying we are the elite? and therefor have a different and more political view to the " turn up and dance majority"

[David Bailey]

Originally Posted by Swinging bee

Then are you saying we are the elite?

Well, I am, obviously. Everyone else is just a pleb.

Seriously, am I saying that? No, certainly not - there are loads of superb dancers who aren't forumites. They're probably out dancing rather than posting on the forum though.

I think that most forumites are more... intense... about dancing than the average MJ-er. That doesn't mean we're any better at it of course.

Originally Posted by Swinging bee

and therefor have a different and more political view to the " turn up and dance majority"

Yeah, possibly, in that many (most?) forumites have some sort of commercial interest in MJ - crew, teachers, venue managers, franchise owners etc. So there's bound to be political discussions.