Has Pet Talk Changed?

[iceyshiver21]

I mostly like how if we dont really like somthing and enough people feel the same way, paul or karen try and change it for us. I also love how the interact on here, because on all my oher message boards the moniters never reply.

[Kfamr]

lol @ how no one denied what i said. Guess i was correct. oh well.

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Originally posted by Randi
Concerning changes, I'd like that signatures was limited to a certain size, many of them I find way too big, they take up so much space in some posts. Some of them are very nice, but still ...

This is my only pet peeve I guess. Like Randi says, some of them are very nice, but.....

I really like the "international" flavor we have here. I've been on other boards before, but this is the only one that has so many from other countries. To me, this is a good thing because it brings different ideas and different viewpoints for us to all think about. Sometimes these different viewpoints can cause tempers to fly, but I guess that is to be expected when the whole world is on edge.

It has been a long winter, which doesn't help the tempers any, and we've had a run of bad news and pet deaths here at PT which may be lending itself to the "negative" tone that is being mentioned. Maybe we could all just relax a little and not take every little comment so literally or so personally. Listen with an open mind and realize that just because someone has a different opinion, it's not necessarily wrong - it's just different. Another thing that might help is if you know you are having a bad day and are somewhat testy - don't post! Turn off your computer and go do something that makes you happy instead of taking your frustrations out here.

I have no idea what everyone is talking about with people signing in under different names and such, but the thing that really bothered me recently was when someone gave AdoreMyDog's thread about Minnion being sick a one star rating. That is just plain mean, and if there is someway to find out who did that, they should be banned from here.

Other than that, I love it here. Everytime I stop in I find something to smile at and something to brighten my day, and those posts/threads that have a negative flair I just ignore.

So let's all be happy....and bring on the newborn kitty pictures!

[wolf_Q]

Originally posted by Kfamr
lol @ how no one denied what i said. Guess i was correct. oh well.

KayAnn! You know that's not true! You are one of my best friends!

[Kfamr]

Originally posted by wolf_Q


KayAnn! You know that's not true! You are one of my best friends!

you don't count

[Felicia's Mom]

I have never noticed people using more than one name.
Just about everyone is very nice on this board. One person rudely answered one of my posts without knowing all the facts. Thats what the ignore list is for.
It does bother me to see the bad spelling, on all boards not just this one. If I am not sure how to spell something, I look it up or use another word.

[rosethecopycat]

I love the PT.
I've never been down here on the general. I'm always over on the cat side.

Things I love are:

How it's divided into cats, dogs, pets, etc.

How the fire dogs come for special needs and condolences.

How concerned the people are for you and your pet.

What a wonderful job Karen and Paul do for us.

Things I don't love:

How anyone could right cruel things, without trying to mentor a new pet owner who may not know any better.

How sometimes people can get off topic.

How rudeness or fighting happens. (but this happens much less than I would imagine with 6000 people aboard)

How sometimes there are pictures of children or we are directed to links of their children with the pets.



What I love far out weighs the dislikes and find it no bother to move right over things I'm not interested in.

I always have a positive visit in PT. Although sad news can make me feel bad, that's part of being alive.

thanks to all

[Twisterdog]

Well, I haven't been posting here too long, so I haven't noticed anything different.

Well, maybe just a little ... it seems that maybe people feel a little more free to speak their minds and give their opinions lately. And I think this is a good thing, as long as it is done assertively, not aggressively.

When I first started posting here, I wasn't sure if I was going to stick around or not ... simply because it seemed that unless your comment was sticky-sugary-saccarrin-sweet, you'd better not even think of typing it ... JMHO. Now it seems like people are realizing it's ok to say, "Hey, I disagree, and here is why ...." That's a good thing; it's how we learn and grow.

Concerning changes, I'd like that signatures was limited to a certain size, many of them I find way too big, they take up so much space in some posts. Some of them are very nice, but still ...

I agree!!! Some of the signatures are HUGE, and if you are poor and have an old, slow computer (like me!), they take FOREVER to load!

lol @ how no one denied what i said. Guess i was correct. oh well.

I personally don't have a problem at all with you or your posts, Kfamr. I wouldn't take this thread so personally, if I were you.

How sometimes there are pictures of children or we are directed to links of their children with the pets.

I don't understand. You are offended because someone posts a picture of their pet with their child? Surely I'm misunderstanding you?!

[Cataholic]

I think Rose meant she felt is might be a safety issue to post pics of your children with your pets.

[Pam]

Originally posted by Cataholic
I think Rose meant she felt is might be a safety issue to post pics of your children with your pets.

Glad you helped to clarify that Cataholic. I personally love seeing pictures of children with pets. After all they are the next generation of furmommies and furdaddies and it makes me happy to see their lives being enriched this way and a love for animals being encouraged.

Originally posted by catland
I like some of the "new kids" - I wouldn't ever want Pet Talk to get too cliqueish with just the same group all the time. New people introduce us to new points of view, new locations and experiences and even religions and I'm ok with that. It's really fun to know that I'm chatting with people from all over the world

I also like hearing from our younger members. I enjoy their youthful exhuberance. Also, some of them occasionally have some serious problems and I feel like we're able to comfort them and help them.

My solution to Pettalkers that annoy me? I ignore them. I don't respond to their posts and don't even bother to open new threads started by them. This works for me. But hey, we're a community, there are always going to be personality conflicts - that's a part of life. Just as long as we keep our main focus - our love of our pets, then we all have common ground.

Hey, I couldn'd have said it better!!
I also like what Randi said:

Also, it would be nice to have a search feature where you could search for where the members come from - it could be country or state, but I realise that it would have to be typed into the members profiles.

Karen & Paul, thanks for this super forum, it is part of my life now, a part i couldn't live without anymore!!!

[L. Wayne]

I do not know how many of you take the time to surf the net. I have found that there are many other "cat-chat" forums to choose from. But I have not found one that is as kind, non- juidgemental, and helpful (and not to mention, busy) as these folks on Pet Talk. Considering the legalists and other trouble-makers, which can be spotted easily on most of the other forums, I'd say that we have been blessed with such a great bunch of folks on Pet Talk because I have seen a few posts from the know-it-all legalists. As long as we ignore them, they will leave of their own volition, because they soon find out that we are not interested in arguing with them. As far as allowing the younger members, they are all welcome, provided they do not argue with us "old folks". Of course there are those rare occasions when it is necessary to bar some from re-intering the forum. I believe that we had a case of this just recently.

Our moderators have their hands full and this is a credit to them, as they all have outside jobs, and then come home in the evenings and have to face the demands of this very active and popular forum.

I think the only thing I would change is how we place the smilies on our posts. I have not found a way to edit them into a post, although they can be taken out with ease. This may appear to be a minor thing, but us men have a more difficult time in presenting emotions to our posts, not like the girls, and therefore, I personally depend on them to help fix-up my messages. What I would like to see with the smilies, is that when it comes time to edit them into a post, (which I edit mine most of the time anyway) that we can insert an appropriate smilie without ereasing all message after it's position has been determined.

.......wayne

[Ann]

Wayne, you can always type them in by hand, you know! That's what I do since I hate having to interrupt my typing just to click one of the smileys.

[catlady1945]

I am fairly new so I don't know about any changes. I like the look of the site and it seems well maintained. I love the pet photos that people post, and pet, cat, dog of the day photos.

[smokey the elder]

Trying this again. Yesterday the PT glitch blocked my soapbox. Here goes.

First, this is one of the most polite, well-run site I've visited. For the most part, we can have spirited debates about many hot issues without it degenerating into a flame war. I've been on sites where people got in flame wars about CAT FOOD. Get a grip!

Second is my take on Internet communication. We depend solely on the written word, without any other cues like inflection and body language. Emoticons help but only to a point.

Because of this "one-dimensional" communication, rules and conventions have been developed. I think the best one is the admonition against ALL CAPS.

Many folks use abbreviations (u r here, for example.) This is from text messaging from cell phone screens and is spilling over. Like any language shift, it becomes more acceptable as it becomes familiar. My tenth grade English teacher would not have approved! This does not imply illiteracy, but with that in mind...

Many people here have English as a second language and I applaud that you are here. Before someones goes and disrespects anyone's grammar, spelling, etc. they should try to go on a Dutch, Russian or Spanish web site and try to write in that language.

Well so much for that soap box. I'm just interested in how folks communicate in different media.