Guys, this forum is great, I really appreciate it, but, it's SLOW.

[Denninmi]

Certainly no fault of our very helpful leaders and prominent posting members, who do a great job.

I just wondered if there were a way to pique some interest in the group, and perhaps get more traffic, more members, and more discussion of issues big and small.

OTOH, there are many groups on DU a lot slower than this, so perhaps I should see the glass as half-full?

[lumberjack_jeff]

1. Your contributions have been great.

Exercise, diet... those mundane, real life kinds of things don't get discussed here as much as I would have thought.

Personally, I think "man" is bit of a dirty word around here. All that is needed for meta is the addition of a bit of straw to create a windmill at which to tilt.

It gets plenty of readers (looking for something to alert on)... what we need is more contributors.

[Denninmi]

2. Thank you. Nice to feel wanted, actually.

Alas, I'm kind of at a loss to think of anything else to post that would be interesting to discuss.

I wonder how many guys even realize there is a Men's Group on DU. I know I have browsed through some of the groups at times and was surprised to find many groups I didn't know existed.

[NRA_SUCKS]

3. for some it's fear of posting and being banned

posting the truth, not opinion, but the factual, demonstrable way things actually are in the real world will get you banned if they don't match up with the established "truth".
posting here is dangerous to some of us.

that and as noted, real life tends to get in the way.
Mine has been such a cluster fuck that I just haven't had the energy, so i rage in quiet at acceptable injustices.

after all men have no value in this day and age. we are but fodder for the cruelist insults and the like. and even that statement of truth make me afraid i'll be attacked and possibly banned.

while this group is wonderful, and im glad it was finally allowed to exist, it is by no stretch of any imagination a safe haven to be men. we all have to parse our words carefully.

sadly it's still one of the best places for LIBERAL men to post their concerns about life AS men on the internet.

I'd better stop at that or I may say something unacceptable.

[westerebus]

4. I lurk here often.

Just my take, the animosity shown on DU by some related to men in general and several posters here in particular may have the effect of defensive non posting. May be it's just my perception, but the war that raged on for some while is still on, just in a lower register of causalities.

The focus currently on evil guns and the people who own them is more to the liking of some, hence the lull in the fighting as the troops are occupied else where.

Keep up the posting. The rest of the tribe is around even if you don't always hear us. You know, the strong silent type.

[Agschmid]

7. I also lurk...

I enjoy reading the posts but I do disagree with some of the posts, I'll try to get more involved I guess.

[Warren DeMontague]

5. Yeah, you're right. A certain notorious now-banned poster complained endlessly that one of my jokes

got a DUzy (remember those?) while her joke at something I wrote, basically about how "someone might read it anyway" even though it was posted here in TMG didn't receive the acclamation that person, and her enormous ego, felt it should .... well, the joke was funny (not DUzy funny, but still..) and yeah -she was right about one thing- it was spot-on.

This is a small group, not terribly exciting, granted. It's here for people who want it or need it. I do think that the group has suffered from being misrepresented elsewhere on DU since DU3 came on line, to the point where some people have, at times, demanded the group be shut down completely on the basis of total falsehoods posted by others about it, which bore no relation to (in fact, were 180 degrees opposite from) anything anyone actually said here.

So, it is what it is.

Also, there are many groups on DU which serve as focal points for complaining of one sort or another, other groups which generate action because they contain factions which battle each other (obvious examples spring to mind) and as such they see a lot more activity. This group, to my mind, really falls into neither category.

[HuskiesHowls]

6. I have to agree with what others have written.

I don't post in here, because I know that the lurkers here would have a hey-day with my posts. They do so with innocuous posts, so some of mine would REALLY set them off!!

I know the truth of my life. I know what I believe, and why I believe it. I also make observations about others, about their postings, and know that to voice those observations would get me banned almost immediately. Instead, I live by one of the corollaries to Murphy's Law: A pipe gives a wise man time to think, and a fool something to stick in his mouth.

I do a lot of reading, and I do have questions about some things. I would like to get them answered, but, due to the atmosphere on this site, I don't dare ask them. So, I have joined other forums for men on the internet, and I'm happy to be involved elsewhere.

I remember when this group was started, back on DU2. I read some of the derogatory comments made about it then, and realized early that it could not possibly be a place to have good discussions about real issues that men may have. So, I lurk a lot, and post infrequently--and non-controversially.


And yes, I did a lot parsing of what I've written, and most of this post has been re-written several times to ATTEMPT to be non-controversial while still cogently adding to this discussion.

[lumberjack_jeff]

8. It is what it is.

We aspire to be a place to talk about issues of interest of men, but in reality it is limited to a subset of those issues.

... which is okay, really. There are lots of places to talk about cars and hunting and WWF and divorce court and ska... err.. ex-girlfriends of poor ethical constitution. Despite the cultural limitations, we still have good conversations.

I'm proud to be a democratic guy, (I like myself on both counts), and this place is one of the reasons.

The tone of discussion on DU is significantly improved from the situation even a few years ago. I think the persecution directed at the group has proven to many DU'ers that those who pushed for its creation had a valid point.

[NRA_SUCKS]

11. note me?

I'm interested in the other places you go.
I hope they are still of liberal mind, but more of a safe haven for one to speak one's mind, even if it's a emotional rant.

[Upton]

10. I'll just echo what some others have said..

when you're not supposed to discuss anything controversial, it limits the conversation..

[opiate69]

12. Yeah... sorry I haven`t been around much the last couple of months...

Been in the middle of a financial perfect storm that`s been brewing since last April... life`s kinda being a motherfucker right now, but, we`ll be fine and I`m still kind of around.