Many top instructors and top players shy away from posting content on AZB in fear of the avalanche of trolls that are sure to follow and knock. No one has the energy and attempting to help our community often results in far more trouble than it's worth. Forget the fact that many of these trolls can't play and can't teach -- it doesn't matter. It's a sociopathic desire to insult, knock down and chase off professional-level players, teachers and influencers of any value.
Top instructors and certainly nearly all of the pro-level players have chosen to jettison AZB in favor of social media, which is a tragedy for the forum and its community. It's a tragedy because it's avoidable and although it might be hard to fix, but it's not impossible to fix. Imagine a forum where the game's top players would post their thoughts on certain aspects of play. Imagine getting insight from a player as he/she discusses a recent win or loss and what they'd do to make adjustments in the future. At one time, this actually was a reality here at AZB but it didn't take long for a select few of know-it-alls to insult their writing style, their education level or imply they didn't know as much about pool as the legion of keyboard warriors who preyed on their every post.
Social media has spawned a comfortable environment from which they can self-moderate. With Facebook, as an example, if you become a thorn in someone's ass enough to make them turn purple, they can simply block you from their page. The end result is a healthy community of like-minded individuals whose only desires are to learn and engage with the top talent in the industry without the infinite loop of knockers and trolls.
Can AZB ever win them back? Can this forum ever change the atmosphere to be less toxic toward those who wish to share content? Clearly, "the internet is the internet," however, I think this forum can mimic many of the features of social media.
1) Invite all former and current top-ranked pro-level players back and give them moderator privileges in order to protect themselves. Someone can say, "Yeah, well, ____ posts here without problems." Sure -- I'm sure they do, but that's only because they can communicate in such a way on the forum that doesn't attract ridicule. Some players are insanely brilliant during play and knowledge, but they just can't convey it properly without the legion of pro-bashers and grammar police who come out of the woodwork. Should a player abuse that privilege, simply remove them from the player pool and the rights that go along with it.
2) Provide instructors their own sub-forums with moderator privileges within the sub-forum. Leave cesspool forums like "THE AIMING FORUM" be, just simply give instructors a private sub-forum from which to moderate their own discussion. That way, the 5 or 6 guys who pollute every single aiming thread can get kicked, allowing the group who want to learn....learn. Let instructors direct people from the aiming forum to his/her own sub-forum for uninterrupted discussion. Allow instructors to direct people from the Ask the Instructor forum to their own sub-forum for uninterrupted discussion.
Facebook does the above in spades. Users follow their content source and adhere to their rules. In exchange, they benefit from the knowledge. AZB can make a few microscopic changes that net huge beneficial results. Some people in this thread will say, "Mehhhhh... there isn't a problem." Some might even try to attack me for even suggesting such a thing. I think if 5 or 6 certain guys were locked out of CTE threads by Stan and unable to interfere with instruction, they'd go BERSERK because they'd be unable to troll and that's their favorite thing.
Can we get the top players to post here and change this brand from "NEVER" to "I LOVE IT THERE?"
Can we create environments in which people can learn without an endless stream of ridicule and debate?
By the way, I'm not saying create a combative-free environment. Forum wars have always driven most of the site traffic. I'm merely saying to create sub-forums that are moderated by content experts and players to create relaxing educational atmospheres free of any emotional combative energy for those who want to learn.
Top instructors and certainly nearly all of the pro-level players have chosen to jettison AZB in favor of social media, which is a tragedy for the forum and its community. It's a tragedy because it's avoidable and although it might be hard to fix, but it's not impossible to fix. Imagine a forum where the game's top players would post their thoughts on certain aspects of play. Imagine getting insight from a player as he/she discusses a recent win or loss and what they'd do to make adjustments in the future. At one time, this actually was a reality here at AZB but it didn't take long for a select few of know-it-alls to insult their writing style, their education level or imply they didn't know as much about pool as the legion of keyboard warriors who preyed on their every post.
Social media has spawned a comfortable environment from which they can self-moderate. With Facebook, as an example, if you become a thorn in someone's ass enough to make them turn purple, they can simply block you from their page. The end result is a healthy community of like-minded individuals whose only desires are to learn and engage with the top talent in the industry without the infinite loop of knockers and trolls.
Can AZB ever win them back? Can this forum ever change the atmosphere to be less toxic toward those who wish to share content? Clearly, "the internet is the internet," however, I think this forum can mimic many of the features of social media.
1) Invite all former and current top-ranked pro-level players back and give them moderator privileges in order to protect themselves. Someone can say, "Yeah, well, ____ posts here without problems." Sure -- I'm sure they do, but that's only because they can communicate in such a way on the forum that doesn't attract ridicule. Some players are insanely brilliant during play and knowledge, but they just can't convey it properly without the legion of pro-bashers and grammar police who come out of the woodwork. Should a player abuse that privilege, simply remove them from the player pool and the rights that go along with it.
2) Provide instructors their own sub-forums with moderator privileges within the sub-forum. Leave cesspool forums like "THE AIMING FORUM" be, just simply give instructors a private sub-forum from which to moderate their own discussion. That way, the 5 or 6 guys who pollute every single aiming thread can get kicked, allowing the group who want to learn....learn. Let instructors direct people from the aiming forum to his/her own sub-forum for uninterrupted discussion. Allow instructors to direct people from the Ask the Instructor forum to their own sub-forum for uninterrupted discussion.
Facebook does the above in spades. Users follow their content source and adhere to their rules. In exchange, they benefit from the knowledge. AZB can make a few microscopic changes that net huge beneficial results. Some people in this thread will say, "Mehhhhh... there isn't a problem." Some might even try to attack me for even suggesting such a thing. I think if 5 or 6 certain guys were locked out of CTE threads by Stan and unable to interfere with instruction, they'd go BERSERK because they'd be unable to troll and that's their favorite thing.
Can we get the top players to post here and change this brand from "NEVER" to "I LOVE IT THERE?"
Can we create environments in which people can learn without an endless stream of ridicule and debate?
By the way, I'm not saying create a combative-free environment. Forum wars have always driven most of the site traffic. I'm merely saying to create sub-forums that are moderated by content experts and players to create relaxing educational atmospheres free of any emotional combative energy for those who want to learn.
Last edited: