₦airaland Forum

senbonzakurakageyoshi:
Here's a suggestion that everyone of us can effect, moderator or not; we cannot allow poor quality to continue to thrive on thius board. As a result, we need to renew the culture of reading through and passing our honest opinions about what we read on this board, REGARDLESS of what the poster or/and other board members feel about it. This is a public forum, and as far as you critique in a civilized manner using courteous language, there shouldn't be a problem. Only a child runs crying when cautioned about mistakes made. A student that doesn't want to fail again has two choices; improve or drop out. If a writer on this board is not willing to take correction and improve, then the person should leave, instead of trying to impose mediocrity on us all.

Also, we need to stop the whole "take a bow" attitude we take towards written works on this board, saying well done when the writer hasn't exactly done well. We are as much a part of ensuring the quality of written work on this thread stays high as the writers and moderators and if a writer's work is below par or ridden with errors, it is our job to point it out.

It is important too, that when one of us critiques someone else's work and the person is swinging back at the critic, the rest of us should back the critic up - especially when the critique is apt and the criticism is well deserved. The reason some on this board have stopped expressing their opinions about people's works is because when we critique, and the poster and other members lash out, there's nobody to back us up. So we feel it's better to just shut up and let things slide as against speaking the truth - which shouldn't be the case.

The fact is that nobody here is perfect - so nobody here is above correction.

Makes sense. At this rate, sanity will definitely return and I trust that such sanity in the section is good for Seun's business. The key to 'change' (we've seen that word around a lot) here lies with the audience...Eventually.

senbonzakurakageyoshi:
We'll have to start with the most important question first; is the site owner/administrator comfortable with the way things are on this board? There's no need diving into the ocean for a rescue when the man intends to drown. It is imperative to know if Seun, the Oga pata-pata of Nairaland, likes the current state of the literature board, is indifferent to it or also acknowledges that there is a problem that needs fixing. Seun needs to weigh in on this discussion before we can start talking about implementing possible solutions. I would like the moderators or whoever has access to the admin to bring his attention to this thread, so we can decipher a way forward for the Nairaland literature board.

AFAIK, the onus lies on the Mods to bring decorum to the section. Seun isn't capable of overseeing everything on the forum (or so I think) and that's why he designated the duties to 'em. There's a reason why there's a Literature section and the status quo should be checked against the laid down objectives by whoever is in charge. But then, that's my opinion.

D9ty7:
In addition, I think the literature section shouldn't be about stories and stories alone. Many people don't visit this section because they are of the opinion that everything on this section are stories which is true. And what they say is, "why should I sit down with my phone and read stories written by unknown writers when I can download James Hadley Chase books?"
There was a time when cuddlemi was the moderator here, quizes and debates if I am not mistaken. Ishilove, I think you should take that up personally. Just anybody can't do it, people won't take it serious, but when a moderator, with their wealth of experience takes it up, people will want to see it. A typical example of this is this thread, for how many hours now, how many views and posts?
Please, do something about it and be sure that people will support you. In fact, you might not do anything at all, other than to create the thread and help us sticky it.

This.
It has to be a really engaging and interactive community. Back then in secondary school, the Literature club wasn't strictly all about storytelling nao...

IMHO, I feel the zeitgeist has ebbed and y'all have identified what the problems are. Mediocrity is ubiquitous and any attempt to challenge it is seen as supercilious. In response, the critics lose interest and such mediocrity (and even outright sub-par works) continues to thrive. Afterall, it's a Web 2.0 world and anybody can post anything online. What an unfortunate pattern! I'm not a regular visitor here, but Op's post is easy to relate to when one takes a panoramic view of the entire Nairaland community. Let's hear what you've got Seb. All hope is not lost.