Scratch

Why Misc shouldn't have been deleted: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archi … de/256069/.  I don't know about anyone else, but I have almost literally no life outside Scratch.

maxskywalker wrote:

Why Misc shouldn't have been deleted: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archi … de/256069/.  I don't know about anyone else, but I have almost literally no life outside Scratch.

Well, the article also mentions this:

Valois, does however warn of the dangers of being too tuned into the virtual world. One of life's most important skills is the ability to connect, make friendships and raise one's social capital. Valois said that hiding in the virtual world, firing off emails rather than interacting face-to-face with someone, runs the risk of under-developing these skills in the young mind.

If we're not capable of interactions outside Miscellaneous, what does that say about us? 

The main thing the article is pointing out is online tools to prevent suicide prevention, such as http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/, or online journals, or tweaking searches - but never does it really state that an online community is the direct substitute for finding help on suicide, rather it mentions that simply by seeing these thing, online users can report the incident. And that's pretty much what is done on Scratch - by reporting it, the Scratch Team can redirect that person to a resource that is better suited to handling these issues.

It boils down to this: One of the pitfalls of any online community is lack of real time interaction, in that it's hard to tell who's who online people - people sometimes make up suicide threats to get attention, other times if it;s real, other users can end up giving negative feedback with makes the situation worse. The inability to tell who's who online feeds into such problems (note: this is not only an issue on Scratch, but most other online communities as well).

Not only that, Miscellaneous was supposed to be focused more on creation and things that inspire us outside of Scratch - hence why it was split into the two current categories today (Things I'm Making and Creating, and Things I'm Reading and Playing, respectively).

Besides, lack of Miscellaneous doesn't mean lack between Scratchers whatsoever. Scratchers can still learn a lot about each other through Things I'm Making and Creating, and Things I'm Reading and Playing, as well as through Scratch projects and galleries. As for talking about social distresses, it's better not to use the Scratch Forums for that purpose, but online tools better suited for those things, if not a trusted adult in real life.

[edit]Aaaaaand Paddle beat me to it with his reply. >.<[/edit]

Last edited by cheddargirl (2012-04-20 07:19:41)

Mokat wrote:

People people if you really want misc. back, couldn't you just make your own free-discussion forum?

Yes, and people have done so.

@cheddargirl: I've got absolutely no life outside Scratch.
@Mokat: Sure, but Scratch has a uniquely great community.

maxskywalker wrote:

@cheddargirl: I've got absolutely no life outside Scratch.

Perhaps you should take some steps to change that?  Look around and see if there are any clubs or after-school activities that sound like fun.  All action starts with a desire to change.

"Every day do something that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow." - Doug Firebaugh

maxskywalker wrote:

@Mokat: Sure, but Scratch has a uniquely great community.

Yes it does!  And it is still great even though we've restructured the forums 

SilverDomination wrote:

Paddle2See wrote:

Yes it does!  And it is still great even though we've restructured the forums 

Yes, indeed! I feel that the community actually got better with the forum changes! (especially w/ the removal of misc.)

The community has at least gotten stronger, as the people who just wanted Misc have left.

veggieman001 wrote:

SilverDomination wrote:

Paddle2See wrote:

Yes it does!  And it is still great even though we've restructured the forums 

Yes, indeed! I feel that the community actually got better with the forum changes! (especially w/ the removal of misc.)

The community has at least gotten stronger, as the people who just wanted Misc have left.

I'm not sure the community has gotten stronger, so much as more educational/programming driven (which of course, was the intent of the changes and community).  It's too bad that people quit when the values of the Scratch community were reaffirmed 

funelephant wrote:

Am I the only one experiencing block glitches?

http://i.imgur.com/Nv96A.png

Let me guess... IE?

funelephant wrote:

scimonster wrote:

funelephant wrote:

Am I the only one experiencing block glitches?

http://i.imgur.com/Nv96A.png

Let me guess... IE?

Nope... Google Chrome 

Clear your cache. That seems to be the answer for everything these days.

Paddle2See wrote:

maxskywalker wrote:

@cheddargirl: I've got absolutely no life outside Scratch.

Perhaps you should take some steps to change that?  Look around and see if there are any clubs or after-school activities that sound like fun.  All action starts with a desire to change.

"Every day do something that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow." - Doug Firebaugh

maxskywalker wrote:

@Mokat: Sure, but Scratch has a uniquely great community.

Yes it does!  And it is still great even though we've restructured the forums 

Um, not always possible.  People always assume that others are in their position.

Edit: Wow, I am amazed by how... dark I sounded right there.

Last edited by maxskywalker (2012-04-23 08:50:16)