Category: Let's talk
I've said many times that I would do this, so here are the Ten Commandments of Zone By Phone.
1: No zoner should repeatedly enter and exit conferences without legitimate reason such as dropped calls. Repeatedly is classified as entering and exiting at least thrice.
2: A zoner shall change their name tag if its volume is intrusive or disruptive.
3: Zoners must adjust their volume in conference according to the request of fellow conference mates. (This does not include requests for shits and giggles.)
4: Zoners should mute themselves or refrain from entering conference if they have excessive and/or continuously loud background noise.
5: If two or more zoners have something important to discuss, they should go to a different conference, have a private conference code, or call each other instead of sending voice-mail and going in and out of conference to check voice-mail.
6: No zoner should enter a conference for the sole purpose of listening. This prevents others who could contribute to conversation from entering.
7: No zoner should sing in conference during a conversation. If they do, they should mute themselves.
8: No zoner should enter a conference for the sole purpose of saying hello, good night, or I’ll call you later; that’s what voice-mail is for.
9: Zoners should warn their conference mates before clicking over to the other line.
10: Zoners should identify themselves when leaving a voice-mail for someone who doesn’t know them.
What do you think of these commandments? Which ones do you favor? What would you change or add to the list?
Who are we to say what people can and cannot do on ZBP? Doing so would make it necessary for the staff to monitor the various activities on ZBP, and, as they say in the disclaimer, they are not our parents. Having said that, I totally agree with numbers 1 and 4.
I am not a contributor on zbp however...
I would say that, while many would certainly be irritated by the points listed above, perhaps one would do better to just remove yourself from those situations and stick to private conferences to avoid them.
It wasn't ment as anything she expected enforced, it was more a list of things many of us all feel should be curdiously observed so we can get the most out of our time on ZBP. Do we expect this to change much, no. Are they valid points, Yes. that's actually how this came about. Few things are more irritateing than confrence rape. (constantly entering and leaving a confrence) Or accessively lowd/over the top taggs.
this should probably be in the zone bbs suggestions category, no?
But it's like striker just said - it's not a suggestion. Nobody's saying these should be implemented into the terms of service. They're just things people should think of doing so that ZBP is a more enjoyable environment for other people.
But the way it sounded, it was like they should be written rules. Yes, I definitely think we should at least consider them. I just don't think they should be inplimented into the terms of service.
ZBP Ten Commies? Well I haven't used an online phone system like this but if that's what you all get going in there, you all have more patience than I do cause I would just hang up and go away ...
On the upside, if you all can tolerate that and still go in there, the world could probably use a lot more people like you.
Um, no I wouldn't make this something to put in the tos, but the loud name tags, going in and out of a comference just to check voice mail is very annoying and I wish I could change that and the listening thing don't you want to listen first before butting in? If I wasn't interested trust me, I'll leave and find something more interesting to talk about instead of talking about what they're talking about. Plus I hate being interrupted so I feel I should respect others on that matter.
while i understand some of these things could be annoying for certain people, it's also true that said people could simply avoid being involved in those situations. plus some times many of these things aren't done to irritate people, but for a more valid reason.
i admit i am one of those who go in and out of conferences. i do it because it takes me all the courage in the world to join a conference, but i want to try anyway, only it's not always easy so i run away, but don't want to give up completely and try and come back again. maybe it's stupid, most probably i have issues, but then so be it, what can you do. listening is also part of it, a shy person will most likely want to listen first to see if they can join in the talk. i also admit many times i don't identify myself when i enter a conference, because i just get blocked and can't speak. if it annoys you i am sorry, but not much i can do about it. i should just have to avoid conferences where people are annoyed by this kind of reactions.
personally, if one needs to leave the conference every 3 minutes to check vm, i don't really care, but that's a matter of opinion. and if one enters just to say good night or i'll call you tomorrow or i have to pee or i love you all, i wouldn't really care either, but that's another matter of opinion.
this said, i agree with points 2 and 3, and some other i forgot.
maybe i am getting things wrong here, but there could be a little more tolerance
To me, those points in post one are just some tips in common curtacy. As a person with a severe hearing loss, I would greatly benefit from most of it. I keep telling myself that one day, I'll actually try going in to a confrance and see how I do, but I never seem to get around to it. actually, I did go in to one, but that was at least a couple of years ago.
the thing is, what bothers one person most likely won't do so to another. it's stricly a matter of opinion; while I agree that certain things can be annoying, how we deal with it makes all the difference. if you don't like what you hear, don't be around said thing. I don't go on ZBP much, and this is exactly why...cause I refuse to deal with this kinda stuff.
Yes, certain situations can be avoided, but why not end such situations altogether or eliminate some of them? I'm not always going to hop off zbp or hide out in private conference because some immature, double-tipped prick wants attention. I refuse to let people control me like that. Some things annoy me, and I feel I should speak up about them instead of always running away.
There's nothing wrong with listening to a conversation before joining, but it is rather pointless to sit and say nothing for the duration of your time in the conference, especially people who just sit there for hours and don't even say good evening.
These commandments that I composed are not just things that I find annoying or think are common courtesy. These were agreed on by several people.
It would be cool to have these as a part of the TOS, but that's not what I'm going for. I just always joke with people who violate some of the commandments above saying; "You've sinned!" Now I can tell people what commandment they've violated. It's very humorous; but then again, some people should really take these seriously. I think if some of you came on zbp too often enough, you'd wind up agreeing with most or all of these.
Personally, I prefer private conferences and voicemail anyway, but for those of you who appreciate the public conferences, I can understand why things such as this would annoy you.
I'll admit, it is good to see the full list written out, after months of it sometimes being mensioned. Think i'll start pointing idiots here.
I've spent a LOT of time on ZBP over the past few years, and I like most of these. I think there are always going to be exceptions; for example, I've been in conferences where someone was shy and decided to sit and listen for a while, just to try and feel comfortable. But for the most part, those commandments are great.
FTR, if someone is doing purposeful conference disruption, we have been known to step in.