I understand the concerns people are bringing up and that's exactly why I wrote this initial "brainstorming" thread in the first place.
The original Shipping Thread was like a stick of dynamite that came out of nowhere and admittedly, that's probably why it got such a reaction. The original poster basically just stepped into Singles and said, "This is the Shipping Thread, and I'm going to start it out by shipping (members) A and B."
It was just meant in good fun, not as a way for anyone to find their One True Love, so that's the basic model I had in mind when thinking about resurrecting the idea. I definitely wasn't intending to set up marriages -- just a fun way to get to know each other and interact.
As for "rules", I know people will do their own thing, so I wrote this first thread as more of a discussion rather than a declaration of laws and decrees.
My original idea was 3 threads: 1. introduction of the idea and brainstorming; 2. a thread in which people who wanted to be matched would give us some information about themselves for us to go on (I would have provided a poll and questions for people to answer as tools); and 3. the actual "matchmaking" thread in which people could suggest matches based on what people had told us about themselves in the second thread.
The reason I had mentally sketched it out like this is because the original thread was completely out of left field, so the only way to answer was to try to think of anyone you knew here off the top of your head and try to pair them with someone, with nothing to go on except what you might remember about people through their posts. This is why I thought a "buffer" thread in between that talked about who we are -- hobbies, interests, life philosophies, history of faith -- would at least give people a list of volunteer matches and a little bit about them to start with.
My only rules for those who wanted to be "matched" would have been:
1. Volunteer matches must be 20 or older.
2. Anyone can suggest a match, but anyone volunteering to be matched must be single (no other romantic attachments/relationships.)
This was also why I had thought of a second thread -- it gave people the chance to volunteer to be matches by their own free will, and let us know who was available and who wasn't.
I know it's impossible to regulate such things entirely, but I figured it was at least a start. My personal philosophy for own self when it comes to thread ideas is, "We don't know if we don't try, and even if it bombs, at least it gives us some direction of what to try next time." I had seen what was done the last time, and had different ideas I wanted to try.
However, after reading the replies here, I'm going to cancel my original ideas because I think too many people would (understandably) wind up feeling hurt and left out.
Last time I wound up writing a thread that allowed people to share about themselves and then it was up to them to make contact among themselves (no popularity contests or suggested matches involved), which had zero drama (sorry, Susanna!) but was whole lot safer. In the old CC format, you could write a poll with something like 40 answers, so I made a list of hobbies/interests/beliefs that people could check off if it applied the them. The answers were made public, so people could then see who might have the same interests as them, along with getting to know others through the discussion in the thread, and make contact if they wished.
The current poll system only allows for about 12 choices (I'm not sure of the exact number -- I didn't max out on answers this time) so a similar poll this time around would be much shorter.
If I do write another thread on this subject, I will probably default to this.
The original Shipping Thread was like a stick of dynamite that came out of nowhere and admittedly, that's probably why it got such a reaction. The original poster basically just stepped into Singles and said, "This is the Shipping Thread, and I'm going to start it out by shipping (members) A and B."
It was just meant in good fun, not as a way for anyone to find their One True Love, so that's the basic model I had in mind when thinking about resurrecting the idea. I definitely wasn't intending to set up marriages -- just a fun way to get to know each other and interact.
As for "rules", I know people will do their own thing, so I wrote this first thread as more of a discussion rather than a declaration of laws and decrees.
My original idea was 3 threads: 1. introduction of the idea and brainstorming; 2. a thread in which people who wanted to be matched would give us some information about themselves for us to go on (I would have provided a poll and questions for people to answer as tools); and 3. the actual "matchmaking" thread in which people could suggest matches based on what people had told us about themselves in the second thread.
The reason I had mentally sketched it out like this is because the original thread was completely out of left field, so the only way to answer was to try to think of anyone you knew here off the top of your head and try to pair them with someone, with nothing to go on except what you might remember about people through their posts. This is why I thought a "buffer" thread in between that talked about who we are -- hobbies, interests, life philosophies, history of faith -- would at least give people a list of volunteer matches and a little bit about them to start with.
My only rules for those who wanted to be "matched" would have been:
1. Volunteer matches must be 20 or older.
2. Anyone can suggest a match, but anyone volunteering to be matched must be single (no other romantic attachments/relationships.)
This was also why I had thought of a second thread -- it gave people the chance to volunteer to be matches by their own free will, and let us know who was available and who wasn't.
I know it's impossible to regulate such things entirely, but I figured it was at least a start. My personal philosophy for own self when it comes to thread ideas is, "We don't know if we don't try, and even if it bombs, at least it gives us some direction of what to try next time." I had seen what was done the last time, and had different ideas I wanted to try.
However, after reading the replies here, I'm going to cancel my original ideas because I think too many people would (understandably) wind up feeling hurt and left out.
Last time I wound up writing a thread that allowed people to share about themselves and then it was up to them to make contact among themselves (no popularity contests or suggested matches involved), which had zero drama (sorry, Susanna!) but was whole lot safer. In the old CC format, you could write a poll with something like 40 answers, so I made a list of hobbies/interests/beliefs that people could check off if it applied the them. The answers were made public, so people could then see who might have the same interests as them, along with getting to know others through the discussion in the thread, and make contact if they wished.
The current poll system only allows for about 12 choices (I'm not sure of the exact number -- I didn't max out on answers this time) so a similar poll this time around would be much shorter.
If I do write another thread on this subject, I will probably default to this.
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