babble is rabble.ca's discussion board but it's much more than that: it's an online community for folks who just won't shut up. It's a place to tell each other — and the world — what's up with our work and campaigns.
why we love babble
February 25, 2008 - 5:37am
if any of you want to let me know why you like to use babble, and whether or not you feel you get a better understanding of news and current affairs through being able to discuss topics of importance-- let me know!
Thanks!!
really??? [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]
I like Babble because it often offers a perspective I've never considered, due to lack of exposure to alternative interpretations and experiences.
I'm trying to find where I fit in to the above...ah yes, there it is....left wing.
Where I'm from, you can have too much book learning and not enough common sense and no common sense around here will get you killed out on the land.
Online news discussion forums or group blogs make good news sources because different people end up working together to provide a broader view of the news. Sometimes this creates a lot of drama and i'd agree with others that the moderation style here helps tone down the drama disruption.
It's the broader view (to read) that's the value for me. Discussing the news is alright but i mostly just post if i feel like there's a missing perspective. When i do end up getting into discussions i generally end up feeling that i don't have the free time available to post for more than a couple days in a row.
I guess my enjoyment of babble depends pretty directly on the diversity and brightness of the writers here. This seems to hold when i think about how babble and my enjoyment of it have changed over the years.
Otherwise I would be commenting on a topic a full day later than everyone else.
For a long time, I used to not bother reading newspapers (well, I still don't, except online) or news sites because I knew that any current issue of the day would be here, with links to news sources. babble would be my news aggregator because it would have links to all the major papers as well as all sorts of indie news and commentary sites.
But not just news - also entertainment, cultural stuff, activist stuff, etc. If I hear something through the grapevine, odds are pretty good that someone's started a thread about it on babble. (Or, occasionally you get the thrill of "breaking" it here yourself!)
Love that about this site, always have.
My only bad experience was with a couple of yahoo self-indulgent nutcases who wanted a forum for their own individual ills, but they didn't survive here (yes the moderating is first rate).
After time, one certainly begins to appreciate both trends in thinking amongst the Left in Canada and a healthy respect for the roots of different tendencies. It is very positive.
Where else would I get perspectives from everywhere from BC to Cфte-Nord? From Red Tory to Marxist? Let alone multi dimensions of race, gender, and so on?
I can have excellent diverse conversations dropping in at our local pub. But babblers take the prize.
Except some of us are a bit shy. From reading us, you'd bet we were mostly WASPs. I bet someone reading this has origins in India or China, but never says so.
And I bet some lurker reading this has been thinking of joining the conversation.
Don't be shy. And if you think CSIS is reading this, give them your perspective. [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]
[ 26 February 2008: Message edited by: Wilf Day ]
i really appreciate it!
i'm new to the site and I will definitely be coming back!
I was going to mention the Babble open-bar liquor cabinet as an attraction here, down the stairs and to the left
It's empty!
OldGoat!!!!!!!!!!!! [img]redface.gif" border="0[/img]
He shays whatevra.
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--------*thud*
Cheers! [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]
Ah, not Canadian news. More like Ontario Canadian news. It's usually disappointing to read dicussions about the Prarie provinces either because they are few and far between or they degenerate into name calling. There are not enough contributors from outside of central Canada to create a better balance of Canadian views.
Well, there are a few of us, but we need more people to drown out those Ontario and Eastern folks. [img]biggrin.gif" border="0[/img]
Seriously, Scooter, tell people about this site, get them on here. Don't be shy.