Why Do You Visit This Site?

[Reality]

I disagree. When you have mostly grown men having a conversation on here and you have to say heck like a 90 year old nun, that's a bit over moderated. IMO

The line between what is and is not allowed will always be questioned by some users.

To this day, most users here have no idea why we push a family friendly focus on this site. Some think we are bible-toting zealots while others think we are easily offended. None of that is true nor has any impact on our policies and the enforcement of the policies here. Trust me, I've talked with several of the staff members and none of us fit that assumption.

The reason we draw the lines is because of the one-up mentality that dominates the internet. For example, if userA calls userB an idiot, what do you think userB is going to do? They are going to call userA something worse. Then userA will feel disrespected and call userB something even worse. Eventually, one of the users will go over the line and get benched and what is the first thing they say? The other guy called me this so why weren't they benched?

That is the reason we do not allow personal attacks here. It's rare that the first insult that's a problem. It just starts a cycle that will ultimately end up in one or more people getting their accounts suspended.

The policies here are designed to prevent accounts from being suspended, not punish people after the fact. Despite what some users think, no one on the staff likes being the bad guy and suspending users.

 

[Bleu Star]

Ever since @waldoputty started a thread on Monday about favorite posters, I have been thinking about what compels me to read, comment and follow this site?

Aside from the obvious, a life-long Cowboy fan, I think first and foremost, I am here for the in-depth knowledge of the Cowboys and the NFL. I played college football for a couple of years back in the Southwest Conference days and, despite being a student of the game (euphemism for not actually having the talent to be a starter), my understanding of the game has been greatly enriched by this site. I appreciate the tidbits of information from those that attend a game in-person, from the running commentary during the game and from those that provide a postmortem review. We may not always agree, but I certainly enjoy the diversity of opinion.

Which brings me to a second reason I continue with this site: by and large, most are reasonable respectful of other's opinion. A good debate is an art and many on this site are really good at expressing their opinions. Unfortunately, many have either lost the skill of honest discourse or, sadly, never developed it. All too often social media is characterized by a view that says, "not only am I right, but you're stupid for having a contrary opinion". While some of that occurs on this site, I have generally found that most are passionately polite. And, I have found that many self-moderate the discussion.

My third reason for returning time and again is that this site is well moderated. I like the clear definitions of unacceptable behavior and appreciate the mods' consistency in managing the site. I can't recall a situation where a thread was closed without thinking that it was well deserved.

Lastly, I return to this site because of the many "characters" that post -- by and large, I find this site incredible entertaining and that is directly a function of the humor and humaneness that many of you inject into the conversation.

Why do you frequent this site?

I find this site to have grown with me as a person.

10 years ago, my visits were much more into jousting and typing short stories about why my opinion was better than yours. I also saw my fair share of corner chair visits due to the fever pitch associated with my opinions.

Now I'm a little more toned down in terms of jousting. I simply feel as though the mods and community here gave grown in that respect as well.

It feels as though the site has progressed from an edgy wild place where opinions fly with the strength of a Chaz Green block to what we have now which is a much more maturely run organization that has really settled in nicely as the premier place to share mutually respected opinions.

So. In that respect, the site feels as though it has mirrored my own personal growth and I love that. It is, undoubtedly (at least in my mind), the hands down best place to discuss and follow your favorite team of choice with like minded souls.

I'll shamelessly admit that I visit this site on average 10x a day (same as I did 10 years ago)... Can't get enough of it.. puff puff

Huge thumbs up.

 

[Fletch]

I’m here looking for companionsh.....Wrong site

Looks like we’re running outta bubble gum!

 

[DallasEast]

I am here for Risen Star

@Risen Star is the Daniel Day-Lewis of CowboysZone. At first, you may want to hack him to bits and let him slide down a mountainside all bloody like some sort of last member of the Mohican Native American tribe but everyone eventually ends up simply wanting to bludgeoning him to death with a bowling pin. I mean, seriously. If that is not love, nothing is.

 

[QT]

To get the latest Cowboys news. Before the internet, I was getting my Cowboys news from Dallas Morning News, Dallas Times Herald, and Fort Worth Star Telegram... along with the sports news on the local TV channels.

Plus I've been on this site for what seems to be more than 15 years. Pretty sure it was longer than my member since 2005. Didn't this site switch over from another bulletin board?

 

[John813]

To expand on my first post, proper moderation is key to any forum short and long term success.

Other places would get too hostile between posters and you can't tell me that it wasn't getting personal. It was either a lack of moderation or they had sides in the beef which just lead to constant thread derailing.

I'm on a specific vehicle site where the Admin/Mods sort of drifted off. One I could understand due to a family tragedy, but the majority just left and never got new ones. It's the wild west on there now, which definitely prevents a lot of new posters from sticking due to the **** talking. It's becoming a ghost town as OG owners either sell the truck or get tired of the stupidness.

CZ has a very good moderation. I don't see mods taking sides, or at least being obvious about it. They can get called out but respond without using mod powers etc. Any bad quarrel is shot down quickly before too much animosity usually forms.

Which is why I'm on here just about daily. Sooner than later I'll be a supporter cause I truly like how this place is run.

That and proper use of the subforums lol. They are run properly and the zoners know where to post stuff 90% of the time lol.

 

[kskboys]

I disagree. When you have mostly grown men having a conversation on here and you have to say heck like a 90 year old nun, that's a bit over moderated. IMO

I was joking!!!!!

I was on the Texans site, and they killed it by extreme overmoderating.

However, I completely disagree w/ you about the cussing thing. Why in the world is it so important for you to cuss? I seriously don't get it. Is it that hard to refrain?

I cuss in real life myself. Prolly more than I should!!!!

 

[Bleu Star]

PS. My ignore list is still empty. Everything is love.

 

[kskboys]

The main reason I created CZ was to give Cowboys fans a place to get together to discuss the Cowboys without being harassed and trolled by fans of other teams.

I will admit I never expected Cowboys fans to become so divisive among themselves, but that is more of a reflection of the internet and society as a whole rather than specific to this site. There is way too much "you either agree with me or I hate you" thinking these days throughout the world and that includes the internet.

I guess I am less affected by this because I really don't care which players or coaches we win with. I just want to win. When we don't, I want new coaches and players. That's not because I hate the old ones but more so because I want to see changes that provide a little optimism of some kind for the next season.

I get complaints from users all the time from all sides of arguments. I get people complaining that CZ is too negative and filled with too many haters. I get people complaining that CZ is filled with too many Cowboys homers. In the end, if both sides are complaining, that at least means we're doing something right here

Despite what some people may say about CZ, I think the staff and the users do a pretty good job of keeping the discussions and debates as civil as possible given nastiness you find elsewhere on the internet and on other discussion sites.

Let's face it, no matter how much you love the Cowboys, there's only so much "rah rah" you can listen to with no counter thoughts when we are over 20 years since our last Super Bowl run. No matter how much you hate some Cowboys players, coaches and/or the front office, there is only so much hate and so many rants you can listen to with no counter thoughts without finding yourself leaving the site each visit feeling worse than when you arrived.

One thing I have always said is that "winning solves a lot of problems." When/if the Cowboys ever win another Super Bowl, the atmosphere will improve considerably on CZ. That is, at least until the next season happens and they don't win one.

I think the staff here (not talking about me) does a great job of keeping the homers and haters inside a wide, but manageable, area of civility that helps make this site worth spending our time on each day.

For me, CZ has been around so long that I enjoy socializing among friends and familiar faces who provide brief moments of escape in my busy and sometimes very hectic life.

The users here make the site worth visiting for me because the Cowboys sure haven't helped much lately

Hear hear!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Verdict]

Ever since @waldoputty started a thread on Monday about favorite posters, I have been thinking about what compels me to read, comment and follow this site?

Aside from the obvious, a life-long Cowboy fan, I think first and foremost, I am here for the in-depth knowledge of the Cowboys and the NFL. I played college football for a couple of years back in the Southwest Conference days and, despite being a student of the game (euphemism for not actually having the talent to be a starter), my understanding of the game has been greatly enriched by this site. I appreciate the tidbits of information from those that attend a game in-person, from the running commentary during the game and from those that provide a postmortem review. We may not always agree, but I certainly enjoy the diversity of opinion.

Which brings me to a second reason I continue with this site: by and large, most are reasonable respectful of other's opinion. A good debate is an art and many on this site are really good at expressing their opinions. Unfortunately, many have either lost the skill of honest discourse or, sadly, never developed it. All too often social media is characterized by a view that says, "not only am I right, but you're stupid for having a contrary opinion". While some of that occurs on this site, I have generally found that most are passionately polite. And, I have found that many self-moderate the discussion.

My third reason for returning time and again is that this site is well moderated. I like the clear definitions of unacceptable behavior and appreciate the mods' consistency in managing the site. I can't recall a situation where a thread was closed without thinking that it was well deserved.

Lastly, I return to this site because of the many "characters" that post -- by and large, I find this site incredible entertaining and that is directly a function of the humor and humaneness that many of you inject into the conversation.

Why do you frequent this site?

I agree with your comments. Here are some of my reasons:

1. Content. The vast information possessed by this collective group is second to none.
2. Diversity of opinions.If everyone agreed this would be a boring place. Often the minority view actually ends up being the correct view.
3. Personalities. Some of you have one hell of a sense of humor.
4. Intelligence. Some of you have an incredible football IQ and I have learned a lot from some of you.
5. Train wrecks. Some posters here are like watching a train wreck. You know you shouldn't look but you cant help yourself. After you read their posts you feel dumber for having read their drivel.
6. Friendship. I feel like I have made some "friends" through this site, even though we don't meet and have a beer (which should probably happen).
7. Current information: This site gets you breaking news faster than anywhere else.
8. Behind the scenes information. You cant find that private, unknown stuff anywhere else.
9. Activity. You get pretty much instant feedback, regardless what side you are on. Its like throwing a pebble in a pool. You get instant ripples.
10. Spirited debate. Its healthy.
11. The Dez Fan Bois. It is funny to watch their ever changing excuses about Dez. Ha Ha Ha.

 

[JW82]

The line between what is and is not allowed will always be questioned by some users.

To this day, most users here have no idea why we push a family friendly focus on this site. Some think we are bible-toting zealots while others think we are easily offended. None of that is true nor has any impact on our policies and the enforcement of the policies here. Trust me, I've talked with several of the staff members and none of us fit that assumption.

The reason we draw the lines is because of the one-up mentality that dominates the internet. For example, if userA calls userB an idiot, what do you think userB is going to do? They are going to call userA something worse. Then userA will feel disrespected and call userB something even worse. Eventually, one of the users will go over the line and get benched and what is the first thing they say? The other guy called me this so why weren't they benched?

That is the reason we do not allow personal attacks here. It's never the first insult that's a problem. It just starts a cycle that will ultimately end up in one or more people getting their accounts suspended.

The policies here are designed to prevent accounts from being suspended, not punish people after the fact. Despite what some users think, no one on the staff likes being the bad guy and suspending users.

As I said- That is why the arguments stay in control, so I think it's a fair trade off.

 

[Kaiser]

To expand on my first post, proper moderation is key to any forum short and long term success.

Other places would get too hostile between posters and you can't tell me that it wasn't getting personal. It was either a lack of moderation or they had sides in the beef which just lead to constant thread derailing.

A lot of posters here were on the old DMN forum, it had no moderation and a few posters basically made it unreadable. At that point the good posters filtered out and it just died. Moderation/overmoderation really is the only way to guarantee a site survives for the long term.

 

[DallasEast]

PS. My ignore list is still empty. Everything is love.

You have chilled out only because your avatar controls your blood pressure. Or is that elevates your blood pressure? I don't know. I have palpitations looking at it.

 

[JW82]

I was joking!!!!!

I was on the Texans site, and they killed it by extreme overmoderating.

However, I completely disagree w/ you about the cussing thing. Why in the world is it so important for you to cuss? I seriously don't get it. Is it that hard to refrain?

I cuss in real life myself. Prolly more than I should!!!!

Well so do I.

 

[DallasEast]

A lot of posters here were on the old DMN forum, it had no moderation and a few posters basically made it unreadable. At that point the good posters filtered out and it just died. Moderation/overmoderation really is the only way to guarantee a site survives for the long term.

The old DMN Cowboys forum. Good times. Good times.

 

[Nightman]

The line between what is and is not allowed will always be questioned by some users.

To this day, most users here have no idea why we push a family friendly focus on this site. Some think we are bible-toting zealots while others think we are easily offended. None of that is true nor has any impact on our policies and the enforcement of the policies here. Trust me, I've talked with several of the staff members and none of us fit that assumption.

The reason we draw the lines is because of the one-up mentality that dominates the internet. For example, if userA calls userB an idiot, what do you think userB is going to do? They are going to call userA something worse. Then userA will feel disrespected and call userB something even worse. Eventually, one of the users will go over the line and get benched and what is the first thing they say? The other guy called me this so why weren't they benched?

That is the reason we do not allow personal attacks here. It's never the first insult that's a problem. It just starts a cycle that will ultimately end up in one or more people getting their accounts suspended.

The policies here are designed to prevent accounts from being suspended, not punish people after the fact. Despite what some users think, no one on the staff likes being the bad guy and suspending users.

My biggest complaint is that no one is allowed to ever complain

Mods bench people more for daring to question them then for foul language

I think you should have a complaint box or AMA thread every now and then without naming names

I think you could get some valuable insight into some of the problems around here and members could vent and get it over with

 

[Rockport]

Breaking news.

 

[kskboys]

The line between what is and is not allowed will always be questioned by some users.

To this day, most users here have no idea why we push a family friendly focus on this site. Some think we are bible-toting zealots while others think we are easily offended. None of that is true nor has any impact on our policies and the enforcement of the policies here. Trust me, I've talked with several of the staff members and none of us fit that assumption.

The reason we draw the lines is because of the one-up mentality that dominates the internet. For example, if userA calls userB an idiot, what do you think userB is going to do? They are going to call userA something worse. Then userA will feel disrespected and call userB something even worse. Eventually, one of the users will go over the line and get benched and what is the first thing they say? The other guy called me this so why weren't they benched?

That is the reason we do not allow personal attacks here. It's never the first insult that's a problem. It just starts a cycle that will ultimately end up in one or more people getting their accounts suspended.

The policies here are designed to prevent accounts from being suspended, not punish people after the fact. Despite what some users think, no one on the staff likes being the bad guy and suspending users.

Whenever any large group gets together, especially on the internet w/ its faceless nature, rules must be implemented to keep order. Not allowing foul language is a huge step in keeping order.

Most of us cuss in our real life. I know I do. However, everyone should be able to control it when need be. Someone asked me on the old site if we were at church. Made me think, and I replied, "You know, in a way we are. There is a collection on any internet site of kids and ladies and I'm sure there are even some of the religious ilk. So, yes, we are at church. We are at a social function where watching your mouth is required. As it should be."

 

[Bleu Star]

You have chilled out only because your avatar controls your blood pressure. Or is that elevates your blood pressure? I don't know. I have palpitations looking at it.

Hahaha. It has to a certain extent impacted my drive.

 

[kskboys]

I agree with your comments. Here are some of my reasons:

1. Content. The vast information possessed by this collective group is second to none.
2. Diversity of opinions.If everyone agreed this would be a boring place. Often the minority view actually ends up being the correct view.
3. Personalities. Some of you have one hell of a sense of humor.
4. Intelligence. Some of you have an incredible football IQ and I have learned a lot from some of you.
5. Train wrecks. Some posters here are like watching a train wreck. You know you shouldn't look but you cant help yourself. After you read their posts you feel dumber for having read their drivel.
6. Friendship. I feel like I have made some "friends" through this site, even though we don't meet and have a beer (which should probably happen).
7. Current information: This site gets you breaking news faster than anywhere else.
8. Behind the scenes information. You cant find that private, unknown stuff anywhere else.
9. Activity. You get pretty much instant feedback, regardless what side you are on. Its like throwing a pebble in a pool. You get instant ripples.
10. Spirited debate. Its healthy.
11. The Dez Fan Bois. It is funny to watch their ever changing excuses about Dez. Ha Ha Ha.

Excellent stuff.

This site is better for info and ideas than any place I've found.