UKC

Hello everyone,

I'm a researcher from the University of Leeds interested in online political conversation. I'm looking for a little bit of help with my latest research project and I'm hoping some of you will be kind enough to spend a couple of minutes to tell me a bit about what you do on this forum.

During the European elections and Scottish referendum last year I did some research into where people were discussing the issues online. Identified through a series of web searches, this discussion forum was one of the most vibrant spaces in the UK for conversation related to the TV debates between party leaders. There are a number of other political topics on the forum, too. I'm really interested to find out why this community of political chatters has developed on this forum. There are lots of available spaces for political conversation online, but there seemed to be more of it going on here than most other places.

So, I'd like to ask you: what makes you come to this space to talk about politics? Is it to do with the community of individuals present on this forum? Or do you contribute to lots of spaces? Is it the website itself: the design or the rules?

I'd be very grateful to any input any of you may have. Any posts to this thread, long or short, would be welcome; emails to me are fine or, spend a few minutes filling in this survey: http://chris.leedsnewmedia.net/surveys/ukclimbing/

All data collected will be anonymised and destroyed after the end of the project. It certainly won't be shared or sold to anyone!

Thanks a lot!

Chris Birchall
Research Associate
School of Media and Communication,
University of Leeds
http://chris.leedsnewmedia.net/surveys/ukclimbing/

In reply to chrisbirchall:

Your request seems a bit one sided to me, you ought to contribute something back, quid pro quo and all that. So Chris, what's your favourite biscuit?

In reply to chrisbirchall:

So Chris, do you like owls or are you more of a tapir man?

What have you ever done on grit?

In reply to EddInaBox:

*Chris, survey, done.
*Eddinabox, Jaffa Cakes.

In reply to abseil:



Nonsense, everyone knows a Jaffa is a cake and not a biscuit! Goodness me, you'll be saying that gritty stuff in t'Peak is limestone next.

In reply to TheDrunkenBakers:

Only for tax purposes. A Jaffa Cake does not count as 'cake' in any other sense. Not even if you ice it and put a candle on top.

In reply to EddInaBox:


Yes, definitely squid pro roe, what are you wearing?

In reply to TheDrunkenBakers:


Legally a cake, I agree!!! But actually a biscuit, I put it to you!!!! I'll take it to the House of Lords!!!!!! (The case - not the cake. Or my excessive use of exclamation marks).

In reply to deepsoup:


Good idea. Off to try that now.
Its as sensible a cake as those renamed fairy cake monstrosities.

In reply to chrisbirchall:
I've done it, but Just a thought - have you cleared this with the mods, they can be a bit possessive about their forum!

In reply to chrisbirchall:

Stay away from this site, it's full of trolls who like Jaffa biscuits.

In reply to chrisbirchall:

Typical UKCmadness. brillaint reponses guys

A jaffa cake is defo not a biscuit. There's got to be some sort of crunch to be a biscuit

In reply to The Lemming:

oatcakes. There's your staffordshire pankake, and then there's the cheese biscuit.

In reply to goose299:

These are definitely the cakier side of the cake-biscuit spectrum... http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=253806558

In reply to Clarence:

Course they are - no crunch whatsoever

In reply to chrisbirchall:

Done.

And although Jaffa Cakes are very fine they don't quite match the smooth exotic fruity richness of fig rolls. Or wholesome perfection of plain chocolate hobnobs.

In reply to chrisbirchall:

The site was originally created to address one of life's greatest unanswered conundrums

The first was "Three Pebble Slab - HVS or E0"?

The second was "in a knife fight would an eagle owl knock the face off a tapir or a moderately ill tempered narwhal".

The questions to both remain unanswered.

finally

my couzin Mick Ryan made $3.46 in his first month as an itinerant topo maker. Since losing his job at the pigeon reconditioning factory he has bought a new bobble hat form earning $$$ by drawing topos of Hodge close with his felt tips. Earn more $$$each month by clicking www.micksmagiccrayons.com

In reply to Nevis-the-cat:

You're forgetting the whole plane-on-a-conveyor-belt conundrum.

In reply to Nevis-the-cat:

And, of course, "Is Kinder Downfall in nick yet?"

In reply to chrisbirchall:

Here's where being able to tag people would be really useful - I've pointed Toby A and Erik B at the thread via Facebook, in case they miss it. As Toad says, have you spoken to the mods about it? You never know, they might let you make it a premier post or something...

I'd fill in the survey but I don't tend to get involved with the political side of things on here.

In reply to chrisbirchall:

Survey done. Good luck with the research.

In reply to chrisbirchall:
I hope you find the responses useful. If ever you choose to conduct a survey of anarchic behaviour in on line forums then UKC must be your first port of call. Long may it continue!
PS What we really want to know is 'What is your favourite biscuit?'

In reply to chrisbirchall:

If you are suggesting that this forum actually has some influence on internet opinion formers, then maybe those posters that consider me a paid shill of the oppressive state were right...

Watch out for the black helicopters....



Now where did I put my overtime claim form?

In reply to chrisbirchall:

This confirms what we've always known about UKC being the greatest place for decent online discussion. I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy about it actually.

My only disappointment is that nobody has thought to mention biscuits.

In reply to chrisbirchall:

I come on here for sensible, intelligent conversation about mountaineering, go on Cycle Chat for the same about cycling and I go on Singletrack for a laugh and good advice on just about anything in life.

In reply to chrisbirchall:
I think it's the humour. A laugh a minute guaranteed. Someone with warped senses will post if you wait long enough. The whole range to infinity of human
intelligence and real or imagined experience is represented. I wouldn't miss my
daily fix!

In reply to Alyson:


That's in case the Tapirs try to steal the biccies!

In reply to off-duty:

Well, I'm concerned that if we've appeared on Chris' radar*, that we may soon be overrun by professional 'opinion farmers'...

* being a cynic, I fear we're being 'fluffed', and that there are similar threads appearing on a random selection of forums... I don't recall all that much discussion of the televised debates. Lots of Scottish referendum threads, yes, and quite passionately, but amicably discussed.

In reply to chrisbirchall:
Birdie Numnum is the main attraction, closely followed by darren and his owls, and alyson's behind, and the abilty of some posters to start an arguement in an empty room

In reply to chrisbirchall:

Where else can you converse with a, sorry The, Lemming?

In reply to balmybaldwin:

>... , and the abilty of some posters to start an arguement in an empty room

No it isn't.

P.S. Ability. Argument.

In reply to chrisbirchall:

I think it was more by chance.. the forum had one of the most passionate pro-Yes men in the world on it..

Had he been on flyfishing weekly you'd have had that..

In reply to balmybaldwin:

and the abilty of some posters to start an arguement in an empty room

I think you'll find it's closer to contradiction than argument... (A biscuit of choice to the person that gets the obscure reference).

In reply to FactorXXX:


I get the reference.

You owe me a biscuit of choice - a chocolate digestive [I now accept that the Jaffa Cake is a cake [sob-sob-sob my whole world view and philosophy, not to mention teatimes, are ruined.....]

In reply to FactorXXX:
Obscure? Well, knock me into a lock with a fish!

It's the rational, intelligent, dim-witted, belligerent, tangential nature of the discussions wot does it. Not forgetting DJ Viper and his ilk.

And it's plain choccy gessies as any fule no.


Nice survey BTW

In reply to captain paranoia:

Well, of course we are: it's all a gigantic pile of cut and pasted, generic smoke up our arse. He couldn't even be bothered to substitute 'UKC' for 'this forum'. Knittingdotcom and Lettucechat are probably going ballistic right now.

I once had a call from somebody who told me they wanted to use photos of my house in a style magazine. It *is* quite a pretty house - for an ex-council property.

So I suspect the real purpose of the experiment is to observe the effects of unwarranted flattery on the self-absorbed piece-of-my-mind donors who populate chat forums, convinced that they're talking sense. At least all he's getting off here is biscuit advice.

Tunnocks caramel wafers, or 1970s Wagon Wheels - the ones that were bigger than your head, not the new, digestive-sized embarrassments.

In reply to Wingnut:


How dare you even suggest such a thing!

In reply to Martin not maisie:

1970s Wagon Wheels, or those pink wafer biscuits which only grans are allowed to purchase.

In reply to Skipinder:


You know they're not actually biscuits, right? Old ladies buy them to scent their underwear drawers. And then feed them to small boys when the smell's worn off .

Did your gran used to give you little blue 'cakes' as well?

In reply to Martin not maisie:

Well, unless the surveys are being done serially, this suggests our cynicism is unfounded:

http://chris.leedsnewmedia.net/surveys/

In reply to Martin not maisie:

Either a Rich Tea or a Nice dunked in good strong tea. And before someone says they don't stand a good dunking, I say have a good hard look at yourself and your technique.

In reply to Martin not maisie:


I suspect you are right. The unexpected popularity of Scots devolution discussion on Facebook even made it into a discussion on Radio 4 this morning.

I answered the questionnaire out of a possibly misplaced sense of academic solidarity, although the temazepam and fentanyl afterglow of minor outpatient procedure may have had something to do with it.

Hi everyone,

Firstly, thanks for your posts and survey entries - I wasn't expecting such a lively response! It's been great, keep it coming!

I did speak to one of the moderators/site owners a while back to get permission so hopefully this is fine. Everyone seems to be enjoying it, so I doubt anyone will mind. You're not really being 'fluffed' - UKC forum genuinely did appear in my initial research as source of lively political discussion. There are other places, of course, where I will post a similar message, which is why it sounds a bit generic, but it is not just random selections.

So, down to the important stuff:
- chocolate digestives, especially the ones with caramel under the chocolate. Great dunkers;
- a difficult choice, but I'll plump for owls as I just read this: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/feb/06/owl-attacks-joggers-and-... ;
- as for grit, I tend to run under, over or around the crags but have occasionally been know to have a play on it in Yorkshire and Derbyshire.

Seriously, though, there have been some very interesting comments and I really appreciate you all giving a little bit of your time to my academic foibles.

Looking forward to some more, Cheers,
Chris
http://chris.leedsnewmedia.net/surveys/ukclimbing/

In reply to chrisbirchall:

Hi Chris

I'm really glad to hear that this is a good place for political chat looking across the internet, always suspected that to be the case. In addition to the comments I've made on the survey, I think what makes UKC good is that it isn't people who live and breath politics - that's not what climbers are like (those people tend to consider "eating out" to be a hobby IME). I imagine somewhere primarily for political debate would just be full of aspiring politicians and folks with massive axes to grind. On here, we've all got proper lives - we go out climbing, we have jobs and families, and we're not people who consider that they are or will be part of the political world. I can't imagine anything worse than having a political debate with a bunch of PPE w*nkers, failed journalists/"bloggers" etc for example, which I would have thought is what you get on a site specifically for political debate.

It's great having a discussion in which a naive view can often be countered with "well actually I work in that industry, and the regulation means that the whole story is completely impossible and made up" rather than endless theoretical drivel based on high falutin political philosophy (or worse still, party polictics and the loyal line to take). There's such a variety of social backgrounds that a discussion can be really enlightening about how things work in another bit of society. It can of course also be frustrating to hear the same people trotting out the same tired old crap no matter how many times it's been shown beyond all doubt that it is false and nonsensical. (Example/aside, right-wingers who talk about "no limit to spending other people's money" POST 2008! Those nobel wealth creators who we should all aspire to be had absolutely no problem with spending a trillion pounds worth of "other peoples money" just because they were too greedy and incompetent not to f^ck up, did they? And where's it all gone? It beggars belief that people still trot out that shite, week in week out. Rant over.)

And of course it's not just the political debate that's great. I've had fascinating discussions on AI, philosophy, consciousness, the scientific endevour to pick a few things I'm interested in.

In reply to Jon Stewart:

ditto. [well phrased - I can't write that coherently!] And good luck with the PhD, Chris.
Hang around for a few years here. You learn a lot and possibly become a better person for it.

In reply to chrisbirchall:

If you want to see some really fierce, frank, but well-supported discussion, the Thatcher death thread was a classic (and was always going to be - it was if UKC had been preparing for years...). The Isreal/Palestine discussions can be circular as we have the odd very vocal person with an extremely entrenched view on the matter, plus at least one outright racist (he's an Israeli by the way)...but by identifying the good quality posts and clicking on the links posted it can really help understand different sides of the argument. And that's the whole point.