What makes this a 'forum'?

que? ;D

I've had a nose around the mervo archives. As far as I can tell the first 25 people to post on the site were:



Some of those names are recognisable to me: Chris Adams, Pete Hicks (Capital Gulls), Andy Fall, Simon Blogg (Bloggy, Capital Gulls), Neal Fenn; while I seem to recall once being told that some of the earlier names were mervo pseudonyms to get more traffic, although I don't know which of them are real and which are false.

Further down the line come the likes of Andy Charles (Capital Gulls), Mike Bateson and also bixie who I presume is the same as "bixieupnorth" from t'other site. After a few pages it becomes packed with trolls and flames so I couldn't be bothered to track many more names.

I think the early days of mervos's site are fascinating when placed in the context of internet communication in 2010. What they could and could not do in 1997 seems archaic now: the likes of adding pictures and creating paragraph breaks, never mind passing on the latest news from Ceefax and the early HE site....

Yet we don't actually seem to be any better informed than they were. Could it be that quantity of information has increased but quality hasn't?

There were also a few early discussions about the right to use whatever language they wanted to and, possibly more importantly, an interesting quote about the Official site from mervo:

"Official/unnoficial...who cares so long as we are all having fun and sharing information about our heroes, who gives a toss...I don't. All I know is that I have a bunch of new friends with similar interest and shared football heritage. They also have extremely high IQs can pass Police exams blindfolded,and debate with anyone
on myriad topics."

Is that what makes a forum?

I quite regularly trawl the archives on the old Mervo site just to bring back some good memories, back in the days when communication from the club to the fans was actually encouraged.

I know a fair few of that first 25 was definitely made up, but I do remember meeting Matt Navier once, and I still mail Dean Gripton regularly since he is one of the big cheeses in research at SI Games, who I do the research for TUFC for in the Football Manager series of games.

Ed Wilber (or some such) I recall being one of Merv's alter-egos. I am sure there are a few old Norwegian Gulls on that list too.

I well remember getting some credit for one of the first match reports I did on there, and that was actually what made me want to get into sports journalism a little more. Back in those days I was working for SIS, doing meaningless data entry about horse racing - I only became a journo back in 1999 after my first posts, I would think.

Happy Days!

I've been following the sites since 1996 - although it took a couple of years to pluck-up the courage to post on Mervo's site - purely because of the quality of the posts and the TUFC knowledge that some of those posters that used them. It was such a useful tool when I was away at Uni and I valued it hugely and like Capitalgull I still trawl through them - there were some pretty momentus events and epic contributions!

I certainly wouldn't regularly read websites that have posts using textspeak or on the odd occaision that there is a post of quality that is over several paragraphs that it is quoted entirely and commented "agree with that" and nothing else is added to it. I've no interest in "banter" and certainly only value quality over quantity any day of the week - hence why I started to use this site very quickly after it was set-up as it seemed to be what is right for me and clearly would grow in the right way.

I would have hoped that eventually the .net site that Mervo ran would have evolved into the website that the TFF has become, but like many things, that spiritual baton was passed-on and we find ourselves here and I think that it has been an excellent evolution. I really value the quality of the contributions in terms of the history and traditions of the club from either those that were lucky enough to see the club in genuinely glorious golden times or those that have such a keen eye for detail for history and can present it in a way that can bring it to life.

I only had one private correspondance with Mervo and I would say that he was a good hearted person - certainly a little eccentric but never a bad thing in my book! I think he would look at this website as very much of a proud legacy (in terms of the quality that is posted on here) rather than the one that he passed-over a couple of years ago.

It is a shame that Dave has to deal with the really crap side of having to run a forum but I hope he enjoys the content and appreciates the enjoyment that the users get from it. Like anything, it would be nice if something is self regulated, but some of the s***e that makes it into .01% of postings then he surely has the right to moderate it as he sees fit. I was dismayed at a couple of the postings that polluted the Adam Stansfield thread but it was sadly typical of that former member and I don't think that leopard will ever change their spots.

If only you really knew the real pleasure I do get knowing so many enjoy their time on the TFF, it is what it has only ever been about for me and not what some of my critics like to think. Making people laugh and putting smiles on their faces is what I have spent my whole life doing as I’m just lucky to have the ability to do that and its far better then causing others heartache and pain.

Mr Davybeat was at his most happiest on the nights he drove home from venues knowing all the people had a wonderful and enjoyable evening and if they were hotel guests went up those stairs to bed still laughing at the jokes and singing songs that had been in the show.

To me this is just an extension of what I do best and my aim setting up the TFF was to provide a place where people could come and have an enjoyable experience and that is why I have put so much effort in trying to rid the forum of unnecessary personal abuse and the need some have felt to cause upset for other TFF members and ruin their time on here.

Mr Davybeat sure never let any fools in his audience ruin the night for all those who were there to be entertained, yes there were some nights such fools would do all they could to ruin the night for others and they had to be dealt with and it sometimes meant they had to be made to look the fools they were, they soon gave up when that happened and Davybeat was able to get back to ensuring the night only got better for those there for the right reasons.

My view on how I have to ensure no fools ruin things for all the wonderful members we have on the TFF are just the same views held by Davybeat and I was talking and explaining those views to Chelstongull at today’s match.

Since day one we have had a few who joined us not to join in and enjoy debating with us, not joined to be a part of the TFF community, but joined to cause as much trouble as they could. I won’t post the four user names they used as I won’t give them any attention on here, but they were all removed as why should we tolerate those who only joined to ruin the pleasure we all get from being members on the TFF.

It’s so simple on here; all that is asked is that as adults you moderate yourselves so we can just be members as well, we want people to join and have no wish to ever remove anyone but the TFF has earned its reputation as a quality forum, does have standards and is respected by many and is seen as a very good advert for Torquay United and that is something I want to protect.

We talked about Paul Buckle having a care of duty to his players, I have a care of duty to all the very good members on the TFF and that is why I will never be afraid to remove those who joined for the wrong reasons and those intent on ruining the forum for everyone else.

Its not about ever taking away their right to free speech, they will still have them only the TFF won’t provided them with this platform to use, they can go and find another one and anyway no one has ever been banned on the TFF for the views they hold, only for their behaviour and conduct on the forum and that has nothing to do with free speech at all.

In a perfect world everyone will use the TFF for its intended purpose and value and treasure what it is and play their part to keep it as good as it is. I was going to post on this thread last night that if I had started this thread the title would have been.

What makes this a special forum.

How many football forums can enjoy the great relationship the TFF has with the club it support, how many forums have pages in the clubs matchday programme, how many forums get match pictures from the club, while its members can still air their views freely on all matters concerning the club.

The bottom line is the club do read and take on board the views of its fans posted on here and they do that because the views are expressed in the correct manner. No one is going to bother to read posts at the club that are just full of abuse and insulting words aimed at people at the club. I have long believed if you want people to listen to what you have to say, you have to say it in such a way they will be more than happy to listen.

So what makes this a forum? You all do so please don’t ever leave me here all on my own.

Maybe in a few years Jon, not a thread that would just stick to the history I'm afraid and would be used for all the wrong reasons.