Bullies on a forum
 

Before I start this has nothing to do with subsim.com.
I recently went on an open forum that is meant to be about consumer rights.The forum is divided into various sections and I posted a rant/warning on a part dedicated to computer issues.I was posting about my disgust of the Vista operating system and the fact that very little equipment is compatible such as modems printers etc.The responses I got were generally far from helpful though a few people did give some good links and some others were quite insulting.I was beginning to think that a lot of the posters worked for microsoft!There appears to be no moderation at all on this particular site and a hard core of regular posters rule the forum.
I just wondered if anybody else has had a similiar experience on a forum and how they dealt with it?I will not be posting there again.
I also now realise the value of a moderator to a forum.Considering that subsim has such a large membership from many continents I think we all get on very well and long may it continue!!!:up::up::up:

I ignore the flamers on the forums until they have something to offer other than insult. Quite often, if they do not get a rise out of you they will shape up or just go away. Acknowledge those that give legitimate answers and soon the flamers will realize they are being ignored thus going away. Anonimity can be a powerful weapon if you let it.

Yes, Linton it's a mean world out there ... I don't cuss, but over at milatary.com it's like a pool hall ... It's much nicer in here. :p

Perhaps I was lulled into thinking that everybody on a forum should behavein a gentlemanly manner,having grown used to that on every other site I visit.Ignoring flamers starves them of the oxygen of publicity.I will not be so naive again.

Yep, flamers are looking for the rise out of anyone who will entertain one. It is like poison ivy on your skin, do not itch and it will go away:up:

I went bye bye to a number of forums over the years, the first one was a bunch of idiots justifying terrorists and demanded I apologise for my statement that I thought terrorists were scum of the earth. That was a few years ago the other ones were just as insulting and crass, the best thing is stay on the side lines and read the posts before you make the big leap forward.

All forums have give and take but when you get BS from trolls it's time to say goodbye.

The Finnish forums are by-far the most unfriendly forums I´ve ever visited. No matter what you say, someone comes and insults you. :cry:

Wise words AVGWarhawk, wise words indeed.

Dont talk to me about being insulted. Luckily, most people dont know how tall I am on forums (except you guys but you guys rock). However, in the outside world, you wouldnt believe how deep I get cut sometimes :down:

Yes, but this only works in maybe 20% of the cases, most of the time the moderators need to take care of them one way or the other, because someone almost always responds to a post of a flamer/troll/moron, and then the "fun" starts. When a forum reaches a certain size it needs a bunch of good moderators, and more importantly, an admin who wants his forum to be a nice place. Subsim has both.

It does. :up:

As far as forums go, Subsim is about the best I have seen anywhere. Sometimes there is a tiff or two but not like some forums. It seems most know when to stop concerning flaming etc. with this forum. It makes is nice to be part.:up: Neal keeps a good reigh on it and Seth keeps an eyeball on it. This is what forums need. If the forum keepers says he will ban for XYZ and XYZ happen, then ban!!! If the forum keepers let some people slide, soon all will be sliding. Have rules, stick to them, enforce them as needed.


These flamers need to realize it is a privilege to be part of a forum....not a right! Forum owners can ban at will and for good!

People are only people, and there will always be arguments between them. We all had rants and quarrels, sometimes unintentionally offending someone as a result of misunderstanding, bad joke or something even sillier. It happened to me a few times. In that case there are good manners and common sense to the rescue. But when it's intentional, there's no excuse.

http://www.bullyonline.org/related/cyber.htm

I don´t want to go into any details here, but one thing people need to know and to accept is that administrating and moderating a forum can be fairly complicated, things are not always black and white. For example, a violation of the same forum rule can have different results, depending on if a newbie did that or a respected long-time member.

I would guess a long time member gets a PM and it is resolved with a 'you know better' and that is it. Unless the post is something grossly wrong. As for new member it might be as simple as 'this does not happen here, first and last warning'. If the new member wants to be defient, then further actions. Hopefully they get the picture and stop. If not, then time for them to move on. Just the way I see it anyway;)


Sorry Gizzmoe, I forgot you lurk the hallways looking for hall passes also.

There were also cases where the newbie would have gotten an informal "We don´t do that here" PM, but the long-time member got an official warning, because he should have known better, but consciously violated the forum rules. It really all depends on the situation.

No problem... :)

The anonymity of the internet seems to bring out the worst in many.

treat it with the contempt it deserves gentleman I say.

We of all continents should be Gentleman and ladies here on the
forums where we interact

Manners as such are the oil in the gears of societies.
any person member or non member of a group who spits
on manners as an approved approach, simply throws sand
into the gears of society a counter productive business at best
and clearly a sign of inferior intellect as the benefit of the group
benefits the individuals of the group and the detriment of the group
hurts us all.

I am not a very soft fellow in real life.
I believe that the real enemy in the world is stupidity and nothing else.
(im surrounded and outnumbered but Field Marshall Foch said it best.)

it doesnt matter if your asian European Aussie or african
there are those among all societies concious and concientious
we have an obligation within ourselves to the imprvement of our
respective societies and we are shamed not by the stupities of
others but by the stupidities of our own.

we as thinking beings have a social obligation to frighten embarass or openly ridicule stupidity where ever it rears its ugly head. to do anything
otherwise like disregarding it or laughing it off is to only encourage further
stupidity.

call it the Behavioural approach to human existence.
I dont make the rules of the society i live in.
I do my best to make and keep them honest and refine
in the adapt and overcome method of evolution.

we should be allowed to run down Jay walkers and there estates should
have to fix our cars.

we have approached society upside down at least here in the west.
social laws protect the lives of the cull.

My opinion.

Call it a rant about the problem with the Gelware in Humanity.

"Jimps mr president Jimps......you know the Jimpanzees these we should send to the moon."

Some people forget that most forums are private, and as such, can make up their own rules as they see fit and all members must abide by those rules, whether you like them or not.

I say that only because I've read posts in other forums where people think they can wave the "Freedom of Speech" flag so they can get what they want, but that doesn't fly, of course.

Yes. When this retort comes, my resonse is always, 'Start paying the bills, and you can start making the rules.' In terms of this forum, Neal keeps the lights on, so to speak. We [moderators] just enforce Neal's rules to the best of our ability. Sure, some of us [me] are more direct [cantankerous] than others, but the work is not really all that difficult, as there good members outnumber the bad seeds by a great percentage in this community. 'Problem' members tend to either shape up or ship out at SubSim. Because of this, it is the only forum I visit with any regularity, and the only one that I post on, and certainly the only one on which I would consider serving as a 'mod'.