Post by Slinger on Jul 16, 2014 12:18:32 GMT
I try to think of a forum as someone's "house" in a roundabout sort of way, or at the very least a club that they run for my benefit. I've run forums myself in the past (not dedicated to hi-fi) and have come across some great people who are prepared to share their knowledge freely, give their products away to the community (3d models on the specific forum I'm thinking of) for no cost, some of which took tens, if not hundreds of man hours to produce and generally enjoy themselves while meeting people they'd never have had the privilege of meeting otherwise. I've met a few complete tossers too.
Here's the thing - I've invited you into my internet house, or clubhouse, and I've had to publish a set of rules for you to read first. Why? Because common courtesy and respect don't exist on the internet for a very small percentage of people. If I invited you to my home in the "real" world would I really be expected to have to ask you not to piss on my carpet or put a sign on the bedroom door reading "Please Don't Crap On The Bed?" Of course not. Apparently I need to do the equivalent on the internet though.
Don't get too excited guys, I'm not here to tell you how to cope with the trolls, idiots, children, and keyboard warriors in general. There is no idiots panacea available. All you can do is try to educate them, and if that fails ban them I'm sorry to say. I hated banning people, but if it got to the stage where these people were obviously determined to ignore any attempt to reason with them by my team and/or myself then they had to go, especially if we were spending more time talking about them than the real purpose of the forum. I had a responsibility to my other house-guests, and they liked my house and knew how to behave decently in it. It was never a decision taken lightly, and it was never a decision taken without talking with the person one-to-one by private message, or email, but it was a decision that needed taking on occasion.
If you kept pissing on my carpet do you really think I'd ask you if you wanted another cup of tea, and a biscuit? Or do you think you'd be face-down on a urine-soaked carpet wondering why I'd just enforced my unspoken "no pissing on the carpet" rule with a cricket bat?
N.B.
These are personal opinions, nothing more. I really don't want to enter into a debate about my tactics. It's what I did then and what I think now. E.O.S.
Here's the thing - I've invited you into my internet house, or clubhouse, and I've had to publish a set of rules for you to read first. Why? Because common courtesy and respect don't exist on the internet for a very small percentage of people. If I invited you to my home in the "real" world would I really be expected to have to ask you not to piss on my carpet or put a sign on the bedroom door reading "Please Don't Crap On The Bed?" Of course not. Apparently I need to do the equivalent on the internet though.
Don't get too excited guys, I'm not here to tell you how to cope with the trolls, idiots, children, and keyboard warriors in general. There is no idiots panacea available. All you can do is try to educate them, and if that fails ban them I'm sorry to say. I hated banning people, but if it got to the stage where these people were obviously determined to ignore any attempt to reason with them by my team and/or myself then they had to go, especially if we were spending more time talking about them than the real purpose of the forum. I had a responsibility to my other house-guests, and they liked my house and knew how to behave decently in it. It was never a decision taken lightly, and it was never a decision taken without talking with the person one-to-one by private message, or email, but it was a decision that needed taking on occasion.
If you kept pissing on my carpet do you really think I'd ask you if you wanted another cup of tea, and a biscuit? Or do you think you'd be face-down on a urine-soaked carpet wondering why I'd just enforced my unspoken "no pissing on the carpet" rule with a cricket bat?
N.B.
These are personal opinions, nothing more. I really don't want to enter into a debate about my tactics. It's what I did then and what I think now. E.O.S.
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