Why do we chew on each other sometimes??

Well OK this is quite a string going on. Folks I have never seen such warped
mis communications amoung many of us. Why are we like this SOMETIMES?
We all pour out our hearts for Pedro and his operation than take things out
of context and mildly virtually abuse each other. Maybe SOMETIMES the bad
gringoes are all of us at one time or another. Could we be speed reading
some of the posts and not quite getting it. I kinda see it that way and I am
sure I am part of the problem sometimes. I have been in the past a moderator
on many web sites and I have never seen quite what we do to each other. Are
we older? Can't we read properly? What is it? Hey I like to argue a good argument
anytime but sometimes we are over the top myself included.

Z

I suspect most people could care less what a chat group on a forum is about, the group is just a convenient victim and the person and respondents IE the trolls simply exist so he or she can have someone to vent their frustration and revenge. It gives people a sense of empowerment.

I suspect most trolls are not aware of (nor would admit if they knew) their real anger is at a society (or a segment of a society) that has otherwise abused, enfeebled or alienated them. If you insult someone online, it's unlikely you'll face any physical retaliation for it.The worst thing that can happen is you get banned or your post get's edited. Making a pointless inflammatory comment's and witnessing how people take it so seriously is very amusing to people who have nothing but time on their hands and a few drinks in their gut.

Bottom line there's a stubborn minority of people on forums that are rude, intentionally provocative, or just plain abusive.

Well said espiritu! Kudos! We need forums to exchange information, help eachother, respond to needs, learn, network, etc. That is what this should be about. The main issues get lost in the bickering and attacks and nitpicking. Maybe there could be a separate file for emotional flares, verbal abuse, bullying, whining, and outbursts!

57Chevy wrote:Well said espiritu! Kudos! We need forums to exchange information, help eachother, respond to needs, learn, network, etc. That is what this should be about. The main issues get lost in the bickering and attacks and nitpicking. Maybe there could be a separate file for emotional flares, verbal abuse, bullying, whining, and outbursts!

That used to be the “Octagon” and IMHO it did work well. Bob if you think I could help let me know.

I wish that thread about the wallets would go to the octagon, it gives a bad impression of the forum.

raqueteer wrote:I wish that thread about the wallets would go to the octagon, it gives a bad impression of the forum.

Raq, I am with you on this one.....BTW...sorry for Dumb Ass call on prior thread.....You are good people...me I dred the drive from GDL to Phoenix, driving alone....Wife is flying....so much for equality....LOL

Jim W

Jim W wrote:

raqueteer wrote:I wish that thread about the wallets would go to the octagon, it gives a bad impression of the forum.

Raq, I am with you on this one.....BTW...sorry for Dumb Ass call on prior thread.....You are good people...me I dred the drive from GDL to Phoenix, driving alone....Wife is flying....so much for equality....LOL

Jim W

Hey man, I had it coming. Sorry, but the wallet thread had me tearing my hair out.

Good trip eh, best of luck.

Wadaya Say... GROUP HUG??

Everyone around the campfire and sing Kumbaya :-) (sp)

So any other ideas why we post what we post sometimes?? I find it helps to
rearead it and if I have the slightest bad feeling to wait and reread it later and
many times I rewrite the post or email. Time changes things sometimes.

Z

Zed, I think the fact that we had a troll lurking around for a week or more prior to the Wal Mart thread had a lot to do with what happened. Frankly, it was a type of troll which I had never encountered before, kind of tricky to detect. This, even though we may not realize it at the time, can really start pushing some of our hot buttons.
Most members have a particular style of posting which we're familiar with. However when something new, which we don't understand gets thrown into the mix, many of us, myself included, get very edgy and short tempered. It's that old OMG why do we have to keep explaining the same things over and over to this person feeling. Something's terribly wrong but we don't quite know what it is.
Meanwhile the troll escalates the number of irritating posts and they become even more nonsensical.
So, maybe we need to be ever more vigilant. This board is getting bigger, therefore there are more opportunities for trolls of whatever stripe.

Bad feelings after posting, either apologize right away or send a P.M. Anyone can be snippy at a bad moment. Pain, lousy day, whatever. Or, P.O.'d by a troll. New acronym. POBAT.

I usually ignore the trolls. They go away really quick when they get no attention. If one of the known members posts something that irritates me I try to step away for a while. Never post when angry.........

Well C.B. in this case, a lot of us just didn't get the fact that it was a troll until after the damage had already been done. It's not like they come by here all the time. Some boards are so used to them, they're quickly weeded out.

Should we have a thread on how to recognize trolls? What should be done about trolls? In one infamous case a troll infiltrated a mensa board. Apparently shortly thereafter 100 mensa types wound up looking like trolls, and the troll appeared to be just fine thank you very much. It's on the net, unbelievable.

As for posting when angry, that's real good advice in any type of communication.

In many cases the troll is a newbie that immediately jumps in on a controversial subject or starts one. They typically lack the patience to do it right. Most legit newbies hang out for a while with a few simple posts here and there before they feel comfortable enough to let er rip.........YMMV

CanuckBob wrote:In many cases the troll is a newbie that immediately jumps in on a controversial subject or starts one. They typically lack the patience to do it right. Most legit newbies hang out for a while with a few simple posts here and there before they feel comfortable enough to let er rip.........YMMV

Another good one, and the dead giveaway was reviving a long dead controversial post.

Running a whole series of "hot" subjects together in one unintelligible post is another.

And we jump through the hoop that the troll was holding up....over and over.
Kinda sad and funny at the same time.

Z

Zed, we weren't dealing with just any ordinary garden variety troll here, this one was special. The posting method suggested some problems, perhaps even physical problems, and therefore we were thrown off guard. Being the caring kind of posters we are, we didn't want to be hard on someone who may have had problems that we weren't aware of. While later on the troll became more obvious, in the beginning it was subtle.

Let's face it, we were had.

The positive side of being had is that we become more cautious the next time around.

There was an infamous troll back on the old Sparks forum who could sucker most people in after saying English was her second language and that she had some serious psychiatric problems as well. After a while, though.........people just got tired of the thought process....or lack of it.... and stopped feeding her (or him.....who knows?).

There is a humorous piece on the web somewhere on how to know when a troll is a troll or just a plain old PITA, but I can't find it. Maybe someone else can.