Call for online civility!

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ewomack said:
Compared to other forums that I frequent, I haven't seen a lot of nastiness on this one. I'm not actually sure if I've seen any. Or perhaps I just have higher standards for nastiness? Have I just been missing it or is this more of a proactive request?
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I'm probably one of the newest members of TRF. One reason I'm here is because the people are *exceptionally* nice. In person and on TRF, I've been overwhelmed by just how great everyone has been. I hope some day I can be as kind and supportive as others have been to me.
 
Dave A said:
Since my first access to an old bulletin boards in the early nineties I discovered a universal rule and I adopted a new one:
1) God must love stupid people because he made a lot of them.
2) I would NEVER say anything on a forum, social media, etc. that I wouldn't say to you in person.
It's easy to be nice, smile and ignore the dumb ones.
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As Tom Christensen(sp?), founder and author of FIDOnet used to say, "Be not thou overly annoying and be not thou too easily annoyed."
 
https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-run-netiquette-guide-00

circa 1995

- Remember that the recipient is a human being whose culture,
language, and humor have different points of reference from your
own. Remember that date formats, measurements, and idioms may
not travel well. Be especially careful with sarcasm.

- Use mixed case. UPPER CASE LOOKS AS IF YOU'RE SHOUTING.

- Use symbols for emphasis. That *is* what I meant. Use
underscores for underlining. _War_and_Peace_ is my favorite
book.

- Use smileys to indicate tone of voice, but use them sparingly.
;-) is an example of a smiley (Look sideways).

- Wait overnight to send emotional responses to messages. If you
have really strong feelings about a subject, indicate it via
FLAME ON/OFF enclosures.

- Be brief without being overly terse. When replying to a message,
include enough original material to be understood.

- Limit line length to fewer than 65 characters and end a line
with a carriage return.​


- Just as mail (today) may not be private, mail (and news) are (today)
subject to forgery and spoofing of various degrees of detectability.
Apply common sense "reality checks" before assuming a message is
valid.​

John Kemker said:
As Tom Christensen(sp?), founder and author of FIDOnet used to say, "Be not thou overly annoying and be not thou too easily annoyed."
Click to expand...

FIDOnet -- there's a name to conjure with.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technol...ion-of-dial-up-bulletin-board-systems/506465/
 
@ewomack I've been lurking since 2015. I see lots of nastiness and feel that anyone posting anything must prepare themselves to get roasted. I even know of someone who set up a separate account to ask dumb questions so they don't get judged.
It would be great if we would at least acknowledge that others will not always agree with them and that that is OK, not everyone has to think the same.
https://www.ellentube.com/video/thi...ush-will-give-you-faith-in-america-again.html
 
If people could just pattern their online persona to match their real life persona, a lot of uncivility would vanish. If you meet a person in the office who disagrees with you politically, do you scream obscenities at them and call them names? or do you just agree to disagree and focus on the job? If the latter, then why do the former online? Just because you can hide in anonymity online doesn't give you the right to act like a monster. But I daresay most people do.

It's just like road rage. People who would be respectful to you at the grocery store would run you down and kill you on the highway.
 
Bat-mite said:
If people could just pattern their online persona to match their real life persona, a lot of uncivility would vanish.
Click to expand...


I dunno.......I fear that there really ARE some people out there that aren’t very nice......

My preference, be courteous and respectful on this forum no matter WHAT you are in real life!
 
BABAR said:
I dunno.......I fear that there really ARE some people out there that aren’t very nice......
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No doubt! But even then, unless there's alcohol involved, very few screaming matches with name-calling result. In my workplace, there are people that don't agree. There are people that talk about each other behind their backs. But they don't yell obscenities at each other. Online, however, where there's no risk of someone knocking your block off, people just let it rip.
 
BeyondEarth said:
@ewomack I've been lurking since 2015. I see lots of nastiness and feel that anyone posting anything must prepare themselves to get roasted. I even know of someone who set up a separate account to ask dumb questions so they don't get judged.
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I can't dispute what you think you have seen, but I have a hard time accepting this. This is as civil a forum as I've ever participated in. I don't see how anyone who thinks this place is nasty can survive on the internet at all.

Two frequent areas of friction I see are:
1) New posters who want advice on doing dangerous things like they saw on Youtube, frequently in violation of the hobby's safety codes.
2) Posters who ask for advice and then persistently ignore it from more experienced folks.

I can think of very few instances where I have seen beginners get roasted for asking dumb questions. First posts are almost always greeted with a bunch of "welcome to the forum" messages. If you have counterexamples I'd like to see them. I would posit that they are the exception rather than the rule.

There's the usual occasional spillover of politics and off-topic discussion, but the moderators contain that stuff pretty well.
 
neil_w said:
I can't dispute what you think you have seen, but I have a hard time accepting this. This is as civil a forum as I've ever participated in. I don't see how anyone who thinks this place is nasty can survive on the internet at all.

Two frequent areas of friction I see are:
1) New posters who want advice on doing dangerous things like they saw on Youtube, frequently in violation of the hobby's safety codes.
2) Posters who ask for advice and then persistently ignore it from more experienced folks.

I can think of very few instances where I have seen beginners get roasted for asking dumb questions. First posts are almost always greeted with a bunch of "welcome to the forum" messages. If you have counterexamples I'd like to see them. I would posit that they are the exception rather than the rule.

There's the usual occasional spillover of politics and off-topic discussion, but the moderators contain that stuff pretty well.
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We do get vendor bashing now and then, and there have been those political lor quasi-political posts or cartoons that get people riled up. I have been guilty of that. :oops: And there have been those users who were banned or just quit for not being able to keep politics out of things.

But generally speaking, things here are kept civil by our mods who stay on top of things.
 
neil_w said:
I can't dispute what you think you have seen, but I have a hard time accepting this. This is as civil a forum as I've ever participated in.
Click to expand...

Bat-mite said:
But generally speaking, things here are kept civil by our mods who stay on top of things
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think some of the apparent civility is attributable to effective policing. This is not a complaint or a criticism; compared to other forums on which I've participated, there are a large number of moderators, and they are quick to act.

Moderators drop in to announce themselves frequently, and to issue reminders and warnings (like this whole thread).

Things I've posted have been disappeared or redacted. I've seen threads turned into hash as other members posts have been moderated into the cornfield.

Judging by the swiftness with which I've been corrected, with which I've seen others corrected, I guess that there are some number of posts which disappear (almost) before anybody sees them.

neil_w said:
1) New posters who want advice on doing dangerous things like they saw on Youtube, frequently in violation of the hobby's safety codes.

2) Posters who ask for advice and then persistently ignore it from more experienced folks.
Click to expand...

>smile< Yeah, there are a couple of folks on my "ignore user" list for reason (2).

I'd suggest other kinds of problematic posts -- but I will save that for the airing of grievances thread, later in the season.
 
Bat-mite said:
If people could just pattern their online persona to match their real life persona, a lot of uncivility would vanish. If you meet a person in the office who disagrees with you politically, do you scream obscenities at them and call them names? or do you just agree to disagree and focus on the job? If the latter, then why do the former online? Just because you can hide in anonymity online doesn't give you the right to act like a monster. But I daresay most people do.

It's just like road rage. People who would be respectful to you at the grocery store would run you down and kill you on the highway.
Click to expand...

I work for an inventory service. I literally see co-workers disagree with each other in a loud, obnoxious vociferous manner. Yes, obscenities get used. Screaming occurs. These co-workers don't last very long, for sure, but it does happen.

I believe that current American society is becoming less polite and civil. What are, in effect, differences in opinions have become reasons to insult, slander, and slur others.

From what I've seen on this forum, most folks display admirable qualities of tolerance and patience.
 
This forum seems to stay in shape, and Chuck is a big reason. The inevitable outbreaks of politics get quelled quickly, and people that abuse beginners for asking legit beginning questions get chased off in due course. TRF is head and shoulders above many forums that I look at occasionally but don't participate in. KUTGW.
 
caveduck said:
This forum seems to stay in shape, and Chuck is a big reason. The inevitable outbreaks of politics get quelled quickly, and people that abuse beginners for asking legit beginning questions get chased off in due course. TRF is head and shoulders above many forums that I look at occasionally but don't participate in. KUTGW.
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Thank you all for the acknowledgment. I have been noticeably absent over the past 6 months. It is work-related.
 
For me, a way to stay civil has been no late night posts after a glass of wine (or scotch). But also using the Ignore function has really helped. There are a couple of folks who just seem to rub me the wrong way. By putting them on my ignore list, I no longer see their posts and it really cuts down on my aggravation level. If a thread does not make any sense, I can choose to see ignored posts on a thread-by-thread basis. It has worked very well for me. It would be nice to not have to resort to such a measure, but it has helped keep me from posting replies that I know I would regret later.


Tony
 
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