A thread to discuss naming threads, board policy, new thread suggestions, and anything else that has to do with board administration and maintenance. Guaranteed to include lively debate and polls. Natter discouraged, but not deleted.
Current Stompy Feet: ita, Jon B, DXMachina, P.M. Marcontell, Liese S., amych
Thanks for that, Denise. As was said upthread, he's been formally warned. Next time, he's suspended.
One comment:
I was surprised that he didn't get more of a negative reaction from you guys when he first began posting.
That's because our first reaction is, correctly I believe, Do Not Feed the Energy Creature (DNFtEC). Many times, if you ignore someone like that, they will just go away; If you try to argue with them, they will take it as encouragement and post more.
It's like he's mocking everyone on purpose. I was surprised that he didn't get more of a negative reaction from you guys when he first began posting. I was waiting for someone to tell him off. It's not even necesarilly the content of what he says so much as the presentation and tone of it. You guys have more class...much more. This guy comes off as a demented pervert getting off on making people squirm.
Out of the mouth of a kinda-newbie.
It's a hard call, because half of me was going, This child is just new, and eventually he will catch up, and then he will look at his old posts and die of shame; and the other half was going, If he were saying anti-Firefly things with exactly the fevor and tone he uses for pro-Firefly slogans, we'd have called him a troll.
My halves have united. He may be deliberately antagonistic; or he may just be stupid. But whichever he is, he is it *too much* for him to be a valuable, or even tolerable, member of this board.
That is my vote.
t edit
And
Thanks, Denise, for phrasing that so well.
wrod.
Thanks for chipping in, Denise. It's good to get a different perspective on this.
I think the "do not feed" works for folks like averagejoe. Less so for someone who might actually participate in a conversation for a second or two.
I think you're probably right ita, but I still think it should be the first line of (non-)attack.
Oh, not arguing. Just explaining. They are two very different troll mindsets, but it's hard to tell which is which off the top.
No problem. I just hate to see you guys over here agonizing over trying to be fair to everybody, when if he put even half that effort into monitoring his own behavior, there wouldn't be a problem. Some people just don't "get it" because they simply don't want to. No amount of words, explanations or warnings from any of you, logical though they may be, can fix that. You guys run a great board. If he doesn't want to acclimate himself to become a part of it...*shrugs*...the hell with him.
Thanks, Denise - well said.
Also well said...
Please have respect for our there-when-you-got-there mores. If you offend them without having intended to, we will tell you, politely, as we do and did; then, your path is (I feel) to absolutely take a polite, apologetic tone. If you feel you were warned too hastily, or within a double standard, you absolutely may argue with us; but your basic tone *must* be a polite one. This is our sandbox. You are the newbie. Argue; but you must be brilliant to make us change our minds about something we've already had sixty thousand posts in the Bureaucracy thread about; but, then again, it is possible. Be polite and brilliant. Certainly. Surprise us.
This could almost go in the FAQ. And Kristen's point is also valuable. His lack of responsiveness to being told he was offensive is telling. It's a good Red Flag for all of us to keep in mind when we're looking at these situations.
I just hate to see you guys over here agonizing over trying to be fair to everybody, when if he put even half that effort into monitoring his own behavior, there wouldn't be a problem.
Ah, this isn't agonizing. You should've seen it before we set this board up. That was a lengthy discussion. Actually, I think these are good test cases for us to learn how to patrol our beat. We do prefer to err on the side of inclusiveness - that's always been a strong community value.