Nasty guys on the forum (Page 7/19)
Fformula88 AUG 16, 02:57 PM
I think we end up getting into nasty posts a lot because people are not careful in wording their thoughts, and there is also a lack of tolerance from people when someone does post something that is not worded too well. Its easy to disagree with something by being rude or insulting, but its not as easy to state a valid argument while respectfully disagreeing with an opposing opinion. We get a lot of the former, not much of the latter. When it happens, the original poster then gets upset because he/she feels attacked, and responds in kind. The thread degenerates from there.

Its not going to go away. We are a very diverse forum, with people of all ages, backgrounds, education levels, religious and political beliefs, etc etc on the forum and because of it they not only will disagree on things, but they will also communicate those disagreements on different levels.

If people are more careful about how they argue their points, and are a little more tolerant, or at least thick skinned about some of the not nice responses we can cut down on the flames and negativity. Its not going to go away, but it could be better.

This is a good thread too. These issues are exactly what that ratings button is for, and overall I think the ratings system has been very affective. It seems to me the nastyness on the forum is a lot lower than it was in the weeks leading up to the ratings system and the worst offenders that do not change their ways end up getting tossed.

Cliff, the ratings guage is awesome! I love it!

Arns85GT AUG 16, 03:14 PM
This is really gratifying guys

I like the new guage. I like the positive response. I like the good will being spoken by so very many. Good thoughts, good vibes.

Thankyou Cliff, and I hope this thread has helped.

Arn
Fiero5 AUG 16, 03:15 PM
Mark I have never lied and you have never proven any of your insulting accusations.
This has never become a Jordans or Fiero5 forum any more than it has ever become a Kameo Kid, CoolBlue, Californiua Kid, Skitime or any other members forum. This is a Fiero forum for Fiero owners and lovers.
However..
Obviously Mark has lots of green and I do not so I guess insults and thread hijacking are actually ok to the majority of this forum even though they seem to say otherwise. The forum has spoken by showing me a ratings bar meter that shows how they feel about what has happened, and though members in this thread and in others in the past like Coolblues for another recent example may say one thing, the ratings meter certainly says a different story.
Maybe this isn't necessarily a welcome forum for all Fieros, but possibly only welcome for certain Fieros?

Thanks Arns85GT. This has certainly been a very interesting thread to say the least

[This message has been edited by Fiero5 (edited 08-16-2004).]

WingNut - MD AUG 16, 03:32 PM
Fiero5 and Firefox, can we please give it a rest? I do not like to jump into these things but enough is enough.

Arns - Great thread topic!

------------------
www.cardomain.com/id/wingnutmd------ "Peg" ------ 1985 GT - THE FORGOTTON GT!

Fiero5 AUG 16, 03:38 PM
Don't worry, I'm done
Arns85GT AUG 16, 04:16 PM
And that was called letting go. Hmm....I'll have to remember to do that from time to time myself.

Good stuff

Arn

Firefox AUG 16, 04:44 PM

quote
Originally posted by Fiero5:

The forum has spoken by showing me a ratings bar meter that shows how they feel about what has happened




Absolutely!

Get it yet?

I'm thinking that this bar represents a respect meter more than anything else.......

As I said before, when Fiero5 decides to keep quiet, I'll stop responding.

Thank you very much.

Mark

[This message has been edited by Firefox (edited 08-16-2004).]

DRA AUG 16, 06:17 PM

quote
Originally posted by Firefox:


I'm thinking that this bar represents a respect meter more than anything else.......


over 4 years and I still get no respect! LOL

[This message has been edited by DRA (edited 08-16-2004).]

Mastermind AUG 16, 08:14 PM

quote
Originally posted by Cliff Pennock:


That's one shortcoming of the way ratings are presented (which BTW, I'm working on). The way your ratings are displayed is that if you have one more negative rating than positives, the red bar will "appear". That's also true for the other way around. One more positive than negatives, the red will disappear and the green appears. So the problem is that if you have just about as much negatives as positives, the ratings bar will swing between red and green.

I already have a new way of presenting the ratings ready (which gives a much better view of someone's rating), but my only problem is that it doesn't really fit within the forum's lay-out (cosmetically).

Maybe I should simply turn it on and see what everybody thinks about it. I can always revert back to the old way of presenting the ratings.

Concerning Arns' original post, the problem is that there are a few people here dying for attention (which in itself is pretty sad). They can be banned over and over, but will return using different usernames. The problem with these people is that they will not change their behavior. Simply because they feel the only way they can get attention to themselves is by being rude and obnoxious (again, which is pretty sad in itself). They will always go against the flow. For some reason, they think that's the way to get ahead in life. These people can be categorized as "Trolls". They can be easily recognized, their ratingbar usually gets into the red in no time.

Then there are the people who simply have a very outspoken opinion. They aren't trolls. But they do lack some judgement IMO. They are the atheists that would walk into a church and shout the people there are all idiots for believing in God. They are the husbands that would tell their pregnant wifes they look fat. They are the people that don't realize that sometimes it's best to just suck it in. Those are the people that get upset if their ratingbar gets red for "just stating their opinion".

And then there are the people who understand it's best to live and let live. They are the people who understand you're not a coward for walking an extra block to avoid a bad neighborhood. They are the people who only voice their opinion when it actually matters. They are the people that actually listen to others, and sometimes do things against their own principles but "for the greater good".

Now of course, everyone has the right to decide for their own to which of these groups they want to belong. But I'm sure Confucius would have said "He who chooses to jump in water, should not complain about getting wet."



In theory the rating should be perfect. You're rated by your peers right? Nope!!! I've been wrongfully convicted and strung up by a SBC lynch mob carefully orchestrated and headed by a tag team of SBC owners. All because I championed the 4.9 and called out the ring leader on his incivility and constant use of personal insults in his post.

Maybe, I should put out a call for my 4.9 posse to get some ++'s to offset the SBC mobs ---'s

Go Fiqure.

[This message has been edited by Mastermind (edited 08-16-2004).]

Fiero5 AUG 16, 08:32 PM
Yeah, the rating sytem is certainly not perfect by any means. That is seen on any given day, in any given thread on many occassions. It has helped a lot as we have also seen to help clear out the truly bad seeds, but like anything that has some advantages, it will also have some disadvantages as wehave seen by some who know how to work the system. They can hit and run and usually not suffer much red at all. Obviously nothing is perfect.
I still think that for the forum to truly be "self" moderated as Cliff has said he wants it to be, the forum has to be set up to allow the thread starter the ability to moderate their own threads.
If you could delete a flamers post in your thread that doesn't do anything for the continuity, direction and spirit of the thread then it would certainly make the forum even that much better.This would however probably render the rating system almost useless then which is probably why Cliff is apparently so against it.