Principles of Forum Discourse

[Stucki]

Originally Posted by Lucky13

What's that?
It's an Ignore List.

Brilliant! . . . What's it for?
It's so I can be childishly mean spirited and egotistical and if people don't like it, I can just tell them to put me in their Ignore List.

Brilliant! . . . So you mean I can say anything I want about anyone and it's their responsibility to ignore it?
Yep.

Brilliant! . . . And after being offensive I just put everyone on my Ignore List so I don't have to see their responses?
Yep.
Brilliant! . . . So then, after we all finish ignoring one another . . . :dontgetit . . :sotired::sadwalk: . . you know, if I'd wanted to be alone I wouldn't have come here in the first place.

The Guiness theme doesn't hurt. I am laughing out loud, literally.

[fuegote]

Like I said, I'm not a troll. I don't know why people do it. Just know that it is done and you can do two things.

Petition to have him kicked off the site, or just kick him off yourself, by ignoring him.

[Old Ska]

Originally Posted by Snarf

:velho:

Is it just me or is this starting to be more and more like bigsoccer. I liked bigsoccer in the beginning because of all the cool info that I could get from it, but after a while, everybody trying to be cooler than the other guy, the insults, and the posing got to be too much to waste my spare time on.

This site has always been the same thing a great font of knowledge...well not knowledge...info, but recently it's starting to be the same thing as bigsoccer. A bunch name calling and pissing matches. What to do? Put everybody on my ignore list?

Well, you probably have a really good idea of who does not have the kinds of posts you like. Just put them in your ignore list.

You could think of it like your cable tv subscription. Sure you have 100s of channels...but you also have many (probably dozens) that you know never have anything interesting to you on them so you breeze right by them without giving them a second look. The ignore list gives you the same function.

Another thing to do is pay attention to what forum a topic is posted in. If someone only wants soccer stuff, avoid threads in the off-topic area. If you don't want to know match results, avoid threads with an [R] in the subject line.

[Old Ska]

Originally Posted by montgjules

Ska, can you see this? :D

Hehe, good one!

[Old Ska]

Originally Posted by Lucky13

What's that?
It's an Ignore List.

Brilliant! . . . What's it for?
It's so I can be childishly mean spirited and egotistical and if people don't like it, I can just tell them to put me in their Ignore List.

Brilliant! . . . So you mean I can say anything I want about anyone and it's their responsibility to ignore it?
Yep.

Brilliant! . . . And after being offensive I just put everyone on my Ignore List so I don't have to see their responses?
Yep.
Brilliant! . . . So then, after we all finish ignoring one another . . . :dontgetit . . :sotired::sadwalk: . . you know, if I'd wanted to be alone I wouldn't have come here in the first place.

While I suppose ignore lists could be used in the manner you described above, I don't think anyone here is using them that way or avocating using them in that way. In the same way that when you walk down the street you don't stop and have a conversation with every person or shop in every store, ignore lists are just a way to be more efficient.

I use mine to keep me out of trouble. By ignore-listing people who have expressed displeasure at my posts in the past, I am less likely to bump into them and have a conflict. Since I have done that their lives have become more peacful and so has mine.

Honestly, ignore lists are not a bad thing. They are a good thing. They promote healthy forum community relationships. Don't believe me? Take 72 hours and use your ignore lists and see if I am right or not for yourself.

I regret that they are called "ignore lists". That seems to be the thing that people don't like. From here on out I dub "ignore lists" "efficiency lists". Now, go forth and use your efficiency list to make our forum community a better place.

[Stucki]

Originally Posted by Old Ska

Another thing to do is pay attention to what forum a topic is posted in. If someone only wants soccer stuff, avoid threads in the off-topic area. If you don't want to know match results, avoid threads with an [R] in the subject line.

Sure except that some of us just click on new posts and read them that way. I really don't pay attention to where the thread started.

[Old Ska]

Originally Posted by mrstucki

Sure except that some of us just click on new posts and read them that way. I really don't pay attention to where the thread started.

When you click on "new posts" look on the right hand side of the screen, that tells you the forum a thread is in.

Different forums have very different, lets say "moods" to them. The hardcore soccer ones rarely have real contention, even though there are some pretty strong opinions bandied about in those. Off-topic ones are more likely to get really off-topic, contentious and personal, or devolve into a discussion of how hot DJ Countess is, Heather Mitts herpes, or belly-button lint. I think if one ignores the information you can extrapolte from thread title and sub-forum, one can not then complain about the messages they are exposed to. It is sort of like saying "I refuse to look at the titles or ratings of movies before I walk into the theater" and then being mad that you see a XXX-rated movie (or a g-rated movie).

[Stucki]

Originally Posted by Old Ska

When you click on "new posts" look on the right hand side of the screen, that tells you the forum a thread is in.

Different forums have very different, lets say "moods" to them. The hardcore soccer ones rarely have real contention, even though there are some pretty strong opinions bandied about in those. Off-topic ones are more likely to get really off-topic, contentious and personal, or devolve into a discussion of how hot DJ Countess is, Heather Mitts herpes, or belly-button lint. I think if one ignores the information you can extrapolte from thread title and sub-forum, one can not then complain about the messages they are exposed to. It is sort of like saying "I refuse to look at the titles or ratings of movies before I walk into the theater" and then being mad that you see a XXX-rated movie (or a g-rated movie).

I didn't say I didn't know where it was, I said I didn't pay attention to it. Have you seen the movie Quigley Down Under? It is kind of like Quigley with the pistol I suppose.

It isn't about being upset about content of a forum. It is more about wondering why people feel the need to express themselves like buttheads, from time to time. Just because we aren't face to face doesn't mean that civic dialogue principles can't be used.

There will be differences of opinion, no question. The important thing, in my view is how they are responded to. Vitriol is unnecessary.

[Aerick]

Originally Posted by mrstucki

I didn't say I didn't know where it was, I said I didn't pay attention to it. Have you seen the movie Quigley Down Under? It is kind of like Quigley with the pistol I suppose.

It isn't about being upset about content of a forum. It is more about wondering why people feel the need to express themselves like buttheads, from time to time. Just because we aren't face to face doesn't mean that civic dialogue principles can't be used.

There will be differences of opinion, no question. The important thing, in my view is how they are responded to. Vitriol is unnecessary.

The problem is in the writing itself. It's difficult to convey proper intent in writing at times, and for those of us who are, shall we say, "less skilled with the pen", it can be a ticking time bomb. I would say the more often than not, a post deemed responsible for contention was originally not intended to be offensive in any manner, to anyone. However, someone may take a portion of the message to be offensive, or perhaps assume that the implied tone is offensive, and begin the process of escalating.

My strategy? Be very careful about what you 'say', and if in doubt, take the high road.

[Aero]

Originally Posted by Aerick

The problem is in the writing itself. It's difficult to convey proper intent in writing at times, and for those of us who are, shall we say, "less skilled with the pen", it can be a ticking time bomb. I would say the more often than not, a post deemed responsible for contention was originally not intended to be offensive in any manner, to anyone. However, someone may take a portion of the message to be offensive, or perhaps assume that the implied tone is offensive, and begin the process of escalating.

My strategy? Be very careful about what you 'say', and if in doubt, take the high road.

This is a big problem, and can be an even bigger problem on other forums where the people might not actually know each other in person to the extent that we do here. One good thing is to really get good at using smileys to convey your actual meaning. There are a lot of them for just about anything now. Some people might think that they are too "cutesy" to use, but can really go a long way to actually helping people get the hidden message behind someone's post.

And along those same lines, pay attention to the use of smileys in other people's post. Imagine them saying them with the expression that is on the smiley and you will usually get their meaning.

Just some things that I have found useful in my many years of message board interaction.