Are you offended - really????

[Motokid]

I have never requested to turn this forum into the wild wild west where everybody has a gun and is free to use it. The point was that everybody here is really good about not flaming a personal attack at somebody, and when a post goes overboard there are usually plenty of members that come to the rescue.

We police ourselves very well I think. I'm not sure the best answer is to close a thread, but then again I'm not the one complaining and having my feelings hurt. I was just hoping to gain some incite into the entire topic of what's acceptable forum schananigans and what's not.

Again. I think the members of the forum do a fine job of policing themselves.

 

[Kookamoor]

Moto - is it just me, or has your posting gotten a lot more diplomatic and eloquent over the past couple of days? I've noticed your posts on a few places and thought that they were a lot less 'devils advocate', and tended towards being more 'this is what I think, and here's my evidence'. Is that just me? Either way, kudos, my friend.

 

[mr_michel]

I have never requested to turn this forum into the wild wild west where everybody has a gun and is free to use it.

never said you did, what i actually said was

since this thread lately has become a sort of excuse, just want to express this though

basicly refering to the fact that there are members saying stuff like "but there is a 158 posts thread that...." without considering that most on topic posts are from the same members (120 post were made by 8 members), and a large number of posts are off topic or simply small remarks that doesnt add to the discussion.

 

[Motokid]

Mr Michel, this part of your post is what I was replying to: "the fact of not being offended doesnt mean that everyone should have green light to do whatever they want"

As for you Kookamoor, have my posts changed, or has the way you interpret my posts changed?

 

[Kookamoor]

As for you Kookamoor, have my posts changed, or has the way you interpret my posts changed?

Hmm... It's entirely possible. Perhaps it's more the way you've been dealing with things so diplomatically in the middle of the subtle family feud that seems to be going on around us. Either way, it was a compliment to you!

 

[Motokid]

Thanks kook, you're a doll.

oops, should of put that in the thank you thread...oh well...

 

[novella]

What offends me is plagiarizing other writers' work, as I make my living thanks to copyright protection.

Another review plagiarized on TBF

Maybe someone out there thinks I'm being too picky or something? I really surprised at this. Truly. It seems to me to be a complete breach of faith to post someone else's review here as your own.

 

[Stewart]

What offends me is plagiarizing other writers' work, as I make my living thanks to copyright protection.

Another review plagiarized on TBF

Maybe someone out there thinks I'm being too picky or something? I really surprised at this. Truly. It seems to me to be a complete breach of faith to post someone else's review here as your own.

I see what you mean: "Martin's" review.

I wonder what he has to say about this?

 

[Motokid]

OK, so this thread has not really been visable since May of 2005.

Since then a lot of members have come and gone, and TBF has changed considerably, anybody new members care to comment?

Especially since the end of 2005 and into 2006 there has been a very distinct change in the number of General Chat threads and the types of threads created.

Apparently at one time there were a number of TBF members who felt bullied, or silenced by other, more boisterous members.

So now that things appear to be very different, and TBF has so many new members I thought maybe this thread could be revisited, and the newer members could voice their thoughts.

Feel free to read through all the earlier posts if you wish, but the basic question is plain to understand from the title.

Are you ever offended by the opinions, and posts here at TBF?
And if so, can you simply just ignore an offensive thread/post/member, or do you feel the need to fight back? How do you respond to the feeling?

 

[abecedarian]

There's been a few times I felt a little offended. Nothing major, obviously, since I'm still here. Most offenses have been in the realm of hiphots about religion or politics, and I felt I couldn't say anything back since that would push the conversation even further into those 'dark realms' which are forbidden. So, I kept quiet. Looking back, I think in most of those cases, that was exactly the correct response, since most of those posters are not around now.
Being offended now and then isn't the worst thing though. I can see how it helps me reevaluate my own positions on various matters. The risk of being offended is a rather small price to pay for the growth opportunities I've enjoyed during my time at TBF.

 

[ruby]

I enjoy tbf a lot and there was only one time in the last mth that i felt offended,i did pm that person and hopefully made my feelings known and since then i havnt had no problems.
This place is a nice community of really nice desent members

 

[Motokid]

I wanted to bring this forward again because I think most of the moderating decisions are based on the "potential" for things to get out of hand.

If a thread is to get locked, or a post deleted, I think it should be done on what's happened, not what's about to happen, or what might happen, or what's happened in the past.

 

[muggle]

Why don't we let the moderators do their job. They do a pretty good job in my opinion. There are always some people that "think" they can do a better job but those same people are very seldom chosen as moderators, and usually for good reason. If anyone has a problem they should PM a moderator. There are rules on TBF and the moderators enforce the rules in place. Stirring the pot is just that, stirring the pot.

 

[steffee]

I've never been offended on TBF, but then I'm very hard to offend anyway. I know we all have different views and opinions and that's the fascinating thing about being a member of any forum, and so it's exciting when people think differently to me and we can have a good discussion about it.

Saying that you have to be conscious that communication on forums is in written form, and is much more difficult to get across your true meaning in a post. On several occasions I have "said" something that has sounded completely differently to how I meant it, and how it would have sounded had it been spoken. And I'm sure other people have experienced the same.

 

[Motokid]

Yes there are rules. Here they are.

Please show me where it states that creating discussion and debate, even heated at times, is against the rules.

Please tell me where it states it's against the rules for members like me to question how the rules are enforced or applied?

3.7 The Book Forum reserves the right to remove, edit, move or close any thread for any reason without prior notice.

Does not say that these decisions can't be questioned.

3.1 We do encourage lively discussions and debate.

 

[Miss Shelf]

Maybe the reason TBF is so popular is the moderators know the difference between "lively discussion and debate" and discussions/debates that are about to turn nasty-some may see such censoring as premature, but I appreciate a forum where people aren't at each others' throats all the time. And I don't see why you can't question a decision to lock or delete a thread-usually they'll give a reason why it was locked/deleted. Protesting it is a waste of time-the decision has already been made, and I doubt such decisions are made capriciously.

I agree with muggle: stirring the pot is stirring the pot. Enough already of this endless circling.

 

[StillILearn]

Here's something that I wholeheartedly agree with Moto about: If an issue is addressed openly, there will be less conjecture and resentment surrounding it. I do use the PM feature, but not when it's about something that's obviously of interest and importance to us all. If I know the rules and understand why theyre there, I find it easy to abide by them. Especialy if there's a good reason for them.

I find all this public airing of our concerns and questions to be a healthy thing, and I expect that it will make for a happier fam - I mean forum.

 

[Motokid]

There's really only one way to know how the general membership feels.

That's to raise the question.

If the overall membership is happy with things as they stand then fine. So be it.

I have a tendancy to try to improve things. I want to know if things can be better. I question constantly.

I'm just asking a few questions so that I can make an informed decision.

 

[SFG75]

Why don't we let the moderators do their job. They do a pretty good job in my opinion. There are always some people that "think" they can do a better job but those same people are very seldom chosen as moderators, and usually for good reason. If anyone has a problem they should PM a moderator. There are rules on TBF and the moderators enforce the rules in place. Stirring the pot is just that, stirring the pot.

I don't disagree that some reform would be nice. Yes, at times, they can be some what overhanded. Yes, I think we should have a "hall of shame" as members voted. Yes, I think we need a tadbit more openness about discussions regarding politics and relgion. At the same time,you are right muggle. They do a pretty good job of keeping things sane around here. We had a whole lot of crap going on months ago and that is no longer the case. The board is hardly dying and we have newbies joining left and right. While I would like a politics/religion discussion forum, or at least a more liberal interpretation of discussing those subjects in context to a written work, I can live with posting about books. Errr, wait.....this is a book forum? If folks around here put the same amount of energy into posting about BOOKS as they do about gripes about the board, who knows, maybe we'd have a thousand threads as active and exciting as the two Nabokov ones. Just one person's opinion, take it for what it's worth.

 

[muggle]

I don't disagree that some reform would be nice. Yes, at times, they can be some what overhanded. Yes, I think we should have a "hall of shame" as members voted. Yes, I think we need a tadbit more openness about discussions regarding politics and relgion. At the same time,you are right muggle. They do a pretty good job of keeping things sane around here. We had a whole lot of crap going on months ago and that is no longer the case. The board is hardly dying and we have newbies joining left and right. While I would like a politics/religion discussion forum, or at least a more liberal interpretation of discussing those subjects in context to a written work, I can live with posting about books. Errr, wait.....this is a book forum? If folks around here put the same amount of energy into posting about BOOKS as they do about gripes about the board, who knows, maybe we'd have a thousand threads as active and exciting as the two Nabokov ones. Just one person's opinion, take it for what it's worth.

And I think it is worth a lot.