Posting on this board

[*NikkiBell*]

I don't respond to those threads for this very reason. I don't use the ignore feature but I do try to ignore it myself. Although I will admit sometimes not responding to it is hard.

I think you all have done a great job. I just wanted to express that it's not as easy as one might think to get rid of the trouble makers.

Thank you. I really appreciate your post and the way you respond to those threads that you may disagree with.

There is a problem here, and it is not unique to this site by any means, as the TIME article explains. I just hope that the powers that be do something to address this problem before it destroys what has always been a happy place for me and many others for a long time - almost 14 years in my case.

To be completely honest, I don't understand the comment stating that you "hope that the powers that be do something to address this problem." We are, and we have been. As I mentioned before, there is a lot that is done behind the scenes that is not public.

If I were to be blunt, one of the major concerns is the fact that a solution has been provided for our posters while the webmasters and I continue to work on the issue: the use of the ignore feature (not just ignoring, but the actual mechanism provided through our software). Unfortunately, the response was that it was not something that individuals wanted to use. So where does that leave us? We are trying to handle the situation, have provided a way for our posters to literally not be able to view posts they want to see, and some of those posters (not all - many have emailed, messaged, and posted in support and have found the feature to be the solution) have chosen not to. Again, where does that leave us? It's a choice to stop yourself from seeing a certain person's posts; if one does not take that solution, it is extremely unfair to consistently state that "nothing" is being done, no one is listening, and the forum is becoming a horrible place.

We are working on it.

We are doing our best.

We have provided a solution that only takes two clicks of the mouse to use.

The ball is now in your court.

In the interim, the webmasters and I are going to continue upholding the guidelines and values of our boards.

 

[disneysteve]

there is a lot that is done behind the scenes that is not public.

Thank you, Nikki. I think this is really the key, and it's sometimes hard for all of us to remember that because we don't see it happening (nor should we). For all we know, a particular poster may be getting a string of warnings and points and be teetering on a ban.

I've already put him on Ignore. I'm done interacting with him. It's just hard knowing that one person is causing so much trouble and negative feelings here and on the surface, at least, it looks like nothing is being done to stop him. I'm really not trying to give you or the other mods or admins a hard time. I just want to see this place stay happy and positive and upbeat. That doesn't mean everyone always has to agree. That would be pretty boring in fact. But folks need to be able to disagree without being disagreeable.

 

[New England Eeyore]

I never post, but something about this thread just motivated me to chime my 2 cents in.

I'm a podcast listener from day one and a member of the boards even longer - since 2004. At one time, I was a daily poster but then life got busy and I just don't get on here as often as I'd like. I'm a lurker now, but I am familiar with the issue that motivated this thread.

I think the webmasters and the moderators have done a phenomenal job with this situation, and I'm dismayed and disheartened by some of the responses they have received. I have read each and every one of the posts by the "offending poster" and most of the response posts back to him. I may not agree with a single thing he has said, but I still defend his right to say it, to paraphrase a famous quote. In my opinion (just my opinion) the anger and negativity (from some, not all) that has been spewed back at him has been far more hurtful than what he has posted. Someone up-thread mentioned bullying. When you have one person expressing an opinion and a dozen more arguing and (at times) attacking them in response, who is doing the bullying in this situation?

The DIS guidelines seem to me to be fair and balanced and yes, they have worked for 15 years for a reason. "Trolls" have existed for as long as the internet has. To say that the guidelines need to be modified to reflect changing times seems strange to me. In my 12 years on these boards I've seen posters like this before, and I'm sure I will again. An argument that I've seen thrown around multiple times toward the other poster is "The podcast is free, you shouldn't complain about it - If you don't like it, just don't listen." The same can be said for the boards. They are free, and they don't belong to us. If you don't like the guidelines, you are always welcome to start your own boards where you can ban people for saying things you don't like or agree with.

It seems to me that the majority of the inflammatory comments have come from threads started by the poster in question. If you see his avatar or his name as the originator of a post, just don't open it! it's only disruptive if you choose to respond to it. I think the moderators and webmasters have given some great examples of relating this online scenario to real life ones. Here's another. I have a crazy uncle that likes to walk into a room at a family reunion and say something political that he knows everyone else in the room disagrees with. He's looking for a fight. Sometimes people forget and take the bait and always ends up frustrated because you can't argue with someone like that. If they're saying something just to provoke a reaction, you are giving them exactly what they want by fighting back. The more satisfying response is to let his provocative statement just lie there and give it no credence, i.e. "Don't feed the trolls."

One final thought. Sometimes I need to remind myself that you can never truly know someone else's situation. Sometimes a troll is just a troll but (as far as I know) no one knows this person in real life. My daughter is special needs. Some of her peers can lack tact or the finer nuances of social interaction. If one of them were to post on a social message board and say something controversial in their typically blunt manner, I would hope they would be responded to with kindness or civility (or just politely ignored) rather than with attacks and hostility. You never know who's really on the other side of that computer keyboard.

Thank you to the moderators and Webmasters who have taken the time to provide thoughtful and detailed posts explaining their position. They have a thankless job for sure and I am grateful for the role they provide in making this little corner of the internet a place that I enjoy going to.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I never post, but something about this thread just motivated me to chime my 2 cents in.

I'm a podcast listener from day one and a member of the boards even longer - since 2004. At one time, I was a daily poster but then life got busy and I just don't get on here as often as I'd like. I'm a lurker now, but I am familiar with the issue that motivated this thread.

I think the webmasters and the moderators have done a phenomenal job with this situation, and I'm dismayed and disheartened by some of the responses they have received. I have read each and every one of the posts by the "offending poster" and most of the response posts back to him. I may not agree with a single thing he has said, but I still defend his right to say it, to paraphrase a famous quote. In my opinion (just my opinion) the anger and negativity (from some, not all) that has been spewed back at him has been far more hurtful than what he has posted. Someone up-thread mentioned bullying. When you have one person expressing an opinion and a dozen more arguing and (at times) attacking them in response, who is doing the bullying in this situation?

The DIS guidelines seem to me to be fair and balanced and yes, they have worked for 15 years for a reason. "Trolls" have existed for as long as the internet has. To say that the guidelines need to be modified to reflect changing times seems strange to me. In my 12 years on these boards I've seen posters like this before, and I'm sure I will again. An argument that I've seen thrown around multiple times toward the other poster is "The podcast is free, you shouldn't complain about it - If you don't like it, just don't listen." The same can be said for the boards. They are free, and they don't belong to us. If you don't like the guidelines, you are always welcome to start your own boards where you can ban people for saying things you don't like or agree with.

It seems to me that the majority of the inflammatory comments have come from threads started by the poster in question. If you see his avatar or his name as the originator of a post, just don't open it! it's only disruptive if you choose to respond to it. I think the moderators and webmasters have given some great examples of relating this online scenario to real life ones. Here's another. I have a crazy uncle that likes to walk into a room at a family reunion and say something political that he knows everyone else in the room disagrees with. He's looking for a fight. Sometimes people forget and take the bait and always ends up frustrated because you can't argue with someone like that. If they're saying something just to provoke a reaction, you are giving them exactly what they want by fighting back. The more satisfying response is to let his provocative statement just lie there and give it no credence, i.e. "Don't feed the trolls."

One final thought. Sometimes I need to remind myself that you can never truly know someone else's situation. Sometimes a troll is just a troll but (as far as I know) no one knows this person in real life. My daughter is special needs. Some of her peers can lack tact or the finer nuances of social interaction. If one of them were to post on a social message board and say something controversial in their typically blunt manner, I would hope they would be responded to with kindness or civility (or just politely ignored) rather than with attacks and hostility. You never know who's really on the other side of that computer keyboard.

Thank you to the moderators and Webmasters who have taken the time to provide thoughtful and detailed posts explaining their position. They have a thankless job for sure and I am grateful for the role they provide in making this little corner of the internet a place that I enjoy going to.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I agree with everything you've written here; in fact, you've taken the words right out of my mouth and wrote them quite eloquently.

Your support is very much appreciated. You said that you mostly lurk here nowadays, but I hope to see you more often.

 

[DSNYDREAMER]

One final thought. Sometimes I need to remind myself that you can never truly know someone else's situation. Sometimes a troll is just a troll but (as far as I know) no one knows this person in real life. My daughter is special needs. Some of her peers can lack tact or the finer nuances of social interaction. If one of them were to post on a social message board and say something controversial in their typically blunt manner, I would hope they would be responded to with kindness or civility (or just politely ignored) rather than with attacks and hostility. You never know who's really on the other side of that computer keyboard

This. Exactly this. You took the words from my heart and wrote them better than I could!

 

[WebmasterAlex]

This seems like a pretty good place to close off discussing board policy and get back to your regularly scheduled programing, the podcast! I would like to say that even though we had differing 0pinions everyone did a great job of respectfully disagreeing and discussing the issues. If every thread went this way the WM's and mods would have it made