Whats with people? I frequent several airgun forums, have learned a lot, and on occasion contributed something.

Lately though, some forums have been suffering, yes suffering, from big egos, bruised egos, name calling and energetic transfers of bovine excrement. I know its the nature of the internet, to degree, thats its human nature, and the 'net takes some of the nonverbal conversational clues out of it.... but my Lord man, what happened to civility? Its getting to the point where even my flak jacket and helmet aint enough protection, and logging on feels like you paste a big target on yer forehead for the snipers on the roof.


No one person knows it all, about anything. Thats the fun of it. You teach me, I'll teach you, we grow together. I kinda thought thats what forums were for, but I guess Ive been mislead.

Starting to think that I ought to honor my remaining online obligations, quit posting, and just read on occasion.

Then I come over here.... find a bunch of bright and talented people who genuinely like each other. Oh sure, there's still the energetic tranfer of bovine excrement, but its good natured, like having good friends over for a barbeque, or around a camp fire. Not the aggressive skewering of the other guy over some mistake on a bit of minutia.......

Maybe thats the Creator's way of telling me to get offline and go shoot more.

I'm just saying......



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2009 06:28PM by barnespneumatic.

Hi Dan:

A group of us got fed up with exactly what you describe. We found that there was no way to discuss Gary's work online without being insulted, ridiculed, and otherwise abused -- so we built this forum. I'm glad that civility is extended here to all matters airgun-related and not just Gary's work, as it allows us to attract a larger crowd.

Glad you are enjoying things. I know Gary is too. The poor guy is taking advantage of the fact he feels relatively good lately due to his recent treatments and is really grinding it in the shop -- and I know he enjoys it very much when people make use of some of the infrastructure in which he has invested.

-- Jim

Ok, thats good to know, not just me misreading it....

Didnt used to be that way, and Ive seenit happen on the native american flute forum and some of the didgeridoo forums too.

Maybe its how big they get? dunno. sounds like a thesis project for some socialogist......

It's the size of the bigger forums (which makes them harder to moderate) and the quasi-anonymity that the internet offers. Some folks perceive that as a license to dispense with the inhibitions and social pleasantries which are generally expected / required in the "real world." It's just too easy to post a one-liner which would probably get you cracked in the jaw if you said it to someone's face in person.

We never wanted to be the biggest forum -- just a flame / troll-free zone where we can talk about airguns and related stuff.

-- Jim

You nailed it Dan! I have been disappointed with the endless point-scoring going on. Other fora have something to contribute, but not when they degenerate into petty arguments that do nothing to further the sport. Here at least there are no trolls or flamers, so it's my first port-of-call to hear some good airgunning news or to report on what's happening in my neck of the woods. Peace....it's here
Cheers
Neil

Hi Neil:

You've scored points here for your excellent posts, and for rubbing our noses in the beautiful NZ scenery. We're glad to have you posting here.

-- Jim

Hi Guys,

Sorry, I missed this discussion (as the home page places this off topic forum off of my screen too - I neglected to scroll my page to note the thread). I wonder if others have done the same. Maybe the thread should be moved to the main page - as it's completely relevant to our forum's purpose.

Actually, since my introduction to the net, I've felt like I was tossing clay birds for others to take shots at. Felt like I should yell "PULL!!!" after each comment. Got so sick of it I just stopped going to any of the forums. It was impossible to have a conversation about anything.

What you have is basic human nature, and a sorry statement regarding the population of the earth. Here's one of Gary's moralisms: "There are alot more people who can throw bricks, than people who can make a stained glass window." Here's another: "For every statue, there are ten thousand pigeons." Want more? "It takes talent to earn respect mastering traditional skills. Demanding RESPECT for non-skills is quite another matter." I really need to write these down on a scroll or something ...

The people who get lost in the mix of regular internet forums, are the good folks who came to enjoy their hobby. Talented, successful people taking a twenty minute coffee break. Professional people who dropped in front of the computer after a 12-16 hour day, looking for a change of thoughts and a few minutes of relaxation.

The pigeons, brick throwers, and non-skilled; quickly get sick of showing respect for skilled traditional talent. And, they refuse to conduct themselves in a respectful manner - never having bothered to develop any manners. They demand respect for "their" natural talents ... often that's little more than a loud, foul mouth. The loud mouth, hiding behind a computer screen, can come to dominate any public forum ... IF .... IF ... the moderators allow that to happen. When it does happen, the good people, who came to share, discuss, and converse, just simply go away. That leaves the loud mouths to shout each other down.

We decided we had the talent - in house - to make a place for ourselves to share our hobby. We made it available to anybody who had acquired the ability to converse, in a civilized manner. We're not the only people on the net who are "worthy". We're just a place where we require all of our members to show respect ... and it makes this Rendezvous an enjoyable, stress free place.

The only thing we've required has been more willingness to participate in the posting department. If the same few people do all the posting, readers fall into the pattern of just reading along. That's a royal bummer for those who take the time to post. That little number beside everybody's name/Avatar is the total number of posts per that person. Try to drive yours up. Thanks for joining in.

Gary



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2009 06:30PM by barnespneumatic.

>>That little number beside everybody's name/Avatar is the total number of posts per that person. Try to drive yours up.

Got a couple of things.....

I agree 100%, respect is the key word. Disrespecting people started all the troubles. I've always treated everyone with respects on the forums that I frequent, and I grew to like, respect, and made friends with the respecting forum members, but I have no patience for the disrespecting ones. Sure, we can disagree on some subjects, and it will always happened, but be civilized and couteous about it. It turned me off whenever I see it happened on the forum, forums are supposed to be the places to share knowledges, exchanges infos, to show off one's new gun, good groups, and it's the place to relax and share the common love of airguns, not to argue and attacking one another. I like everyone here, this is a small forum but a really good one, everyone likes and respecting one another and that is important as it can lead to good friendships that can last a lifetime to share our common love for airguns.

Hey guys!

I hate to sound like the "prophet of doom" or whatever, but I think the whole forum/rudeness thing is just a microcosm of today's society.

A huge number of folks today seem to want "everything" and to want it "yesterday" at the latest !!!!!

when you add in the overall tackiness and rudeness of the "celebrity culture", the incivility of politics, the lack of respect of children for adults and vice-versa.....well, why would the Internet be any different??

Plus, with the anonymity factor, you get the "keyboard commando" types who run their yaps about everything and run everyone else down - as someone said before, most of them would never say these things to your face !

Since I collect knives as well, I frequent some of those fora too - I think the quality of the moderators is crucial! The best places, like here, have moderators who encourage open discussions but immediately limit the bad behavior and remove the trolls. some of the others....well, they seem to almost suborn the nastiness, especially if it comes from "the annointed ones" on their forum.

a little politeness goes a long way!

You're right Bill. Society has been swirling around the bowl for some time now.

They've gone off the deep end with "rights, expectations, second chances, third chances, fifteenth chances, don't judge me, you MUST love me ... on and on. Early in my net experience ... I watched endless arguments ... went on for a week at a time ... about "Free Speech" and the moderator would engage in endless agruments trying to talk some jerk out of demanding they had the right to disrupt the entire forum with their crap. That's why the moderator has the "delete" button. CLICK - DONE. End of story.

We've all watched this tripe creep into everything. Movies: The good guy tosses his gun away and goes toe to toe with the bad guy who's committed every atrocity ever concieved. Just SHOOT the Creep!! Move on with a productive program. Don't devote 75% of your resources to trying to train rattlesnakes to be seeing eye dogs. Recognize what you are dealing with - have some logic - move on.

Gary

Yup, I agree with you guys on this one, a bit of civility goes a long way towards making a forum a good place to frequent. A good moderator is essential in maintaining that civility, as there will always be those out there whose idea of witty repartee is limited to profanity.

It looks to me that the internet is gradually evolving towards two standards of conduct. One is the current model of totally unregulated and anonymous behavior, largely dominated by flame wars, hatefullness, and virtually devoid of useful content. The second is more along the lines of regular adult society, where people use their real names and there are consequences for asinine behavior. It doesn't take much time surfing to figure out which is the more informative.