“Internet Etiquette”

[ChipBeck_imp]

Gentlemen,

I have really enjoyed this CB1100 Forum and the main reason is the courteous and respectful way everybody posts up and responds. Bravo Guth. I have moderated the Ford GT Forum for many years and the atmosphere there is the same but inevitably friction arises and tempers flair requiring action by Forum staff to restore civility. After one such incident I wrote and posted the following treatise on “Internet Etiquette”. It must have been a hit as it has been cut and pasted on countless internet Forums since. If all new members here follow these guidelines the CB1100 Forum will remain the same great place it is now for years to come. Cheers.
______________________

An Internet Forum cannot be successful in the long run unless civility is expected and enforced at all times. Forums like this are used for, and serve two primary purposes.

1. They are a clearinghouse for information, questions, ideas, speculation, theory, and often, humor. Much of the information posted will of course be wrong, or partially wrong. But as many members post up, the collective wisdom of the entire forum community will usually result in good information and/or the proper answers becoming evident to the benefit of all those who posted/or just read that thread. Often times, the best information or a valuable insight will come from a young or inexperienced person who is new to the Forum. I seldom ask a question on a Forum that I don't ultimately get a great answer to. When the majority of the membership is comfortable enough to post what they know, or at least what they think they know, the collective knowledge of a Forums membership often seems to exceed that of a supercomputer.

2. They are most entertaining as they form a fellowship of like-minded individuals with a common interest. During the many years I have been involved with various auto, aviation, and motorcycle Forums I have made hundreds of new friends from all over the world. Some have traveled to Arizona to fly aerobatics with me, party with us at Barrett-Jackson, participate in track day events, and all other manner of automotive and motorcycle debauchery.

These two qualities are only possible however, if all members and their often erroneous posts are treated respectfully. NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, KILLS A FORUM FASTER THAN FLAMING. And on a large forum such as this, it's difficult to control as the anonymity provided by the Internet tends to make people bolder, more profane, and far less courteous than these same individuals would be were they face to face. Inevitably, on many Forums, a few of the longer-term members start treating the Forum as their own personal fiefdom, using it to boost their own egos and continually trying to prove that they are the smartest guy in the room. They begin imposing their own brand of quality control by insulting other members whose posts they don't think are up to the standards required for posting on "Their Forum".

Study after study consistently shows that the number one reason members of Forums do not post is because they don't want to be publicly humiliated by having their remarks ridiculed, insulted, or demeaned. And when these members don't post, the collective wisdom of the entire forum is diminished. When those members who do post get flamed, it doesn't just damage the fellowship between the two members involved in that particular exchange, it damages the entire Forum. These are PUBLIC Forums that are designed to be, and are, read by far more people than the number who actually post to that particular thread. An insult on a public Forum is very different than an insult in an e-mail or a PM. Flaming another Forum member by referring to their posts with comments such as "this is simple uneducated BS", or "you need to get a clue", is an intolerable public insult that discourages further participation by many members other than that comments singular target. Furthermore, demanding what you deem to be proper research before posting on a thread with comments such as "You need to get your facts straight before you post advice" assumes a level of authority that nobody has, and discourages members from posting up and “giving it their best shot”. Had these posts been made on the Ford GT Forum they would have been removed within minutes of their posting and the offender would be issued a temporary ban.

Friction between members will not occur in this Internet medium if one simple rule is followed. If you wouldn't say it while standing face to face with that individual, don't say it on the Forum. And at some future event, you might just meet that person face-to-face.

Often, a Forum member called on the carpet by a moderator for insulting another member’s posts will try and minimize their offense by claiming it was just between those two members, they have gotten over it, and the matter is in the past. Here, they fail to understand the broadcast nature of a Forum. This would be analogous to two newscasters caustically insulting each other on the air, and then telling station management that disciplining them would be inappropriate because those two newscasters have gotten over it and moved on. Management and viewers alike understand that insulting behavior conducted in any public media, fouls the atmosphere of the entire broadcast and assaults every audience member viewing it.

Virtually no participant on any Forum posts intentional misinformation with malicious intent. By posting information as best they understand it, members are subjecting their submission to peer review. Even when their submission is shown to be completely false (or even ridiculous) by following posts, if that peer review is conducted in a respectful fashion, the corrected member comes out ahead as he has gained a better understanding of the subject being discussed and is likely to continue posting in the future. And a future post by this same member may well be of great benefit. If however, that peer review is conducted in an insulting or high handed fashion by one of the Forum's “know it alls”, that same member may never be heard from again and the entire Forum community is poorer for it.

All of this can be summed up in just two words…..BE NICE.

Chip Beck

[the Ferret]

Man, what a load of crap......

Just kidding Chip. Very well said. I like to think my mom is standing over my shoulder. If I think SHE would say " do you really think you should say that? " I'll usually delete what Zi was going to say. Mothers have a way of making us watch out Ps and Qs even if they haven't been around for 27 years like mine. Thanks mom, love ya!

[oldyaler_imp]

It'll never work...makes too much sense.

Excellent post Chip. I see a lot of the "long term member syndrome" on the golf forum I joined. I can understand the frustration when a new member asks a question that has been answered 1000 times in another thread but instead of replying "look it up yourself" why not offer a link and politely mention the search feature that every forum has.

[dagersh_imp]

You guys are too funny!

Great post Chip!

Gersh

[DelRider_imp]

Gentlemen,

I have really enjoyed this CB1100 Forum and the main reason is the courteous and respectful way everybody posts up and responds. Bravo Guth. I have moderated the Ford GT Forum for many years and the atmosphere there is the same but inevitably friction arises and tempers flair requiring action by Forum staff to restore civility. After one such incident I wrote and posted the following treatise on “Internet Etiquette”. It must have been a hit as it has been cut and pasted on countless internet Forums since. If all new members here follow these guidelines the CB1100 Forum will remain the same great place it is now for years to come. Cheers.
______________________

An Internet Forum cannot be successful in the long run unless civility is expected and enforced at all times. Forums like this are used for, and serve two primary purposes.

1. They are a clearinghouse for information, questions, ideas, speculation, theory, and often, humor. Much of the information posted will of course be wrong, or partially wrong. But as many members post up, the collective wisdom of the entire forum community will usually result in good information and/or the proper answers becoming evident to the benefit of all those who posted/or just read that thread. Often times, the best information or a valuable insight will come from a young or inexperienced person who is new to the Forum. I seldom ask a question on a Forum that I don't ultimately get a great answer to. When the majority of the membership is comfortable enough to post what they know, or at least what they think they know, the collective knowledge of a Forums membership often seems to exceed that of a supercomputer.

2. They are most entertaining as they form a fellowship of like-minded individuals with a common interest. During the many years I have been involved with various auto, aviation, and motorcycle Forums I have made hundreds of new friends from all over the world. Some have traveled to Arizona to fly aerobatics with me, party with us at Barrett-Jackson, participate in track day events, and all other manner of automotive and motorcycle debauchery.

These two qualities are only possible however, if all members and their often erroneous posts are treated respectfully. NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, KILLS A FORUM FASTER THAN FLAMING. And on a large forum such as this, it's difficult to control as the anonymity provided by the Internet tends to make people bolder, more profane, and far less courteous than these same individuals would be were they face to face. Inevitably, on many Forums, a few of the longer-term members start treating the Forum as their own personal fiefdom, using it to boost their own egos and continually trying to prove that they are the smartest guy in the room. They begin imposing their own brand of quality control by insulting other members whose posts they don't think are up to the standards required for posting on "Their Forum".

Study after study consistently shows that the number one reason members of Forums do not post is because they don't want to be publicly humiliated by having their remarks ridiculed, insulted, or demeaned. And when these members don't post, the collective wisdom of the entire forum is diminished. When those members who do post get flamed, it doesn't just damage the fellowship between the two members involved in that particular exchange, it damages the entire Forum. These are PUBLIC Forums that are designed to be, and are, read by far more people than the number who actually post to that particular thread. An insult on a public Forum is very different than an insult in an e-mail or a PM. Flaming another Forum member by referring to their posts with comments such as "this is simple uneducated BS", or "you need to get a clue", is an intolerable public insult that discourages further participation by many members other than that comments singular target. Furthermore, demanding what you deem to be proper research before posting on a thread with comments such as "You need to get your facts straight before you post advice" assumes a level of authority that nobody has, and discourages members from posting up and “giving it their best shot”. Had these posts been made on the Ford GT Forum they would have been removed within minutes of their posting and the offender would be issued a temporary ban.

Friction between members will not occur in this Internet medium if one simple rule is followed. If you wouldn't say it while standing face to face with that individual, don't say it on the Forum. And at some future event, you might just meet that person face-to-face.

Often, a Forum member called on the carpet by a moderator for insulting another member’s posts will try and minimize their offense by claiming it was just between those two members, they have gotten over it, and the matter is in the past. Here, they fail to understand the broadcast nature of a Forum. This would be analogous to two newscasters caustically insulting each other on the air, and then telling station management that disciplining them would be inappropriate because those two newscasters have gotten over it and moved on. Management and viewers alike understand that insulting behavior conducted in any public media, fouls the atmosphere of the entire broadcast and assaults every audience member viewing it.

Virtually no participant on any Forum posts intentional misinformation with malicious intent. By posting information as best they understand it, members are subjecting their submission to peer review. Even when their submission is shown to be completely false (or even ridiculous) by following posts, if that peer review is conducted in a respectful fashion, the corrected member comes out ahead as he has gained a better understanding of the subject being discussed and is likely to continue posting in the future. And a future post by this same member may well be of great benefit. If however, that peer review is conducted in an insulting or high handed fashion by one of the Forum's “know it alls”, that same member may never be heard from again and the entire Forum community is poorer for it.

All of this can be summed up in just two words…..BE NICE.

Chip Beck

Before Tim Berners-Lee and friends came up with HTTP protocols and hyper text and all, groups of like minded folks congregated in email lists. After a while, you saw the same trajectory. I compare this directly to the forum life cycle. My experience is that they are very similar. Take a read and see what you think. Think about the forums you have been in and all the assorted personalities that you have run across. I don't know that it can be avoided. But if "Being Nice" extends the glide slope, I'm all for it.

[url=http://users.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/lifelist.html]Natural Life Cycle of Mailing Lists

Now, I'll respectfully ask. And maybe never post again because of it. But I'll ask anyway .... does "Being Nice" include wearing your politics on your shirt sleeve a la your sig file? Personally, I come to hobby forums to escape such issues. People can do what they want, that's their business. But it strikes me as somewhat hypocritical to say "be nice" then potentially offend the other 48% of the population with a cutesy sig file missive such as "The road to hell on earth is paved with the good intentions of liberals." Whatever. Your call.

Cheers.

-edit- link formatting

[oldyaler_imp]

Gentlemen,

I have really enjoyed this CB1100 Forum and the main reason is the courteous and respectful way everybody posts up and responds. Bravo Guth. I have moderated the Ford GT Forum for many years and the atmosphere there is the same but inevitably friction arises and tempers flair requiring action by Forum staff to restore civility. After one such incident I wrote and posted the following treatise on “Internet Etiquette”. It must have been a hit as it has been cut and pasted on countless internet Forums since. If all new members here follow these guidelines the CB1100 Forum will remain the same great place it is now for years to come. Cheers.
______________________

An Internet Forum cannot be successful in the long run unless civility is expected and enforced at all times. Forums like this are used for, and serve two primary purposes.

1. They are a clearinghouse for information, questions, ideas, speculation, theory, and often, humor. Much of the information posted will of course be wrong, or partially wrong. But as many members post up, the collective wisdom of the entire forum community will usually result in good information and/or the proper answers becoming evident to the benefit of all those who posted/or just read that thread. Often times, the best information or a valuable insight will come from a young or inexperienced person who is new to the Forum. I seldom ask a question on a Forum that I don't ultimately get a great answer to. When the majority of the membership is comfortable enough to post what they know, or at least what they think they know, the collective knowledge of a Forums membership often seems to exceed that of a supercomputer.

2. They are most entertaining as they form a fellowship of like-minded individuals with a common interest. During the many years I have been involved with various auto, aviation, and motorcycle Forums I have made hundreds of new friends from all over the world. Some have traveled to Arizona to fly aerobatics with me, party with us at Barrett-Jackson, participate in track day events, and all other manner of automotive and motorcycle debauchery.

These two qualities are only possible however, if all members and their often erroneous posts are treated respectfully. NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, KILLS A FORUM FASTER THAN FLAMING. And on a large forum such as this, it's difficult to control as the anonymity provided by the Internet tends to make people bolder, more profane, and far less courteous than these same individuals would be were they face to face. Inevitably, on many Forums, a few of the longer-term members start treating the Forum as their own personal fiefdom, using it to boost their own egos and continually trying to prove that they are the smartest guy in the room. They begin imposing their own brand of quality control by insulting other members whose posts they don't think are up to the standards required for posting on "Their Forum".

Study after study consistently shows that the number one reason members of Forums do not post is because they don't want to be publicly humiliated by having their remarks ridiculed, insulted, or demeaned. And when these members don't post, the collective wisdom of the entire forum is diminished. When those members who do post get flamed, it doesn't just damage the fellowship between the two members involved in that particular exchange, it damages the entire Forum. These are PUBLIC Forums that are designed to be, and are, read by far more people than the number who actually post to that particular thread. An insult on a public Forum is very different than an insult in an e-mail or a PM. Flaming another Forum member by referring to their posts with comments such as "this is simple uneducated BS", or "you need to get a clue", is an intolerable public insult that discourages further participation by many members other than that comments singular target. Furthermore, demanding what you deem to be proper research before posting on a thread with comments such as "You need to get your facts straight before you post advice" assumes a level of authority that nobody has, and discourages members from posting up and “giving it their best shot”. Had these posts been made on the Ford GT Forum they would have been removed within minutes of their posting and the offender would be issued a temporary ban.

Friction between members will not occur in this Internet medium if one simple rule is followed. If you wouldn't say it while standing face to face with that individual, don't say it on the Forum. And at some future event, you might just meet that person face-to-face.

Often, a Forum member called on the carpet by a moderator for insulting another member’s posts will try and minimize their offense by claiming it was just between those two members, they have gotten over it, and the matter is in the past. Here, they fail to understand the broadcast nature of a Forum. This would be analogous to two newscasters caustically insulting each other on the air, and then telling station management that disciplining them would be inappropriate because those two newscasters have gotten over it and moved on. Management and viewers alike understand that insulting behavior conducted in any public media, fouls the atmosphere of the entire broadcast and assaults every audience member viewing it.

Virtually no participant on any Forum posts intentional misinformation with malicious intent. By posting information as best they understand it, members are subjecting their submission to peer review. Even when their submission is shown to be completely false (or even ridiculous) by following posts, if that peer review is conducted in a respectful fashion, the corrected member comes out ahead as he has gained a better understanding of the subject being discussed and is likely to continue posting in the future. And a future post by this same member may well be of great benefit. If however, that peer review is conducted in an insulting or high handed fashion by one of the Forum's “know it alls”, that same member may never be heard from again and the entire Forum community is poorer for it.

All of this can be summed up in just two words…..BE NICE.

Chip Beck

Before Tim Berners-Lee and friends came up with HTTP protocols and hyper text and all, groups of like minded folks congregated in email lists. After a while, you saw the same trajectory. I compare this directly to the forum life cycle. My experience is that they are very similar. Take a read and see what you think. Think about the forums you have been in and all the assorted personalities that you have run across. I don't know that it can be avoided. But if "Being Nice" extends the glide slope, I'm all for it.

[url=http://users.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/lifelist.html]Natural Life Cycle of Mailing Lists

Now, I'll respectfully ask. And maybe never post again because of it. But I'll ask anyway .... does "Being Nice" include wearing your politics on your shirt sleeve a la your sig file? Personally, I come to hobby forums to escape such issues. People can do what they want, that's their business. But it strikes me as somewhat hypocritical to say "be nice" then potentially offend the other 48% of the population with a cutesy sig file missive such as "The road to hell on earth is paved with the good intentions of liberals." Whatever. Your call.

Cheers.

-edit- link formatting

To me stuff like that is just words on a page, therefore, it's hard for me to understand why people get offended.

[ChipBeck_imp]

Gentlemen,

I have really enjoyed this CB1100 Forum and the main reason is the courteous and respectful way everybody posts up and responds. Bravo Guth. I have moderated the Ford GT Forum for many years and the atmosphere there is the same but inevitably friction arises and tempers flair requiring action by Forum staff to restore civility. After one such incident I wrote and posted the following treatise on “Internet Etiquette”. It must have been a hit as it has been cut and pasted on countless internet Forums since. If all new members here follow these guidelines the CB1100 Forum will remain the same great place it is now for years to come. Cheers.
______________________

An Internet Forum cannot be successful in the long run unless civility is expected and enforced at all times. Forums like this are used for, and serve two primary purposes.

1. They are a clearinghouse for information, questions, ideas, speculation, theory, and often, humor. Much of the information posted will of course be wrong, or partially wrong. But as many members post up, the collective wisdom of the entire forum community will usually result in good information and/or the proper answers becoming evident to the benefit of all those who posted/or just read that thread. Often times, the best information or a valuable insight will come from a young or inexperienced person who is new to the Forum. I seldom ask a question on a Forum that I don't ultimately get a great answer to. When the majority of the membership is comfortable enough to post what they know, or at least what they think they know, the collective knowledge of a Forums membership often seems to exceed that of a supercomputer.

2. They are most entertaining as they form a fellowship of like-minded individuals with a common interest. During the many years I have been involved with various auto, aviation, and motorcycle Forums I have made hundreds of new friends from all over the world. Some have traveled to Arizona to fly aerobatics with me, party with us at Barrett-Jackson, participate in track day events, and all other manner of automotive and motorcycle debauchery.

These two qualities are only possible however, if all members and their often erroneous posts are treated respectfully. NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, KILLS A FORUM FASTER THAN FLAMING. And on a large forum such as this, it's difficult to control as the anonymity provided by the Internet tends to make people bolder, more profane, and far less courteous than these same individuals would be were they face to face. Inevitably, on many Forums, a few of the longer-term members start treating the Forum as their own personal fiefdom, using it to boost their own egos and continually trying to prove that they are the smartest guy in the room. They begin imposing their own brand of quality control by insulting other members whose posts they don't think are up to the standards required for posting on "Their Forum".

Study after study consistently shows that the number one reason members of Forums do not post is because they don't want to be publicly humiliated by having their remarks ridiculed, insulted, or demeaned. And when these members don't post, the collective wisdom of the entire forum is diminished. When those members who do post get flamed, it doesn't just damage the fellowship between the two members involved in that particular exchange, it damages the entire Forum. These are PUBLIC Forums that are designed to be, and are, read by far more people than the number who actually post to that particular thread. An insult on a public Forum is very different than an insult in an e-mail or a PM. Flaming another Forum member by referring to their posts with comments such as "this is simple uneducated BS", or "you need to get a clue", is an intolerable public insult that discourages further participation by many members other than that comments singular target. Furthermore, demanding what you deem to be proper research before posting on a thread with comments such as "You need to get your facts straight before you post advice" assumes a level of authority that nobody has, and discourages members from posting up and “giving it their best shot”. Had these posts been made on the Ford GT Forum they would have been removed within minutes of their posting and the offender would be issued a temporary ban.

Friction between members will not occur in this Internet medium if one simple rule is followed. If you wouldn't say it while standing face to face with that individual, don't say it on the Forum. And at some future event, you might just meet that person face-to-face.

Often, a Forum member called on the carpet by a moderator for insulting another member’s posts will try and minimize their offense by claiming it was just between those two members, they have gotten over it, and the matter is in the past. Here, they fail to understand the broadcast nature of a Forum. This would be analogous to two newscasters caustically insulting each other on the air, and then telling station management that disciplining them would be inappropriate because those two newscasters have gotten over it and moved on. Management and viewers alike understand that insulting behavior conducted in any public media, fouls the atmosphere of the entire broadcast and assaults every audience member viewing it.

Virtually no participant on any Forum posts intentional misinformation with malicious intent. By posting information as best they understand it, members are subjecting their submission to peer review. Even when their submission is shown to be completely false (or even ridiculous) by following posts, if that peer review is conducted in a respectful fashion, the corrected member comes out ahead as he has gained a better understanding of the subject being discussed and is likely to continue posting in the future. And a future post by this same member may well be of great benefit. If however, that peer review is conducted in an insulting or high handed fashion by one of the Forum's “know it alls”, that same member may never be heard from again and the entire Forum community is poorer for it.

All of this can be summed up in just two words…..BE NICE.

Chip Beck

Before Tim Berners-Lee and friends came up with HTTP protocols and hyper text and all, groups of like minded folks congregated in email lists. After a while, you saw the same trajectory. I compare this directly to the forum life cycle. My experience is that they are very similar. Take a read and see what you think. Think about the forums you have been in and all the assorted personalities that you have run across. I don't know that it can be avoided. But if "Being Nice" extends the glide slope, I'm all for it.

[url=http://users.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/lifelist.html]Natural Life Cycle of Mailing Lists

Now, I'll respectfully ask. And maybe never post again because of it. But I'll ask anyway .... does "Being Nice" include wearing your politics on your shirt sleeve a la your sig file? Personally, I come to hobby forums to escape such issues. People can do what they want, that's their business. But it strikes me as somewhat hypocritical to say "be nice" then potentially offend the other 48% of the population with a cutesy sig file missive such as "The road to hell on earth is paved with the good intentions of liberals." Whatever. Your call.

Cheers.

-edit- link formatting

Del,

My signature, like most others here, is a personal belief statement, directed at no one in particular, and attacking nobody. I am not "offended" when I see Obama or PETA bumper stickers. They reflect views different from mine but I don't feel the need to respond with personal attacks by calling them "hypocritical" and "cutsey". Your skin is way too thin for you to be riding motorcycles Del. I'm going to suggest you respond to an opinion you disagree with with a well reasoned counter opinion rather than a personal attack. Barring that, your leftst intolerance and your ridiculous assertion that something that may "potentially offend" anybody should be allowed is a perfect example of my signatures validity. Using that standard nothing could be posted as everything may offend somebody. Good grief. If you can't respond to something you disagree with without getting personal, I suggest re-reading your own link. Have a nice day.

Chip

[Guth_imp]

Gentlemen,

I have really enjoyed this CB1100 Forum and the main reason is the courteous and respectful way everybody posts up and responds. Bravo Guth. I have moderated the Ford GT Forum for many years and the atmosphere there is the same but inevitably friction arises and tempers flair requiring action by Forum staff to restore civility. After one such incident I wrote and posted the following treatise on “Internet Etiquette”. It must have been a hit as it has been cut and pasted on countless internet Forums since. If all new members here follow these guidelines the CB1100 Forum will remain the same great place it is now for years to come. Cheers.
______________________

An Internet Forum cannot be successful in the long run unless civility is expected and enforced at all times. Forums like this are used for, and serve two primary purposes.

1. They are a clearinghouse for information, questions, ideas, speculation, theory, and often, humor. Much of the information posted will of course be wrong, or partially wrong. But as many members post up, the collective wisdom of the entire forum community will usually result in good information and/or the proper answers becoming evident to the benefit of all those who posted/or just read that thread. Often times, the best information or a valuable insight will come from a young or inexperienced person who is new to the Forum. I seldom ask a question on a Forum that I don't ultimately get a great answer to. When the majority of the membership is comfortable enough to post what they know, or at least what they think they know, the collective knowledge of a Forums membership often seems to exceed that of a supercomputer.

2. They are most entertaining as they form a fellowship of like-minded individuals with a common interest. During the many years I have been involved with various auto, aviation, and motorcycle Forums I have made hundreds of new friends from all over the world. Some have traveled to Arizona to fly aerobatics with me, party with us at Barrett-Jackson, participate in track day events, and all other manner of automotive and motorcycle debauchery.

These two qualities are only possible however, if all members and their often erroneous posts are treated respectfully. NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, KILLS A FORUM FASTER THAN FLAMING. And on a large forum such as this, it's difficult to control as the anonymity provided by the Internet tends to make people bolder, more profane, and far less courteous than these same individuals would be were they face to face. Inevitably, on many Forums, a few of the longer-term members start treating the Forum as their own personal fiefdom, using it to boost their own egos and continually trying to prove that they are the smartest guy in the room. They begin imposing their own brand of quality control by insulting other members whose posts they don't think are up to the standards required for posting on "Their Forum".

Study after study consistently shows that the number one reason members of Forums do not post is because they don't want to be publicly humiliated by having their remarks ridiculed, insulted, or demeaned. And when these members don't post, the collective wisdom of the entire forum is diminished. When those members who do post get flamed, it doesn't just damage the fellowship between the two members involved in that particular exchange, it damages the entire Forum. These are PUBLIC Forums that are designed to be, and are, read by far more people than the number who actually post to that particular thread. An insult on a public Forum is very different than an insult in an e-mail or a PM. Flaming another Forum member by referring to their posts with comments such as "this is simple uneducated BS", or "you need to get a clue", is an intolerable public insult that discourages further participation by many members other than that comments singular target. Furthermore, demanding what you deem to be proper research before posting on a thread with comments such as "You need to get your facts straight before you post advice" assumes a level of authority that nobody has, and discourages members from posting up and “giving it their best shot”. Had these posts been made on the Ford GT Forum they would have been removed within minutes of their posting and the offender would be issued a temporary ban.

Friction between members will not occur in this Internet medium if one simple rule is followed. If you wouldn't say it while standing face to face with that individual, don't say it on the Forum. And at some future event, you might just meet that person face-to-face.

Often, a Forum member called on the carpet by a moderator for insulting another member’s posts will try and minimize their offense by claiming it was just between those two members, they have gotten over it, and the matter is in the past. Here, they fail to understand the broadcast nature of a Forum. This would be analogous to two newscasters caustically insulting each other on the air, and then telling station management that disciplining them would be inappropriate because those two newscasters have gotten over it and moved on. Management and viewers alike understand that insulting behavior conducted in any public media, fouls the atmosphere of the entire broadcast and assaults every audience member viewing it.

Virtually no participant on any Forum posts intentional misinformation with malicious intent. By posting information as best they understand it, members are subjecting their submission to peer review. Even when their submission is shown to be completely false (or even ridiculous) by following posts, if that peer review is conducted in a respectful fashion, the corrected member comes out ahead as he has gained a better understanding of the subject being discussed and is likely to continue posting in the future. And a future post by this same member may well be of great benefit. If however, that peer review is conducted in an insulting or high handed fashion by one of the Forum's “know it alls”, that same member may never be heard from again and the entire Forum community is poorer for it.

All of this can be summed up in just two words…..BE NICE.

Chip Beck

Before Tim Berners-Lee and friends came up with HTTP protocols and hyper text and all, groups of like minded folks congregated in email lists. After a while, you saw the same trajectory. I compare this directly to the forum life cycle. My experience is that they are very similar. Take a read and see what you think. Think about the forums you have been in and all the assorted personalities that you have run across. I don't know that it can be avoided. But if "Being Nice" extends the glide slope, I'm all for it.

[url=http://users.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/lifelist.html]Natural Life Cycle of Mailing Lists

Now, I'll respectfully ask. And maybe never post again because of it. But I'll ask anyway .... does "Being Nice" include wearing your politics on your shirt sleeve a la your sig file? Personally, I come to hobby forums to escape such issues. People can do what they want, that's their business. But it strikes me as somewhat hypocritical to say "be nice" then potentially offend the other 48% of the population with a cutesy sig file missive such as "The road to hell on earth is paved with the good intentions of liberals." Whatever. Your call.

Cheers.

-edit- link formatting

Del,

My signature, like most others here, is a personal belief statement, directed at no one in particular, and attacking nobody. I am not "offended" when I see Obama or PETA bumper stickers. They reflect views different from mine but I don't feel the need to respond with personal attacks by calling them "hypocritical" and "cutsey". Your skin is way too thin for you to be riding motorcycles Del. I'm going to suggest you respond to an opinion you disagree with with a well reasoned counter opinion rather than a personal attack. Barring that, your leftst intolerance and your ridiculous assertion that something that may "potentially offend" anybody should be allowed is a perfect example of my signatures validity. Using that standard nothing could be posted as everything may offend somebody. Good grief. If you can't respond to something you disagree with without getting personal, I suggest re-reading your own link. Have a nice day.

Chip

Really Chip?

(Sorry folks, this marks the first locked/closed thread on the forum. Too much irony at play for me to handle without making things worse. Long story.)