I'll throw the fast food critics in with this. Thread comes up about fast food and inevitably someone pops in and says "I would never eat that chemical laden garbage." Good for you, Mr. Sanctimonious.

I'm guilty of the negative waves. it's my terrible sense of humor. I think it's funny but i'm learnin

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
the virtue signaler.

By coincidence I considered posting a thread about that some weeks ago pointing out that virtue signaling isn’t limited to leftist snowflakes. I admit I’ve skirted close to that edge myself, but many such gratuitous comments that this thread are discussing are nothing more than, “What a good boy am I!” boasting:

“I don’t drink that Starbucks crap,” “I would never live there,” “I wouldn’t own one of those if you gave it to me,” “I know to keep my finger off the trigger,” “It’s your fault for not voting those bastards out,” etc.

WWAMUP
What Would Arc Make Us Post

Agree with virtue signalers being on both sides of the cultural divide.

Lots of folks looking for validation out there, easy way to get a cheap buzz is promote your own bona fides, its an easy trap to fall into also if we don't agree / like the conversation topic.

Thank you. I've always believed some people post negative replies to increase their post count. As if their post count has to do with credibility.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
WWAMUP
What Would Arc Make Us Post

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
WWAMUP
What Would Arc Make Us Post

This is about the forum running smoothly and I've tried to make the issue clear, with some humor. I frankly don't appreciate some members efforts to snark at every opportunity. It can be disruptive to any thread, but when you do it in a thread like this, you're disrespecting my efforts to do my job here.

Smschulz, kindly cut the crap. I haven't at all said people can't post negative things, I'm asking them to respect the OP and spirit of threads. Currently I have no interest in YOUR negative waves, and you would do well to respect the OP and spirit of this thread.

The main reason I stopped going on Facebook...too much negativity. Life's too short...

quote:

Originally posted by soflaac:
Agree with virtue signalers being on both sides of the cultural divide.

Lots of folks looking for validation out there, easy way to get a cheap buzz is promote your own bona fides, its an easy trap to fall into also if we don't agree / like the conversation topic.

I'm another of those negative, opinionated Old farts. I think I can blame my New Jersey, blue collar upbringing.

Good suggestion though.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:

Amen.

quote:

Originally posted by FN in MT:
I'm another of those negative, opinionated Old farts. I think I can blame my New Jersey, blue collar upbringing.

Good suggestion though.

I've spent a lot of time in a blue collar, around a lot of old school east coasters. Being opinionated is one thing, old school folks know when to be polite.

This is twitter, facebook and the like changing the nature of what it is to be online. Almost anywhere you have anonymity, promotes confrontational and self-gratifying bad behavior.

Around here, even though many of us are still in essence anonymous, there is structure and each member can develop a reputation and contribute to or erode the community.

I mentioned being a good neighbor, that's a pretty concise way to think about this.

Arc, I kinda feel like this is the post about guests wanting their meat cooked well done. My response was "ask them to leave", "cook the shit out of it"...
my responses were really tounge in cheek and not my response in real life. In reality, we frequently have friends over during the summer and I am grilling up meat to their liking. Its their preference. I was just playing and was not trying to create angst on the board. Much thanks to the forum.
regards,
sigguy(the 1st)

No, that's not what this is about. Don't sweat it.

Text is hard. What we think we say isn't what people read. Frankly I'd advise everyone to post here what they'd say in real life. It is what I do. If you meet me, I'm just as cuddly in person.

In that thread, I called people who liked their meat well done mentally ill war criminals. Was I serious?

Clearly I'm a monster. Or perhaps I correctly judged that thread to be superfluous and engaged in humor.

I've done my best to frame it, and if you're thinking about it, then that is a success.

Over time, "rules" have come and gone here, and people have often clamored for them. Well, how many "rules" exist in civil society? Which one? From what era?

When you read the forum, do you need to comment on every thread? Would you rather spend positive or negative energy? Is the energy you spend regardless of charge, going to benefit the OP or other members? Are you interested in the Golden Rule?

If we let the forum head the way of a lot of platforms, almost any topic can get hammered by irrelevant one-off posts by people who could give a fuck who are just jerking themselves off.

How do you make rules about this kind of thing? How do you accurately convey it to the membership? Should the new rule be "Don't swing your dick around so much you step on it?" A lot of this is the behavior of individual members, and while people will put up with individuals, after a fashion it's going to get crowded and change the color of the place.

Am I making a rule? No. Am I outlining a clear guideline? As best I can. The message will only be received to the level of community give-a-shit.

If you ladies, gents, and nonconforming genderqueers hear what I'm saying, then you actually buoy the board and make the place better. Or you just pull eachothers hair on the playground until they cancel recess.

I've often wondered about this.

If someone says, for example, "I hate Amazon, they are never on time" and you have never had a problem with Amazon, are we now suggesting that you should stay out of that thread? I took a look at the various Amazon threads similar to what I said and half of the responses were from people that have had no problems. Same is true for vehicles or tools or whatever.

Someone mentioned Neil Diamond. I have never liked Neil Diamond but when I read through the thread it was obviously a place for his fans to gather so I moved on and said nothing. That is just common sense to me.

But if you have had a bad experience with something and someone is posting that they love that thing and are about to buy it, do we just stay away? Sometimes good things can come from a post that might be considered negative.

I know I am probably not doing a good job of explaining this so let me give another example. A year ago I was in the market for a new, smaller truck. I had narrowed my list down to three trucks. Fortunately, someone started a thread about a new truck he had purchased and was obviously very excited. Most of the posts were congrats on the truck but there was a post from a guy that had that truck and he went on to point out the things he was unhappy about.

Well, that truck was on my short list but I was interested in the things that guy was talking about. I actually went back to the dealer and took a harder look and saw the things that he had mentioned. I crossed that truck off my list. His post was not rude or tacky, just informative...at least to me.

I'm done. Sorry for all the rambling.

My goal for the New Year: "More wag, less bark"

quote:

Around here, even though many of us are still in essence anonymous, there is structure and each member can develop a reputation and contribute to or erode the community.

I mentioned being a good neighbor, that's a pretty concise way to think about this.

Yes, thanks for the reminder.
On this forum we may not often see each other but we are not completely anonymous. We should (and mostly do) respect one another.