an open letter to OT

[Hugh R]

Me personally, I don't type anything that I wouldn't say to a persons face. I travel alot and I enjoy meeting other Pelicans for a beer. I believe people use insults and profanity because they can't muster a better (more intelligent/thoughtful/insightful) response.

[livi]

The pure thrashing threads are not the problem - they can simply be avoided at will. Be it on OT or a separate place.

The nuisance is the soiling of an initially interesting thread. A separate forum won´t help for that.

[David]

Oh my... you mean these posters were serious? I feel bad for all the laughing I've been doing.

[bryanthompson]

I remember back in the day when you'd get a warning when something was said out of line, but the line has been blurred beyond even being a line, and it seems like 'anything goes' around here for the last few months.

nostatus, you have no teeth. You end up participating in the same nonsense you should be moderating against. Start lopping heads, sending PM warnings, editing comments (on both sides) that are out of line, and for God sakes, boot the kiddies that don't belong here. You know who they are. The non-Porsche/VW/BMW posters who do nothing but stir up crap.

[Por_sha911]

The difference between a "fan" and a "fanatic" is that I don't agree with the fanatic. As an example, some folks take offense at disagreements with their religious or political beliefs. Its not that they are jerks, just passionate about what they believe. Unfortunately there are also some folks who enjoy stirring up trouble for the sake of starting a fight.
I think the difference is when the disagreement goes to personal attacks. That's when we need to draw the line. All I know is that I don't want the job of moderator for sure.
Having said that, keep in mind that under the link to OT is the line:
"Anything goes in OT" I guess someone took it literally.

[tabs]

What happens in OT stays in OT....no wait thats LV...pardon me....

Thats a Nostatus joke BTW....

[dtw]

I agree with Markus. When I know a thread is just the usual trolling and flame-baiting, I can either avoid it or skim it on my own terms. Unfortunately, it is the bespoiling of benign or well-intentioned threads by the usual suspects that really steams me. Usually I check in at OT when I need a quick break from work for some thought-provoking discussion or just some mindless fun (tuna water, random pics, OT bikinis). It is no fun to see the same old people spouting off like broken records.

The solution? No idea. Any action has to balance Wayne's goals for the business versus the health of the OT forum. If it was me? I'd probably have a bloodletting (ban-fest), but Wayne's usually a bit more level-headed than me...

[Icemaster]

Oddly enough, I haven't seen the usual cast of characters participating in this thread.

It ends up being a self fulfilling prophecy. The individuals that actually have something intelligent to add, and (would) do so in a manner that is civilized as opposed to 4'th grade playground tactics are put off by the trolls that hang here and spout the vitriol. Thus the potential open discussion on a topic is shouted down and never materializes. Eventually, anyone who MIGHT be interested in participating or posting a topic decides it aint worth it because of what the trolls wil do and we have NO discussion other than what the trolls decide to post. Thus, the trolls rule.

This is not a forum to be owned by trolls. Todd, they need to go. It's well past time.



Ban them.

[RallyJon]

Personally, I only get sucked in to political threads when someone posts something so idiotic I get drawn in. Hard to just skip those threads when they're staring you in the face mixed in with everything else.

Every other forum I hang out on had the same problems. And every other forum--except this one--created a separate "political" forum and prohibited politics in OT. Solves the problem perfectly, and allows members to build community by discussing the many things we have in common vs. one thing that everyone gets pissed off about.

[tabs]

If U don't like a paticular subject...just pass it by...

[jyl]

Fanatics and trolls get banned, then change their screen names slightly and come back on the board, everyone knows who they are, their fan club welcomes them back, and the trolling goes on.

[fintstone]

The folks complaining are some of the worst offenders. As posted earlier...the fanatics and crazies...are just someone that does not agree with you.

[john70t]

Nostatic. The name says it all.

"I remember back in the day when you'd get a warning when something was said out of line, but the line has been blurred beyond even being a line, and it seems like 'anything goes' around here for the last few months."

-Unfortunately the world at large has drilled it's evil ways into the depths of the PP funhouse. I personally started becoming disenfranchised with the Tech side when "what color should I paint my car" got 2,000 views and 5+ pages, while "help my steering column started smoking" got 20 views and 0 replys.
That, and the search engine was either broken or spit out repeat posts with little content. Mabye PP could have an "all star"/priority rating for the best ones(mostly those by gradyclay/earlysman/roninlb/etc/etc...

-Added to that was the (rather sudden) addition of a few rightwingers in OT that seemed to have unlimited resorces/time to hurl insults/etc.. and then my old computer/internet started giving me grief about the same time, wierd stuff Coincidence or crossing a very thick line? Plus, before a few of my very-non-PC posts disappeared,which smacked of bias, but that seems to have changed so far.

-How do you respond to "all liberals will be lined up and shot" posted all day/all the time? I'm as equally guilty of non-sencical replies as the rest. But really, if the FCC regulated the Fbomb and TnA on PP the same as CBS this site would be out of buisness.

Einstein:"for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction".

[Mulhollanddose]

Is it objectivity that motivates this thread or is it personal animus?...Projection perhaps?

[Mulhollanddose]

Originally posted by fintstone
The folks complaining are some of the worst offenders. As posted earlier...the fanatics and crazies...are just someone that does not agree with you.

Indeed...It seems the lefties are the personal haters, whereas the righties simply attack the ideology. It is apparent that those most guilty of hate are the ones who b!tch loudest about it.

Grow some balls.

[JSDSKI]

Brother, you said it. It's the rancor and unnecessary angry adjective thrown in the middle of an otherwise interesting idea that is frustrating. All of a sudden ideas and discussion are tossed aside and then it is just sticks and stones until the thread peters out.

It is the ANGER and HATRED riding behind some comments and ripostes that is amazing to me.

Todd - you've got a tough job and probably not enough time - but thanks!

[tabs]

Goodbye Mull!

[red-beard]

Geez, I got a warning for posting the names of the candidates for class mascot (South Park 2004 Election episode). Seriously, things have degenerated.

Unfortunately, OT is resembling the blue/red or liberal/conservative divide in the country.

I talked to my father quite a bit this past weekend. He remended me that the same divide we see now, was here before the US entered WWII. What I don't understand is that we've had an incident worse than Pearl Harbor and it has not brought us together. Our differences are not as great as the difference between the US and the people in the Middle East.

How to fix OT? If you are serious Todd, you and the Z-man need to enforce the rules. And a lot more harshly than is being done. Personally, I just ignore topics started by certain people. What is the point in arguing the same topic again and again in different threads (TheyHad WMDs, not they diddn't, etc etc).

James

"Why won't anyone listen to me? I'm Serial! I'm super super serial"

[Mulhollanddose]

Originally posted by tabs
Goodbye Mull!

Pure Bush hatred and Democrat hate-mpngering is what manufactures the dissension here, and everywhere across America. It is the politics of division and it is peddled near exclusively by the left. Bush is stupid, Bush is a war-monger, it is all about the oil, Christian right, Bush is Hitler, rednecks, yada yada yada...These continuous taunts and hate filled diatribes get responded to...You wanna blame somebody?...Look no further than the Howard Deans, the Ted Kennedys, the Nancy Pelosis and the myriad of Helen Thomases and Maureen Dowds...You expect civil and honest discourse when this is the crap that gets thrown at us?

It may be Republicans who respond, but the primary hate-merchants are the Democrats...look around at all the hate-W stickers...it is become a cottage industry, hate, the likes that we have never been guilty of in the conservative movement.

[fintstone]

Originally posted by john70t
...-How do you respond to "all liberals will be lined up and shot" posted all day/all the time?...

Probably the same way one would respond to someone referring to the duly elected leadership of this country as “a druggy military runaway and his draft-dodging vp.”