Maxie Zeus
08-15-2001, 01:11 PM
"When there's constabulary duty to be done,
A policeman's lot is not a happy one."
Replace "policeman" with "moderator" and you've got my last 24 hours in a nutshell. Those of you who follow the AniGen board know that there was some unpleasantness there. That's taken care of, but as long as long as we're going to do a little housework we might as well do a lot.
The fundamental problem on that AniGen thread was one of courtesy and respect, and in the same line I've issued some warnings with regard to some other, unrelated threads. To be blunt, certain individuals here have been rather too insolent and insulting of late, and it has to stop. These boards are terrific because we treat each other decently and respectfully, and it subtracts from the quality of the place when we forget that fact.
A major part of the problem, I am sure, is just that we have been too forgetful about signalling our intentions and tone in our posts. That is what the emoticons are for. Posts that look insulting or bad-tempered may look that way only because the poster (a pleasant fellow who means no harm) has simply left out the :p , or the ;) , or the :D that would signal his true feelings. Well, if he does he has no one to blame but himself if he is misinterpreted. The moral is: When you're being even slighlty ironic, or teasing, or joking, use an emoticon to signal that fact. We'll all get along a lot better.
Now, if you've not received a PM or email from me or another mod, the above is not really aimed at you, and you don't have to feel abashed. But it's not fair to single out those who've trespassed without saying something to the others. Because those trespassers are probably taking the rest of us as role models.
Look, there are a lot of old hands here. When you post a lot you learn how to express yourself without the emoticons, and know how to read a long-time poster who's also left them out. And we all love each other so much that we can't resist slapping at each other in fun, like puppies at play. But newbies are tempted to emulate the old hands, even though they haven't developed the same skills. And I'll be the first to plead guilty to the conduct I've just decried.
I don't want to pour cold water on the boards, which have been a lot of fun in recent weeks. I'm only going to ask that ALL of us, oldsters and newbies alike, to be a bit more conscious of how we present ourselves in our posts. We're setting an example to others, and we need to remember that.
A policeman's lot is not a happy one."
Replace "policeman" with "moderator" and you've got my last 24 hours in a nutshell. Those of you who follow the AniGen board know that there was some unpleasantness there. That's taken care of, but as long as long as we're going to do a little housework we might as well do a lot.
The fundamental problem on that AniGen thread was one of courtesy and respect, and in the same line I've issued some warnings with regard to some other, unrelated threads. To be blunt, certain individuals here have been rather too insolent and insulting of late, and it has to stop. These boards are terrific because we treat each other decently and respectfully, and it subtracts from the quality of the place when we forget that fact.
A major part of the problem, I am sure, is just that we have been too forgetful about signalling our intentions and tone in our posts. That is what the emoticons are for. Posts that look insulting or bad-tempered may look that way only because the poster (a pleasant fellow who means no harm) has simply left out the :p , or the ;) , or the :D that would signal his true feelings. Well, if he does he has no one to blame but himself if he is misinterpreted. The moral is: When you're being even slighlty ironic, or teasing, or joking, use an emoticon to signal that fact. We'll all get along a lot better.
Now, if you've not received a PM or email from me or another mod, the above is not really aimed at you, and you don't have to feel abashed. But it's not fair to single out those who've trespassed without saying something to the others. Because those trespassers are probably taking the rest of us as role models.
Look, there are a lot of old hands here. When you post a lot you learn how to express yourself without the emoticons, and know how to read a long-time poster who's also left them out. And we all love each other so much that we can't resist slapping at each other in fun, like puppies at play. But newbies are tempted to emulate the old hands, even though they haven't developed the same skills. And I'll be the first to plead guilty to the conduct I've just decried.
I don't want to pour cold water on the boards, which have been a lot of fun in recent weeks. I'm only going to ask that ALL of us, oldsters and newbies alike, to be a bit more conscious of how we present ourselves in our posts. We're setting an example to others, and we need to remember that.