Friendly reminder

Calina

I hate having to do this but under the circumstances...

I am concerned that there is a generally narky and petulant tone creeping in amongst some users. This makes it

1) hard for other users
2) irritating to have to moderate
3) unwelcoming for new users.

Yesterday I modded a thread with a request for people not to be unduly cruel. This was ignored by at least one user which meant posts had to be moderated.

There are undercurrents of personal disagreements amongst posters being sort of raised in other threads. This is not fair.

Personal disagreements are derailing other people's threads.

Disagreements on one thread are being brought over to other completely unrelated threads. This is unfair on OPs whose threads are getting poisoned because of this sort of behaviour.

There are some users unable to recognise that when what they post is not what they intend, what I, the other mods and the community have to deal with is what they post, not what they thought they were posting.

This is the photography forum. Not AfterHours, not the Thunderdome. There is a certain expectation that the posts will be reasonably on topic, generally constructive and polite.

Please bear this in mind before hitting submit. Re-read your posts before hitting submit.

Remember, no poster is so important that we can't do without them if they are causing irritation and hassle on an ongoing basis.

SouthDublinMan

Well said lad! The tone in here is not very nice for a newcomer!

Thecageyone

I agree, it's not nice for newcomers. I experienced the same when I came here first. And everything I said after was monitored like I was a convict for speaking my mind.

There's narkiness sure, there's clique goings on and then at times very heavy moderation for little reason. In general, good job, the forum is tidy and spam free. But at times members are made to feel completely unwelcome for little reason.

One of my posts was pretty much jumped all over here the other day because I suggested to a user who owned a 50D, that they should get it into manual mode to get the best from it ...

Good advice I'd have thought. If anyone else had posted it, a more long-term regualr, I honestly believe nothing would be made of it. Over dramatic responses from 2 mods for actually giving advice.

Kintarō Hattori

SouthDublinMan wrote: »

Well said lad! The tone in here is not very nice for a newcomer!

Lass.

SouthDublinMan

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Lass.

Ooooops:cool:

elven

It's far too easy to mis-read the tone of what some people write on forums. I think in cagey's example, short and to the point was mistaken for arrogant and snappy and it's easy to do, when you've no idea of the poster's personality. For a lot of the regulars, it'd be easier for people to tell if they are serious or joking or whatever because we're used to their 'tone of voice' in writing, but when someone new posts it can be taken the wrong way.

Maybe if people were to read the thread and imagine it's a bunch of people sitting in a pub having a conversation, then when you've written yours, read it back and think if that's actually what you'd say if you were sitting there too... a large proportion of the time i suspect it wouldn't be.

Borderfox

Very true Calina, I have mentioned this to mods over the past while but it seems to be getting worse. Hopefully drawing people's attention to it might make them work together to be a more productive place.

smelltheglove

Well said, manners cost nothing. I have not been posting as much as before but I have noticed newcomers arent always getting the best treatment. Sometimes we argue every once in a while, god knows I have done, but this is a forum, a community, we have to forgive and forget, some of the people I have argued with here before would be those I most respect.

Constructive criticism doesnt need to be mean.

DaireQuinlan

smelltheglove wrote: »

Well said, manners cost nothing. I have not been posting as much as before but I have noticed newcomers arent always getting the best treatment. Sometimes we argue every once in a while, god knows I have done, but this is a forum, a community, we have to forgive and forget, some of the people I have argued with here before would be those I most respect.

There's a quid pro quo to consider here as well though, and it's based around the idea of the forum as a community. I wouldn't wade into a community in real life and start contradicting people who had been part of that community for some time, or insulting them, and expect to be accepted as part of that community. So it's incumbent upon newcomers I think to give a little as well. So maybe if newcomers aren't always getting the best treatment they have to examine their own behaviour a little instead of us considering the community to be at blame.

smelltheglove

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

There's a quid pro quo to consider here as well though, and it's based around the idea of the forum as a community. I wouldn't wade into a community in real life and start contradicting people who had been part of that community for some time, or insulting them, and expect to be accepted as part of that community. So it's incumbent upon newcomers I think to give a little as well. So maybe if newcomers aren't always getting the best treatment they have to examine their own behaviour a little instead of us considering the community to be at blame.

This can be true to an extent btu us oldies are used to how the forum works, boards is a lot friendlier than some forums you can visit and often newbies really just arent used to it, there should be a bit of give and take but at the same time there need to be a bit of the old benefit of the doubt too!

Calina

I think sometimes people are unaware how much slack is cut in all directions as far as possible.

I would not like this thread to become a central bashing ground for oldies versus newbies or advocates of either side. Only that people have a look at their own posts and question whether in fact, they have anything to think about in terms of adding to an occasional feeling of malaise I get about the place.

I get the feeling that I'm not alone in being concerned about the atmosphere in here sometimes.

melekalikimaka

elven wrote: »

For a lot of the regulars, it'd be easier for people to tell if they are serious or joking or whatever

I don't think in the many years here I have EVER been taken seriously...:p

AnimalRights

Never noticed that much of an atmosphere, have noticed some Photography snobs though.
I think I've been a pretty good boy lately Calina.

melekalikimaka

bring back the shrimp!!!!!