Bullies on Internet discussion forums

[Colin_b]

On this great internet, one has the cloak of anonymity (though not as much as some imagine).

That means that some use this anonymity to project themselves in odd ways, usually compounded by the restriction that text based 'speech' brings - inflection, expression and remoteness from each other.

Add the tendency to jump on bandwagons, and the bullying starts.

The counter to this is the moderators, who have an almost impossible job. They will never please everyone! I've seen them do things here that seem outrageous at first glance, but after an hour or two of thought usually seems understandable, given I don't know the backstory.

I'd give MBclub 8/10, which is pretty good for a small board with relatively few mods, as far as I can tell.

 

[scottishman2]

I've quite enjoyed my limited "exploration" of this forum - but this makes me reconsider....
Get a life folks - its a car forum - to discuss our love for a certain marque and its peculiarities and its contribution to our overall enjoyment of life...

Its disappointing to note that the world is full of people that you will not agree with every time -- its not always personal (sometimes it might be!!) but if you get offended by the written word on a forum then you need to take a chill pill (imho - I believe thats the right "forum speak")

differences of opinion are what makes the world go round - inability to accept those differences is what causes friction. This is meant to be fun ... relax, enjoy the differences and let it wash over you....

As someone says on their "signature" - pass the duchie... chill out and relax in whatever way you want but don't let it get you upset.

Rant over - wife is having a difference of opinion with me as to what I should be doing at this time on a Sunday night....

 

[wemorgan]

I was a long time poster on this forum under another username but I had some unpleasantries with a realtively new member. (I was threatened rather than "Bullied").

Welcome back!

 

[dsolds]

I figured it out a long time back. Internet forums are anonymous enough for wannabe hard cases to mouth off. But hey, it's only words. you know the old saying, Sticks and stones might break my bones but whips and chains excite me words will never hurt me.

But yes, bullying isn't big and it isn't clever. I've seen what it can do, and if anyone's ever in any doubt then check out places like Overclockers or LandyZone. I only lurk there for information but they way some of them carry on is disgraceful. Oh and one of the most unlikely candidates would possibly be a caravan forum, I kid you not. Some lowlife tried picking on SWMBO on the practical caravan forums and the moderators did nothing about it cos of his high post count. Well it cost them a subscription anyway.

Probably the main reason I still read the columns here is for the friendly banter. I don't drive a Merc any more but the place still has an attraction for me.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

When I first joined this forum, I was new to forums and their structures.

This lead to me taking things a bit too personal at the beginning and spitting my dummy out.

One of the gems of advice given to me at that time was this; "Opinions are like ****holes, everyone has one. The problem is when the ****holes have opinions"....

I took it all on the chin and I'm still here to tell the tale...

 

[NW_Merc]

This lead to me taking things a bit too personal at the beginning and spitting my dummy out.

You mean you dont do that any more?

 

[Deleted member 37751]

You mean you dont do that any more?

No, I either destroy them with my razor-sharp wit or just ignore them.

 

[Aswall]

I must admit, after returning here after a fairly long absence, it appears to be a much less friendly place than it was a few years back. There seem to be a small, but noisy, minority who seem to not know the difference between their opinion and fact, and who become very aggressive toward anyone who disagrees with them. This has been evident in a few threads in the last couple of weeks and I can imagine there are several people contemplating deleting this forum from their bookmarks.
Personally I couldn't care less about these type of people, this forum is just somewhere I log in to occasionally for news, pictures, laughs and for other peoples' opinions, I'm too old to get involved in tantrums with keyboard warriors.

 

[crockers]

No, I either destroy them with my razor-sharp wit or just ignore them.

So that would be ignoring them then.

 

[tali]

I've quite enjoyed my limited "exploration" of this forum - but this makes me reconsider....
Get a life folks - its a car forum - to discuss our love for a certain marque and its peculiarities and its contribution to our overall enjoyment of life...

Its disappointing to note that the world is full of people that you will not agree with every time -- its not always personal (sometimes it might be!!) but if you get offended by the written word on a forum then you need to take a chill pill (imho - I believe thats the right "forum speak")

differences of opinion are what makes the world go round - inability to accept those differences is what causes friction. This is meant to be fun ... relax, enjoy the differences and let it wash over you....

As someone says on their "signature" - pass the duchie... chill out and relax in whatever way you want but don't let it get you upset.

Rant over - wife is having a difference of opinion with me as to what I should be doing at this time on a Sunday night....

Just stumbled on my signature getting a nice mention - cheers!

 

[Shude]

This forum started when a US-based forum collapsed and a few of us in the UK set up a new one. Knowing the other guys in person helped us back then and every time there is a GTG it makes the forum stronger as "internet friends" are never quite as good as real friends.

People come and go and there are always going to be cliques and sub-groups within a large group of people but the core seems to be solid. Hey we're all supposedly here for a the same reason right? We're MB enthusiasts. If there is any bullying going on then please report it to the mods as we're eager to keep this place a happy, chatty environment for like-minded individuals to discuss stuff in relative peace.

Group hug!

 

[Beno]

One of the gems of advice given to me at that time was this; "Opinions are like ****holes, everyone has one. The problem is when the ****holes have opinions"....

Now thats funny!!

 

[scottishman2]

One of the gems of advice given to me at that time was this; "Opinions are like ****holes, everyone has one. The problem is when the ****holes have opinions"....

Now thats funny!!

And my wise old dad once told me -- BMW's are like hemorrhoids.... every ******** gets them eventually.

 

[Beno]

And my wise old dad once told me -- BMW's are like hemorrhoids.... every ******** gets them eventually.

Genius :bannana:

 

[Howard]

bullyiong is bad mkay

Yes it is.

 

[SimonsMerc]

One thing I really like about this forum is the "ignore" command. Unfortunately it's flawed in that if someone else quotes the ignored person, that quote is still visible. Is there any way that quotes could also be filtered through the ignore list?

The person on my ignore list made one of the most negative, aggressive and pointless posts on this thread, and I'd have preferred not to have seen it, but it was quoted by another member a couple of posts down. It would be great if the quote box had also said "this message is hidden because muppetIamIgnoring is on your ignore list"

-simon

 

[moonloops]

Facebook "defriending" led to double murder, police say - Yahoo! News

 

[brucemillar]

Facebook "defriending" led to double murder, police say - Yahoo! News

In Texas, a man was accused of hitting his wife after she failed to "like" a Facebook post he wrote about the anniversary of his mother's death, according to media reports.

Seems perfectly reasonable to me.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Just read the thread where 'artz' ends up getting banned, not too sure how I missed it.

He might have seemed like he was on a bit of a moral crusade of sorts, but he was certainly being baited on that thread and I can see why he got upset.

Just because someone goes against the grain and voices a dissenting voice, doesn't mean that they're wrong.

I certainly think he got a rough deal and I'll miss his lively posts.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Just read the thread where 'artz' ends up getting banned, not too sure how I missed it.

He might have seemed like he was on a bit of a moral crusade of sorts, but he was certainly being baited on that thread and I can see why he got upset.

Just because someone goes against the grain and voices a dissenting voice, doesn't mean that they're wrong.

I certainly think he got a rough deal and I'll miss his lively posts.

I missed that, which one do you refer to?

I must admit that I felt that he was a ban looking for somewhere to happen with some of his comments.

There was a hint that he was using 2 profiles, I wonder who 'Artz' really was and whetehr he will own up?