[X] My Assistant

UPDATE:
I would like to clarify, this thread was not created in reply to a specific person. That would be immature. I'm attempting to address a long-standing concern that I believe is shared by several of my fellow members, and I am hoping we can see less animosity both toward and from such posters in the future.

From the Board Rules:

Useless Posts - Do not post messages in the forum that contribute nothing to the conversation. It's considered to be highly annoying to do so, so unless you have something to say, don't.

------------
Another update:
The most popular poll choice no longer makes sense. Sad, but I was tired of people scrolling right past my posts like they don't even exist.
------------
Update the 3rd:
I wrote a follow-up: read me.
------------


The thing that a lot of people don't seem to understand is, when you create a thread, regardless of its purpose, if the thread didn't need to be made, a lot of people will be pissed off by the mere existence of it. The issue isn't so much your specific action, but rather the impact of them seeing it and thinking, "dammit, not this crap again." The last straw was the one that broke the camel's back. Yours is just further digging a heel into the wound.

So, I'm writing this in hopes of defusing a few time-bombs.

Right off the bat, I have to say this:
Keep a sense of humor and a cool head. Trust me, being able to respond calmly and constructively to criticism, as well as casually shrug off or even laugh at an insult, will greatly endear you to a lot of people. You're among prickly, adult company here; it's no place to be thin-skinned, and definitely no place to take yourself seriously.

Typical reasons why your thread didn't need to exist:
- you posted it in the wrong section
- a very similar thread already exists making yours superfluous
- the topic is unclear, is flame-baiting, is truly pointless from the start, or just generally not a topic that warrants discussion of any kind

So, users are flaming you, being mean and derailing your thread? Well, of course they are. They're exhausted from the sheer volume of obnoxious peons who slither across these boards spamming incessantly, and they don't have the patience to be nice to you and respect you, even if you deserve respect. Hell, most of them are too jaded to even make such an effort anymore. They can't be respectful to you, because in context, you don't look like an innocent poster with legitimate concerns or a topic to discuss, you just look like one more part of the problem; another random person who spams pointless comments to increase their post count and be the center of attention.

What can you do? For starters, you can avoid making new threads unless absolutely necessary. If you're a lurker or recruit, you probably shouldn't be making new threads at all unless it's in Site Discussion or Requests. People get upset when you make new threads that didn't need to be there, pushing other decent threads off the front page into oblivion.

Craig Ferguson proposed a very good system for filtering our thoughts, and I believe it's useful here. Before making new threads, ask yourself these 3 questions:

- Does this need to be said?
- Does this need to be said by me?
- Does this need to be said by me now?

If you're thinking of making a thread for something that already has a thread, you really shouldn't. Even if that thread has fallen off the first page, odds are everything worth saying about it was already said. If you really think you have some important new insight, then go ahead and make the thread, but people are bound to disagree with you.

If you're thinking of making a thread to raise a question or otherwise help yourself or other members, that's nice, but make absolutely sure there isn't an existing thread that already answered the questions well enough. If a question can be answered by a simple forum search, it doesn't need a new thread.

If you're thinking of making a thread for something you care about but nobody else has heard of, don't. Seriously, don't.


Lastly, please try to appreciate the position the users you view as trolls are in. They've seen a lot of people post of lot of random crap, for all manner of misguided reasons, and they were all equally obnoxious. A lot of longtime users have pretty short fuses when it comes to this stuff. There will be days where you can't help but annoy some of them; try not to let it bug you, and defuse the situation if you can. If not, just walk away.


TL;DR version:
Lurk more. Post less.

This post has been edited by FourThirteen: Apr 15 2014, 03:50

FourThirteen, put your digital penis inside me.

I will still defend the idiots if I feel like it, and you two are insufferable twats.

I will still defend the idiots if I feel like it, and you two are insufferable twats.

Why defend them if it won't do any good? If they have a decent personality, they'll stick around and be decent members. If they're shit then they'll just pollute the pool with their sticky, rubbery detritus.

ADDENDUM: Don't suggest that we're garbage right off the bat, I've already explained, and I'm sure you're aware, that the power of suggestion is a powerful, powerful thing. So why use it to make this place seem worse than it is? And I'd like an actual answer, most of you cocksmiths tend to be really, really shitty when it comes to giving a solid answer that doesn't smack of some godawful effort to appear internet tough or, even more annoying, just avoiding the question entirely.

This post has been edited by radixius: Jan 30 2012, 08:19

Craig Ferguson proposed a very good system for filtering our thoughts, and I believe it's useful here. Before making new threads, ask yourself these 3 questions:

- Does this need to be said?
- Does this need to be said by me?
- Does this need to be said by me now?

I prefer the Ron White school of thought; next time you have a thought, just let it go.

Why defend them if it won't do any good? If they have a decent personality, they'll stick around and be decent members. If they're shit then they'll just pollute the pool with their sticky, rubbery detritus.

ADDENDUM: Don't suggest that we're garbage right off the bat, I've already explained, and I'm sure you're aware, that the power of suggestion is a powerful, powerful thing. So why use it to make this place seem worse than it is? And I'd like an actual answer, most of you cocksmiths tend to be really, really shitty when it comes to giving a solid answer that doesn't smack of some godawful effort to appear internet tough or, even more annoying, just avoiding the question entirely.

Because these people come in with decent intentions, even if they go about it by the wrong means. I respect that, even if they are annoying. I hate more the people who trounce on them at every opportunity. So my defending them won't change their behaviors, but I stand on their side on the principle of meaning to do well. They're not hurting anyone and they get flamed for it. It's just a matter of personal perspective on humanity; give them the benefit of the doubt, trust that people have good intentions, and be kind to one another. If they do end up becoming horrible people then that's on them, but becoming so jaded after many years of internet crawling is horrible in my opinion.

ADDENDUM: Don't suggest that we're garbage right off the bat, I've already explained, and I'm sure you're aware, that the power of suggestion is a powerful, powerful thing. So why use it to make this place seem worse than it is? And I'd like an actual answer, most of you cocksmiths tend to be really, really shitty when it comes to giving a solid answer that doesn't smack of some godawful effort to appear internet tough or, even more annoying, just avoiding the question entirely.

I would merely suggest that a lot of people are too thin-skinned to appreciate the responses you, Rob, cappy and company tend to give. Whether this is a fault on their part or yours is up for debate. I'm inclined to think the fault is shared, but more on their end. This is the Internet, after all. The best and the worst of humanity rears its head here, and if people aren't ready for all that, they shouldn't be here.

I prefer the Ron White school of thought; next time you have a thought, just let it go.

Agreed, but I was going for a less inflammatory tone.

Fair enough.

But maybe they should pay more attention than just defaulting to "annoying".

ADDENDUM: I mean, seriously, you don't think it's a might bit faggy to chide someone for "not reading the rules", though I haven't for almost six years because they're not hard to remember, while blatantly ignoring some of the subforums' rules? What does that mean to you?

This post has been edited by radixius: Jan 30 2012, 08:36

Because these people come in with decent intentions, even if they go about it by the wrong means. I respect that, even if they are annoying. I hate more the people who trounce on them at every opportunity. So my defending them won't change their behaviors, but I stand on their side on the principle of meaning to do well. They're not hurting anyone and they get flamed for it. It's just a matter of personal perspective on humanity; give them the benefit of the doubt, trust that people have good intentions, and be kind to one another. If they do end up becoming horrible people then that's on them, but becoming so jaded after many years of internet crawling is horrible in my opinion.

I can appreciate this. On good days, I agree with it.

Pseudo, that's all well and good dude but there are those you can just know they aren't going to be part of this forum, that they are either retarded or spammers. Remember the one who was like "oh please vote for my friend, I want to become part of this forum" and I called bullshit? Guess I was right on that.

People who want to actually become part of the forum try to learn the established way things are done. They try to slowly interject themselves into the conversations we already have going on, actually introduce themselves and learn the ropes before they start bringing a lot of attention to themselves. When you have someone with only 1 post and they've been a member for like 2 years and that post is a pointless thread, they aren't going to be contributing members.

It's really not that hard to tell who's making an effort and who's not.

Pseudo, that's all well and good dude but there are those you can just know they aren't going to be part of this forum, that they are either retarded or spammers. Remember the one who was like "oh please vote for my friend, I want to become part of this forum" and I called bullshit? Guess I was right on that.

People who want to actually become part of the forum try to learn the established way things are done. They try to slowly interject themselves into the conversations we already have going on, actually introduce themselves and learn the ropes before they start bringing a lot of attention to themselves. When you have someone with only 1 post and they've been a member for like 2 years and that post is a pointless thread, they aren't going to be contributing members.

It's really not that hard to tell who's making an effort and who's not.

I actually didn't pay any attention at all to that voting for the friend thread because it wasn't interesting. I paid attention to this guy because I actually found that info somewhat useful, if convoluted. I think the only person I had problems right off the bat with was the Franco guy. He had such a pretentious attitude that rubbed even ME the wrong way.

I get what you're saying with the obvious idiots, and I would probably even agree with the first case you mentioned if I had read anything past the first post, but from my point of view tonight's case didn't deserve to get flamed. Now, I would have stayed quiet about it too but then I saw this thread which is an obvious allusion to the prior. I'm probably the only person around to see it this way, and that's cool, but if you're all gonna give your opinions then I'm going to give mine as well.

Rob asked what the point of the thread was, perhaps in his own way, and got reported for trolling, not that that means anything. Still, having that drastic of a reaction was kind of douchey.

This post has been edited by radixius: Jan 30 2012, 08:46

The thing about lovehcomics is that he's been around long enough to have some idea of how things work. He had noble intentions, certainly, but the execution was questionable at best. He made a vague thread title that sounded like a request, followed by that list of links, never really even bothering to explain why it was compiled to begin with. It took me several minutes of reading before I could even figure out what the point was.

Aside from all that, he just had the very bad timing of posting what looked like a spammy/request thread at a time when we're seemingly flooded with them.

Rob asked what the point of the thread was, perhaps in his own way, and got reported for trolling, not that that means anything. Still, having that drastic of a reaction was kind of douchey.

Again, he's been around long enough, so... yeah.

This post has been edited by FourThirteen: Jan 30 2012, 08:48

Rob asked what the point of the thread was, perhaps in his own way, and got reported for trolling, not that that means anything. Still, having that drastic of a reaction was kind of douchey.

Oh that was douchey for sure. After I saw that I was like 'yeah, well, now he's gonna get it'. I was even thinking of switching sides but I figured what's one reporting really going to do to rob? Probably make him laugh if anything.

I don't think there was anything that was even remotely "flaming" prior to that, to be honest. At least 'round these parts.

If anything, that second post from Rob in that thread is the most helpful he's been to anybody in a while.

Also, updated the first post here so as to avoid further animosity, hand-wringing and whatever else.

Funny thing is, I believe I had the Pseudo position in my early foruming [sic] days. He's still in that phase where he can't clearly see the line between useful and trying and being a complete fuckwit. In due time my friend, in due time.

Frankly, I don't think I can see that. It's a crapshoot.

Just reference derpy's quote in your signature when in doubt.

Funny thing is, I believe I had the Pseudo position in my early foruming [sic] days. He's still in that phase where he can't clearly see the line between useful and trying and being a complete fuckwit. In due time my friend, in due time.

Ho-ho... I remember that.