Is Calling Someone an Ahole and a Jerk Against Tos

[DivePartner1]

This thread has little to recommend it other than as an opportunity to thank the Moderators and the Board for the consideration of providing us all with the handy "Ignore List" feature.

It is effective innoculation to posters with nothing to say, muting and mooting empty and uninformative posts.

 

[The Chairman]

Andy,

What transpires between myself and a user will remain between myself and a user. Thanks for the suggestion.

pete:

if i may suggest the following. if someone is name-calling in a thread, would it not make sense to give that person a warning, and if the behavior persists, to give that person a short vacation?

i just don't see any repercusions for people who name-call, and thus, there is no incentive to stop doing it.

if you concentrate on the users who name call, not on the thread at issue, you will be able to address the problem across all threads, since you will be disciplining the people who engage in that behavior

just my .02

also, fyi, i was not aware that repeating the same question several times was against TOS. i was simply trying to clarify what the other poster was saying.

consequences to the user = personal responsibilty is encouraged

 

[H2Andy]

What transpires between myself and a user will remain between myself and a user. Thanks for the suggestion.

certainly, but it would be nice to know what the procedure is, if one is in place,
how many chances someone gets before a perman-ban, what the progressive discipline is like ...

informing members of this process will certainly go a long way in setting the ground for use of that system, don't you think? it will also act as a deterrance if members know that if they call names, A, B, C will happen, and they will lose their posting privileges after x times, etc.

how much deterrance is there in a process no member knows about ahead of time?

i am not suggesting that you divulge details of use of the system on specific members. i am suggesting you create a clear and enforceable policy that members and Mods can follow, where everyone knows what's coming, and where the consequences of not following the policy are clear from the beginning

 

[ScubaTexan]

well, it could be progressive

first few times, perhaps two days

after that, two weeks

after that, a month

and final time, for ever

if this does not impress on people the need to follow TOS, nothing will

(Mods, what i am saying to you is stop running around chasing your own tail. lay down the law. make the consequences real. weed out the members who just won't obey TOS -- what you are doing now doesn't work. change strategies)

Yeah, that will work.

1) Violate the TOS by name-calling and committing various and sundry other indiscretions.
2) Get banned for the amount of time you have disclosed.
3) Have your friends make a yellow ribbon with your name on it to let you know that "we're thinking about you while you're gone."
:25:

 

[dlndavid]

they already have mine, it's pink, those jerks

 

[letterboy]

they already have mine, it's pink, those jerks

Well you are a . . . well never mind I will save that for PM's

 

[The Chairman]

pete:

if i may suggest the following. if someone is name-calling in a thread, would it not make sense to give that person a warning, and if the behavior persists, to give that person a short vacation?

From the ToS: Banning Process

i just don't see any repercusions for people who name-call, and thus, there is no incentive to stop doing it.

if you concentrate on the users who name call, not on the thread at issue, you will be able to address the problem across all threads, since you will be disciplining the people who engage in that behavior

You won't see these repercussions unless and until they result in a banning. Bannings are always a last resort. What transpires between any staff and a user STAYS between the staff and the user. Quite often, there are mitigating circumstances and those are weighed as well. BTW, part of your complaint was that part of the thread calling you a name was allowed to stand. There were many posts that led up to that post and quite a few afterwards discussing it. Very little happens in a vaccum. It's often best to remove any fuel if you are trying to put out a fire.

also, fyi, i was not aware that repeating the same question several times was against TOS. i was simply trying to clarify what the other poster was saying.

It's called trolling and/or harrassment. No one owes you an explanation for what they say or do.

consequences to the user = personal responsibilty is encouraged

Unfortunately, it's sometimes hard for people to apply this equation to themselves.

 

[H2Andy]

It's called trolling and/or harrassment. No one owes you an explanation for what they say or do.

Unfortunately, it's sometimes hard for people to apply this equation to themselves.

are you implying that i was breaking TOS by asking someone to clarify their position?

no one owes me anything, but that doesn't mean that if i don't understand contradictory statements i am not going to ask the question again (several times) until i figure it out ... that's just me ...

i don't like the implication (if its there) that me asking three or four times for an explanation while being called names and refusing the respond in kind is a breach of TOS

sounds like you're just looking for any "less than straight" behavior on my part to justify the egregious behavior on the other side ... or at least to imply "i am just as guilty" and thus have no right to complain

is that what's going on?

 

[The Chairman]

are you implying that i was breaking TOS by asking someone to clarify their position?

I did not imply a thing. Trolling and harassment ARE against the ToS, whether they were intentional or not. I was not the only one to see your line of questioning as abusive. This is not a court room and no one is allowed to treat someone as a hostile witness.

sounds like you're just looking for any "less than straight" behavior on my part to justify the egregious behavior on the other side

Quite the contrary, my friend. I don't condone ANY egregious behavior and I took the time to clean up the thread in question, removing any posts that I deemed to be inflammatory, leading, trollish or in any other way abusive. I did so without any malice towards any of the participants and I gave some rather clear directions about what would not be acceptable in that thread.

However, I don't feel compelled to hand over anyone's head on a platter. That's not how I operate. Forgiveness is not just a noble concept for me: it's a way of life.

 

[H2Andy]

I was not the only one to see your line of questioning as abusive. This is not a court room and no one is allowed to treat someone as a hostile witness.

you guys have obviously spent precious little time inside a real courtroom (not a t.v. or a movie one). as to "hostile", re-read the thread and see who was responding with hostility and making accusations and threats to me ... i was the one on the receiving end of abusive language, and i was the one who was being treated with hostility ...

do you guys even READ the posts before commenting on them?

but, hey, if you think me asking the same question four or five times is "abusive" ...

that's a strong word

especially when the person keeps giving different answers ... and i'm just trying to figure out what he's saying

abusive, huh ... and who are these other people who think i was being abusive? does that include the guy who called me an ahole and a jerk?

if i was being abusive, what was he?

perhaps i could call others aholes and jerks since that's not as abusive as askign the same question several times, by your reckoning?



so ... reamining civil and asking a question several times is "abusive" ...

ok ... that's news to me

whereas calling others names ... is what? misguided emotion?