Re: On being rude ...
 

The same could be said for posting +1 :)

Re: On being rude ...
 

+1:)

Re: On being rude ...
 

Suppose someone starts a question by saying, "I thought I read in the manual that you can't use unobtanium. But now I can't find it. Does anyone know?"

Suppose someone else asks, "I haven't had time to look it up in the manual, but can you use unobtanium?"

I'm much more inclined to answer the former than the latter. In fact, I might like to reply to the latter, "Who are we, to do research for you?" Most likely would not, but if I was in a bad mood that day ...

Else, I might say something like, "I put 'Unobtanium' in the CD search function and found 37 threads."

Sometimes it's good to lead a horse to water. It may be better to teach the horse how to find water.

Re: On being rude ...
 

One of the best quotes I've seen on this comes from Alan Anderson. For context, someone had asked a relatively simple question--starting position of the robot, which was covered pretty clearly in the manual that year. Said person was told by a couple people to read the manual, and given the rule number. After which, the particular OP in question said something to the effect of "Can you put it in your reply, like quote it?" Someone responded with (paraphrase) "take a few minutes and if you have trouble, I'll walk you through it, you have a rule to look up". Alan's response, however, was really, really good: "We are reluctant to deprive you of the opportunity to do your own research."


Personally, I'll only quote the rule or Q&A if someone has obviously tried to find it. Otherwise, I'll use the rule number, and let them look it up.

Re: On being rude ...
 

made me snicker

Anyway, my bad sense of humor aside, I didn't have much time to make my last post so I'd like to clarify a couple of things I mentioned. What amazes me is that someone could even think that toxicity (being rude, whatever you want to call it) is actually a problem here. Sure, it happens, and it isn't necessarily good, but in comparison to every other form of social media we have access too, it's really good. Seriously, compare CD to the "FRC Confessions" Facebook page or that pathetic excuse for an imageboard we know as /r/FRC. The kinds of things we see there, and in many other places where FRC is regularly discussed, is regularly a lot more toxic than what is posted around here. Sure, some posters can get a little heated, as Foster admitted earlier in the thread. I can get pretty annoyed too. Everyone gets a little mad at some point, and it's completely natural to direct that anger at its source.
I don't think I've ever seen any real, direct personal attack posted on here. On any other form of social media, regardless of the topic, that kind of behavior isn't just common, it's accepted. The fact that there is even a thread talking about toxic posters on CD should be an indicator that it isn't a problem, and won't be a problem in the foreseeable future. Yeah, people get annoyed and post aggressive things over the internet. It's just what people do. However, the fact that people keep that aggressive nature in check so well on CD is very impressive, and very unique. Having a forum devoid of any vaguely (or not-so-vaguely) aggressive posts is impossible, as aggressive posting is an inherent part of human nature; instead of trying to stop a problem that really doesn't exist here, we should appreciate the fact that this site is so much better than anywhere else.

Re: On being rude ...
 

I have enough Internet forums to know that people can be horrible to each other. I've been in enough war zones and personally around things like 9/11 to see the horrible results of what people can do to each other. That doesn't mean I want to continue the trend or be a part of anything that does because it was previously accepted. Make no mistake horrible things with real consequences can come out of horrible communications on the Internet.

People need to realize that the goal is to do better. You are not generally just better, you get there by trying and refusing to lower the bar. That's not to say ChiefDelphi is even close to the worst place, but I have been part of many conversations over the course of my lengthy involvement in FIRST where experienced people do not want anything to do with ChiefDelphi forums because of the risk and their experiences. I myself have experienced situations where I made a post on ChiefDelphi and contact was made to my team suggesting I shut up with the implication of - or else. I will say outright that when I occasionally think about withdrawing from FIRST entirely: a disproportionate number of times things directed at me from this forum come into play.

One might wonder why I come back to ChiefDelphi. Well the answer is because I care about FIRST and this place is better than many other options. However it is not perfect and neither am I. So for the sake of the people in my community who benefit from my continued interest I continue because letting a forum with people from the whole world work my last nerve would be a disservice to those who are local to me. I didn't help start Team 11 because of ChiefDelphi. I helped start it to make my community a better place. I am keeping my eye on the prize and I would expect nothing less from a forum seeking to be the best it can be.