Negativity on and about CD

[Kris Verdeyen]

Although it could be said that dwelling on negativity will breed more of the same, I can't help but notice the surprisingly large number of negative posts on CD lately.

Let me first say that I've been posting, lurking, reading, and looking at the pictures on CD for over a year now, and I think it is the best community I've ever seen on the internet. There are frequent spirited discussions, disagreements, and arguments, but rarely does it degrade into childish name calling and accusations. I don't know whether that is due to the narrow appeal of the board, tireless moderating, or just overwhelming maturity on the part of the contributors, but it is commendable, and I've always enjoyed it.

However, in the past two weeks or less, it seems that more people are badmouthing other teams, perpetuating rumors, questioning teams' honesty, and just being nasty.

I'd like to ask a question and offer some advice.

My question: Has this type of surge in negative posts happened before and faded? I'd feel better if the answer were yes.

My Advice: Please read over your posts before hitting that "send" button. Ask yourself a few questions:
Am I being unnesscarily antagonistic?
Do I have something valuable to add to this conversation?
Am I talking about the issue at hand or about the person with whom I'm arguing?
Is there any chance that I'm misunderstanding the post to which I'm responding?
Did I spell everything right? :)

Just by taking a moment to consider what you're posting before you post it, you can help to clear up a lot of the problems that are plaguing the CD boards lately.

[Ian W.]

i think the recent negativity may stem from some team members whose team lost for one reason or another, and while they aren't necessarily aware they're being negative, they're just "getting back" at the teams that did better this year. it could also just be all the stress that's bleeding off from the regionals. true, the nats are two weeks away, but many people just attended regionals, so the year is over for them. i'm not sure, but i think this wave of negativity will pass over.

[Keith Chester]

I hold myself in high esteem when it comes to intelligence. Mostly because I am an idiot. Oxymoron? You bet, that's what I am- a complicated human being, an oxymoron every second I decide to take a breath. To explain this, I would need to go VERY in depth and I'm kinda tired, so I'll just present this:
Words of wisdom from an idiot:
1. Do not speak while angry. Period. You won't do anything stupid then.
2. Do not judge an entire team based on a single individual. It is the equivlant of prejudice. In fact, it is prejudice.
3. Read over your posts before posting. I rarely due this, to my regret. However, I'm also usually very calm when I write, so I need not worry.

I too have noticed the recent search of negativity. It will pass. If not, Logic will probably not prevail, as it rarely does.
Just don't let the arguments become childish.
Then again, I am fairly new to the Chief Delphi Forums. I could be completely wrong, and I do hope so.

[mpking]

1. Do not speak while angry. Period. You won't do anything stupid then.
3. Read over your posts before posting. I rarely due this, to my regret. However, I'm also usually very calm when I write, so I need not worry.

I am a victim of the first rule, but I always pratice the 3rd one, and usually don't complete my replys, I just hit the Back button and move on.

For the record, I am on many webforums, and I won't say this is the best behaved one. (I participate in a moderated forum)

But it is the 2nd best behaved one.

[Keith Chester]

Yes, it's hard to follow rules we set for ourselves at times. And I agree, I have to say www.robot-village is the best behaved forum i've been on. Mostly because it's a small group of close knit people that welcome new people easily. You'd have to ask me for my theories on large groups of people to fully understand what I mean by that though, and I'd rather not get into it, as it is ambiguous if you read too much into it.

[Dave Hurt]

Unfortunately, this always seems to happen this time of year to some team. CD is a very visible and strong team, so they are a clear target for this. I think this year espically since odd teams have to qualify for Florida.

And as verdeyw said, think before you post. Although how fun it would be, I'd hate to see CD have to put in a system like Whack-a-troll or the Trollfilter 9000 PCMIA card, with patented Goonvida Chipset.

(If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry....)