Ive noticed a common trend on CD and its been going on for a while. Often times discussions turn into arguments with a lot of hurt feelings, and a lot of times these hurt feelings could likely have been avoided if people had acted in a different way.
To avoid hurt feelings I have a couple of suggestions, whether or not you take them is up to you.
1)If you are expressing an alternate viewpoint, don’t refer back to what a person expressing the opposing viewpoint said but instead use what YOU know to help you support your point. That way you are less likely to have somebody say " YOU ARE SINGLING ME OUT!"
2)If you are expressing a supporting viewpoint to another person, feel free to reference them. It helps you from repeating and everybody in the bargain feels good!
3)If you are answering a question, answer the question and then leave it. Please don’t drag it on; that isnt pleasant for any of us.
4) If you dislike what somebody is doing, private message them. By picking on them in public you weaken your viewpoint and credibility.
5)Everybody should go reread this thread. http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14734
6) Everybody is human. We all have feelings and also we all make mistakes. When you make a mistake, you do what you can to remedy that but you cant go back in time and actually stop the mistake. Its a good thing we can’t too…we learn from mistakes.
If you would like to talk to me about this thread, private message me.
I was going to make this an announcement, but this is just as good of a place as any.
Tonight there was a thread about Gorditas in the General Forum.
It did not belong there, most of us know that, and 15+ replies later what was accomplished?
the thread was still there.
2-3 posts were made saying ‘dont put this here’
2-3 posts were made saying ‘everybody calm down’.
I got 3 IM’s informing me about this thread.
I’m guessing #3 was the 2-3 people expressing their opinion very vocally, and then erasing their post.
I’m asking that if this should happen again (and I’m sure it will, this isn’t the first time) JUST IGNORE IT. Send me a PM, send me an IM, send me an e-mail, hit ‘report to moderator’. Somebody will do something about it, if they can. The 15+ replies were not necessary. Nothing was accomplished by the 15+ replies, and just as much would’ve gotten accomplished by just leaving it alone & reporting to a moderator.
Thank you.
[EDIT] I’ve been asked by a few people to say, that if you have nothing constructive to add to this thread, please don’t reply. Replies consisting of ‘i agree’ and such will probably be removed. Thanks [/EDIT]
Normally I’d agree with you here, but after 50-60 of these same identical threads/posts/lectures, the community has not improved. Granted, it’s had its low points.
Some people not only need to use common sense, but need to use that “preview reply” button. Hit it and read what you just wrote. Ask yourself, Does what I just wrote make sense?, and Is this something I would say to my Grandma?, or What would Dean/Woody/InsertPersonalHeroHere say if he/she saw this?
And for heaven’s sake, use the Spell Check. It’s that 3rd button when you go to post your replies. Some people have atrocious spelling and it’s not too hard to hit that button so your post is at least halfway readable.
*Originally posted by Jnadke *
**And for heaven’s sake, use the Spell Check. It’s that 3rd button when you go to post your replies. Some people have atrocious spelling and it’s not too hard to hit that button so your post is at least halfway readable. **
Is there a way to set it as a default that spell check comes up??
I have a very slow connection at home and don’t usually like hitting spell check cause it’s just another wasted minute on my on-line time. At work on the other hand, I have no problem hitting spell check and it working for me. No time lost there with a LAN connection.
This sort of thing has to stop: not only the flames, but the butchery of the English language as well. What is posted has to be readable, we shouldn’t be forced to decipher people’s posts if they cannot take the time to post something intelligible.
That is kinda harsh. Banning for mis-posting? Heh. Isn’t the internet about free speech? Posting in the wrong forum isn’t that big of a deal. Also, yes, grammarical and spelling errors CAN be obnoxious, but it’s their own fault if they want to make themselves look less educated; it’s nothing anybody needs to punish.
As for flames, those posts should be deleted. For the most part, they have no value whatsoever and are made just to tick people off. It can sometimes be hard to distinguish when an argument turns to a flame war.
If you don’t want to be forced to decipher someone’s post…just skip over it. (I have become very fluent in the language of ‘bork’…after years of IRC, I have learned to speak l33t 5p34|<, b0rk, and many others…)
I agree… a ban for misspelling words… is pretty ridiculous… take a trip around the internet… people of our “generation” have grown up doing things quicky… most people just have no patience for clicking the spellcheck button… and in all honesty, do you do that? i mean… i appreciate a well-worded or formal post, but one that says “can you hple em fix something” doesnt “deserve” any lesser treatment… maybe you think CD is some haven for the informed or educated… but it just happens to be unique… no reason to ban anyone… and i really doubt that itd be feasible
no one is asking you to read the posts and decipher the wording…if you want to help, this is the kind of thing youll need to be dealing with
Yeah, that’s ridiculous. If the person can’t spell or chooses not to correct it, it only reflects upon the person. And on another note, deciding what is flaming and what is not is incredibly subjective. Saying, ‘I dislike you’ or ‘I think you’re wrong’ doesn’t seem wrong to me as they’re people’s opinions. You can’t judge those.
*Originally posted by monsieurcoffee *
** And on another note, deciding what is flaming and what is not is incredibly subjective. Saying, ‘I dislike you’ or ‘I think you’re wrong’ doesn’t seem wrong to me as they’re people’s opinions. You can’t judge those. **
Yes, but when they repeatedly do that, and personally attack people, then it becomes a flame.
i think the problems on CD started when people started to think of it as an official first forum rather than a meeting place for people to talk, be it l33t 5p34|<, b0rk, or just plain english, people have to right to talk… bans on such talking is harsh, and unnecessary because someone wasted a few seconds or minutes of your time
on the other hand, i despise flaming with a passion… i can’t abide it, racist marks should be shot down, religious and political kept to a minimum, and personal remarks kept out of public forums…
i disagree, and then reasons, is perfectly fine
** no your wrong shut up** is not needed, and a waste of forum space
*hope that view makes sense
sorry if it doesn’t…:] *
I have found that when people have different viewpoints and are arguing, they can actually work it out by communicating unless one or both parties start to criticize the other person or the other person’s communication, at which point the whole thing goes down hill.
It is quite amazing really that if people get the idea of being willing to receive a viewpoint that is different from their own, without getting annoyed and retorting critically, they can overcome the most incredible disagreements.
One of the keys I think is to let the other person know that you have received his or her communication. Then they feel that they have been successful in getting their communication to arrive. For example, if one person says, “I think that restaurant is dumb.” and the other person just says, “Okay”, that doesn’t mean that the second person agrees. They were just willing to receive the first person’s viewpoint. Now the first person won’t feel they have to defend their viewpoint, as they might if the second person had said, “Your crazy! That place is great.”
After saying “okay” or otherwise acknowledging receipt of another person’s viewpoint, you might give your own viewpoint about that thing. You will then have an interchange of viewpoints, a beautiful thing that expands our horizons. But if we put down another person for communicating or criticise their viewpoint, pretty soon they might be doing the same thing to us, and if it happens enough, nobody is going to want to say anything.
I guess the point I am making is that critizing another person’s viewpoint will just likely to cause him to defend it more vehemently. Acknowledging that viewpoint and expressing your own in a positive way will do more good.
Also getting back to the example of the people talking about the restaurant, it might turn out that they were talking about different ones, and if they stopped critizing each other for a minute, they might find that out and go and have some fun.
(I think some people actually get withdrawal symptoms after their robot has shipped. Maybe we should have some EduRobot competitions to fill the gap before regionals.)
There will be no bans to those who cannot spell. People are just asking that they make some effort to spell correctly. If you expect people to read what you are writing, at least be courteous enough to spell the words correctly.
Anyway, it has been requested that this thread be closed, and I agree. Take up any further discussion about these topics in a new thread, if necessary.