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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
The Lost Art of Civility, or Dear Troll:
Matthew Hinton, Photographer, Assistant
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New Orleans | LA | USA | Posted: 6:42 PM on 12.30.12 |
->> A recent thread http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=41033
and numerous others prompted these comments.
Thread statistics are readily available, but I don’t wish to call anybody out specifically. Many of these comments will sound harsh to some of you, but I am honestly and truly coming from a place of concern. Consider it tough love.
Two people commenting on the above thread have commented on 2,000 or more threads on this message board, one person is just shy of 2000 and there are three more that have commented on over a 1,000 threads. Several have commented on 400 or more. This is not the number of messages but only the number of threads.
If you’ve posted on a few hundred or thousand threads you might want to ask yourself some serious questions.
Are you adding anything to the conversation or are you looking to pad your “Message Board stats” in the “See your stats” section of the members area?
If you post more than once a day, everyday, for several years you might want to seek some sort of other social interaction like spending time with your family or friends. Or you might want to seek out a therapist as another person suggested in the above thread.
Often messages are hijacked or diverted by certain blowhards. Blowhards that want to talk about a different subject or a piece of minutia that has nothing to do with the thread or the question at hand, but instead increases their “Informative” stats.
This is the Internet, so there will be spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. Calling out someone’s bad grammar or other minutiae doesn’t make your position anymore valid.
You might try listening and reading all of the conversation thread so you don’t repeat / copy what others have said.
Not every conversation or situation lends itself to the same subject you like beating to death. Don’t repeat your business mantra or your beliefs about the industry if it doesn’t apply to a specific question or conversation. I know your “sage business advice” may have gotten a bunch of “Informative” clicks in the past but maybe, just maybe that advice doesn’t apply to every single thread of the 2000 plus threads you have participated in.
Ask yourself if humor is warranted in this conversation. Or are you just looking for an audience and a “Funny” stat? This may not be the best place to practice your standup routine when people are asking questions about their livelihood. Start a different thread about photography jokes, and try to leave honest and sincere questions about this profession alone.
I am not saying the occasional joke isn't warranted, it's fine to sprinkle in a joke within your other comments about the subject at hand. But many "Funny" comments are just standalone jokes that don't add anything to the conversation. And if you do standalone jokes in a thousand threads, almost everyday, it might be an issue. It's like someone is trolling threads for joke material.
If you do this in a thousand threads, maybe you should consider trying actual standup in front of people, or ask yourself a difficult question like “why do I need some stranger to click “Funny” on a Sportsshooter thread to feel good about myself?”
And some of you are just bullying each other and it's downright ugly.
Every time ask yourself “Am I adding to the conversation, or diverting it for my own gain, attention-seeking, or self-aggrandizement?” |
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Mark Perlstein, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Plano | TX | USA | Posted: 6:58 PM on 12.30.12 |
| ->> Even more interesting is the number of inappropriate clicks a few of these high responders have. |
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Jason Myers, Photographer
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West Palm Beach | FL | USA | Posted: 7:11 PM on 12.30.12 |
| ->> Best post I've seen in a long, long time. Some folks are indeed forum trolls and it always seems to be the same couple of folks no matter what the topic or discussion. |
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G.J. McCarthy, Photographer
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Dallas | TX | US | Posted: 7:20 PM on 12.30.12 |
->> "If you do this in a thousand threads, maybe you should consider trying actual standup in front of people, or ask yourself a difficult question like 'why do I need some stranger to click 'Funny' on a Sportsshooter thread to feel good about myself?'"
Matthew, you're right -- I don't feel good about myself. I'm sorry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWINtUCshxY |
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Mark Kauzlarich, Photographer
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Washington | DC | | Posted: 7:33 PM on 12.30.12 |
->> I was just wondering to myself earlier how many "inappropriate" flaggings you would need before someone couldn't comment again.
Then I realized the folks that get the "inappropriate" flagged comments are in for life. Nothing will change that. They've "earned" the right to treat people poorly if they want.
Can we then just turn it off? Theres no moderation on the website, it seems, so what does it matter? Not like people who get called out for being "inappropriate" learn anything from seeing that people might be offended by them. More often than not its an incentive to keep acting out.
When a large number of people think that someone is being a jerk, that doesn't mean that the reader needs to "harden up," though that strikes me as the mentality preached here. |
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Jim Colburn, Photographer
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Omaha | NE | USA | Posted: 10:09 PM on 12.30.12 |
->> "Two people commenting on the above thread have commented on 2,000 or more threads on this message board, one person is just shy of 2000 and there are three more that have commented on over a 1,000 threads. Several have commented on 400 or more."
They're called "active participants".
(BTW, How much time did you waste researching those stats?) |
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Chuck Steenburgh, Photographer
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Lexington | VA | USA | Posted: 10:46 PM on 12.30.12 |
->> The new SportsShooter.com Message Stats Compendium is here! I'm somebody!
Good grief... |
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Debra L Rothenberg, Photographer
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New York | NY | USA | Posted: 11:12 PM on 12.30.12 |
| ->> some people get an "inappropriate" no matter what they write-just because some people are like that. I love when my posts asking about a battery get the "huh" or "inappropriate" |
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Paul Hayes, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Littleton | NH | USA | Posted: 12:15 AM on 12.31.12 |
| ->> Lots of us here shoot for media outlets. Sure, some posters are more inflammatory than others, but [devilsadvocate] what would you tell a consumer who didn't like what you (or your outlet) published? [/devilsadvocate] |
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Bradley Leeb, Photographer
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Champaign | IL | USA | Posted: 1:07 AM on 12.31.12 |
->> Mark K,
This article was brought to my attention a few years ago concerning the status of those who earn a significant amount of "inappropriate"s
http://www.sportsshooter.com/news/1281 |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer, Photo Editor
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PLANET | EARTH | | Posted: 10:53 AM on 12.31.12 |
| ->> I get "inappropriate" clicks from just opening the site.... |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer, Photo Editor
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PLANET | EARTH | | Posted: 11:42 AM on 12.31.12 |
| ->> ......see!!!! |
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Paul Hayes, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Littleton | NH | USA | Posted: 12:30 PM on 12.31.12 |
| ->> For the person that gave me a "Huh?" click above. My point was some of us work for media outlets and stand firmly behind the first amendment. When our readers find something in bad taste or inappropriate, we respond (in a nice way) that it's our right and they don't have to read our publication. So, as devils advocate, I was asking whether that same rationale should be applied here. |
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Michael Fischer, Photographer
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Spencer | Ia | USA | Posted: 12:59 PM on 12.31.12 |
->> Matt,
I think I understand where you're coming from and have no problem with your post.
As I learned a long time ago, if you wrote this in hopes that you would change or cure some other folks behaviors; you have probably wasted your time. If you wrote it partially to make a statement and partially to feel better, then hopefully it was time well spent.
Wisdom is knowing the difference.
As for those who click "Huh?", I've always wondered why they just don't email the writer on a one to one basis. Then I realized if they would be sharp enough to do that, I probably wouldn't have gotten the "Huh?" in the first place :) :) :)
Keep one other thing in mind: The lack of civility is rampant right now and I don't just mean on website postings, either. Ask anyone who deals with the public and you'll get a earful.
Having said that, Happy New Year everyone...
M |
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Butch Miller, Photographer
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Lock Haven | PA | USA | Posted: 1:50 AM on 01.01.13 |
->> While I can agree I have been very adamant on certain topics with my responses ... and I have also made my own lame attempts at humor from time to time ... I also think that some threads on this forum have been "Much ado About Nothing" as well ...
I think it is high time we forget about old grudges and move on ... nobody learns from re-hashing the past in a totally negative fashion ... few minds are changed in the process ... and far too little is gained ... I think it is about time we work in a more positive method for the benefit of all ... in the end ... tact can be more beneficial than the content that is intended to be belittling that goes on here at times ... if we were to be more positive in our input ... it could generate far fewer "huh" and "inappropriate" clicks for EVERYONE .... even Chuck ... ;-) |
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Michael Granse, Photographer
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Urbana | IL | USA | Posted: 2:00 AM on 01.01.13 |
| ->> Whatever it is, I am pretty sure it is going to ruin The Industry. |
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