From overlord@caiw.nl Thu Apr 19 14:18:39 2001
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From: overlord@caiw.nl (Marco van Leeuwen)
Newsgroups: alt.toys.transformers
Subject: [Meta] Flames, Insults And The Fury Of Regulars
Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 08:50:42 GMT
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Delurking for a moment to say the following:

I don't think anyone, apart perhaps from a handful of blunt-skulled
bottom-feeders that seem to lurk in the muck at the bottom of almost
every Usenet group, will say a newsgroup full of flame threads is
something we're all striving for. We don't want people to bitch at
eachother, and we'd love to avoid the whining that occurs whenever
something nasty and prickly erroneously decides to crawl up and nest
in a group of posters' collective colon. We want this group to be a
friendly, welcomingly warm and fuzzy place, where we can all enjoy a
wonderful hobby together. Right? This group used to be like that... in
1995.

Sadly, this, apparently, is not how it was meant to be. Flame threads
breed like rabbits, and the amazing thing is that these situations
very rarely start out with a blatantly offensive, annoyingly off-topic
or flat-out moronic post, but rather appear to grow out of initially
perfectly normal and friendly threads. Even more astounding is that
it's quite regularly not posts by newbies or mentally impaired which
cause such a thread to stray off the path, but comments made by
regulars, who feel their seniority somehow gives them carte blanche to
post something snarky, snappish or cynical whenever one of the
'lesser' posters says something perceived to be not quite up to snuff,
while transgressions by those from the 'inner circle' are much more
readily accepted as indicative of a very special or praiseworthy brand
of humour, which should not be impaired, but rather cultivated.

I completely understand the need to keep a newsgroup clean, and the
very strong drive to respond whenever something one feels is somehow
wrong appears on the newsgroup, and the underlying disposition to
better the world around you, is in its essence admirable, but, as it
is in real life with the need to correct what is flawed, you always
need to consider if the cure is not worse than the malady.

Case in point: the thread about European names and Sipher's variations
list was perhaps a bit nitpickish, and could be perceived by some as
concerning itself with something rather trivial, but was not malignant
until a few people who had absolutely nothing to do with the
discussion jumped in and started criticising those already present on
both sides of the metaphorical fence - that is when things turned
nasty. The value of what was being discussed - and a possible solution
to the problem - would've been much, much closer if all involved had
continued to focus on the topic at hand, instead of following the
interjections of outside parties who insisted on criticising the
weight some people attach to some issues. In other words, the attempts
to stop an in itself harmless, if perhaps insignificant, line of
questioning, turned the entire discussion sour, and obscured the value
of the points being made. I can't imagine this is what we wanted. I'm
not pointing fingers or naming names, but merely noticing and
highlighting a trend we might wish to subdue before it does any more
damage to the already frail balance between spam and worthwhile posts
on this newsgroup.

The point of this rather verbose mail is this: don't be so quick to
jump on someone you feel is concerned with things you yourself don't
deem important. As long as they don't mess up too royally, let them
be, and respect the fact not everyone thinks the exact same way you
do. Especially when you've been around on this newsgroup for a while,
you *know* you can expect a certain percentage of posts to rub you the
wrong way, but as long as no bodily or mental harm is caused, implied
or stimulated, I don't see a problem in letting something you
disapprove of slide and just wait for it to wear itself out every once
in a while.

-Marco van Leeuwen.