Forum Etiquette

True some folks on here are a bit on the passionate side... but this has been one of the mildest forums I've ever spent significant time on. Admittedly it's likely due in part for the active moderator presence - there's a fair number of times I've seen "post deleted" slots in a thread that clearly involved one or more participants getting riled.

But overall I gotta say there's a lot less ill-intentioned flaming here than many places. Lame humor attempts may be taking up the slack but I'll happily take it over the alternatives. ;-)
 
Yes take it to pirate4x4.com and if you are a newbie u must wear a flame suit.


Personally I read and read for weeks before asking questions. Because I did not want to be flamed....

sent from my Atari 2600
 
I know of at least one reef-related forum where a fire suit is pretty much a prerequisite, even for a seasoned hobbyist - some dweeb there even called me a noob once, in a condescending way (I'm no expert but I have about 27 years in the hobby... I had about 23 at that point in time.)

This forum, *because* many of us will interact in person, sooner or later, does tend to be more friendly than most, in my experience.

Unfortunately, text can be misconstrued, people can take constructive criticism the wrong way, even when it is meant to be constructive. It just is what it is. Thinking before we hit that "post" button, and re-reading what we've written can stem that a bit, but at the end of the day, if the *reader* wants to cast a negative spin on it, they will.

There are and have been a few people who don't mince words, and can be a bit abrasive/abrupt - you know who you are :) And yes, sometimes "passionate" is confused with being an, uh, well, a not-nice person.

By and large the spirit of helpfulness and goodwill here is far greater than the few who either intentionally or unintentionally ruffle some feathers. It just is what it is.

Mother always said, "consider the source" and ignore it. She gave good advice. Fighting back only makes it worse. If you don't like the tone of the answer you receive, ignore it, and only respond to people whose tone agrees with you. Note - you may get the same answer that you don't necessarily want to hear - one person may come off as abrasive, the other may be a bit more kind - but I'm suggesting to filter by the tone, not the advice.

And yes, Dave (Acroholic) is right - a lot of what we "know" is anecdotal. There are people who posts answers based on what they've seen/heard/read, and there are others who post based on what they have done that succeeded or failed. I tend to value the advice of firsthand experience over "I've read/heard"... as the latter can frequently get convoluted as it passes from person to person, whereas someone speaking from their own personal experience, can usually shed more accurate light on things.

There are people in any crowd who like to stir the pot. I've been known to whip out the spoon here and there too, when I've felt it necessary. I'm usually as polite as I can possibly be about it though - but not everyone works or thinks the same way.

I think we've got a pretty decent group of folks here, and if there's one or two that you don't seem to mesh with - well, the "ignore" feature will hide all their posts from your view. Easy enough to fix, that.

Jenn
 
How can we share responsibility for encouraging courtesy, educating prospective reef keepers and increasing membership numbers? Everyone appreciates the work our mods do and we can't thank them enough. I believe we can do them a favor through peer-to-peer accountability. We can accomplish this with a reef keeping leadership development program. If we could pair new reef keeping members to veteran members on a one-on-one basis for education/development we could foster camaraderie, educate through tried and true methods and ultimately increase membership by offering personalized guidance found nowhere else on the web.
 
We can't control what others do. So I don't see how we can "share" responsibility.

Personally, if I see a post that crosses a line of decorum, I report it. That's the best way, in my opinion, it's the Mods' responsibility to take any action. For a regular member, such as myself, to start trying to hand-slap, that just degrades a thread even further.

The "report" button is there for that purpose. I don't suggest over-using it, we all need to have a bit of thick skin, but if you see something that's clearly problematic, that's the best way to deal with it. The Mods are appointed for that (and other) purpose, point it out to them via the report feature and leave it be. Don't chime in and fan flames. Don't respond to the offending post in the public forum, but do respond in kind to the person asking questions if you can offer something constructive.

Jenn
 
franciscosalazar;910440 wrote: How can we share responsibility for encouraging courtesy, educating prospective reef keepers and increasing membership numbers? Everyone appreciates the work our mods do and we can't thank them enough. I believe we can do them a favor through peer-to-peer accountability. We can accomplish this with a reef keeping leadership development program. If we could pair new reef keeping members to veteran members on a one-on-one basis for education/development we could foster camaraderie, educate through tried and true methods and ultimately increase membership by offering personalized guidance found nowhere else on the web.
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Quite honestly I don't think that is necessary. This hobby really isn't that difficult. It can be made to appear that way with a bunch of opinions and "I heard this" type responses. After just a little research and some discernment it is really very easy to be successful IME. Not to say we can't continue to learn and learn from each other.
 
franciscosalazar;910440 wrote: How can we share responsibility for encouraging courtesy, educating prospective reef keepers and increasing membership numbers? Everyone appreciates the work our mods do and we can't thank them enough. I believe we can do them a favor through peer-to-peer accountability. We can accomplish this with a reef keeping leadership development program. If we could pair new reef keeping members to veteran members on a one-on-one basis for education/development we could foster camaraderie, educate through tried and true methods and ultimately increase membership by offering personalized guidance found nowhere else on the web.
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Who would establish this credential?
 
franciscosalazar;910490 wrote: Anyone who volunteers to assume that role.
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There in lies the flaw IMO. I know some people who have years of experience and still should not be teaching others this hobby. I think your idea comes from a good heart but I just don't think most are willing to do what you are suggesting. I hope I am wrong but mentor ideas have been bought up before with no lasting results. Maybe you can head this up and get it rolling. Best wishes sincerely.
 
franciscosalazar;910440 wrote: How can we share responsibility for encouraging courtesy, educating prospective reef keepers and increasing membership numbers? Everyone appreciates the work our mods do and we can't thank them enough. I believe we can do them a favor through peer-to-peer accountability. We can accomplish this with a reef keeping leadership development program. If we could pair new reef keeping members to veteran members on a one-on-one basis for education/development we could foster camaraderie, educate through tried and true methods and ultimately increase membership by offering personalized guidance found nowhere else on the web.
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While the spirit of this idea is well founded, I believe the implementation would be hard in a formal setting. I believe alot of this happens already just by people becoming friends. I believe it is up to the new comer to foster this in a way. I can only speak from my own experience but..... I have been in this hobby for just over two years. In that time, I determined which members seemed to really know what they were talking about. I made it a priority to become friends with them. Through this, I have learned way more than I could have hoped for when I first joined this club. If I could give only one word of advice to a new comer it would be "Take Part". Take part in discussion and take part in face-to-face events. Have a good attitude and those people in this club with the knowledge will seek you out to help out. Again, that is only my experience but I live by it.

Even some of the more blunt and grouchy members have become good friends and have done many things for me. Right Dave??? hehehehehe
 
Everybody seems like a great group of peeps. Wished I lived closer so I could meet y'all and see some of your set ups in person. Every time I ask a question people are always willing to help and I've learned a lot even the grouchy ones;)
 
How do we increase initial membership enrollments and renewals without establishing a stricter etiquette policy? One of the main deterrents of renewals and initial enrollments, as mentioned early in this thread, is the drama on this site.
 
There is drama everywhere. Some people just need to grow up and deal with it. The world is making it so sissyfied as a youth that when you get older you cant handle failure or rejection and then its someone else's fault.
This site is nothing compared to others.


sent from my Atari 2600
 
franciscosalazar;910847 wrote: How do we increase initial membership enrollments and renewals without establishing a stricter etiquette policy? One of the main deterrents of renewals and initial enrollments, as mentioned early in this thread, is the drama on this site.
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Please define.
 
eagle9252;910848 wrote: There is drama everywhere. Some people just need to grow up and deal with it. The world is making it so sissyfied as a youth that when you get older you cant handle failure or rejection and then its someone else's fault.
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Yup.
 
eagle9252;910848 wrote: There is drama everywhere. Some people just need to grow up and deal with it. The world is making it so sissyfied as a youth that when you get older you cant handle failure or rejection and then its someone else's fault.
This site is nothing compared to others.


sent from my Atari 2600
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this :up:
 
There is already as set of forum rules that we all agree to when we register for the forums.

http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=890">http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=890</a>

It's in the New Member Q&A forum - it appears right above this thread if this thread remains "bumped" to the top.

Jenn
 
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