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all41
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Forum Police?

Post by all41 »

Has anyone else noticed the "Posting Police" on the forums?
They seem to be self appointed 'moderators' and use a scolding tone to those who do not conform
to their interpretation of forum correctness. Those posts should be referred to appointed and qualified moderators for proper disposition.
Just saying
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 07, 2022 4:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Penn

Re: Forum Police?

Post by Penn »

Are you saying people pointing out something that doesn't conform to what they feel the forum should be is.... well.... not conforming to what you feel the forum should be? lol

Seriously though, for clarification, is the "rude" element vital to your observation or can they politely explain why they feel the post wasn't in the best interest of the community and they remain "forum police"? If rude isn't a necessary component to your observation then I guess you would feel I was in the wrong just a few hours ago since I commented on someone else doing something both rude and not helpful in a way that wasn't as rude itself.
Last edited by Penn on Tue Nov 21, 2017 5:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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all41
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Re: Forum Police?

Post by all41 »

@Penn
Please don't feel guilt--I have not read your posts lately at all and not referring to you or any other individual specifically.

Plus I did not say rudeness, rather I have noticed a lack of warmth toward (perhaps new) members who make mistakes. This is not in Mint's best interest.

My point was:
We have very good moderators appointed and qualified to tactfully respond to such errant posts.
This is a worldwide community of different languages and different customs. What seems normal to one may seem brash to another.
Cheers
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Re: Forum Police?

Post by jimallyn »

There has been some discussion among the moderators (started by me, if I remember correctly) about the less-than-completely-polite and yes, even rude, comments made on the forums. If it's minor, we'd probably let it slide, but if you come across something that is way out of line, feel free to let me (or, I would assume, one of the other moderators) know about it. A gentle reminder may be in order.
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Re: Forum Police?

Post by Lucap »

This forum is extremely polite compared to the Arch forum. :mrgreen:
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all41
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Re: Forum Police?

Post by all41 »

Hopefully this forum will never garner that reputation.
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Re: Forum Police?

Post by Moem »

Lucap, that's good to hear; that's how we want it. Not especially in relation to the Arch forum, but in general. :)

In case it bears repeating: if someone is being unhelpful and rude, the best option is as always to report and move on.
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Re: Forum Police?

Post by Faust »

I can't say that I've ever seen that here , but then I only read a selection of threads.

I am a member on many forums and I have to say that this one is notable for the politeness and good manners of all who post .
As a counter-example " a well-known computer forum " appointed two new moderators who were consistently rude , dismissive and condescending.
I did not challenge them about it , nor did I ask that my membership be terminated .... I simply stopped posting there .
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Re: Forum Police?

Post by felemur »

all41 wrote:Has anyone else noticed the "Posting Police" on the forums?
They seem to be self appointed 'moderators' and use a scolding tone to those who do not conform
to their interpretation of forum correctness. Those posts should be referred to appointed and qualified moderators for proper disposition.
Just saying
To answer your question straight up - yes, I have noticed it.

But, I don't think it's as bad as most forums, and my personal belief on the subject is that it's just a by-product of human nature. When you don't have to deal with people face-to-face and can hide behind a pseudonym, many people tend to let the darker side of their personalities come out.
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Re: Forum Police?

Post by aes2011 »

all41, thank you for starting this thread even though this forum may not have the same issues as some others may have. I was recently "plonked" by someone for no apparent reason. If I notice someone making a habit of it, I'll certainly report it.
Faust

Re: Forum Police?

Post by Faust »

felemur wrote:...... When you don't have to deal with people face-to-face and can hide behind a pseudonym, many people tend to let the darker side of their personalities come out.
Ain't that a fact !
You've hit the nail on the head there .

A very similar mental attitude can be seen on the freeways of the world .
All of a sudden " Normal Citizen " turns into " Bad-ass Desperado " , simply because they are behind a wheel , and all of the doors are locked ,
and they feel that they are anonymous - :mrgreen:
Faust

Re: Forum Police?

Post by Faust »

aes2011 wrote: I was recently "plonked" by someone for no apparent reason. If I notice someone making a habit of it, I'll certainly report it.
Yes , that has been baffling me too .
What is that "plonk " thing all about ? .... please tell me that it doesn't involve bodily orifices - :(

It took over an entire thread on here , a couple of weeks back !

These days my age prevents me from understanding what some younger people are talking about ....
This appears to be a transitive verb { present , indicative , active }

A person who "plonks " another person must therefore be a "plonker" .... right ?
As usual in these situations I went to urbandictionary.com for guidance , hoping that they could clue me in .

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=plonker
"plonker -dope, idiot, moron, wally, pillock, dunderhead, dimwit
You are such a plonker, Rodney. "


All I need now is for someone to explain to me which of these two is the greater fool
the plonker or the plonkee
:mrgreen:

BTW - It's raining again .
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Re: Forum Police?

Post by greerd »

Faust wrote:
aes2011 wrote: I was recently "plonked" by someone for no apparent reason. If I notice someone making a habit of it, I'll certainly report it.
Yes , that has been baffling me too .
What is that "plonk " thing all about ? .... please tell me that it doesn't involve bodily orifices - :(

It took over an entire thread on here , a couple of weeks back !

These days my age prevents me from understanding what some younger people are talking about ....
This appears to be a transitive verb { present , indicative , active }

A person who "plonks " another person must therefore be a "plonker" .... right ?
As usual in these situations I went to urbandictionary.com for guidance , hoping that they could clue me in .

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=plonker
"plonker -dope, idiot, moron, wally, pillock, dunderhead, dimwit
You are such a plonker, Rodney. "


All I need now is for someone to explain to me which of these two is the greater fool
the plonker or the plonkee
:mrgreen:

BTW - It's raining again .
I think his 2 week pass has expired, he disappeared as fast as he exploded onto the scene! Or it's the moderator's in action.
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Re: Forum Police?

Post by tinca »

"Snowflakes"

I think that people are letting their thin skins get hurt far too often in this modern world we all live in. People in general are offended by everything and anything. It is becoming the norm.

When I see someone get " plonked" it makes me smile. Don't take it so personal

Best regards Keith
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Re: Forum Police?

Post by aes2011 »

greerd wrote:... Or it's the moderator's in action.
They have WMDs ;)
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Re: Forum Police?

Post by greerd »

all41 wrote:Has anyone else noticed the "Posting Police" on the forums?
They seem to be self appointed 'moderators' and use a scolding tone to those who do not conform
to their interpretation of forum correctness. Those posts should be referred to appointed and qualified moderators for proper disposition.
Just saying
Yes, I've noticed from time to time, I've always thought it was generally up to the OP to keep the thread on topic and if the OP doesn't bother responding to his/her own thread and it goes off on a tangent, so be it.
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Re: Forum Police?

Post by Fred Barclay »

Definitely, especially with regards to "plonking".
Faust: it's not a word heard in my parts often either - so rarely so that I've just yesterday looked up its meaning! It must be chaps from other states/territories that use it. Apparently it's relatively innocuous?!?

As far as snowflakes go, my perspective is quite different. The snowflake attitude (to my understanding) is that "You disagree with me, so I am rightfully offended and you must be censored/silenced/thrown to the feral chickens." That's not the issue I usually notice here - after all, those of us with more experience, by the nature of these forums. often have to disagree with others who aren't quite as far along. (And on the larger scheme of things, who ever completely agrees with someone else?)

I'm concerned about the rudeness, as in "I don't agree with you, so I will give up loudly/proclaim your inability to learn/plonk you." It's not how we should welcome newbies, and not how we should deal with each other.

Of course, everyone has bad days and it sometimes leaks through here... but I am less than enthusiastic about the recent spate of perpetual rudeness that has been making the rounds of the forums.
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Re: Forum Police?

Post by coffee412 »

So far I havent noticed any 'plonking' going on. Is that what we are going to call it now? Plonking? I always thought it was 'Flaming' someone. But perhaps Im showing my age. Anyways...

I do my best to be as nice as possible while I am here. I realize that no matter how long one has been on the forums that you are still a guest and you should treat others as such.

I think that if someone is flaming another user then they should be called out on it in a hurry. Expose them quickly and get it over with.

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Penn

Re: Forum Police?

Post by Penn »

all41 wrote:@Penn
Please don't feel guilt--I have not read your posts lately at all and not referring to you or any other individual specifically.

Plus I did not say rudeness, rather I have noticed a lack of warmth toward (perhaps new) members who make mistakes. This is not in Mint's best interest.

My point was:
We have very good moderators appointed and qualified to tactfully respond to such errant posts.
This is a worldwide community of different languages and different customs. What seems normal to one may seem brash to another.
Cheers
Feeling guilt, no. Wondering if calling out rude behavior is acceptable to others, yes.

Where I come from (both geography and the people I have chosen to keep close) if you object to a persons behavior you bring it up directly with either other peers present or alone and face to face. You don't go to authority the first time except in extreme circumstances. Sometimes this comes across as responding to rudeness/scolding with more of the same. Reinforcing the idea of not going to an authority figure is sometimes the initial perpetrator doesn't intend to do so. So the situation I referred to, I didn't quote the person nor will I call out their name but attempted to approach it in a way where others might see what I believe the intent of a help forum is or should be without pointing fingers.

True, you did say scolding not rude. Perhaps I was projecting my own concerns. Considering the word I said has come up more than once since, I'd say that is a concern for many regular users.
Penn

Re: Forum Police?

Post by Penn »

coffee412 wrote:Is that what we are going to call it now? Plonking? I always thought it was 'Flaming' someone. But perhaps Im showing my age. Anyways...
Where this term came from in this forum it isn't flaming. The person was basically saying they were going to drop someone into their foes list. The sound effect name many people use for just dropping or tossing something in place is "plonk". I have heard thing from English speaker in many parts of the world.

So plonking, for the one person the word arises from, meant putting someone on ignore. Ironically, the person was actually proposing an idea that they felt might avoid being rude to new users that don't know the best way to ask a question but that thread turned into a bit of a hostile exchange between users.
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