Iain Watson said: > rebekah k said: > > Iain Watson said: > > Here's a story - I had a huge flame war on a gaming forum where I called > someone's missus a fat pig and said I'd rather wank forever than shag > that, then he threated to hunt me down and kill me, and I was like 'come > ahead' because I'll fucking kill you first, etc, etc. Then a week later > it was all forgotten. Can you ever imagine UKD being like that? > > iain > > The difference is, most people on here actually have lives beyond a > computer/TV screen. I think what you've described sounds like incredibly > childish school playground behaviour. UKD wouldn't exist if we talked to > eachother like that. What is so wrong with treating people with a little > respect - we're all here for the same reason aren't we? > > > > In my defence he did get personal first, and I just cranked it up a > notch. BAM! > > As for treating each other with respect I'm all for that, was just > pointing out that Simon is simply not offensive to 99% of the internet. > I sometimes think people on here only use UKD and nothing else, because > it really is the fluffiest most lightweight tickle-a-kittens-belly forum > I've ever been on. > > iain Simon is offensive on the internet. Period. His online antics would never in a million years be tolerated offline. I've met him offline. Fine and dandy. Online, he's just in some permanent state of war, where selected individuals at different times are the enemy. This may be the sign of something else amiss, but I'm not going there... I'm a long-time member of quite a few fora. On some, we've even hit the headlines owing to what's gone on (I won't bore you). This week, we've just stepped back from banning two people on a local forum (was it racism or not? was it just expression of marginal views? I supported the non-banning of them) It's not all fluffy Iain, though you may find your measure of offensiveness is not maybe that widespread outside gaming circles. It's all down to context. But at the end of the day, if long-time members of a community are leaving because of the behaviour of one individual, and if new people aren't hanging around for the same reason, you have to ask the question: what's more important? That individual? Or the community? Are we prepared to let the community die for the sake of the freedom of speech (ahem) of one person who treats many like shit on a whim? If I have to elect (a) Simon's freedom to act like a pillock, or (b) UK Dance survival, then UKD wins every time. And the same applies to other online communities I value. the troll has won when the community dies (even if that means he can no longer troll - but he'll find another place to do the same, don't worry). Anyways, to quote a friend of mine: The Internet Tough Guy http://images.somethingawful.com/inserts/articlepics/photoshop/05-21-04-magazines/dorquemada.jpg is a feature in all Internet social forums. These are people who poison discussions with anger, hatred, and threats. Some are malicious. Some are crazy. Some are just afflicted with a rotten sense of humor. Whatever their motives, they're a scourge. It takes precious little trolling to sour a message-board. A "troll" -- someone who comes onto an online community looking to pick fights -- has two victory conditions: Either everyone ends up talking about him, or no one talks at all.