Thoughts on forums....
I belong to many different websites. And thus I participate in many different online forums. I often see a lot of discord and mud slinging caused by differences of opinion. I've been contemplating this once again. I just don't understand how some people let their emotions get in the way of adult discourse. I understand the idea that some of us are very passionate about our view points and the experiences that led us to those conclusions but.... really.... do you have to call people names just because they don't agree with you?
It's essentially the same reason why I hate political and religious extremists.
Anyways, here's the deal. All forums have their "trolls"... people who are there just to cause trouble and be mean and nasty. The only true way to rid these places of trolls, short of blocking them from the sites, is to simply ignore them. And by ignore them, I do not mean say your piece to them and be done with it. I mean IGNORE THEM and their snarky comments ENTIRELY.
Here's what I've been seeing. I moved my online jewelry studio from Etsy to Artfire nearly a year ago. I moved it because I was getting frustrated with the way Etsy was being run and my shop was being buried under all the other jewelry shops on there. Not because the forums were big hot bubbling pits of snark and nastiness... although that's what I had come to regard them as. Anyways, the forums at Artfire always seemed so much friendlier... at least for a while and in comparison. I have been there almost a year now and have seen my share of forum trolls and snarkiness.
The one difference I've noticed though, is that the nice, "smart" people on the Artfire forums have learned not to feed the drama llama and to have discussion rather than mud slinging matches. My opinion on the matter as a whole is that if only the drama llamas stick around the forums and vomit, then it'll become a messy, nasty place... as happened in Etsy's forums. I hope that the Artfire people are smart enough to not only ignore the drama llamas but also to stick around and help keep the place looking rather tidy. Step around the vomit and don't wallow in it.
This is a random rant so.... I think i am done for now.
It's essentially the same reason why I hate political and religious extremists.
Anyways, here's the deal. All forums have their "trolls"... people who are there just to cause trouble and be mean and nasty. The only true way to rid these places of trolls, short of blocking them from the sites, is to simply ignore them. And by ignore them, I do not mean say your piece to them and be done with it. I mean IGNORE THEM and their snarky comments ENTIRELY.
Here's what I've been seeing. I moved my online jewelry studio from Etsy to Artfire nearly a year ago. I moved it because I was getting frustrated with the way Etsy was being run and my shop was being buried under all the other jewelry shops on there. Not because the forums were big hot bubbling pits of snark and nastiness... although that's what I had come to regard them as. Anyways, the forums at Artfire always seemed so much friendlier... at least for a while and in comparison. I have been there almost a year now and have seen my share of forum trolls and snarkiness.
The one difference I've noticed though, is that the nice, "smart" people on the Artfire forums have learned not to feed the drama llama and to have discussion rather than mud slinging matches. My opinion on the matter as a whole is that if only the drama llamas stick around the forums and vomit, then it'll become a messy, nasty place... as happened in Etsy's forums. I hope that the Artfire people are smart enough to not only ignore the drama llamas but also to stick around and help keep the place looking rather tidy. Step around the vomit and don't wallow in it.
This is a random rant so.... I think i am done for now.