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General hostility in the forums... ?

motorazr

motorazr

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 24, 2006
350
134
The Frozen Waste...wait. Duluth, Minnesota.
Call me crazy ... but .. I really feel like macrumors has become a very hostile environment where anyone who misspeaks is beaten down over and over.... and while I realize that some topics might incite a natural argument, I don't feel like users used to be so quick to jump down someones throat? I've never posted much, but I've been reading MR since around 2003...

If you think I'm just imagining it and post too many dumb comments or questions, please do me a favor and just reply saying you don't think there's been a change instead of slamming me for even commenting .. but I really feel like it's starting to feel like engadget around here (which I learned a long time ago not to comment on because of all the people who get way into slamming others).
 
If you feel like posts or thread(s) in general are getting to hostile, rude, of topic, etc. you are more then welcome to use the report post (
report.gif
) function, to alert a moderator to the situation.
 
It's a bit of a mob mentality thing. People see others being dragged through the coals and want to have a go at being a witty guy without the consequences of real life. Kinda like 4chan.
 
I never can tell who the mods are here. They need some kind of badge around their avatar or something.

Arn, this site needs a major visual overhaul for God's sake.
 
Blaine said:
I never can tell who the mods are here. They need some kind of badge around their avatar or something.

Arn, this site needs a major visual overhaul for God's sake.
Click to expand...

Mods are designated by the word "Moderator" under their avatars and sigs. You can contact them directly by scrolling to the bottom of the front page, click "View Forum Leaders" From there an email can be sent. Mods are not hiding, although more may be required at certain times of the day. Remember it's vacation time for many people now. Don't allow a small minority of these people force you away from the boards, and please report all such offensive postings using the exclamation mark icon as described above. Not all Mods disclose themselves either, so there are frequently more "On Duty" than it may appear.
 
Blaine said:
I never can tell who the mods are here. They need some kind of badge around their avatar or something.

Arn, this site needs a major visual overhaul for God's sake.
Click to expand...

Moderators have a slightly bigger avatar and they have "Moderator" listed under their name.

A site overhaul has been discussed before. For the most part, people have wanted it to stay the same. Although the forums did get a slightly change when the front page was redesigned.
 
Blaine said:
I never can tell who the mods are here. They need some kind of badge around their avatar or something.
Click to expand...

Here you see examples how administrators and moderators are visible. Admins do some moderating as well; since we don't have the word "moderator" next to our titles you might not know that.

View attachment 353074
View attachment 353075

As has already been mentioned, you can get a complete overview via the View forum leaders link.
 
Weird. In the first preview of my post, before I published it, I could see the images. When I published it they were dead links, so I reattached them. That time it seemed to work. Now they're dead again. :confused:

Sorry for even more derailment! :p
 
I echo the others, to ensure that a given hostile post is reviewed by the moderation team - please report it. Many of us are active on the forums at any given time, but that's no guarantee we'll catch an offensive post
 
BigPrince said:
I think the downvotes made it less hostile. Please bring them back.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I think in the past, most people would just hit the down vote button to express their opinion if they thought something was wrong. Now without the button, people post their disagreements and it can get ugly.
 
BigPrince said:
I think the downvotes made it less hostile. Please bring them back.
Click to expand...

I don't think it actually worked that well. More than once I've seen someone with a downvoted post reply and complain about the downvotes. The complaint usually goes like, "How can people just downvote without telling me what's wrong with my post?", or "Those downvotes are hostile, and because they're anonymous and don't actually voice any debatable point, I have no way of responding".

Personally, I'd like downvotes to return, because I liked using them ironically or even frivolously.

I think the level of hostility is correlated more to specific subjects or forums.
 
Plutonius said:
Agreed. I think in the past, most people would just hit the down vote button to express their opinion if they thought something was wrong. Now without the button, people post their disagreements and it can get ugly.
Click to expand...

That can be viewed in another way, too. Just hitting a down button says nothing about why a member feels something is wrong, bad etc. The way it is now, you have to articulate why you disagree. That's when the really good discussions can happen.
 
Blaine said:
I never can tell who the mods are here. They need some kind of badge around their avatar or something.

Arn, this site needs a major visual overhaul for God's sake.
Click to expand...

LOL, you mean like MacNN just got ?

Please, spare us.

-t
 
Not all threads are that 'hostile', but certainly some do set off the alarm bells.

- Any thread about Samsung, or Google.
- Any thread about Greenpeace or environmental issues.
- Any thread about worker's rights/unions.

I put on my helmet, goggles and flame-retardant undies before going anywhere near those threads.
 
In response to the OP, I have seen plenty of hostility here, joking or not, that doesn't mesh with the topics at hand. It's that disconnection that the entire human race is undergoing as our physically and cerebrally interconnected world makes us overly familiar with everyone else on the planet, but we don't truly know anyone. People talk to the TV, the car in front of them, or 'some idiot' on the computer. They don't really connect with the fact that there's a person on the other end of that medium.

But in all seriousness, MacRumors is light and easy fare. Go on practically any other blog or message board. The profanity is through the roof, and people are saying things to/about other people that makes one doubt the future of this species.
 
BigPrince said:
I think the downvotes made it less hostile. Please bring them back.
Click to expand...

I've had to deal with a number of posts that derailed threads a given post was downvoted. While its true, that a member could just vote someone down, more often that led to off topic complaining/bickering that required moderator intervention.
 
turtle777 said:
LOL, you mean like MacNN just got ?

Please, spare us.

-t
Click to expand...

Please keep in mind I'm not trying to attack you OK ? :)

But. This is how the hostility starts. A simple quasi-innocent comment like
"Please, spare us."

This can be taken as a negative post by a lot of people around here.

I've seen too many threads start out this way.
Leaving out quasi-innocent stuff like that and replacing it with :rolleyes: can help diffuse the negativity .


[disclaimer] It didn't bother me but it is by definition a negative post. [/disclaimer]
 
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