Part of my online personality in media such as this has its origin in online troubles elsewhere. In as few words as possible: the short and very positive book Dealing With Disrespect is my ideal guide, but I sometimes pay the price of wilfully ignoring some of its ideals.
Yeah. That was a key reason for me choosing to spend more time in MacRumors Forums than elsewhere.
Agreed.
An example. In the IT support context, online, it's often appropriate to correct another person's mistake or misunderstanding. No matter how gently it's done, highlighting one person's error in front of a group can be misconstrued as mean-mindedness.
And so on my true (face-to-face) personality is probably very different from my online IT support personality. In person, things are nearly always easier
On one hand, best to simply report a post if it appears troublesome.
On the other yes, sometimes something needs to be said.
If someone (or some group of people) is offensive, I might slowly give them enough rope to realise that ultimately, being openly offensive is likely to result in the opposite of what the offender wished to achieve.
It's surprisingly effective, but maybe not an obvious (easily found) feature. It's an option in the User Lists menu for the user to be ignored.
Best to use the feature discreetly.
However, on a handful of occasions I have indiscreetly made it known that I ignore someone. This falls under the umbrella of 'wilfully ignoring ideals' I know that it's potentially inflammatory, but hopefully a lesson is learned.

+1 to drama that's truly entertaining! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDrXJILTVek&t=1m47s
moderators here do a pretty good job keeping things civil.
Yeah. That was a key reason for me choosing to spend more time in MacRumors Forums than elsewhere.
I believe that the primary reason for the poor behavior of people, not only here on MacRumors, but the Internet as a whole, stems, primarily, from the fact of online anonymity.
Agreed.
If you were to meet me in person, I'd be just like you'd expect me to be as you've come to know me online here.
An example. In the IT support context, online, it's often appropriate to correct another person's mistake or misunderstanding. No matter how gently it's done, highlighting one person's error in front of a group can be misconstrued as mean-mindedness.
And so on my true (face-to-face) personality is probably very different from my online IT support personality. In person, things are nearly always easier
Rude threads or posts deserve a rude reply
No, that's what makes threads devolve into a 4th grade recess shouting match and makes the site worse. Just ignore them and move on.
You are right in a lot of cases but sometimes something needs to be said. I tend to block them afterwards.
On one hand, best to simply report a post if it appears troublesome.
On the other yes, sometimes something needs to be said.
If someone (or some group of people) is offensive, I might slowly give them enough rope to realise that ultimately, being openly offensive is likely to result in the opposite of what the offender wished to achieve.
the ignore list, which can be found in your User CP settings.
It's surprisingly effective, but maybe not an obvious (easily found) feature. It's an option in the User Lists menu for the user to be ignored.
Best to use the feature discreetly.
However, on a handful of occasions I have indiscreetly made it known that I ignore someone. This falls under the umbrella of 'wilfully ignoring ideals' I know that it's potentially inflammatory, but hopefully a lesson is learned.
Some of the posts I've read in response to others' questions are unbelievably sarcastic and penurious. Among the handful of other forums that I peruse, I've never encountered such disdain for new members or those that may not have as much knowledge of the topics being discussed.
I haven't felt welcome to post my own threads or respond to others' threads because the number of times I've seen someone get completely flamed is off-putting.
Mods: You all do a great job.
I'm a member of a few other highly populated forums and none of them come with the condescending tone that this one has.
Thanks for the insightful responses, everyone. You've all given me hope!
The Big Sleep (1946)
+1 to drama that's truly entertaining! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDrXJILTVek&t=1m47s
"I'm sorry, sir. I make many mistakes."