kudzurunner
324 posts
Mar 23, 2009
9:26 AM
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All:
Please take a look at the revised paragraphs (forum etiquette, etc.) that headline the forum.
This morning I felt it advisable to boot somebody off the forum. This makes two people in the one year (or so) that the blues harp forum has been in existence. It's not a bad record--it certainly doesn't make me Dr. Death--but it's two more than I wish I'd been forced to nix.
I'm not interested in closely monitoring the conversation that goes on here. I simply don't have the time. I'm also aware that blues harmonica folk, some of them, have some rough edges. Frank talk is OK.
Still, my patience has limits, and I do what I feel I need to do in order to keep things relatively civil around here. If I'm required occasionally to play sheriff, so be it.
For the record: all of us occasionally go over the line. If you realize you've done so, I encourage you to self-correct. There's nothing weak about a quick owning-up, a no-nonsense apology (as in, "I went too far"), and then a moving on to continue the conversation. I certainly won't demand that, however. You're not required to make nice 100% of the time. You're simply encouraged to pause from time to time and ask yourself, "Am I being civil here?" There are many alternatives to civility: rudeness, scapegoating, flaming, attribution of subhuman status to the people you disagree with, finger-pointing, name-calling. Most of them end up with "free exchange" devolving into 11-year olds taunting each other on a school playground. At worst, such behavior encourages actual violence. I'm not worried about violence--most of us live too far from each other!--but the playground-dynamic does worry me.
On very rare occasions, when I see it flowering, I will do what I can to guide things in a different direction.
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Zhin
172 posts
Mar 24, 2009
6:29 AM
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I think it's extremely frightening when people do get violent. I know it certainly brings out the ugliest and worst in me too and I become a monster too. It's an ugly cycle. The only way to stop it is to take the first step to force your own self not to react out of spite and anger... You taught me that, thank you.
And Adam, I think it may not be a good idea to dismiss distances. Harp players have a tendency to meet on common ground like SPAH. That's what really worries me. Anything could happen if someone is immature and insane enough to hold an irrational grudge.
I appreciate ANYTHING you do to put out the flames.
Thanks for what you do.
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My Videos
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kudzurunner
326 posts
Mar 24, 2009
7:54 AM
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SPAH could use a little more drama. Harp players, as we know, are so boring. :)
For the record, after a brief and satisfactory email exchange, I have reinstated the person I just booted off. He is once again a member in good standing. This makes me happy, frankly.
signed,
Mississippi State Trooper
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mickil
121 posts
Mar 24, 2009
8:21 AM
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I'm glad to hear that.
Hopefully, Chris will return at some point too.
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'If it sounds GOOD to you, it's bitchen; if it sounds BAD to YOU, it's shitty' - Frank Zappa
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isaacullah
128 posts
Mar 24, 2009
9:08 AM
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I'm posting this here becuase I don't want my name even associated with that other thread... Pointed character attacks on ANYBODY, regardless of what you may think of them in real life, should NOT be a part of this forum. There are many other places on line that foster that kind of netiquet. Go to those places if that's what you want to do. This place is for harmonica.
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The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
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Preston
231 posts
Mar 24, 2009
9:15 AM
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I second Isaac. Can we get a padlock on that other one out of respect?
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GermanHarpist
191 posts
Mar 24, 2009
9:51 AM
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I third that.
Adam, would you consider deleting the following text too?
" Please, in this spirit, refrain from starting threads (such as "The official Bash Chris Michalek thread" or "Doesn't Christelle Suck, guys?" or "Adam is a Nazi administrator!" whose clear intention is to precipitate strongly negative PERSONAL attacks on members of this board. ("Gussow is God" is OK.) "
It is inherent in the text as it is, plus it sheds a bad light on the forum. I believe the self-moderating power of the forum is good enough to single out such behaviour. In cases of similar things repeating, we can simply call in deus-ex-machina to change the course of things.
cheers
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germanharpist, harpfriends on Youtube
Last Edited by on Mar 24, 2009 9:55 AM
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LIP RIPPER
41 posts
Mar 24, 2009
9:56 AM
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I JUST WANNA LEARN TO OVERBLOW SO I CAN PLAY ST. LOUIS BLUES.
MISSISSIPPI STATE TROOPER, NOW GOD DAMMIT THANKS FUNNY!
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kudzurunner
328 posts
Mar 24, 2009
10:48 AM
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GermanHarpist:
Sure. I'm willing to try treading lightly. You might remember, though, that I tried treading lightly--with stern advisories, I mean--for many months with this forum, and the bad stuff kept getting worse. I always assume the best of people; I put in such an admittedly pointed warning ONLY because a lot of people refused to get the point. But I'm happy to try a provisional "revert" and will hope that your faith in our community is justified.
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GermanHarpist
192 posts
Mar 24, 2009
1:08 PM
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Thanks for that, Adam.
My issue was less about the you treading lightly part. Please, tread hard if it has to be. It was more about how welcoming the intro-text seemed. IMHO it looked harsher than the community deserves...
"...the bad stuff kept getting worse..."
This is unfortunately an unavoidable development when an internet community grows... (hate to be the pessimist, but it will get worse). Sometime in the future it will be necessary to have moderators. However, at the moment things are still manageable by the community itself.
The point was: I think it will also work without a sentence which achieves to accumulate the words Chris, Christelle, Adam, Bash, Suck and Nazi... lol.
Again, thanks for deleting the text ;)
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germanharpist, harpfriends on Youtube
Last Edited by on Mar 24, 2009 2:17 PM
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rustywater
39 posts
Mar 24, 2009
3:32 PM
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I've thought long and hard before contributing to this or 'the other' thread.
Buddah or Chris which ever you prefer WAS one of the most knowledgable individuals on this forum. He was brash and sometimes lacking in some communication skills but he freely admitted that in just about every thread that he was ever attacked in.
Now the idiot who started 'the other' thread is reinstated as a contributor to this forum and the rest of us have lost the knowledge of a professional, for f**k sake where is the justice in that.
I am fully aware that Mikolune was not the only one who slagged Chris off but I would like to thank him personally for pushing the man over the edge. what the idiot was thinking about is beyond me.
Of course it would be nice to ask Chris to reconsider his decision to stop contributing for the sake of the majority of us who just want to learn a bit more about the harp, but we have no way of doing that other than through this community/thread.
I ask Adam to consider passing on what will hopefully be a multitude of messages from users of this forum who feel this loss as much as i do.
It is not a shame that Chris has left us, it's f***ing shameful the treatment the man put up with.
So I will start by asking Buddah to reconsider his decision to leave our community, because most of us appreciated your imput in the spirit it was given, and your views will be sorely missed by this community.
Last Edited by on Mar 24, 2009 4:28 PM
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djm3801
56 posts
Mar 24, 2009
4:15 PM
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All of the above.
Dan M.
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jbone
36 posts
Mar 24, 2009
8:29 PM
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kudzu, you have as dang nice forum here, and i've visited and ended up leaving a few over the sort of things you have described. i guess it comes with the territory, slappin on the badge occasionally.
i appreciate the civility i see on this forum 99.5% of the time, everyone in that group give yourselves a pat on the back. i value opinions different from mine and i hope some here get something from my infrequent posts. in an age when we can email, pm, im, and all that jazz, i find it hard to believe that people have to resort to public rumbles to make their point. i've learned over a few years, if i have a problem with so-and-so, i need to address it in private, or not at all. it's part of what we call civilization.
i am not aware of the circumstances that brought this about but a good moderator will address it promptly and with a conciliatory but firm attitude.
thanks kudzu for moderating responsible.
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eharp
242 posts
Mar 25, 2009
5:22 PM
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i skip my usual reads for 3 days and look what i come back to.
the place turns into a peyton place.
if somebody posts something "wrong" why dont we just ignore it instead of posting on it and keeping the thing alive? just a suggestion. i dont think everyone needs to jump on the old bandwagon or do we all just want to be involved with the tar and feather act?
where were these forums when i needed to do psych papers at school?
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mikolune
3 posts
Mar 25, 2009
6:38 PM
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eharp: speaking of psych ... we just saw the full reenactment of the killing of a farther figure. would have been fantastic for a paper indeed :)
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Andrew
184 posts
Mar 25, 2009
11:29 PM
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I've only had access to a computer for two days a week for the last three weeks, and I've lost the thread on all the forums I belong to!
If Chris says something I don't like I'll say so, and if I ever meet him I'll buy him a beer. That's about all I can promise.
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