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When I first starting reading this message board about 4 or 5 years ago I was truly pleased with how civil people were to each other, without the kinds of nasty rhetoric found on so many other boards. This was a welcoming and safe place for people interested in all things Puna to meet and share information.
However, I have noticed a gradual but steady shift in the tone of many postings on punaweb over the last 6 months or so; there has been a real increase in the amount of insulting, belittling, and down right rude behavior amongst many of the most constant participants. This behavior comes from individuals of every political and social stripe, but it greatly diminishes the value of the board for the wider community and turns it into a few people's personal pigpen.
When my students are having intense discussions about volatile topics we try to stick to a few basic ground rules: Attack ideas, not people. Everyone has a right to be heard without being insulted or shouted down. Perhaps everybody on the board could take a deep breath and tone it back down a notch or two, for the common good of the larger community?
carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
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My analysis: Too much thinking, not enough drinking.  Who wants to have beer at halehaole?
Aloha
Richwhiteboy
"If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide."-
Mahatma Gandhi
“Sometimes the truth hurts. And sometimes it feels real good.”
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haoleboy,I think your comment is exactly what she is refering to.One can employ humor as long as it is done with taste and not at the expense of serious issues,or others.You are rude,not funny.There is a time and a place to be funny,and it isn't on this thread.csgray started this thread with her topic,let her have a serious conversation if she wants to without you attacking her for no reason!
so much....and so little time
so much....and so little time
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quote:
let her have a serious conversation if she wants to without you attacking her for no reason!
I guess I don't see Haoleboy's offering of an olive branch (or a beer in his case) "attacking" anyone.
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Well, Carol, your post seems to have drawn out the usual suspects.
Civility is as old fashioned in America as lace doilies on the back of a divan ---whatever a divan is.
And you are wrong. Incivility is not the product of all political stripes. It is the direct result of those who have a political philosophy --if you can call it a philosophy--that debases the Purple Heart and the Nobel Prize because of antipathy toward a particular recipient who is of the other party. Nevermind that the recipient is an American. You must be in Das Party or you will be destroyed.
As for Punaweb, things are pretty mild mannered here, so I also disagree with your underlying premise. There are some jokers here, but generally they aren't malicious, and you probably would want to have a beer with them, and since Puna is so sparsely populated, you probably will! Remember: That is our criterion for electing Presidents these days: would you want to skip duty in the Armed Services in the middle of a war and have a beer with them in a roadhouse in Alabama?
Edited by - glen on 11/06/2007 06:35:48
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Thank you, Glen. I couldn't have said it better myself.
Cheers,
Jerry
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For my part most of the time Punaweb is something I am proud of and I hope is a contribution to Puna's sense of community. When it isn't I get to play hall monitor at an elementary school and that is not my favorite thing to do.
I would simply prefer it if everyone was reasonably respectful of other people's ideas and intentions. I don't think it is too much to ask and it might even involve more than one person here resisting the temptation to be the center of attention for their little minute.
I try to operate this site as light handed as I can and remember that Punaweb's primary intention is to let Puna define itself rather than be defined by others.
I guess I need to find a more specific list of forum rules, or netiquette, to instruct the uninformed. To start with I don't like people hijacking topics, I don't like people disrespecting or demeaning other's postings and opinions.
It's getting late this evening. More later.
Punaweb moderator
Assume the best and ask questions.
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quote:
There are some jokers here, but generally they aren't malicious, and you probably would want to have a beer with them, and since Puna is so sparsely populated, you probably will!
Ha! Excellent point.
And I totally agree.
99.967324% of the time the mean ol' nasty jokers among us (be they male or female) are simply trying to lighten things up a bit.
Comic relief is a good thing! People playing the devil's advocate, in the sense that they make me think outside my teeny tiny preconceived-idea-box is appreciated. And satire, a sophisticated oft-misunderstood form of humour and means of getting one's point across, can be a very very good thing for me to cerebrally-slosh-about-in as well.
And as for the occasional detour, the veering off-center/off-topic for a bit? Ha! What's the big deal?
None of it's life and death, thank god, and sooner or later a designated-driver-type will grab the wheel and gets things back on course. (Perhaps not in the same exact direction as the thread-initiator intended for it to go, but on course just the same).
Lack of censorship's a very good thing.
And so is a wee bit of ego-armor.
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"Lack of censorship's a very good thing.
And so is a wee bit of ego-armor."
Though none of us likes being the butt of sarcastic humor, it is really not so painful. One can SIMPLY NOT READ the input of those they find troubling....
Just another day in P A R A D I S E !!
I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says
"Oh Crap, She's up!"
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