Posted by Dinah on August 31, 2004, at 10:48:12
In reply to Re: I'm afraid I can't tolerate this, posted by Dr. Bob on August 31, 2004, at 10:02:22
But I see a hopefully brief upsurge in a certain sort of very direct posting activity in the immediate future. I'm only saying this because if we expect to see it happening, we might be better able to see it for what it is and respond accordingly. I know it's hard not to take posts like that personally. Especially with profanity directed precisely at you and all. But I think that there is a reasonable chance that it's not personal at all. I think that the lack of an active deputy at the moment makes it an ideal time to strike out at Dr. Bob or the board in general, and what better way to do it? I'm not talking about any poster, not the poster in question on this thread or any other poster in particular. I'm just alerting people to the possibility that it might happen, and suggesting that they take that possibility into account before responding. In fact, that's going to be my default assumption when (not) responding to posts.
My own response to threads where there is no mistaking the application of civility rules will be to email Dr. Bob privately and wait for him to take care of it. In part because that's generally a wise response to things like profanity and very direct negative statements, but also because I think that is the least desired effect of posts containing very direct negative statements and profanity directed at another poster.
Dr. Bob is right. This is the sort of thing that I originally volunteered to be deputy to try to prevent. The more subtle stuff is a lot harder and more stressful, but this is the sort of area where a deputy can head things off early and keep a lot of people from getting administrative actions for responding to posts.
poster:Dinah
thread:384390
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20040717/msgs/384690.html