Fubar
06-19-2009, 10:24 AM
This is a post that I found on another forum. Think it should apply to all activity on the internet. If only if could....
(http://www.fordgtforum.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=130653)“Internet Etiquette”
The Ford GT Forum has been wildly successful for one primary reason. Civility is expected and enforced at all times.
Forums like this are used for, and serve two primary purposes.
1. They are a clearinghouse for information, questions, ideas, speculation, theory, and often, humor. Much of the information posted will of course be wrong, or partially wrong. But as many members post up, the collective wisdom of the entire forum community will usually result in good information and/or the proper answers becoming evident to the benefit of all those who posted/or just read that thread. Often times, the best information or a valuable insight will come from a young or inexperienced person who is new to the Forum. I have never asked a question on the Ford GT Forum that I didn't ultimately get a great answer to. When the majority of the membership is comfortable enough to post what they know, or at least what they think they know, the collective knowledge of a Forums membership often seems to exceed that of a supercomputer.
2. They are most entertaining as they form a fellowship of like-minded individuals with a common interest. In the three years I have been involved with the Ford GT Forum I have made hundreds of new friends from all over the world including many members of the build teams that put together the Ford GT, the GT500, and the GT500KR at Ford, SVT, Saleen, Stillen and many more. Some have traveled to Arizona to fly aerobatics in my Glasair III, party with us at Barrett-Jackson, participate in track day events, and all other manner of automotive debauchery.
These two qualities are only possible however, if all members and their often erroneous posts are treated respectfully. NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, KILLS A FORUM FASTER THAN FLAMING. And on a large forum such as this, it's difficult to control as the anonymity provided by the Internet tends to make people bolder, more profane, and far less courteous than these same individuals would be were they face to face.
Inevitably, on many Forums, a few of the longer-term members start treating the Forum as their own personal fiefdom, using it to boost their own egos and continually trying to prove that they are the smartest guy in the room. They begin imposing their own brand of quality control by insulting other members whose posts they don't think are up to the standards required for posting on "Their Forum".
Study after study consistently shows that the number one reason members of Forums do not post is because they don't want to be publicly humiliated by having their remarks ridiculed, insulted, or demeaned. And when these members don't post, the collective wisdom of the entire forum is diminished.
When those members who do post get flamed, it doesn't just damage the fellowship between the two members involved in that particular exchange, it damages the entire Forum. These are PUBLIC Forums that are designed to be, and are, read by far more people than the number who actually post to that particular thread. An insult on a public Forum is very different than an insult in an e-mail or a PM. Flaming another Forum member by referring to their posts with comments such as "this is simple uneducated BS", "you need to get a clue", or "how this crap started is mystical to me" is an intolerable public insult that discourages further participation by many members other than that comments singular target. Furthermore, demanding what you deem to be proper research before posting on a thread with comments such as "You need to get your facts straight before you post advice" assumes a level of authority that nobody has, and discourages members from posting up and “giving it their best shot”.
Had these posts been made on the Ford GT Forum they would have been removed within minutes of their posting and the offender would be on a temporary vacation.
Friction between members will not occur in this Internet medium if one simple rule is followed. If you wouldn't say it while standing face to face with that individual, don't say it on the Forum. And at some future event, you might just meet that person face-to-face.
Often, a Forum member called on the carpet by a moderator for insulting another member’s posts will try and minimize their offense by claiming it was just between those two members, they have gotten over it, and the matter is in the past. Here, they fail to understand the broadcast nature of a Forum. This would be analogous to two newscasters caustically insulting each other on the air, and then telling station management that disciplining them would be inappropriate because those two newscasters have gotten over it and moved on. Management and viewers alike understand that insulting behavior conducted in any public media, fouls the atmosphere of the entire broadcast and assaults every audience member viewing it.
Virtually no participant on any Forum posts intentional misinformation with malicious intent. By posting information as best they understand it, members are subjecting their submission to peer review. Even when their submission is shown to be completely false by following posts, if that peer review is conducted in a respectful fashion, the corrected member comes out ahead as he has gained a better understanding of the subject being discussed and is likely to continue posting in the future. And a future post by this same member may well be of great benefit. If however, that peer review is conducted in an insulting or high handed fashion by one of the Forum's “know it alls”, that same member may never be heard from again and the entire Forum community is poorer for it.
Dave Bannister summed all this up for me two years ago in just two words…..BE NICE.
Chip Beck
(http://www.fordgtforum.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=130653)“Internet Etiquette”
The Ford GT Forum has been wildly successful for one primary reason. Civility is expected and enforced at all times.
Forums like this are used for, and serve two primary purposes.
1. They are a clearinghouse for information, questions, ideas, speculation, theory, and often, humor. Much of the information posted will of course be wrong, or partially wrong. But as many members post up, the collective wisdom of the entire forum community will usually result in good information and/or the proper answers becoming evident to the benefit of all those who posted/or just read that thread. Often times, the best information or a valuable insight will come from a young or inexperienced person who is new to the Forum. I have never asked a question on the Ford GT Forum that I didn't ultimately get a great answer to. When the majority of the membership is comfortable enough to post what they know, or at least what they think they know, the collective knowledge of a Forums membership often seems to exceed that of a supercomputer.
2. They are most entertaining as they form a fellowship of like-minded individuals with a common interest. In the three years I have been involved with the Ford GT Forum I have made hundreds of new friends from all over the world including many members of the build teams that put together the Ford GT, the GT500, and the GT500KR at Ford, SVT, Saleen, Stillen and many more. Some have traveled to Arizona to fly aerobatics in my Glasair III, party with us at Barrett-Jackson, participate in track day events, and all other manner of automotive debauchery.
These two qualities are only possible however, if all members and their often erroneous posts are treated respectfully. NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, KILLS A FORUM FASTER THAN FLAMING. And on a large forum such as this, it's difficult to control as the anonymity provided by the Internet tends to make people bolder, more profane, and far less courteous than these same individuals would be were they face to face.
Inevitably, on many Forums, a few of the longer-term members start treating the Forum as their own personal fiefdom, using it to boost their own egos and continually trying to prove that they are the smartest guy in the room. They begin imposing their own brand of quality control by insulting other members whose posts they don't think are up to the standards required for posting on "Their Forum".
Study after study consistently shows that the number one reason members of Forums do not post is because they don't want to be publicly humiliated by having their remarks ridiculed, insulted, or demeaned. And when these members don't post, the collective wisdom of the entire forum is diminished.
When those members who do post get flamed, it doesn't just damage the fellowship between the two members involved in that particular exchange, it damages the entire Forum. These are PUBLIC Forums that are designed to be, and are, read by far more people than the number who actually post to that particular thread. An insult on a public Forum is very different than an insult in an e-mail or a PM. Flaming another Forum member by referring to their posts with comments such as "this is simple uneducated BS", "you need to get a clue", or "how this crap started is mystical to me" is an intolerable public insult that discourages further participation by many members other than that comments singular target. Furthermore, demanding what you deem to be proper research before posting on a thread with comments such as "You need to get your facts straight before you post advice" assumes a level of authority that nobody has, and discourages members from posting up and “giving it their best shot”.
Had these posts been made on the Ford GT Forum they would have been removed within minutes of their posting and the offender would be on a temporary vacation.
Friction between members will not occur in this Internet medium if one simple rule is followed. If you wouldn't say it while standing face to face with that individual, don't say it on the Forum. And at some future event, you might just meet that person face-to-face.
Often, a Forum member called on the carpet by a moderator for insulting another member’s posts will try and minimize their offense by claiming it was just between those two members, they have gotten over it, and the matter is in the past. Here, they fail to understand the broadcast nature of a Forum. This would be analogous to two newscasters caustically insulting each other on the air, and then telling station management that disciplining them would be inappropriate because those two newscasters have gotten over it and moved on. Management and viewers alike understand that insulting behavior conducted in any public media, fouls the atmosphere of the entire broadcast and assaults every audience member viewing it.
Virtually no participant on any Forum posts intentional misinformation with malicious intent. By posting information as best they understand it, members are subjecting their submission to peer review. Even when their submission is shown to be completely false by following posts, if that peer review is conducted in a respectful fashion, the corrected member comes out ahead as he has gained a better understanding of the subject being discussed and is likely to continue posting in the future. And a future post by this same member may well be of great benefit. If however, that peer review is conducted in an insulting or high handed fashion by one of the Forum's “know it alls”, that same member may never be heard from again and the entire Forum community is poorer for it.
Dave Bannister summed all this up for me two years ago in just two words…..BE NICE.
Chip Beck