Kupek wrote:Mental wrote:I did not know that rule had been instituted, and will henceforth comply with it in full.
We've never had an explicit rule, but I think "Don't be a dick" is implied. I also don't know what part of "Stop trolling" and said posts being deleted is unclear.
The problem is that "dick" is an incredibly subjective definition. You know that, Kup. Every long-term poster on this board, I'm guessing, has been someone else's definition of a "dick" to that someone else at some point in the board's tenure.
"Trolling" is less subjective and has a more or less accepted meaning, at least to me it does...I'd define it as "posting with the express intent to anger another poster and/or incite an angry response". The criteria to determine this, though, can still be incredibly subjective. As far as being unclear goes, I don't know exactly how many of my posts would fall under the category of being completely trolling. I usually don't post anything that's solely meant to piss someone off. Even the latest deleted bit about Seeker and the wrestling thing was meant to couch a sentiment of "How the hell can you be doing critical analysis of an ultimate fighting sport when a hell of a lot of people are dead and dying in New Orleans" and to try to express anger, in a light-hearted way, at what I see as a somewhat self-centered part of his personality that often angers me. (As an aside, perhaps that is the problem, since if I think about it on a slightly deeper level, Seek is free and able to think and even say whatever he wishes...this is a part of the human experience we all have, or have been "given", depending on one's view of spirituality or metaphysics.) Utlimately, also, though I sem to have been wrong about this, I thought someone else might have found it funny. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have posted it.
Now, I'll readily admit that I was posting non-New-Orleans stuff as well, and honestly it's not for me to determine what's appropriate to post at any given time. It certainly may be better that those posts were deleted, and they easily fall into a lot of definitions of what trolling is. What I have a problem with is what seems to be a set of not-well-defined criteria as to what determines appropriateness.
As another consideration, we have a population (of at least one, and I suspect possibly more) which actually enjoys some of the angrier exchanges. Kali's said he enjoys this at several points in the past. Whether this is right or wrong, again, it's not for me to judge. But it does mean that a de facto "don't be a dick" policy isn't necessarily what everyone on the board thinks would be a good idea.
If your question is why I haven't obeyed your commands to stop doing it, well, you're not a moderator. I can't clearly recall Sine telling explicitly me to stop trolling, though some half-remembered arguments seem to be prodding me that he probably has at some point, and if so, I apologize for both the memory lapse and violation of "policy" and would be glad of a link to the relevant thread. However, I still assign him, and not you, the responsibility and privilege of doing so, given that he is the one who makes sure this board is up on a regular basis. Whether or not this is "right", he is the one whose opinion matters most directly if it comes time for discipline or censoring, if only because he has superuser access and the ability to change the banlists.
There is also the matter that, on a personal level, I think you're a wonderful teacher, and patient, and a very good communicator, but I don't always agree with your assessments of interpersonal relationships and what constitutes a meaningful exchange.
I feel that, if deleting posts is going to be a policy on this board, it would be better if there were some sort of written criteria as far as what's acceptable and what's not. That's all.
