[Closed] Let's Talk About Bullying.

Nickf if you'd have gone through his tweets you'd change your mind.

Nevermind the alleged email threats to other STW'ers.

He needs to go away, chill out and join either pinkbike, bikemagic or bikeradar.

If you saw the tweets and feel a ban should be temporary you really need help. Said in the nicest way but true.

BTW I've never met Mark. I just think if you visit someones 'house' you don't insult the host.

Hora, as I said, I saw none of this. I don't use Twitter (I genuinely don't undertsand its purpose) so I'll not bother searching. I'll take your word for it that it was highly offensive.

But we've all got drunk and said really stupid things, haven't we? The hardest thing is facing people afterwards, I've found, and having to earn trust all over again and eat humble pie. Not that getting drunk is an excuse; it's frankly a bit pathetic to use as an excuse. But I can't claim to be perfect in this regard, and I've been mighty insulting, to my chagrin, on several occasions.

Not my call - I don't own the site. Just making a plea for tolerance, that's all.

To get back to "bullying", why do those of you bandying this word around suppose that the individuals that have apparently been "bullied off" the forum all happen to have been behaving like arseholes?

a) Not all of them were arseholes.
b) A forum without arseholes would be less interesting.
c) This forum, without arseholes, would be miniscule 😉

well said nickf. I don't do twitter either but I'm very curious!

a) Not all of them were arseholes.

Genuinely interested to know which non-arseholes have been bullied off STW? I was just thinking of SurfMatt and Flow really, who were both unpleasantly argumentative know-it-alls.

Anyway he'll be back and no doubt banned as soon as his writing style is spotted.

Still on ... 🙄

c) This forum, without arseholes, would be miniscule

Quote of the thread for me so far. 😀

...and the fact that he is still here, still posting under yet another new name only reinforces that he is Not Very Well.

Really? what name?

Why would he though? I don't get that thinking if he is.

If you saw the tweets and feel a ban should be temporary you really need help. Said in the nicest way but true.

I saw the tweets. So I let him know that if he wanted to rant, he could ring me and get it off his chest.

Why?

Because that's what nice people do for their mates.

This thread has outed some rather vile feelings from some people, people who should know better and should know when to shut up, but I know they won't.

95% of the people on this thread don't have the first clue.

[i]95% of the people on this thread don't have the first clue.[/i]

Enlighten us then.

Fair enough, stick up for your mates but don't claim all those who don't like him are vile.
What went on between mark and elf is irrelevant, and to claim we're all stupid for not knowing is a typically elfin thing to say and goes a fair way towards explaining why he got banned.

[i]Fair enough, stick up for your mates but don't claim all those who don't like him are vile.
What went on between mark and elf is irrelevant, and to claim we're all stupid for not knowing is a typically elfin thing to say and goes a fair way towards explaining why he got banned [/i]again, and again, and again.

FTFY.

hora - Member

BTW I've never met Mark. I just think if you visit someones 'house' you don't insult the host.

The reverse of that seems to be the norm, when friends come to visit me!

😉

I got accused of all sorts on here a couple of years ago, I was a closet werewolf an in denial chicken and a mad deranged gerbil at one point.

But hey! at least I'm a valued member now 😯

I saw the tweets from the user named elfinsafety. They weren't very nice, but they are nothing compared to some of the vile stuff I've seen directed at people on there, but that doesn't change the fact they were unpleasant and totally uncalled for. I must admit I thought they posted by someone pretending to be him to try and makes things worse as they were very unelfinlike in the way they were very angry and when on here he always kept calm and enjoyed pointing out that others were losing their cool.

I found him amusing at times, but I also recognised that often when he was involved in a thread, far too often it transformed into the elfin show on some occasions I found that amusing, but I could understand that it must be very frustrating for posters who ask genuine questions which are lost as the thread rapidly descends into elfin winding up those who are all too willing to bite. I'm not convinced that alone would be worth a banning, but I'm not a moderator.
Peterpoddy, did elfin give you a call or make contact? With regard us not having a clue, I would be very interested to find out.

Genuinely interested to know which non-arseholes have been bullied off STW?

Was thinking of people like Emsz, though not her specifically. Just people who've found the general demeanour of the forum to be more snide and unpleasant of late, though in hindsight perhaps that isn't the same thing.

but they are nothing compared to some of the vile stuff I've seen directed at people on there

Rubbish. You find me any post on here with that level of invective and insult, that level of vile language and hatred. Go on, have a look.

You will fail. The very fact that he took them all down is, in my mind, a good thing. He clearly realised he'd very much overstepped the mark and did the only decent thing he could have done.

However, there is nothing like that level of abuse on here. Ever.

Rubbish. You find me any post on here with that level of invective and insult, that level of vile language and hatred. Go on, have a look.

Calm down CFH.

He said there, as in Twitter, not here, as in STW.

Valid point, Jamie. Apologies all, I should have read more closely. 😳

The rest stands, but once again, apologies for my mistake.

Well, as I've not been spending as much time on here as I used to, and seeing as many of the posts on that thread were removed, I dont really have anything to base an opinion on this time around. I like Fred, and having spoken to him in the 'real' world, (though not on this occasion), feel it's a shame that he got banned. Was it a temporary or permanent ban? Did anybody else get banned? I'm honestly not wanting to stir up s**t here, just curious as to what happened.

However, there is nothing like that level of abuse on here. Ever.

Good christ that feels like a challenge 😈

hora - Member
BTW I've never met Mark. I just think if you visit someones 'house' you don't insult the host.

Hmm well it's not quite like that is it, when you invite guests to your 'house' in order to profit by their presence and discussions should you then assume the right to dictate the terms of the said discussions?

what i found funny was the "that's my opinion and i does not in any way care what others fink, take it or leave it" stance that accompanied any inflammatory posts.
but he does care, a lot. without the attention (good or bad) he's very existence on the forum is rendered impotent, replying feeds the ego and keeps it happy.

banning is the ultimate accolade. 10 pages all about 'ME' is the icing on the cake.

so the word D u z z e n t gets modded? lol.

Barnsleymitch- from what I gather, Elf got a permanent banning from here cos mark doesn't like him.

Hmm well it's not quite like that is it, when you invite guests to your 'house' in order to profit by their presence and discussions should you then assume the right to dictate the terms of the said discussions?

With any forum, its pretty self regulating... if the forum owners get too ban happy then the forum withers, likewise sometimes a ban is the best way to maintain the atmosphere they want - minus a few days handwringing, of course.

After all, nobody has to pay to be here

Some of you really need to go back and read what you've posted.

Some of you really need to go back and read what you've posted.

Who? ...and which bits?

To be honest most of it and most people who have posted. Try and look at different interpretations of what is being written and see how it could be contrued as bullying.

Are you sure about that?
How much is the Premier Account these days?

"Some of you really need to go back and read what you've posted."

ok I've done that. now what?..

I might just sneak this in on page 10....

I found Elfinsafety to be an absolute pain and it used to wind me up when he'd interrupt a perfectly good thread posting his nonsense. However, I decided it was easier to ignore his posts - skip past them without consideration. The only time that became an issue is when he'd start posting random pictures. Not so much of a problem at home, but leading to a poor/potentially expensive browsing experience while on the road. In fact, to those who think he was somehow "picked on" by Mark & co, I'd just say that I got a temporary ban for responding in kind, while he still got away with it.

As for this ban, well I guess that the folk that run the forum decided it would be a better place without his input. Based on the number of folk who've told me that his postings (and a couple of others) put them off visiting STW, that's probably a sound financial decision. It's also significant that none of his apologists have decided to flounce off in support.

is he back yet ?

[img] [/img]

Markie - Member
Seems reasonable. After all, nobody has to pay to be here and STW are (at a guess) trying to foster an environment which feels like a forum version of the magazine (or something) and which people want to be a part of.
With any forum, its pretty self regulating... if the forum owners get too ban happy then the forum withers, likewise sometimes a ban is the best way to maintain the atmosphere they want - minus a few days handwringing, of course.

Well yes and no, in this current day and age, print is under enormous pressure and will continue to be so for a few more years, so it gets to be about click thru and as i said, STW click thru aint that good (a guy I ride with works for that IMBIKE mag, now they would give £'s to have this sort of forum content, whilst I understand STW would likewise give whatever mag folk give to enjoy the click thru that IMBmag have, it's all about ad rates and chargeable sums in the 'new media'

So, now troublesome types that don't 'click thru' are highly dispensable especially if they put off newcomers.

But, and big but here, newcomers still want to read content and without it the tumbleweed very soon gathers, so it's an unenviable task balancing it all, so far they've been lucky, but personally i wouldn't be happy with the sort of slating the man took on twitter the other night, nor the DOS issues, they don't appeal to admen and love em or hate em, it's the ads what funds all this at the end of the day.

you know he's buzzing off all this attention. It's a love him or hate him thing. Like Morrisey.

Four 'undred!

Corluvaduckguvner etc

Edit: noooooooooooooooo

If you remove too many nobs from your cog, your cog will stop spinning.

If you remove too many nobs from your cog, your cog will stop spinning.

I'm not so sure about the love him or hate him thing kev.Often he was likeable and just as often he was arrogant.
He was very capable, sometimes I agreed with his point sometimes I didn't. Much like everyone else.
It was just the manner in which he often made it which pissed some people off.
Like it or not, it's marks forum and if you choose to have a ding dong with him you're on dodgy ground. Unfortunately (?) for elf, he hates authority hence the clash (IMO).

The spiteful shitbags who caused the DoS are the real bullies. Hope it's being investigated.