"it's really quite intimidating on here"

Totally uncalled for the bashing that guy got. The point was very valid and very well put IMO

Tucker was well cool.

I was thinking more along the lines of a harmless irritant. 😉

This is extraordinary.

I almost don’t know what to say about it.

I’m barely holding this piss in now.

When I first joined, I was more aggravated than intimidated. I posted a picture of my brand new GT i-Drive (of which I was WELL proud) on one of those show-us-yer-bike threads. Imagine my surprise when about 40 complete strangers pointed and laughed, called my pride and joy, “fugly” and complained about the state of my lawn / neighbours brickwork / tiny flecks of mud on the tyres. 😥

I know now that it was all a bit of banter – back then, I took it all very personally. It’s all about understanding the language and oddities of a particular forum – they all have a different way of doing / saying things….

i-Drive’s are still fugly, no matter how immaculate your lawn is… 😉

Don’t you think that too much focus is being placed on a few negative threads and the many, many positive threads are being overlooked?
I think it’s wonderful that I can go head to head with someone on one day and a couple of days later they’re offering help through their personal email.
There have been some seriously hard threads, I’m not going to single any one thread out, where the camaraderie has been overwhelming. We’re here because we want to be, so don’t be intimidated, have your say and walk away.
There are still some who hold grudges, but that’s their problem. 😀

Besos.
don simon

It seems that this thread is a result of a comment I made on another thread about how long people have been members of this forum. I would just like to clarify that what I meant by ‘intimidating’ is the way some people seem very quick to attack others for very little or no reason, and can be very rude. I don’t have time for such attitudes and will simply choose not to post. I do find the forum very interesting however, but i’ll leave the bickering and arguing to those who want to waste time doing so. Meanwhile, there is loads of great information about technical matters and rides, so I’ll just focus on that instead.

Aye.
Too much of this:

not enough ‘good guy greg’ behaviour:

Bitchy posts depress.
Winter nights filled with scorn.
New name so care less.

I say to learn from Bruce – be like water my new-found newbie friends 😀

I have never felt remotely intimidated on here…yes there are a few annoying, sad, no life regulars who clearly spend too much posting and are clearly not riding enough/don’t have a real life and man up online….but a bit of sarcasm and p!ss taking is good/funny….honestly…what tyre should I buy? is 10 speed good? my framed broken, etc, etc only goes so far..

too many trolls

Ha! I’ve been on G wing all day sorting medication & canteens for prisoners on methodone, It makes STW look like a Teletubbies programme.

certainly tubbies

I rarely post on here to avoid getting picked up on, however when I have and negative things have been said I have learnt from them. I guess being 16 doesn’t help

Character building, innit?

i’ll leave the bickering and arguing to those who want to waste time doing so

Me me me! I do like a nice argue now and then…

But the ‘bullying’ aspect isn’t nice. I spose I’m guilty of that myself I’ll admit, and I need to be more aware of how my comments are received and interpreted. I don’t mean to be malicious or nasty though; I’ll only give it out when I’m sure the recipient can give it back. And I get more than my fair share of stick but I’ve had far, far worse in real life than anyone could do on here.

I try to stick to the ‘don’t say owt you woon’t say face to face’ rule. I think many people overstep this mark though, but hey ho. All power to their typing fingers…

Typically the negative impact on this forum can be traced back to the users who frequently trot out the argument, ‘It’s only the internet. It’s not real’ as some kind of excuse for being deliberately argumentative and negative

Is the crucial thing for me. I am an argumentative and stroppy get in real life as well – although the wider communication in real life helps stop rows degenerating as far as they do on here. I do try very hard not to be negative all the time.

I hate the folk who trot out the “its only the internet” excuse for awful behaviour. Too many folk on here do this – behave in a way that would have real repercussions in real life and then laugh it of as “only the internet”.

I really hope I am not intimidating to people. I do try not to be so stroppy.

sometimes too we forget how good STW can be – from support and advice to people in difficult situations to the sharing of information. Without STW I would not have had a nice cycle ride on Sunday as people helped me with route suggestions. Its too easy to dwell on the negative side of things.

One thing I have done is use this killfile thingy for the most irritating folk and the unpleasant trolls. It helps greatly.

Personally I believe the folk Mark refers to should simply be banned. Not the elfs of the forum who argue passionately but sometimes go OTT but the nasty snidey ones who never add anything positive

Don’t you think that too much focus is being placed on a few negative threads and the many, many positive threads are being overlooked?
I think it’s wonderful that I can go head to head with someone on one day and a couple of days later they’re offering help through their personal email.

+1 for that – and I wonder why this forum is so much nicer than other ones I’ve frequented. Maybe it’s because everyone knows everyone else would rather be on their bike – whatever the differences there is a more important shared experience.

Yup.

Grrrrrr.

GRRRRRRRRRR.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

and it all snowballs into tedium

Would make a great album name 🙂

As others have mentioned there is a lot of positives about the forum, enough for it to still out weigh the negative affect of those who troll/argue all the time.

Don’t you think that too much focus is being placed on a few negative threads and the many, many positive threads are being overlooked?

I know several people who don’t post on STW primarily because they’ve seen how a lot of threads go. STW was the first place I found knowledgeable (or at least more than me) people who were friendly and keen to help out with advice on all manner of things and other forums I found were a lot less friendly. Now a lot of advice centres around which particular orifice you can shove that thing you just said into 😉

Generally though, it’s a fairly cool place, just there can, at times, be a pack mentality.

Racist!

Some folk just have no self awareness of how they come across in written form… or maybe they do.. all I know is that if I start reading a thread and I see certain folk posting on it, the thread will inevitably get taken over by the usual suspects, and for me its not worth reading any further.
Sadly I think some folk have just got so full of themselves on here that they dominate way too many threads and contribute very little ‘worthwhile’ to the threads.

TandemJeremy – Member
I hate the folk who trot out the “its only the internet” excuse for awful behaviour. Too many folk on here do this – behave in a way that would have real repercussions in real life and then laugh it of as “only the internet”.

People are responsible for their own reactions to what is said to them or what they read. If those people adopt a realistic attidude then…hey presto…no problems.

Just playing devil’s advocate to some extent. But the point is real and correct – forum dwellers can chose to not react to other forum dwellers, and they know (or should know) that folk will not behave the way they’d like them to online. Some just want an excuse to take everything very seriously/pesonally (not a pop at you TJ).

I do try very hard not to be negative all the time.

I have noticed that you’ve been much less so lately TJ, which is good to see. We all have to work on our faults all the time – especially me of course 🙂

Good stuff.