Should we be able to vote out users we don't like?
Disclaimer: My vote is no.
There are certain members who have a number of haters. These haters derail questions by answering the OP with insults, personal attacks and reasons why they hate.
How do we appease the haters?
Should we appease the haters?
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67 Answers
No. Variety is what makes the site what it is.
No. It would end up driving out many users and discouraging new users. This site would be ruled by “favorite” users and not anyone else.
Just let the mods deal with those who attack others.
No. It would end up driving out many users and discouraging new users. This site would be ruled by “favorite” users and not anyone else.
The attacks by “favorite” users has already driven users away. The haters won’t listen to the mods when the mods ask them to flag what they deem inappropriate. They continue with their hate and personal attacks.
No. We all have different likes and dislikes. We all have different people who we like and dislike. Some of the best (or at least funniest) threads are by, or commented upon by, some of the folks who I wouldn’t care to hang with in real life, but on Fluther it’s OK.
Plus, as some of the others have pointed out, if anyone feared that if they came onto Fluther and they might be “voted off the island” it would discourage a lot of people from even bothering to come over here at all.
If anyone is abusive, or disruptive to the point of attempting to break the system, the Mods do a pretty good job of sorting that business out.
What happens when the mods decide a user is being unjustly accused (or not breaking Fluther rules) but other members won’t stop with their attacks?
Um, wait. I have some PMs to write.
@dammitjanetfromvegas users who are so offended by the attacks leave on their own. It’s their choice to leave, no one forces them to. It’s different from the voting out users, which forcibly cast users away. The chance that someone will stay after the attacks of the former is higher than of the latter (because the latter involves casting people out without their consent).
As for the mods, they just have to delete flame posts and warn users not to attack again. If they continue to attack the mods can suspend their account or ban them altogether. It’s more objective than leaving the choice of who to stay to jellies.
The gossiping pathetic little cliques who dwell mostly in the mirky world of pm’s are the real poison of this place. Funny thing is, they’re completely unaware of their fucked up status :D
No need to vote anyone out. Just ignore their posts.
I think every community benefits from having “challenging” members. Not only ideologically challenging, but also just plain irritating. They keep us socially and intellectually flexible, which is a healthy thing. It’s like the body’s immune system: if it’s overly sheltered from environmental irritants as it develops, it becomes overreactive and creates problems where none exist.
There are limits, though. It’s reasonable to ask of members that they not go out of their way to cause trouble. Baiting others for sport, perpetuating feuds, hounding and serial-flaming, etc. are blatantly anti-social behaviors and nothing good will come of that.
As a mod, it’s not always clear when to take action (beyond merely modding a question or comment) against a member for anti-social behavior. We get quite a few calls to rein in this or that member because they’re offensive in some way, and we often agree that they’re offensive. But “offensive” can’t be the standard for taking action against someone.
In practice, the mods sometimes act as a firewall against the kind of social vigilantism that would drive away irritating members. There too, it’s often hard to draw the line between legitimate critique and irritation-fueled attack; people are sometimes dismayed when posts “calling out” irritating members get taken down, while offensive posts are left standing. While we understand that this doesn’t win us any popularity points, we have concerns other than popularity at heart. And we’ll certainly admit that we’re far from perfect at all this.
So no, I think it would be a terrible idea to allow popular consensus to determine who stays and who goes.
No. Serious issues can be addressed with the mods, such as overt abusive behaviors otherwise it is best to either avoid or detatch from your personal issues with another member or, if you choose to engage don’t be shocked and surprised when things go south. haha
I trust the mods to do the right thing most of the time. I had a weird situation unfold about 6–8 months ago or so where an anonymous member was harassing me and posting under an impersonating name that belonged to one of my pets that is well known here. They had also taken info. from my profile and transferred it to theirs as a deliberate mockery of my not being amused at their prank.
It was bizarre and that member was, eventually, ousted. If you’re a thin skinned type and hypersensitive to every little disagreement or conflict and a grudge holder you probably won’t last long here.
There’s a much simpler solution to dealing with a user whom you don’t like; namely, don’t deal with them at all. Don’t answer (or even read the details of) questions they post and skip reading their answers to other people’s questions. Problem solved.
When I first started here, Fluther was quite hostile to folks like me. It has mellowed some since certain people left, but I miss them anyway.
Then there was one time even the mods were seriously thinking of giving me the boot. I was simply rocking the boat toooo much. The short story is that even though what I had to say was true, they didn’t want to know. I was told to shut up or I’d be banned. So watch your step folks!
I’ve been attacked more times than I can count. The more interesting ones I post on my profile for all to see. I actually would rather that mods DO NOT delete attacks because if they do, I can put that up on my profile with names attached. Read them altogether, and it gets really funny.
And by removing the attacks they often gut the question and it dies. Or perhaps that was their intent in the first place. Kinda sad, ain’t it?
@snowberry That would take way more energy than I was willing to expend over anonymous people on the internet. I wouldn’t want to glorify or give extra attention to anyone that was being a jackass towards me by propping up their egos by canonizing their crap. lol
My favorites are the ones that have actually pm’d me asking that I don’t answer their questions anymore because they haven’t liked my answers. Cracks me up, talk about control freakery.
Who the hell tries to assert their control freak issues over the internet anyway?
No, but if I got several pm’s asking me to leave the site, I’d consider it.
—@Coloma Having it there serves two purposes. It helps me to keep flaming and name calling all in perspective and it makes me laugh. It isn’t possible for one person to be all those things, and the real me isn’t like that at all!
And for whatever reason, I’ve actually gotten a lot of compliments on my profile. Now when someone insults me, I thank them and put it up with the rest. If it’s already been said, I tell them, “Sorry, it doesn’t count because it’s already been said”, and to “Try again, and be more creative next time.” If you’re gonna be an asshat, at least don’t plagiarize while you’re doing it!—
Wow, really? I had no idea there was behavior quite like that on Fluther.
And, no, I’d think the moderators would be the correct way to handle hostile behavior.
There would be nobody left.
No, of course not. If a user is really a bad person, the mods catch them and kick them out.
Plus, I probably would have been voted out at least 5 times by now. by angry jellies!
That’s what I don’t get as well there are a few here that don’t care for me,but feel it is their duty to post to my questions,and most times at a rather snarky attitude, I like peoples opinions and reading them but that is all.
And again there are a few here that I rather enjoy catching up with,so it’s the variety that keeps me coming back.
Only if I get to say “You are the weakest link! Goodbye!”
Kill ‘em all and let Dog sort ‘em out.
I seems ironic to me that on my activity for me list, this question keeps popping up right above the what nice has happened to you question. One seems so friendly, while the other….......
@Mimishu1995 Wait……does that mean when someone is shooting soda through a straw at someone else at a bus stop and that person leaves, it was because they just really wanted to leave, and the fact someone was splashing them through a straw with soda had nothing to do with it? Or if someone was sitting in a waiting room and another person starts bopping them with a heavy phonebook and the person being bopped leaves, it was their choice and being smacked phonebook by a phonebook had no sway in their decision? Learned something new every day. ~~
@thorninmud There too, it’s often hard to draw the line between legitimate critique and irritation-fueled attack;..]
It isn’t that hard:
Your driving is not safe when you speed after the 1st rain; critique.
Driving at breakneck speeds after the 1st rain makes you as dumb as a gerbil, where did you get your license, from a box of Crackerjacks?; attack
Not that hard, really.
As to the OP on this matter, no, there is enough bullying to ”thin the herd” without giving the popular cliques a assault weapon to mow those upstarts down quicker. But you would never hear anyone admit to that, Fluther is such a place of civility and gentility. Even if it were so, bygones, it is not like I am going to hang around here forever anyhow.
@flutherother There are very few left. This place is dead. I can think of many who are gone because they didn’t fit with the Fluther vibe. They were silently voted out. vampires and ETPro to name a few.
^ Everyone loved ETPro and he asked way darker NSFW questions than i could ever think of and no one ever called him some perv.
Well, if anyone decides to have a vote, I just won’t run. ;-P
Hmm. Well perhaps Fluther could use an “Ignore user” and/or a “Disinvite user” button, where you could either not see what some people write, or not allow them to your own questions.
@Zaku Well perhaps Fluther could use an “Ignore user”…]
That has been covered in the past and no one seemed to like it, though I cannot remember why. I sense it was because Fluther wanted to look more genteel than Askville or some of the other. The suggestion was to just ignore someone on your own, but that never works….
Can we vote to bring people back?
Ignoring works for me in some cases. There are people here I won’t engage with.
“Ignore user” would or could be dealt with through privacy settings, if the site had them.
I kind of like that we all can see all posts no matter who they are from. To me, it makes the site more open and democratic. I think that all users combined make the site what it is. There are some I find annoying but that’s life. Life is not comprised of only things and people that we like.
For me, ignoring users is quite easy. There is no-one I always ignore, but…most of us have hot topics. Feel free to ignore me when I start ranting about dogs or education – meanwhile, I ignore threads when they turn into rants which are not interesting to me. I don’t usually post just to tell people off. I figure that people learn just like other animals, so I try to notice the good and ignore the bad.
I try. It does not work anywhere near all the time.
I find some questions seem to be a platform for the OP to rant or lecture about a topic he or she feels strongly about. It’s annoying but the debate and “hot topic” is what make the site what it is – various and interesting.
I don’t understand why anyone would even start answering a question that they feel is annoying. Why not just skip over it, or quit following when it gets annoying?
@Dutchess_III: I’ll answer questions that I don’t find annoying but then the OP will argue and argue, at which point I need to decide whether to keep arguing or let it go. Right now I’m at that point on a cell phone while driving question, as I don’t think it’s getting into the OP’s skull what my stance is, despite my clear writing.
@Dutchess_III Why not just skip over it, or quit following when it gets annoying?
Because it is like cat nip to try and take down the OP, they feel compelled to prove he/she is totally wrong, they know opposing the OP will heap “Atta boy” lurve on them.
It doesn’t just apply to the OP. A user could be spatting with another member and keep trying to convince them they’re wrong.
You’re all wrong, wrong I say, wrong, just wrong! LOL ;-p
A user could be spatting with another member and keep trying to convince them they’re wrong.
A point that would never come up if the first person rather than trying to convince the OP they are wrong, just bypassed the question; in other terms, ignored it from the start
Catnip, they will find a way to justify getting in on a question they think is silly or offensive, etc. because they are compelled to engage.
HC…how can you copy my comment and still miss the point? I said the disagreement isn’t always with the OP. A person can contribute to the discussion, having not found the question silly or offensive, and another user, not the OP, can come on with their comments and someone can take issue with that comment. Often has nothing at all to do with the OP.
^ A person can contribute to the discussion, having not found the question silly or offensive, and another user, not the OP, can come on with their comments and someone can take issue with that comment. Often has nothing at all to do with the OP.
Even if it did not involve the OP the fact still remains, if Bill says something about US cars in a thread he was not the OP of, Jill a US car supporter and a union gal finds what Bill said to be silly, and misleading and comments on it, because she feels she has to stick up for Detroit, who can guess, if Maggie who works for Toyota finds it offensive, she does, she should state her piece then move on unless she is going to bring something new. If she keeps trying to convince Jill and all others who don’t like Japanese cars why Japanese cars are better, she is spending a lot of energy on a cause that after she says what she feels she needs, go on about her business, even if Russel piggybacks on Jill’s comment.
Sometimes it is simply Maggie, and even though she knows Bill is correct when one takes into account data of which cars sell the better, she cannot bring herself to say anything Bill is correct and spend the rest of the thread trying to show Bill is incorrect.
I have no idea what you were trying to say,..]
Look at it this way, even if someone (we will call him Joe Blow) who was not offended by the question, and even commented on the question, if someone else (we will call John Q) makes an offensive statement and it is offensive to the Joe Blow, after John Q states his critique etc. of the Joe Blow’s remark, if the he person keeps trying to show Joe Blow is wrong even part or all of what Joe Blow said was factual, if not logical as well, then John Q is not exercising or incapable or exercising restraint to just ignore it, as it has been mentioned, even less if John Q doesn’t like Joe Blow, then he is compelled to try to show Joe Blow wrong, even when it is highly improbable to do… that pretty much describes Fluther modus operandi. ;-)
No, we should not be able to vote out those we don’t like. I totally agree with @thorninmud‘s observations about how a healthy community needs a diverse range of people and perspectives. Certainly there might be people here who irk me on occasions, but in the main one of the joys of Fluther is that we do operate as a community. I don’t want to be part of a community that excludes those who are different or challenging. I too was sad to see the vampire people disappear. I hope they left because the site did not suit them rather than because they felt pushed out or bullied.
@Earthbound_Misfit: My understanding is the vampires were pushed out. I thought that was sad. I like their unusual outlook a lot. It was amusing and refreshing.
But we still have our favorite zombie. :-)
Ths site already does this informally. People who hold opinions divergent from the soft-left liberal gestalt here are constantly bullied until they leave. One user in particular was forced to delete his account and leave because users here threatened to report him anonymously to the secret police for holding political views they disagreed with. Regardless of how much merit a complaint like that has, it can and does ruin lives, and this particular fellow was worried how his elderly wife might react. He ended up deleting his account rather than let people here scare his wife. And the administration here explicitly stated they had no objection to people threatening to turn other users in to the secret police, so kicking off people they don’t like seems to be okay as long as it’s deniable and not official.
Those people who who try to get rid of other users…hahahahahahahaha!!
Make a phrase outta these words, a life get fucking
No. Let them talk. Let’s know who is who. It’s just like political correctness. If you silence the people you disagree with, they go underground and fester into something more sinister. When they come back into the daylight, they are more undesirable. We need to hear them, and know who they are. But I recall at least one person who got kicked out of Fluther for no other reason than they were politically incorrect.
Stuff like that will eventually, someday, return and bite the ass of the PC police. The tide always turns eventually.
@josie I, for one, am glad you stay even though your politics are often contrary to many of ours.
@janbb
Are they really?
My views on many “hot button” issues are all over this site and I suspect they are not much different than yours. Try me.
I would think politically, not necessarily on social issues, we differ a lot but my point was not made to start a political discussion on this thread. It was that it is good to have differing views here although I know I can be guilty of snark.
Well…I am mostly liberally apolitical but also liberally liberal and conservatively conservative, go ahead, run with that. lol
Welcome back @Devilishtreat! I agree with @jca, it’s good to see you back. Now that doesn’t mean I’m inviting you into my room, I’ve watched True Blood, but it’s good to have you here.
@Earthbound_Misfit I’ve seen your room. Too many light colors. I’d have to invite you to mine…
Oh I’ve repainted! My room is red now. I love red. A deep, burgundy red. I’d have thought that was right up your alley. I’d love to visit, as long as I don’t end providing the drinks.
Providing the drink is the utmost reward you could provide! I’ll come by later tonight while you’re sleeping and have a peek at your…walls.
Happy to bring a bottle of wine or two. I just don’t want it to be from my own personal store of claret.
I find you just, delicious…
I look forward to it.
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