The ATV Connection has a very clear policy regarding individual conduct in this forum, i.e., no off-color language, no personal vendettas, no non-ATV subject material, etc. Yet from time to time we still get treated to outbursts of uncivil behavior. The latest example of this was the series of posts by an individual who dubbed himself Kawasaki_Killer.

The Forum Moderators do an excellent job of policing the action, but they have many obligations beyond this forum, and simply can not be everywhere all of the time. I strongly support the Forum’s guidelines on civil discourse, and I applaud the moderators for the overall excellent and professional manner in which they oversee the various dialogs.

When I was in college one of the tools used by the college administrators to affect discipline within the college community was the “Bad Boy” list. This list contained the names of those individuals who had been placed on academic probation by the Dean’s Office, and who were in danger of flunking out. The theory behind this public embarrassment was that it would motivate those individuals to work harder to bring their grades up, and it would also act as a deterrent to those individuals teetering on the edge of academic probation. They knew that if they did not want their name on the “Bad Boy” list they had better buckle down and work harder.

With the preceding example in mind, and in further support of the Moderator’s efforts, I would ask you to respond to the following survey questions:

1. Do you believe that an ATV Connection Forum Hall Of Shame “Bad Boy” list, containing the email address and real name of the forum policy abuser, would serve as a general deterrent to uncivil behavior in the forum?

2. Do you think it would be beneficial to you to know whether the person you are corresponding with has ever been placed on “forum probation”, i.e., temporarily banned from the forum and then later reinstated, by having their forum profile contain a “probation log” listing the number of violations and the dates those violations occurred?

3. Do you think the forum should have a “zero tolerance” policy for forum policy infractions, or do you think, depending on the severity of the infraction, that a “three strikes” policy is better suited to maintaining discipline in the forum?

The overall high caliber of civil discourse in this forum, as compared to the gutter-level exchanges that pass for a forum on some other sites, is something I strongly wish to preserve. Please give your most careful and thoughtful consideration to the above issues when responding to this survey.

You may also wish to communicate your thoughts on this matter to the forum moderators, this can be done by sending an email to atvbbs@atving.com.

Thanks, Army Man

 

"whisky," as one too incompetent or too lazy to find the shift and punctuation keys on your computer keyboard, do you consider yourself in any position to tell anyone else to "shut up?"

A very broad interpretation of freedom of speech permits even you to post on the Forum; that privilege extends to others as well, not you alone, "whisky." The notion only you may express your opinion and others may not appears infantile.

Ignorance and intolerance combine into an unbecoming mix.

Tree Farmer

[This message has been edited by Tree Farmer (edited 10-28-1999).]

 

Well said Tree Farmer. Thank You.

Army Man, I concur whole heartedly with your three suggestions in the survey and will surely second them to our moderator.

 

A case it point..the late, non- lamented post by Whiskey, whose user name possibly should be Pablum

[This message has been edited by atvbbs (edited 10-28-1999).]

 

I don't like the Idea at all.This is nothing more than a Forum.We are not in College in here either.Three strikes and your out?Guess what,this is not the Army either.Ban the Idea.Just my opionion---- ----BILL

 

This sounds like you are censoring! Remember the *****.

I personally enjoy reading some of the moronic comments posted on here Jim! They keep me laughing! Come on! You are forgetting the makeup of the typical ATV rider!!! And you were at Cochranton too!

The typical Forum user didn't even read a third of the way through your original post...even the Tree Farmer didn't post a direct response, instead he chose a general type of insult leveled at someone named "whisky" having nothing at all to do with the topic at hand.

Simply said, your idea of "moderation" I fear may fall on deaf ears.

 

Every rule, in every book is broken from time to time. No matter what happens, there will always be a know-it-all around to speak his mind. Is this bad? Not at all. Use your own best judgement and only believe what you choose to believe. This forum is based on personal opinions and that is it. If you want to argue about top speed, manufactures, or personally attack someone. Go ahead, I'm sure the moderator will sort everything out just fine. If you have a problem with this, here.....let me show you the door. No one is making you stay here. Freedom of speech wins, so speak your mind. The only thing everyone needs in common is a silly thing called an ATV.

Chris "00" 300EX

Oh, by the way....... I have the best quad in the world........he.he. he!!!!!

 

I, too, enjoy reading the occasional stupidity that gets posted on here. As for personal attacks, I don't see any reason to take anything typed out over the internet personally; who cares what some immature kid thinks or says, they can be ignored.. I would think if anything there can be a swear word filter that would not post any messages containing certain words, since that is unnecessary, but I don't recall seeing all that much swearing anyway.

Rod - 86 250R

 

Dear Mr. pflueeb,

Just to set the record straight, our thoughtful friend, Mr. Tree Farmer, did in fact respond directly to a rather harsh post made by one Mr. "whiskey." As you may note by reading further down the thread, our moderator deleated the "whiskey" post thus giving a somewhat asynchronous appearance to the responses.

Thanks,

Rod

 

...and one more thing.

I recall a site for arborists and timber that includes a very active forum. They have an "exile" corner where any post that is ludicrously bad is dumped. You can still read it, but its out of the way. They explain it as something like: "while we support free speech, we have no obligation to support stupidity." Just a thought.

Thanks,

Rod 450ES [...and its yellow]