Originally Posted by shcisamax (Post 802584)

People really need to lighten up on this forum. It is so completely out of hand. People make a comment and they are blasted as possibly being untruthful. People make a comment and they are taken to the mat for their opinion. People make a comment and they are suddenly being beaten up on because they are not knowledgeable. You can't even make a joke here anymore without someone taking offense and getting puffed up. What happened to this great site for information and for joy? I have been on here for less than two years and, quite honestly, it was absolutely a gas when I first came on. Now, I just wait for who is going to jump on whom. I just don't know when it became what it is or why.

Originally Posted by redwitch (Post 802591)

I think part of the problem right now is no political forum -- a lot of the stuff that used to go there is now here and, with it, comes the attitudes, the fights. Some things have always been around -- the gut reaction by some to take offense when a newbie posts something negative (always thought to be a troll, rarely taken as saying something true -- wrong attitude IMO but it is what it is).

The best way to take this forum (or any other, for that matter) is read what you want, respond to what you want and ignore that which is of no interest to you. I won't ever put another individual on ignore unless they become personally insulting because sometimes they have something to say that might interest me. I rarely open threads that I feel will be religious or political in nature (sometimes my curiosity gets the better of me).

The other thing you can do is try to gently remind people (either via PM or politely and, if possible, with grace and humor) that their behavior is crossing a line. Sometimes that even works.

Originally Posted by redwitch (Post 802591)

I think part of the problem right now is no political forum -- a lot of the stuff that used to go there is now here and, with it, comes the attitudes, the fights. Some things have always been around -- the gut reaction by some to take offense when a newbie posts something negative (always thought to be a troll, rarely taken as saying something true -- wrong attitude IMO but it is what it is).

The best way to take this forum (or any other, for that matter) is read what you want, respond to what you want and ignore that which is of no interest to you. I won't ever put another individual on ignore unless they become personally insulting because sometimes they have something to say that might interest me. I rarely open threads that I feel will be religious or political in nature (sometimes my curiosity gets the better of me).

The other thing you can do is try to gently remind people (either via PM or politely and, if possible, with grace and humor) that their behavior is crossing a line. Sometimes that even works.

Originally Posted by shcisamax (Post 802584)

People really need to lighten up on this forum. It is so completely out of hand. People make a comment and they are blasted as possibly being untruthful. People make a comment and they are taken to the mat for their opinion. People make a comment and they are suddenly being beaten up on because they are not knowledgeable. You can't even make a joke here anymore without someone taking offense and getting puffed up. What happened to this great site for information and for joy? I have been on here for less than two years and, quite honestly, it was absolutely a gas when I first came on. Now, I just wait for who is going to jump on whom. I just don't know when it became what it is or why.

Originally Posted by BettyCrocked (Post 802606)

I don't think it has anything to do with politics unless there is some secret society here that gangs up on people from a certain political persuasion.
I wasn't here two years ago for the "friendly times", but what I've seen since february are a certain group of posters who seem to resent, then attack anyone who has ever disagreed with them. Basically if you have a low post count, you can forget starting a thread and not being accused of lying, starting rumors...
It's sad, really. I find myself being on the defensive as soon as I read a post and consider replying. I reply to things I don't even care about because I've always been one to pull for the underdog and I don't like seeing people ganged up on or bullied. I will admit that I get great entertainment from the variety of scenarios presented here when people want to discount a simple statement of fact.
If you find yourself searching a poster's previous posts and digging back trying to discredit them, you may have some issues. Try getting away from the computer and getting out more.