Personality vs. Poster vs. Conversation - Please Read and Discuss

[Brock Beauchamp]

I'm not pointing fingers at anyone particular here but over the past year(ish), I've received many complaints about users and it usually boils down to people taking things too personally and making the conversation about the opposing poster instead of the topic at hand. These complaints almost always descend into a war of personality.

This is super common on forums and this isn't my first rodeo but as users become entrenched and personalities become known around the board, it becomes easy to start taking shots at the poster instead of the argument that poster is trying to make.

This, to put it bluntly, needs to stop. It's really unhealthy for a community and more than a few long-term posters have told me they're leaving the board over the past half year (and many did just that, I haven't seen them for months).

If you're about to type something about the poster themselves instead of the topic, stop there. Do not hit submit.

If this problem persists, we'll be forced to start handing out warning points for people who make arguments personal and target other posters. Please please PLEASE don't make us go down this road and instead use a little self-restraint before posting.

We're all fans of the same team here. I get it, some people just get under your skin. I've been talking Twins with some of the same people for 24 years now. A few of them infuriate me on a very regular basis. I get it. Please, though, let's show each other a little more grace and understanding.

[Brock Beauchamp]

And if you see this happening, please use the report function to alert a moderator of it.

[LouisEly]

Thank you, Brock.  As someone who's been a part of this racket for a long time, it pains me to not see some of the long-time posters here.

There is one more thing to add that is related, and that is this - YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE THE LAST WORD.  Make your point, state your data/evidence to support your case, and then MOVE ON.  If someone disagrees with you and you disagree with their point, don't respond unless you have additional data/evidence that you have not presented yet to support your stance or refute their point.  DO NOT KEEP SAYING THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER. 

You don't have to win.  The Brewers don't have to win.  Nor do the Packers, Badgers, Bucks, or any other teams we talk about here.  Life will go on, the sun will rise in the morning, and we've made it this far in life without the Brewers winning a World Series.  Cubs fans waited over 100 years for a World Championship (and it took a lucky rain delay to do that) - we've still got those punks by 50 years.  If there was a level playing field, teams would win a World Championship only once every 30 years.  And we all know there isn't a level playing field in baseball.

Finally, if you find yourself getting set off easily, feeling like the game is over as soon as one thing goes wrong, etc., please seek out emotional support/counseling.  I'm not being sarcastic or criticizing anyone about that.  Be cognizant of your mental health, as your mental health can affect others.

GO BREWERS!

[Brock Beauchamp]

3 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

Thank you, Brock.  As someone who's been a part of this racket for a long time, it pains me to not see some of the long-time posters here.

There is one more thing to add that is related, and that is this - YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE THE LAST WORD.  Make your point, state your data/evidence to support your case, and then MOVE ON.  If someone disagrees with you and you disagree with their point, don't respond unless you have additional data/evidence that you have not presented yet to support your stance or refute their point.  DO NOT KEEP SAYING THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER. 

You don't have to win.  The Brewers don't have to win.  Nor do the Packers, Badgers, Bucks, or any other teams we talk about here.  Life will go on, the sun will rise in the morning, and we've made it this far in life without the Brewers winning a World Series.  Cubs fans waited over 100 years for a World Championship (and it took a lucky rain delay to do that) - we've still got those punks by 50 years.  If there was a level playing field, teams would win a World Championship only once every 30 years.  And we all know there isn't a level playing field in baseball.

Finally, if you find yourself getting set off easily, feeling like the game is over as soon as one thing goes wrong, etc., please seek out emotional support/counseling.  I'm not being sarcastic or criticizing anyone about that.  Be cognizant of your mental health, as your mental health can affect others.

GO BREWERS!

Well said!

[homer]

To piggyback on LouisEly's point....

If you report someone's post, don't reply to that post. That only makes things worse. The mods will get to it eventually.

[nate82]

4 hours ago, homer said:

To piggyback on LouisEly's point....

If you report someone's post, don't reply to that post. That only makes things worse. The mods will get to it eventually.

Unacceptable cracks whip get to work now mods!!!!

[wallus]

Do not forget to block posters that drive you nuts too....

[phnxcrew]

Thanks for posting this topic and enforcing said rules.  we have lost too many of The community already.  

[Brock Beauchamp]

12 hours ago, phnxcrew said:

Thanks for posting this topic and enforcing said rules.  we have lost too many of The community already.  

Absolutely. Part of what makes this community so great and why we wanted to run it is because it's not Reddit. It's not Twitter. It's not all those places where people are just *awful* to one another without any way to stop it. We're all here to talk Brewers baseball, let's do that together.

[CheezWizHed]

Remember the debate is great!  We are here to discuss and debate what our teams should do.  But a couple pointers:

Disagree with someone's ideas with supporting arguments and not just an insult.  If you aren't furthering the discussion, there probably isn't a point to posting it:

• Good: I disagree because he provides value against....
• Bad: That idea is dumb. 
• Good: I don't find as much value in metric <ABC> because I prefer metric <XYZ>
• Bad: You keep bringing up that same dumb argument.
• Good: We've both posted the reasons why we think a certain way and we don't agree.  We will agree to disagree. 
• Bad: Even though I've posted this 10 times, I'm going to post it again in CAPs until you agree with me!

The flip side of this is that if someone doesn't like your post or has other ideas, that is OK.  That is debate.  Some reported posts where simply because someone thought their idea wasn't good.

No attacks on individuals or people groups.  Period. End of argument:

• You are stupid
• You always post dumb thoughts
• I can't stand how you...
• Your momma...
• All the <group> are just trying to... 

It is always good to know that in a forum like this, there will always be people trying to stir up trouble.  Like in real life, it is best to simply report the post, ignore the person and deal with those that are serious about good sports discussion and debate. 

[TURBO]

On 1/4/2023 at 8:28 PM, wallus said:

Do not forget to block posters that drive you nuts too....

In theory, that is a GREAT idea, however, when you block someone, especially someone who posts a lot, it makes the entire thread seem choppy and out of context.

 

 

[TURBO]

Unrelated, I'd like to see more posters use the like button on things they agree with or enjoy.

It seems there are a handful of posters using this feature, and a ton who never take he time to use it.

[Brock Beauchamp]

5 minutes ago, TURBO said:

Unrelated, I'd like to see more posters use the like button on things they agree with or enjoy.

It seems there are a handful of posters using this feature, and a ton who never take he time to use it.

I keep hoping people will warm up to the reactions but it doesn't seem to happen a lot. Oh well, maybe it will just take more time...

[MrTPlush]

17 minutes ago, TURBO said:

In theory, that is a GREAT idea, however, when you block someone, especially someone who posts a lot, it makes the entire thread seem choppy and out of context.

 

 

Yah, blocking people just doesn't work in actuality. Just because someone responds to your post doesn't mean you gotta go respond. There are many times I can tell someone is just baiting me (or someone else for that matter) and responding isn't going to lead to a productive conversation.

Many like to make cryptic comments that are just subtle shots at a poster for being wrong. In those cases, best everyone avoids the bait at that point. 

[nate82]

6 hours ago, CheezWizHed said:

Your momma...

What do you have against Yo momma jokes?

[CheezWizHed]

22 hours ago, TURBO said:

Unrelated, I'd like to see more posters use the like button on things they agree with or enjoy.

It seems there are a handful of posters using this feature, and a ton who never take he time to use it.

And along with that... Using the Sarcasm (i.e. blue) font and emojis in your text when you are sarcastic and/or joking goes a LONG way to helping people not take a joke the wrong way.  

[CheezWizHed]

18 hours ago, nate82 said:

What do you have against Yo momma jokes?

Mainly when they aren't jokes... 

[MrTPlush]

18 hours ago, CheezWizHed said:

And along with that... Using the Sarcasm (i.e. blue) font and emojis in your text when you are sarcastic and/or joking goes a LONG way to helping people not take a joke the wrong way.  

This post got me to thinking of how to even use blue font.

I now see it is the 'Sa' button. Which you would never know on a phone because you can't hover over it to see 'sarcasm' pop up. You also have to type out your message first, highlight, and then hit it.

I don't recall how it was before the site change, but I don't recall it being as difficult or as non-obvious to use as it is now. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 hour ago, MrTPlush said:

This post got me to thinking of how to even use blue font.

I now see it is the 'Sa' button. Which you would never know on a phone because you can't hover over it to see 'sarcasm' pop up. You also have to type out your message first, highlight, and then hit it.

I don't recall how it was before the site change, but I don't recall it being as difficult or as non-obvious to use as it is now. 

On the old site I’m pretty sure there were more steps involved than there are now but I only used it once or twice so I don’t remember the old process very well. 

[MrTPlush]

1 minute ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

On the old site I’m pretty sure there were more steps involved than there are now but I only used it once or twice so I don’t remember the old process very well. 

I believe there was just a button that said 'sarcasm' or something then it inserted the basic coding bracket command that you had to type inside of. I wasn't easier to do, but the button was a little more obvious to an idiot on a phone. 

Once you figure it out, I think the new site is easier to post on with a phone in the grand scheme. Trying to imbed tweets/links before sucked. I could never do it right...now the site just does the brain power for me. ?