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Vicious newsgroups. … Well, this is the only one I post to and I have read others. I read them and found that they were not what I had thought them to be, so I left as quietly as I came in. As to tearing apart the newbies, well, that is wrong, and that is when we let our emotions get the best of us and loose focus on what our goals are. For that, I do apolgize. I do feel that it is up to the people that have been around for a while to help facilitate, and also keep the goals alive in the newsgroup. That is just a product of being one of the old timers. LOL As to the thread of sherry, well, that is a difficult one. The goal here is to print the truth and not have it twisted. The emotions run high as many have been hurt. Those emotions carry over and hurt those that it is meant to help protect and understand one of the dangers on the internet. As we discover more dangers, they should be exposed and the truth should also be told. One of the reasons I have visited newsgroups is because they often allow me to sift through the crap and make decisions based on my own understanding. The thing I don’t like is the advertizing and the smut crap that seem to appear from time to time. This seems worse on Teen support groups and teen chats. I guess they try and hurt them when they are younger. That is the downfall of a non-monitored newsgroup. But, if I was not there, I would not have known and perhaps would have let our younger visitors use a screen name without blocking these groups from them for access. As to Barbara, I hope that I have not spoken ill toward you. your efforts to maintain neutral are quite well focused. Just this one thread is one that many of us need to be able to vent and share, and help others see the danger. Then the healing can begin. Take care, Don and Brandy the wonderdog 
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Sharon, My tears have turned to big wide grins. Thank you! Barbara.
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test post newbie
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Ya got MY reethpekt, that’th for shore! –Jaimeth – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Barbara Reutercrona wrote: > While I have not posted on newsgroups other than this one, I do post on > message boards. When I have tried to be a sort of mediator to a current > controversial topic, I have found myself being attacked by what I refer to > as a form of cultism. If you are fairly new to the board and make any waves, > the original members tend to tear you apart piece by piece. I have, believe > it or not, resorted to tears because my feelings were destroyed by people > that I do not know, nor do they know me. They succeeded in what perhaps was > their end goal. I no longer post on those boards. Can you imagine being this > sensitive at the ripe old age of 68? I am working on this problem and have > come here to this newsgroup because I like your honesty and now that I have > confessed my age, I expect respect. LOL!!!!! ………B.R………..
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>Most of the time it is only one or two who have nothing better to do than to >try and cause problems. I have no problems with discussions. I do, >however, take offense when someone posts nasties to the discussion trying to >cause a flame war. And, unfortunately, when my temper gets flares, they >have accomplished what they want because then I become involved. I am >taking some time to reflect and see what I can do to calm myself and stop >this response. If I don’t, then I don’t think and that can cause big >problems. >What about the rest of you? What is your first reaction and what do you try >to do to avoid getting involved? I really would like to hear what others >have to say about this. HUGS~ Jenn/NC
If worse comes to worse, a particular troublemaker can be filtered out so their postings don’t show. Most every NG browser has such an option. Sort of what you don’t know won’t hurt you. On alt.snail we have regulars that post all the time. It’s a matter of getting to know these people over a period of time. When first subscribing to a NG, it’s best to lurk for a while to ascertain the general tone of the group. I guarantee that a newcomer who comes on like Gangbusters at the beginning will get flamed but plenty. Since most news groups are not moderated, the subscribers who want good quality will govern the news group. There is peer pressure and a heirarchy in every phase of life including news groups. For the most part you can simply ignore trollers and eventually they go away. To avoid having anything related to a news group leak into your email, you can put up a bogus email addy. IE ^^^^@###.$$$ That way, any personal response will not be sent to your real email address since it’s the bogus address that’s being responded to. This is perfectly legal to do, as my own ISP recommended doing this to avoid spam and abusive email replies. Also, if there is a poster who’s abusive or flooding the news group with garbage, you can complain to abuse@ whatever ISP is being used. Most news group browsers will allow you to view header information and any complaint to ‘abuse’ should have this info pasted at the top of the complaint message. There’s all kinds of numbers and routing info that the ISP will be able to use to track down the offending party. Depending on the severity and frequency of the offending material, a newsgroup user might get a warning from the ISP or at the extreme be shut off. This is rare, but can happen. A news group is what one or more than one makes it. If lots of people are active, then there’s lots of threads and postings. If no one is active, then it will be a ‘nothing day’ with no postings at all. Since this topic seems to be of interest to many, I see a lot of activity. BOB
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Barbara, How wonderful Grays Harbor is with the laid back life style. I love it when we get a chance to go out that way. There are a number of craft stores my wife loves to stop and visit ( hahaha and load up the car while we are there ). We live over in Port Orchard and anytime you are over this way, we will brew up a pot of my favorite blend of beans and have a chat. Thank you for your kind reply. Take care, Don and Brandy
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Barbara, You know we all love you because you’re lovable (and we were taught to respect our elders, LOL). Do stay in touch. I enjoy our "private" little chats. Sharon Andrews "Barbara Reutercrona" <bah…@techline.com> wrote in message
news:tf5rrrp1n5hnbb@corp.supernews.com… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> While I have not posted on newsgroups other than this one, I do post on > message boards. When I have tried to be a sort of mediator to a current > controversial topic, I have found myself being attacked by what I refer to > as a form of cultism. If you are fairly new to the board and make any waves, > the original members tend to tear you apart piece by piece. I have, believe > it or not, resorted to tears because my feelings were destroyed by people > that I do not know, nor do they know me. They succeeded in what perhaps was > their end goal. I no longer post on those boards. Can you imagine being this > sensitive at the ripe old age of 68? I am working on this problem and have > come here to this newsgroup because I like your honesty and now that I have > confessed my age, I expect respect. LOL!!!!! ………B.R………..
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There is one diet ng that I monitor and where I used to post. It always annoyed the heck out of me that there was always someone who would be sure to post the opposite to everyone else. If someone said that eating 100 candy bars made them gain weight someone would always pop up with "Well, it’s not that way for me" Whack! Right in the head with a wet noodle! For almost a year I posted on a group that was torn apart by trolls. It got so bad the members turned on each other in their frenzy. So sad. I used to have a good time there. Jo
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On Fri, 04 May 2001 15:02:35 GMT, "Amelia Yaussy" <ayau…@forcemail.com> wrote: >Bob, you’ve inspired me to a new thread. I’d like to hear more of others’ >experiences with truly nasty posting on newsgroups. I have a friend in the >chess world who gets regularly dragged through the coals on one of their >n/gs. They’ve called him everything but a man! >I’ve also seen some major attacks on other support n/gs, which seems to be >against the spirit of the whole idea of support, except that there is a real >fear of newbies being taken advantage of, and I gather the expereinced users >are really just trying to be protective. Good in some ways – I remember >having my feelings hurt a few times early on when I didn’t understand the >"game."
I subscribe to a group called alt.snail-mail. It’s what you can call a combination of a family and a soap opera. Depending on the weather, the time of the year, or the tone of a given thread, there is a definite general mood. There are times we’re all lovey dovey and the next moment it’s out and out hostile. What makes it this way is not so much the content of a posting as it is the way it’s presented. Needless to say, the USPS leaves a lot to be desired as far as giving optimal service. However, let a poster come in out of the blue and make a derogatory remark about postal workers as being lazy, under worked, and overpaid and let a letter carrier read it after working eight hours in a 30 degree below zero windchill factor. You’ll see how many nasty postings will show that night. I assure you that I’ve gone ballistic at times. One moment we might argue or tell jokes, but when there is a common factor such as the weather or a comment about a postal worker’s effort brought up, it’s amazing how ‘rivals’ turn into allies. I’ve seen mass attacks done on people who are abusive. While I more than likely will not put a face to those I’ve ‘known’ for years (I do know one personally and lovingly), there’s not a moment that I don’t wonder ‘wuzzzzzzZuppp?’ with the gang. It’s not good to take things personally when at a news group. However, this is easier said than done. I enjoy this news group and feel very much akin to the ‘regulars’. I’m surprised as to how well behaved this group generally is. Even though this week was a tad ‘heated’, I wouldn’t call it being badly behaved. I’ve seen some REAL bad stuff posted elsewhere. Believe it or not, I have a split personality. While I hold my ‘tongue’ here, I’m not so prone to do so at alt.snail. Like most everyone else there, I’ve used language that would make Popeye blush. I won’t here, because this is a group of people who have a 24 / 7 illness as opposed to matters concerning that which is professional. There are various standards and factors, written and unwritten that news group posters should follow. I guess it’s do as the Romans do. BOB C|8-{ "Assassins!"- Arturo Toscanini to his orchestra
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Bob, you’ve inspired me to a new thread. I’d like to hear more of others’ experiences with truly nasty posting on newsgroups. I have a friend in the chess world who gets regularly dragged through the coals on one of their n/gs. They’ve called him everything but a man! I’ve also seen some major attacks on other support n/gs, which seems to be against the spirit of the whole idea of support, except that there is a real fear of newbies being taken advantage of, and I gather the expereinced users are really just trying to be protective. Good in some ways – I remember having my feelings hurt a few times early on when I didn’t understand the "game." — Amie ——- Misfortune comes from having a body. Without a body, how could there be misfortune? –Tao Te Ching
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I read a NG about child support, but haven’t posted yet. This one looks like a man against woman NG and the men (and sometimes women) can get really nasty towards the opposite sex. At first, all I saw were men posting nasties about women, but then towards the bottom I saw women post. I was going to unsub if it were all men, lol, as I could tell they had serious problems with women. :) I have seen flames wars start over and over again. The main reason that the Lupus Foundation took down their message boards was because the FBI told them they could be held liable for the flaming and harassing of others if they didn’t do something to try to prevent it. Instead of doing that, they decided to just close the message boards. I am one of only a couple who know this, as I have seen the documents and emails and know the circumstances involved. Most of the time it is only one or two who have nothing better to do than to try and cause problems. I have no problems with discussions. I do, however, take offense when someone posts nasties to the discussion trying to cause a flame war. And, unfortunately, when my temper gets flares, they have accomplished what they want because then I become involved. I am taking some time to reflect and see what I can do to calm myself and stop this response. If I don’t, then I don’t think and that can cause big problems. What about the rest of you? What is your first reaction and what do you try to do to avoid getting involved? I really would like to hear what others have to say about this. HUGS~ Jenn/NC "Amelia Yaussy" <ayau…@forcemail.com> wrote in message
news:fwzI6.134514$BB5.1638476@typhoon.columbus.rr.com… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Bob, you’ve inspired me to a new thread. I’d like to hear more of others’ > experiences with truly nasty posting on newsgroups. I have a friend in the > chess world who gets regularly dragged through the coals on one of their > n/gs. They’ve called him everything but a man! > I’ve also seen some major attacks on other support n/gs, which seems to be > against the spirit of the whole idea of support, except that there is a real > fear of newbies being taken advantage of, and I gather the expereinced users > are really just trying to be protective. Good in some ways – I remember > having my feelings hurt a few times early on when I didn’t understand the > "game." > — > Amie > ——- > Misfortune comes from having a body. > Without a body, how could there be misfortune? > –Tao Te Ching
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Jaimeth, You are thoe thweet!!……….."B"……….
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Barbara Reutercrona wrote: > While I have not posted on newsgroups other than this one, I do post on message boards. When I have tried to be a sort of mediator to a current controversial topic, I have found myself being attacked by what I refer to as a form of cultism.>>>
I know what you mean, Barbara. I tried to make the fighting stop on a ng, and was reminded that just by posting that comment that I was now embroiled in the controversy. Ya can’t win! >>Can you imagine being this sensitive at the ripe old age of 68?
………B.R………..>> Barbara, I’m not that far behind you, 61, and my feelings get hurt, too. "Stick and stones" doesn’t work, the name calling hurts! Jo
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Don, This is to let you know that you have never, ever, not once, made any remark, be it directly or indirectly to hurt my feelings. My skin is getting as tough as rawhide now and if you misbehave I will just get in my car and drive for an hour and a half to where you live and look you straight in the eye, (mine of course will be filled with tears) and have you apologize!!……..You do live in Washington State, right? If you are wondering, I live in the Grays Harbor area. Have a great weekend. B.R.
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While I have not posted on newsgroups other than this one, I do post on message boards. When I have tried to be a sort of mediator to a current controversial topic, I have found myself being attacked by what I refer to as a form of cultism. If you are fairly new to the board and make any waves, the original members tend to tear you apart piece by piece. I have, believe it or not, resorted to tears because my feelings were destroyed by people that I do not know, nor do they know me. They succeeded in what perhaps was their end goal. I no longer post on those boards. Can you imagine being this sensitive at the ripe old age of 68? I am working on this problem and have come here to this newsgroup because I like your honesty and now that I have confessed my age, I expect respect. LOL!!!!! ………B.R………..
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