Keeping the board friendly for new members

[HighTechRedneck]

New members are vital to the growth or even survival of any forum.  It is largely their questions and fresh ideas that spur discussions.  They often ask questions that have been answered before, but sometimes that results in discovery of a new approach.  New members, whether experienced at bus conversion or not, bring new experiences and perspectives.  They sometimes bring up new ideas that help everyone.

Sometimes they post something that is technically incorrect and that usually gets commented on and the misinformation corrected.  That is important too.  Otherwise those searching for information would too often get misinformed.

But it is VERY important to the health and longevity of this forum that we don't develop the reputation of being harsh on new members or being closed to new ideas or perspectives on how to approach a challenge.  I have seen it before and am watching it happen now to a once popular Yahoo group.  Word gets around about the reputation and even those that don't hear of it lurk for a while and when they see others criticized or otherwise "shut down", they choose not to join or post.

We aren't saying let misinformation stand.  If a new member, or any member, posts information you know to be technically incorrect, feel free to say so and provide the technically correct information.  But try to keep it polite, disagreeing with/correcting the point, not ridiculing the person.  If their statement is merely a different perspective that you don't agree with, by all means express your perspective too.  But again, respect their right to express their view.  This all goes back to the civility issues we have faced before.

If a new member has a problematic history in other forums or elsewhere that you are aware of and have concerns about, the right thing to do is notify the moderating team by clicking the "report to moderator" link in the bottom right corner of the post.  Please don't flame or ridicule new members in public.

Thank you from your friendly moderating team.

[jackhartjr]

I saw the post you are referring to and wondered why the person was being attacked!  Then I read further and saw that this person had some sort of history.
Inquiring minds wat to know?
Jack

[usbusin]

Yes, inquiring minds want to know.  What was the "history"?  Whatever, we sure drove him off and I didn't think that was very nice.

[Lin]

I do not know that a person's reputation on another board is of much concern.  Let the person float or sink on what they post here.  There are people here capable of pointing out fabricated information if needed.

[cody]

One history that came up recently were several felony convictions for consumer fraud, not indictments, but convictions that resulted in serious prison time, very shortly after being released from state prison the individual, once again, engaged in the same activity that had landed the individual in prison, not once but several times over a period of years. No names are mentioned here.  I realize the importance of bringing in fresh blood with new ideas to give the board new life but to openly welcome a predator that has preyed on numerous individuals in the past and showed no remorse inspite of being repeatedly incarcerated in state prison is a hard thing to ignore.  However I'll honor the wishes of the board if thats what is desired.

[Van]

HTR,thank you for addressing this,although an unfortunate incident ,hopefuly no harm was done.There was surprisingly very little effort on the party of the first part to dispel the aligations of the party of the second part,and fadded away quietly,very unusual for a innocent person indeed.
As for the party of the second part ,well,still cool in my book LOL

[Lin]

Cody,

Now that is important information and adds a new dimension to your posts.  But even so, it might be more appropriate to start by alerting a moderator and communicating behind the scenes.  Aside from current contributors not knowing the reason for the hostility, there could be others observing from the sidelines that could decide this board is too closed to bother with.  Thanks for the information though.

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Guy's,

When I first read the post, it was a subject that went way over my head in the tech dept.... So, I wouldn't have known any better.

I'm glad that we have folks here smart enough to see through the hog wash that something was not to par with this member!

The fact remains that this stuff happens and we all learn something from it. Hopefully before anyone gets hurt.

Happy Memorial Day
Thank a Vet for your freedom!
Nick-

[usbusin]

Cody, are you privy to information that the general public doesn't have access to?  Do you check up on all new members?  What made you suspicious in this case?  How are we to know?  I assume you are talking about the member you had a disagreement with?

[Van]

Which One!

[usbusin]

The first one.   Did I miss something that was so evident?

[Van]

  LOL Just Kidding!

[cody]

After a lifetime in law enforcement a person gets a gut instinct sometimes that something isn't right, no I don't check up on everyone, and only if I'm asked to do so, by who, doesn't matter, nor does how matter but the information was accurate and exact. Yes, sometimes I could do things differently I suppose, hind sight and all that I guess.

[HighTechRedneck]

There were actually two incidents this week that prompted the post I made.  While the public handling of these two incidents was unfortunate, the existing members involved had the welfare of the forum community in their hearts when they sounded the alarm.  And I thank them for their insight and concern for the community.

But the purpose of my post was not to dwell on things that have happened.  It is about making sure the forum is always seen as a positive place for new members as we go forward.  As Lin observed:

Aside from current contributors not knowing the reason for the hostility, there could be others observing from the sidelines that could decide this board is too closed to bother with.

That is one reason that it is best for anyone with concerns to contact the moderating team with what they know and not go public.  That is not to say that we will necessarily take harsh action solely on one person's report or on a person's past.  But it will enable us to be alert for signs of trouble and act on that.

[Dreamscape]

If a new member has a problematic history in other forums or elsewhere that you are aware of and have concerns about, the right thing to do is notify the moderating team by clicking the “report to moderator” link in the bottom right corner of the post.  Please don’t flame or ridicule new members in public.

Thank you from your friendly moderating team.

This is the key to the whole situation when dealing with any member! It should never be done in public, that's the job of the Moderators! All comments should be off line and let the Moderators make it available to the membership if they deem so appropriate.

I'm kind of getting sick of hearing about it myself, it ruins my desire to even read or post!

~Paul~