Post by Admin on Aug 22, 2018 19:27:44 GMT
Spamming and Trolling * The Two Mortal Sins of this Gun Forum
Whether you’ve been here a couple of days or several months, you’ve likely noticed that INTGF is run a little differently from most of the other popular gun forums. We are smaller, we’re very open and more than willing to put our names behind our ideas and beliefs. There is also the requirement that members have at least fifteen (15) substantive posts before s/he is permitted to place a to sell a firearm and any member must have the permission of the Administrator/Owner before advertising anything such as memberships, commercial products or services, or the like. To do otherwise is considered “spamming” and is usually dealt with by banning the offending party. It is usually an obvious, straightforward offense that is either spotted by an admin or a moderator or (more likely) reported by any of our eagle-eyed members who delight in swooping down and letting the staff know what’s going on.
What I want to talk about is a more serious issue that has been taking a lot of the staff’s time and has resulted in several members becoming ex-members: “Trolling”.
The term “trolling” as defined here at INTGF, is when a member either posts topics where:
(a) the primary intent is to draw other members into an argument;
(b) a post that poses what could be considered “silly scenarios” that anyone, whether or not they are experienced with firearms or personal defense techniques would look at and see is ridiculous on its face; or
(c) questions, scenarios, exercises, or stories posted with no other reason than to elicit angry or otherwise reactionary responses. Finally, there are those posts which
(d) experienced eyes see as someone not of our community intentionally attempting to either misquote or to quote out of context what is stated, in order to bring discredit onto either the member, the International Gun Forum, or Second Amendment Supporters as a whole.
None of this is intended to discourage members from asking questions or seeking advice on any subject. Free and open discussion is what we are here for. Everyone here was a “newbie” at some point. This message is to serve notice that when an admin or moderator suspects an act of trolling, a PM will be sent to the member(s) involved as a warning. The PM is sent as a courtesy, not as the basis for yet another discussion. If a member disagrees, s/he may take the matter up with the admin. A second occurrence of trolling may bring about either a formal warning (infraction) or being banned from the forum. A brief statement may be made within the thread if staff feels that the issue may be corrected on the spot, but a moderator will not get involved as a participant in trollish exchanges. PLEASE NOTE that if the trolling is one that will cause major disruption or is so blatant that leaving it is a detriment to the forum, a moderator may remove it entirely. Titles and keywords may also be changed to conform with this policy. All this is at the discretion of the moderator(s).
Discussion is fine. Disagreement is good and expected. Childish mud fights or bullying tactics are not acceptable and trolling is a waste of time and resources.. Please remember that this forum is a privately-owned enterprise. As such, the owner sets the rules. Our choices are to follow those rules or not.
