The TMF was started many moons ago and it has grown into a huge forum with members from all walks of life. I don't think anyone could predict how huge this forum would grow to be today.
I joined about more than eight years ago when it was still in its infancy. Things were still being switched over to the forum that we know today. At that time I was a lurker, spending my time in the stories section, rarely venturing elsewhere. About five years ago I started venturing into the other subforums, but I really started posting about three years and I didn't truly start getting to know people until last year.
By becoming more active in posts and conversing with people, the forum has become a home away from home of sorts. There are many awesome people on here who I am so glad to have gotten to know and there still many more whom I'm still getting to know.
However, as in any place on the internet, there are three types of people: 1) people who are trolls, 2) people who participate in trollish behavior, and 3) people who sweep in as white knights.
Firstly, the people who are trolls are obvious. They make snide remarks when responding someone's post and post inflammatory comments. Their goal is to start a flame war and to get as many people as they can to respond. Some trolls are members who have been previously banned but have returned. Members who have been here throughout the years can recognize them easily because their posting styles never change.
Secondly, the people who participate in trollish behavior, IMO, have not found their niche yet on the forum. I don't think they mean to behave like trolls, but they make the mistake of reacting rather harshly to criticisms or stooping to the troll's level or something troll-like. Sometimes it takes a crack down by the mods to get them shape up and realize that they need to modify their behavior. Many members on TMF have copped to behaving like trolls early on in their membership.
Thirdly, the people who sweep in as white knights are usually good members who feel the need to defend the person who is being bagged on or to remind people the Golden Rule. They have good intentions, but they're not really helping the situation. Especially if a thread has been horribly derailed and insults are being tossed about.
The trolls succeed every damn time someone responds to them because it fuels the fire until it explodes out of control. They don't care about the Golden Rule. They just want to cause trouble and it seems lately they have been winning. A thread was deleted because it spun so horribly out of control.
People are upset and rightly so. This is our forum, our community, our home. The trolls, it seems, are succeeding in driving us away. It drove venray and Raya away; it drove Adam away. Maybe someday they'll return, but that someday could be next month or next year. Yet the trolls drove them away. People are upset at the trolls and people are upset that the mods aren't doing enough to keep the trolls away.
I feel like not enough is being done, but I try to understand how the mods must feel. We act like children sometimes and it must frustrate them to no end. Often times, they're put in a "damned if we do, damned if we don't" kind of situation. They do the best that they can. They're only human.
I think we, the members, forget that. They are human. They are not omniscient. They don't always see trouble that's happening. There are dozens of subforums with hundreds of threads with thousands of posts. They'd have to be robots to see every single post and determine if it follows the rule.
It's why it's so important for us, the members, to help them out. If you see a post that breaks the rules, report it. If you see someone trying to stir up shit, ignore it. To do otherwise allows them to win. It allows them to drive away good members because it got to be too much to handle.
This is our community. Let's keep it that way.
I joined about more than eight years ago when it was still in its infancy. Things were still being switched over to the forum that we know today. At that time I was a lurker, spending my time in the stories section, rarely venturing elsewhere. About five years ago I started venturing into the other subforums, but I really started posting about three years and I didn't truly start getting to know people until last year.
By becoming more active in posts and conversing with people, the forum has become a home away from home of sorts. There are many awesome people on here who I am so glad to have gotten to know and there still many more whom I'm still getting to know.
However, as in any place on the internet, there are three types of people: 1) people who are trolls, 2) people who participate in trollish behavior, and 3) people who sweep in as white knights.
Firstly, the people who are trolls are obvious. They make snide remarks when responding someone's post and post inflammatory comments. Their goal is to start a flame war and to get as many people as they can to respond. Some trolls are members who have been previously banned but have returned. Members who have been here throughout the years can recognize them easily because their posting styles never change.
Secondly, the people who participate in trollish behavior, IMO, have not found their niche yet on the forum. I don't think they mean to behave like trolls, but they make the mistake of reacting rather harshly to criticisms or stooping to the troll's level or something troll-like. Sometimes it takes a crack down by the mods to get them shape up and realize that they need to modify their behavior. Many members on TMF have copped to behaving like trolls early on in their membership.
Thirdly, the people who sweep in as white knights are usually good members who feel the need to defend the person who is being bagged on or to remind people the Golden Rule. They have good intentions, but they're not really helping the situation. Especially if a thread has been horribly derailed and insults are being tossed about.
The trolls succeed every damn time someone responds to them because it fuels the fire until it explodes out of control. They don't care about the Golden Rule. They just want to cause trouble and it seems lately they have been winning. A thread was deleted because it spun so horribly out of control.
People are upset and rightly so. This is our forum, our community, our home. The trolls, it seems, are succeeding in driving us away. It drove venray and Raya away; it drove Adam away. Maybe someday they'll return, but that someday could be next month or next year. Yet the trolls drove them away. People are upset at the trolls and people are upset that the mods aren't doing enough to keep the trolls away.
I feel like not enough is being done, but I try to understand how the mods must feel. We act like children sometimes and it must frustrate them to no end. Often times, they're put in a "damned if we do, damned if we don't" kind of situation. They do the best that they can. They're only human.
I think we, the members, forget that. They are human. They are not omniscient. They don't always see trouble that's happening. There are dozens of subforums with hundreds of threads with thousands of posts. They'd have to be robots to see every single post and determine if it follows the rule.
It's why it's so important for us, the members, to help them out. If you see a post that breaks the rules, report it. If you see someone trying to stir up shit, ignore it. To do otherwise allows them to win. It allows them to drive away good members because it got to be too much to handle.
This is our community. Let's keep it that way.
I just booked my flight...