Hipocrisy on an internet forum?

People are always throwing out opinions and they contradict those statements days, weeks, years, even hours later.

I mean we’re talking about bicycles. Nothing more. With only a very very few exceptions, every bike that every member has regardless on what it is or how it is set up will eventually be junk.

John

This

I couldn’t agree more.
One thing I will point out though is the fact that all online forums get a bit skewed by the ‘forum buddy’ factor.
When certain members become so-called buddies of other members they will quite often let their judgement get clouded because of this and not always post in a forthright manner.
Same effect when posting in reply to someone they don’t like.
It’s astounding that on an online forum a certain % of members are incapable of simply replying based upon only the actual written words. They instead assume they know the poster so they will make up their own interpretation of the post

I've been here a long time and have no one on ignore. Thick skin and the ability to just scroll on by seems to work.

Use of ignore functions is something to properly mention in this topic.

However, aside from ignoring folks you find annoying, search results will appear in major search engines for BF topics regardless of that. Then you have outsiders or potential members clicking the result and coming to read it with the unfiltered non-ignored content.

Just something to consider as a reason to not lean too heavily on the "soft enforcement" strategies.

Due to some of the stuff mentioned in here, when I do have a question these days.........I tend to instead go to a forum with a bigger "barrier to entry". Be that only being open to locals you actually have met and actually see and ride with, or be it a more "niche" group of folks that will already have a more established and mature body of knowledge for the specific question.

Which is why to a larger extent I feel the specialized sub forums on BF are often where the more meaningful conversations happen.

It was not opinions he was posting about. I cannot remember the details but they were definitely not opinions. Imagine someone in one thread stating that he has have never ridden more than 30 miles at one time and then in another thread giving a newb (bad) century advice based on the numerous centuries he claims to have ridden. It was something that ridiculous.

And don't get me started on the time I busted some local guy flat out lying on BF about a ride he claimed to have done after Superstorm Sandy, supplying a photo he pinched from the Interne as alleged proof. Took me all of about 3 min. to find the photo on line. I searched because I could tell from details of the photo that he could not have possibly taken it during a ride from/to his house. Turns out the photo was taken two states away. That was fun.

Exactly. It's what the scroll wheel is for.

I take no issue with calling out definite trolling. I’ve done it recently when a new poster who rides 50 miles opposing traffic with his $120 Walmart Kent and references disc brakes. I wasn’t warned, at least not yet as I stream a video of me breaking the law and bragging about it.

John

The photo puncher I mentioned was a legit guy. He was just prone to "puffery." He was due for a humbling BF experience. He first tried to backpedal by claiming he did not claim X, but I had already quoted the post where he had said X. Not long thereafter, the entire thread (which he had started) disappeared. I considered it a form a euthanasia. He hasn't been active here for a long time.

...if you call within the next 30 minutes, one of the operators standing by to take your call will include a glazed doughnut.*


*additional shipping and handling charges apply.

not interested in the who...but how do you kill off a thread?

As an everyday member, you cannot. Only a Mod/Admin can delete a thread.

It might be an interesting experiment to try out the idea of giving OP's the control to close their own thread(s).

But can they lower my Medicare premiums and add money back to my Social Security check?

This is a standard feature of other forums, and should be implemented here.

Recently I saw a previous post I wrote years ago in a thread & thought to myself "What a jerk." While it may be true I was an unmitigated snarky sophmoric A in that particular post; The poster I was responding to latet created a long running 2 year-old thread & still ignores the same links supplying the same data supplied by other members as "proof" he was/is wrong &/or is being deliberatly ignorant & unwilling to learn going on 2+ years later, now...I chose not to reply to the OP's new, & current running (2 year old) thread thread further. Congitive bias is rarely solved with data. Maybe in a few years the still accurate data will be understood by that threads OP.

Other people often don't think in the same terms. Recently in another thread the discussion related to a one tooth difference from a 9 tooth cog to a 10, or from a 10 to an 11, etc...The poster could not be made to understand 1 tooth to the other is not the same percentage of change as from the other to the next. Getting that other member to understand this difference proved fruitless. That member just does not think of gearing in terms of percent change. His understanding, it seems is limited to just total range & number of choices. He cited the one & only example of a near equivalent. One which I had already allowed for as a special case. I let it be.

I have no understanding of how the "ignore" function works. I have never used it. I assume it works both ways. Is the offensive poster is blipped from forum existance from your perspective? Does that mean you are deleted from their existence as well? I ask because there are a number of posters I enjoyed reading that have disappeared. It could just be that posters I used to read & I have stopped crossing paths, but I have always had the nagging feeling the "ignore" function may be to blame.

In either case, I can't imagine a more snow-flakey response than to curate the world to only include thoughts, feeling, or opinions that you agree with.

With enough words, eventually everyone says something that is misunderstood or taken in the wrong light. The difference is whether they clarified the misunderstanding or learned something new.

I, for one am only too happy to be proven wrong. It means I have learned something. Most recently, a term I had heard all my life had a different meaning than I understood it to mean. Good.

A forums value is it's ability to be a resource for knowledge & experience. A charitable lens is often the way to better view the world.

Hi.
What is this thread about and where did the OP go after referring to fellow members as blowhards, trolls, and lonely people?
He certainly didn’t take the high road out

There’s an Ignore button????


Why would I cancel the cynics and whiners and contrarians and critics and experts on my cycling needs & choices & problems ? I sometimes enjoy their comments - a good laugh. I have never been offended by Internet comments.

Maybe my skin is too thick.


I think the operative words here should be: Self Restraint, by everyone on criticizing others on all matters.

But I totally agree Do Not Feed the Trolls. And grain-of-salt all those who feel compelled to comment on nearly everything. It was/is obviously important to them.

I agree, might be a fair policy. The mods will generally close a thread when the OP asks but no guarantees. I was refused once. On the other hand, recently one of the 2020 troll crop had embarrassing bike pics removed from another member's post! Apparently he realized they were an impediment to his doomed struggle for BF credibility.

I thought that only worked for Bike Forooms P&R where it seems to be needed most. Or maybe the 41 too.

You can also post something so far out there even the die hards won’t touch it.

Unfortunately been there done that.

John

...once I got some venture capital investment, my first action was to hire the best programming and analytics talent, to expand the algorithm.
We here at 3alarmco believe that customer service is the real basis of our business model, and would never provide anything except the most conscientious service.

The Ignoromatic is the waving thread of the future.

OTOH, taking this entire thread as an example, I doubt the OP would close this. At the same time the moderators let this continue, but the topic has nothing to do with General Cycling (though I guess you could argue that it qualifies because the topic "doesn't fit in one of the other specialty forums..").

i don't think that is the reason why most use the ignore feature (which i don't know how to use). pretty sure it has more to do with insults and the like.

...I use it for the same reason George Mallory climbed Everest.