annoying unregistered posters

[knucklehead]

Kent - agreed. I also should have mentioned that in addition to actions taken by our moderators and hosts, members rose to the challenge very quickly. An even stronger testimony to the kind of people we have here.

 

[MChalkley]

Well said, everyone. As one who has long been strongly in favor of required registration, I realize that it doesn't make people civil, nor does it make anyone easy to get along with, or even interested in truly contributing to the "community". But it does cut back on the amount of "trolling" and general nuisance posts by "cranks" who just want to see if they can start a skirmish, if not an all-out war. As you've seen, though, nothing makes them madder than not getting any response and just seeing their posts disappear. (Though, to be fair, if they'd been registered, they'd have gotten a Private Message explaining why the post was deleted, and politely asking them not to repeat the offense.) The goal here, of course, isn't to make them mad, but to correct the deviant behavior.

The success of TBN has partially been due to the fact that, while we all think differently, we can disagree without being disagreeable, to some extent. (For example, if everyone thought like I do, most of them would own some size of EarthForce machine - so obviously I think a little differently... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif) But still, we can say our piece without putting down the opinion and/or decisions of others. In short, we're sharing information and ideas, not trying to measure someone else's intelligence by comparing it to what we would do in a similar situation. I think this sums up the intent most registered members have in participating in TBN discussions and, again, it's the formula that's made TBN such a nice place to get the information we all need.

However, this does not characterize the intent of the "annoying" posts by unregistered users that were the subject of the message that started this thread. Their sole purpose, or at least so it appeared, was to see if they could start something, a process the farmers I grew up around used to call "stirring it to see if it would stink". This we cannot allow. If no one responded to such posts, we probably could just let them die, but almost all of us, in a moment of weakness, will attempt to publicly take such an individual to task over the post, which is the worst thing we could do. To quote another old farmer expression I've heard all my life: "Never try to teach a pig to sing - it wastes your time and it annoys the pig." That being the case, the remaining option is to delete them, post haste, pardon the pun. Which is what we do. But it would be a nicer experience for all to not have to do so in the first place. Which brings me back to the registered vs. unregistered issue. When posts by registered users are "annoying" they're usually just stating an opinion in an overly assertive way. I've done it - I think most of us have. But that's still a very different issue from deliberately attempting to provoke controversy. IMHO, of course...

 

[knucklehead]

I didn't think of the silent treatment thing - good point.

<font color=blue>But that's still a very different issue from deliberately attempting to provoke controversy.</font color=blue>......Like swapping in the orange? (couldn't resist /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif)

 

[wasabi]

<font color=blue> but almost all of us, in a moment of weakness, will attempt to publicly take such an individual to task....</font color=blue>which is what I, (thoroughly chargrined wasabi /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif), am basically doing in this thread....</font color=blue>

Well said, yourself, Mark!

 

[wasabi]

<font color=blue>it would be a nicer experience for all to not have to do so in the first place....</font color=blue>

All the more reason for us to acknowledge thanks to our TBN host,...: "Quick Draw" Mohammed!!..., for his ..."mindfullness"...of such situations... and his appropriate reactions, which "divert" such potential nonsense!

I'd bet he is, (in spirit, albeit ingognito) an Aikido Warrior, if not actually..., then at least, metaphorically...

 

[Boondox]

I've been registered since the dark ages and have found it to be absolutely pain-free. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif It's also a very handy way of checking out someone's tractor and geographic quirks before posting a response to his questions.

Pete

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

I agree that it's pain free. My only thought was I didn't want to possibly risk losing a good contributer who might be put off by required registration.

I, too, registered the first day I found this site. I do have to admit it took me a while longer to fill out the profile. I'm not sure I just didn't know how to do it day one. /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif

I, like you, enjoy looking at them to see where someone is located, what they do, etc., when I'm reading posts sometimes.

If required registration will make this an even better site, I'll certainly support it. Lately, I've been encouraging unregistered posters to register, anyhow. I may as well support making it mandatory.

 

[knucklehead]

I just thought - will the good stuff already threaded here, like the alter ego John Miller III, be lost? Is that what you are getting at, Gary? I imagine it could be easily retained, as it's already stored on the server. Right, Muhammad?

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

I hope we don't lose those posts. I sincerely doubt that we would. Honestly, I hadn't even thought about John Miller's alter ego, but that's an excellent point.

 

[GrantMO]

Yes. Why not require registration? This is a board for the members and whoever else wants to read it. I find the level of discourse here nearly always pleasant and polite however there is no guarantee of free speech and there shouldn't be for members or non-members. There are plenty of other places on the internet to have at it with other people and I like the idea that here we can agree to disagree and leave it at that.