Fahrenheit531 

Always among the most entertaining and quotable on the forum. hahaha Perfect.

hillyman

Man, I've got some work to do. 41 and C&V sound like too much work.
But did I ever tell you about my water cage bolt collection?

Machka 

And ...

Kedosto

I think it’s important to remember that just about everything you read on a forum - of any subject - is opinion. There’s very little real, honest to goodness factual information.

There’s no shortage of highly opinionated jacktards around here, and there’s a few who are quick to bully anyone daring to disagree with their strongly held opinions. But, in the end, they’re just opinionated bullies sitting at a keyboard.

As far as the ignore feature is concerned, I don’t ignore the opinionated jerks as even they can at least offer a viewpoint I might want to hear. Just because I might not agree with the opinion of a keyboard jacktard, doesn’t mean they may not have a point.

I do ignore two people. One, whose posts appear to be drunken ramblings mostly influenced by their level of intoxication. And two, a probably decent guy who may actually have something to contribute but I can’t appreciate it due to a penchant for nesting quotes into a virtually unreadable mess. Both are harmless but annoying and since this is something I engage in on my terms, well, that’s how it goes.

Good on you for recognizing the dynamic. It’s best not to engage with the toxic, but beware they’re often difficult to avoid.


-Kedosto

hillyman

sorry I don't live in Bloomington. Only traveled there for several Hillys and to see Dalai Lama once at University. Love the area tho.

Paul Barnard

I don't have those two on ignore, but I have conditioned myself to breeze right past their posts. It's unfortunate too because one of them is a good and knowledgeable guy. I simply can't force myself to suffer the style. I have two on ignore here and that's just to keep me from accidentally responding thinking there's a conversation to be had. Once I know someone has no inclination whatsoever to engage in meaningful dialogue, I am done with them. In one case a video was posted of a guy getting hit by a cop. The video didn't tell the whole story. I offered a possible explanation for the rider's behavior. One member argued that it was ridiculous for me to offer that as an explanation. Lo and behold the rider who was hit registered for the forum. He explained the situation just as I had. The antagonist argued with him about what he actually saw. At that point he was shuffled to ignore. The other on my ignore list is similarly obsitnate.

AlmostTrick

My ignore list = no one. It's not difficult to ignore a post/thread.

I'm not sure the ignore list really works anyway. A member upset with one of my posts once told me I was relegated to his ignore list. It wasn't all that long until I noticed he was quoting and replying to me.

GailT

Yeah, that's partly true, but then there are people like T-mar, a walking encyclopedia of cycling expertise and history, who make it worthwhile. It's worth putting up with the dross to benefit from the adults in the forum who are willing to share their expertise.

Lucillle

There are endless threads about saddles for instance. If people would take the time to do a search that would most likely answer their questions. If a member here has spent time and effort on a beautiful, informative reply, but the next person who asks that question two hours from now wants a personal spoon fed answer of the exact same information instead of taking a minute on a search, I can see how that could be irritating.

If one does an internet search on bullies, one piece of advice is not to engage them. However, there is a HUGE difference between simply not engaging them and when you see their posts, SOB (Scroll On By), which is just about always effective because the bully is not getting any satisfaction from his bait, and creating a thread like this which is like waving a steak in front of a starving dog, TELLING them you are not engaging them, begging them to come get your meat.

rydabent

I never put people on ignore. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if I dont agree with them.

_ForceD_

The "Wow" part of this thread (to me anyway) is how quickly it went from the OP to its 4th page in just about 36 hours. Holy moly.

Dan

Maelochs

yeah, i give everyone a chance to accidentally say something worthwhile, even the trolls and idiots ... you never know when they might find the acorn ... or unearth some comedy gold.

BKE

Just very well planned, and timed perfectly. A three day weekend due to the holiday, with lots making it a 4 day. Larger audience than usual. This BikeMe person is pretty slick !(now where's that sarcasm font)

hillyman

But not as riveting as How many pairs of cycling shorts do you have?

I-Like-To-Bike

It is even possible that a verbose pontificator who posts numerous paragraphs per post that are variations on a platitude might unearth a nugget of truth that hasn't already been posted a dozen times.

Maelochs

You likely wouldn't recognize it if I did .... but even you, get more chances ....

livedarklions

You might consider eating some popcorn. A little fiber in your diet might improve your disposition.

AlmostTrick

OP didn't say they were no longer participating. He/she said they would no longer engage with bullies, and would instead try to be nice. Quite a big difference there.

Jim from Boston

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kedosto

I think it’s important to remember that just about everything you read on a forum - of any subject - is opinion. There’s very little real, honest to goodness factual information.

There’s no shortage of highly opinionated jacktards around here, and there’s a few who are quick to bully anyone daring to disagree with their strongly held opinions. But, in the end, they’re just opinionated bullies sitting at a keyboard.

As far as the ignore feature is concerned, I don’t ignore the opinionated jerks as even they can at least offer a viewpoint I might want to hear. Just because I might not agree with the opinion of a keyboard jacktard, doesn’t mean they may not have a point.

I do ignore two people. One, whose posts appear to be drunken ramblings mostly influenced by their level of intoxication. And two, a probably decent guy who may actually have something to contribute but I can’t appreciate it due to a penchant for nesting quotes into a virtually unreadable mess. Both are harmless but annoying and since this is something I engage in on my terms, well, that’s how it goes.

Good on you for recognizing the dynamic. It’s best not to engage with the toxic, but beware they’re often difficult to avoid.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Barnard

I don't have those two on ignore, but I have conditioned myself to breeze right past their posts. It's unfortunate too because one of them is a good and knowledgeable guy. I simply can't force myself to suffer the style.

I have two on ignore here and that's just to keep me from accidentally responding thinking there's a conversation to be had. Once I know someone has no inclination whatsoever to engage in meaningful dialogue, I am done with them...

“You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talkin' to? You talkin' to me? Well, I'm the only one here[who fits that description]. Who do you think you're talking to? Oh, yeah? Ok...”

"The name is Boston…Jim from Boston.”

In the past 10 years subscribing to BikeForums with over 6500 posts, I have read several such critiques as above, usually started by one subscriber, followed by about 2 or 3 syncophants. I suppose I should revel in my notoriety, as in the manner, "I don't care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name right."

In those instances over the years, I have tried to explain my posting style, accumulating various explanations in my justification. Of course all are explained with the use of quote boxes. My last and most comprehensive attempt, was totally dissed (links) by @mstateglfr.

Maybe no one reads far enough into my posts to get to my signature line explaining my style. “I use nested, sequential quotes (to be read in that order) to improvise an imaginary conversation. Anything outside a quote box is my contribution to the current ‘conversation.’ “

So, in the following post, FWIW, I have re-written that last attempt, totally devoid of quote boxes, only paraphrasing other subscribers (depriving them of the recognition and appreciation of their contributions). I think a quote or mention is as much of a kudo as a LIKE, since it is conspicuous and is viewed by a wider audience than just the author and those who actually view the LIKED post.

I would like to reply now though, specifically to the above-quoted posts about “a probably decent guy who may actually have something to contribute but I can’t appreciate it due to a penchant for nesting quotes into a virtually unreadable mess… “a good and knowledgeable guy” who “has no inclination whatsoever to engage in meaningful dialogue.”

My correspondence style is exemplified by a recent thread started by @Paul Barnard. I replied to his Opening Post, quoting (links) three other subscribers, PB himself twice, and myself twice from other threads with comments germane to his OP. Now, how is such inclusive quoting a disinclination to engage in meaningful dialogue?

Indeed IMO, when I quote, it indicates that I have read, and considered the author's position, and now I'm responding….a Dialogue / Conversation… I just do it among a group of presumably interested subscribers, rather than a single confidant.

In any case for readers who prefer short pithy posts, to Keep It Simple, this was a most memorable critique of my style:

Quote:

Originally Posted by TruthBomb

It’s visual diarrhea, pollutes any thread, and is the opposite of succinct (briefly and clearly expressed)...

Quote:

Originally Posted by chefisaac

[…but] LISTEN to @Jim from Boston

he knows his $hit!

Jim from Boston

ɅɅɅɅ

I have been an avid cyclist, as a lifestyle since about 1972. I happened serendipitously on Bike Forums in 2008, and it was frankly incredible to find a community that shared so many concerns I had kept to myself as a lone cyclist.

This enthusiasm has definitely increased my enjoyment of cycling. As far as improving it, what I have gotten directly from BF include the opportunity to post and literally "journal" my thoughts and activities about cycling and lifestyle (even if nobody else reads them), but which I wouldn't write down otherwise. Posting has become an avocation for me and beside the exchange of information and ideas, I enjoy the mechanics of writing.

So with my experiences in cycling, and my frequent posting over the years, if I have replied on a recurrent topic, written to my satisfaction, I’ll just quote it. A further challenge then becomes finding the post. I use ellipses,"..." to eliminate as much as possible, and still leave the context of the quote comprehensible; and I underline, bold, or italicize key words and phrases to emphasize the core content of the discussion.

Furthermore, while even if nobody reads my posts, I do try to communicate clearly to the reader. At least I try to evenly space, and keep my paragraphs short for easier readability, FWIW

Now, if you have read so far, here’s my intent. Part of the reason I like forums as opposed to other forms of written communal internet forms is because I consider it the "long deep conversation format" rather than the quick short snappy sound bite-like format like Twitter and such. So when I nest quotes, I feel I’m emulating a conversation…”He said," then “You said," then “I said, and now I’m saying…”

I leave my quotes as links to identify the author, and if anyone is interested in reading further, or verifying those quotes, they can easily be followed right from my post, like using footnotes in a manuscript.

In factrather than just self-indulgent and convoluted scripting, my posts are really performance art. I think that the use of quote boxes, which I have not seen elsewhere is a remarkable way to graphically diagram a dialogue and a succinct way to capture the variety of a topic. In addition, I try to liberally use links, rather than quote boxes, for “sidebar” items, to simplify the format of a post.

Personally for me, as a diversion, it’ s challenging to find the quotes in prior threads, and to arrange them in a sequence that makes sense (to me at least). Since my posts are “chapters” in my Journal, it’s worthwhile for me to periodically re-read and reflect.

Besides my own enjoyment, Bike Forums may be the better for all those (nested) quotes. Mentions/quote notification should be #1 priority. It generates more use; not that more people possibly view my profile, but some of us actually like to communicate with each other. Quotes and mentions are a great tool for doing that, also for moving discussions forward within a large and diverse thread. Just look how often quotes have been used to further discussions, as opposed to random, disjointed replies to an OP.

Those who get e-mail notification of quotes and mentions are more likely to come back more frequently because their interest has been piqued to wonder what people are saying about their comments, not that they just want look at the profiles of people. And mentioning [and quoting] someone draws their attention to the thread in which they've been mentioned, which they might not otherwise visit, again bringing up the number of visits. More page views => more revenue.

For example in one instance I quoted 12 other subscribers in one thread, and on one morning before 7:30 AM I counted I had quoted 10 others on six different threads.

Anyways, regarding clarity I took a course in oral communication and was introduced to the sender-receivermodel of communication in which the sender transmits a message and the receiver interprets it and provides feedback to the sender to ensure the accuracy of the message; indeed, it is the receiver who completes the communication event.

As a Famous Writer wrote, ”If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.” I only read the threads and posts that interest me. If I'm particularly interested in the content then I'm motivated to read no matter how long. It takes some time to write a properly composed long post, and I take my chances that my expenditure of time might connect with another interested reader.

I think I have absorbed all the good advice I can for a complete and agreeable cycling lifestyle, and recently I have clicked on many fewer threads than before. In the past I have offered IMO several useful suggestions about cycling, particularly for winter and urban cycling, to multiple repetitive threads. They are usually lost in the morass of often scores of replies, both in agreement and dispute with mine.

I’m not especially motivated to read or write about rides in areas I will never visit, or bikes I would not buy. Other cyclists’ biking stories are often meaningful to me, but usually not consequential enough for a reply. Frankly, now my main enjoyment, besides posting, is reading the personal clashes (like this present one) on the various threads, such as: "I work with a moron", or ”How often do you check your mirror?.”

Trevtassie

Everybody loves a good car crash....

Trevtassie

This thread is actually a bit on point for me today. I was looking back on an old thread where I was trying to link up a manufacturer of bike intercoms with hopefully people who wanted free ones in exchange a bit of promoting said intercoms while they were touring. Basically a few hundred bucks of equipment just for talking to people and posting pictures, which you do on tour anyway. The first 5 posts or so were by people who didn't want an intercom because they rode alone and thought they were a stupid idea anyway and whatever came into to their heads. I mean why even say anything if you aren't interested. So frustrating, ended up swamping the thread, I gave up and nobody got the swag!

bruce19

I wonder if the mods can see who is being ignored the most. Might be that a message needs to go to them. (waiting for my message).

shelbyfv

Performance art Look at me, Mom, look at me.....

Maelochs

yes .... Gym frum Bostin is indeed a text artist. This matter has been discussed (he will surely have the quotes to prove it.)

But every one of us posts here to be seen by others. Every one of us wants to get a lot of reactions, and hopefully positive, but some reaction. No one posts here for any other reason than to have his or her posts noticed. If a person didn't wan his or her post to be notices, he or she wouldn't post.

Yes, some posters have unique styles .. and/or colorful avatars ... but we are all here posting to be noticed.