Originally Posted by
mjac
Once again someone takes something the wrong way. Me and banerjeck have been going back and forth ribbing each other for a number of posts. IT WAS ALL IN FUN (emphasis added).
Originally Posted by
Daniel4
The internet being what it has turned out is hard to determine what is trolling and what is legitimate opinion.
In a live discussion between real people, the moderator being in the same room would probably see that sort of thing as personal squabbling between two people that doesn't contribute to the purpose of the meeting.
But what do I know. I'm only a broken record.
FYA see this now-closed thread, started 7/12/13, “How Do You Communicate on Forums vs Face-to-Face" (probably closed because of some overt hostility). While it was still civil, I posted:
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
Do you think that smilies (emoticons) help in fleshing out the vibes and flow of conversation and personal interaction in a posted message? It seems that Bike Forums provide a pretty wide range of smilies to express and vitalize as it were one's comments.
Personally, I do try to express any emotive content in writing as precisely as I can. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary is on my bookmark list to find the right synonym for any key words I use.
One thing that compelled me to reconsider smilies though was this. I once saw an ad in a sports magazine for something [Radio Shack] being endorsed by Lance Armstrong. He was quoted as something like,
"No man over thirty should ever use smilies...period." 
I guess I initially approach virtually all posts as sincere, though I sometimes wonder why some posts are submitted at all. Even when a poster is called out as a troll, I still reserve on that judgement until it becomes obvious. FWIW
Then there's that annoying initialism, "jk" (just kidding), or "IT WAS ALL IN FUN." 
Last edited by Jim from Boston; 03-24-19 at 06:37 AM.