Atlas Shrugged

There are a few blowhards which have effectively ruined this Bike Forum. These trolling posters, some averaging over 10 posts a day are dominating most conversations taking away any reasonable discourse in almost every category. Many instances a new member may ask an innocent question and then be pounced on by the usual abusive mega posters weighing in whether they know anything about the issue or not but rather their inner beliefs and quickly turn on the new poster for some ridiculous reason. As these forums are run for profit and benefit from new views, my hope is the administrators and us members take some action against the few lonely fools who need to hear themselves rant and yell at clouds because no one in their personal lives will listen. I am sure new member counts are dropping because of this trend.

sarhog

I couldn’t agree more. As I peruse the thread titles I often (only half jokingly) wonder if I’m in some off-topic forum.

skidder

As the saying goes, "every dog's got a few fleas". Just put those folks on 'ignore', report them and the problem should solve itself. Some 'newbies' don't seem to be browsing all the subforums before posting, just going straight for the 'General' section, but that's understandable. A lot of forums have died over the last decade as folks have migrated to Facebook and other platforms, but BF seems to be doing OK in terms of overall activity.

Wildwood

I usually skip threads like this
And every other one I may not like.


I think BF is great. I get what I want, in a relatively focused number of threads on several sub-Forums. And buy nice parts. And meet nice people.

Read more in Mechanics or the various Ride threads. Even your local Regional discussion. Share some pics.


edit: besides winter is coming. It’s gonna get worse, lotsa folks would rather whine than put on the long sleeves/jacket and ride.
re-edit: had to check = 11,229 posts over 17 years means I’m well under 2 posts per day. So if I blow, it’s not too hard!




Diventa di nuovo un ciclista oggi!

Baaaaaaaah







clear your handlebars and your mind will follow.

BCDrums

Atlas, I agree. After reading Bike Forums for years, I have started to use the Ignore function to block posts from a very few members who talk too much and add too little. It's made a positive difference to my experience, I wish I'd done it sooner. I'd like a similar setting that would allow me to not see certain threads, like the recurring endless threads about Why We Do/Don't Need 1X/2X/3X. I just don't read them, but I'd like to block them.

But the great majority of Bike Forum members are so very helpful! They share a vast collective experience, and are kind to Newbies and Oldies alike. I have learned so much here and have gotten great help. And many of the members are wicked funny, which I enjoy.

Use that Ignore List, it makes a difference.

shelbyfv

Sorry, not a democracy. We members don't have a vote. Use the ignore feature. I do agree that it would be nice to have a feature that would make selected threads disappear entirely. Be helpful for most polls and "how much? how many? do you?" threads.

wolfchild

I think the moderators have been doing a great job is weeding out trolls and inappropriate posts...I know I posted few things which were not right and right away the mods dealt with it, I don't have a problem with that...If you don't like somebody just because they disagree with you or if you find their replies offensive, then ignore their replies and don't engage in a debate with them. The mods are already doing their job and there is no need for regular members to start telling everybody how they should conduct themselves.

wolfchild

Just avoid chain lube threads and leg shaving threads and you'll be fine.

Daniel4

I learned to use the ignore feature just a few weeks ago. As long as I'm logged-in I can't see his posts. Unfortunately, he can still see mine and if somebody else responds to him, I can see his post again.

So if you want to maintain the integrity of any thread, just utilize the ignore feature and skip the post of anybody responding to that troll.


(The reason why Parler failed was because the trolls had nobody to troll since all the members think alike. Trolls feed on deteriorating any discussion.)

Bald Paul

As has been said on many platforms...

DON'T FEED THE TROLLS

Use the Ignore function. Unfortunately, others sometimes quote someone you have on your Ignore list as they (hopelessly) try to make their own point, or defend their own beliefs. I wish the Ignore was more like a Block function, so it would be impossible for you to see any of their posts, any quotes of their posts, and they would also be unable to see anything you post.

zandoval 

It's Social Skills and Patience... Sometimes we get some guy trying to understand how his new Brifters need to be adjusted and they really don't know the right end of a screw driver. But that's OK because they want to know. Sometimes its hard not to slam someone who is looking for that Comfortable Seat or a Better Lube. And then again sometimes ya get a person coming into the forum who happens to be a Mechanical Engineer with 50 years ridding experience, a sctorage shed full of old bikes, and a full work shop in his living room. We need to treat them all with a good welcome and friendly conversation. Most of the members on the BF appear to be of older age. That means often we can come off more cranky than we really are... Ha

tomato coupe

Leg shaving threads are the minor league compared to disc vs. rim brake threads. But, that will change once Big Bike forces everyone to shave their legs. 🙂

Gravel Rider

Don't forget touring vs bike packing.

Miele Man

You think that Bike Forums is bad? You should see the El Toro Poo Poo that gets posted on Usenet groups such as rec.bicycles.tech Start a thread about anything bicycling related there and within a couple of posts the thread is usually hijacked to something totally unrelated to bicycling. I really like Bike Forums and I think that the moderators do a great job.

I've also had a lot of help from members here in acquiring parts to fix up some of my old bikes that I wanted to put original stuff on.

Be glad, VERY glad that Bike Forums is as great as it is.

Cheers

Mojo31

And waving.

BillyD

I’d sure like to hear about it when someone is seriously giving my new members a hard time. Red button works.

indyfabz

What’s the right gearing for me?

shelbyfv

^^^BillyD has this one right. IMO, newbies are treated well here and with patience. When this is not the case, it usually involves something like "I'm a stud in the weight room and you guys are doing this cycling thing all wrong." Or someone asks a basic mechanical question and then wants to argue with the replies because he was able to fix his dishwasher w/o buying any more tools. As they used to say "garbage in, garbage out." Furthermore, there actually are a few cycling sites less tolerant of fools and trolls but the volume just isn't there. I don't see any deterioration, pretty much same as always, pluses and minuses.

bikehoco

Unreal, I was getting ready to start a similar thread.

I often see newbies get abused by know-it-all senior members …. doesn’t make for a welcoming site.

If you don’t like their comments, just ignore them rather than writing snarky comments.

shelbyfv

Maybe I've missed this, I don't read all the forums. How about some examples/links?

Daniel4

When I start a new thread, I do a search in Google and then the BF if there is another thread like it.

If there is an older thread discussing the same thing you want to discuss, one of two things will happen. Someone will tell you there's another thread OR someone will criticize you for resurrecting a zombie thread.

Rolla

The forum is whatever we make it, so make it better.

Be helpful, stay away from topics you don't like, notify the mods when someone's a jerk, and use the ignore button.

SpedFast

Don't shave your legs, wax them!! But seriously, why is this thread in 'General Cycling Discussions'? Reads more like 'Foo'

Gravel Rider

fixt.

ofajen

Yeah, I just steer myself away from the obvious train wrecks and it works out.

Otto