Mass "Ignore the trolls" experiment.

Thats why some dont like me.... B'cos i cut through all the nonsense and say it how it is.

 

Im the little voice of doubt in everyones head that they try to ignore, but know is right

 

Im not here to make friends, but ive picked up 320 on my jouney

You must be depressingly lonely in your actual real life.

Went to cancel it, turns out I already had! Very prescient from me.

Registered User is the new Full Member, less is more

Is it really true that some keyboard warriors feel the need to "meet up" to prove their existence to people they don't know?!! Jesus, SG is right, some do take this far too seriously. Kind of reminds me of the "see you in the car park after school" where handbags were thrown and hair was pulled!!

He wanted proof of who I was, I was in Glasgow with work, it made sense...was just going to have a drink - there was nothing sinister about it.

Is it really true that some keyboard warriors feel the need to "meet up" to prove their existence to people they don't know?!! Jesus, SG is right, some do take this far too seriously. Kind of reminds me of the "see you in the car park after school" where handbags were thrown and hair was pulled!!

very true

It was a 2-4-1 oppurtunity too (almost to good to miss, almost) former poster/friend Dibden Purlieu Saint was staying at the same hotel on the same night....... what were the chances

http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?48043-Forum-Names-and-their-Other-Login-s&p=1830130#post1830130

Range of opinion should be welcomed. Deliberate derailing, abuse and spam should be clamped down on.

 

Admins, there is a facility for you to view the the 'most ignored' posters. Can't you implement that behind the scenes, and set a rule that anyone with more than, say 25 people ignoring them is banned? People don't get 'ignored' for the diversity of their opinion; they get ignored for being consistent prats.

 

Steve, your post before is concerning for a healthy forum. You have a 'suck it up you're adults' attitude, this actively allows a few people to wreck the place. The result is there simply are no interesting threads, people can't be bothered to start them, as they can predict who will have the second post, and that it will be almost certainly an attempt to belittle or derail. This is your forum, and you can run it as you see fit; I feel your stand-off approach is the cause of most of this forum's problems.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This.

We could also try another experiment, we all know who the WUM are, let's name and shame them then ask them not to post for a week / ban them for a week (most of them should be able to cope with getting on with their real life for 7 days)

In that week, we would be able to see if the forum is a better place with, or without, them.

If they are right (that they add "debate") then it will be a dull tumbleweed of a forum, if everyone else is right it will be a refreshing to have threads that don't spiral into a point scoring exercise ruined by the same posters.

NB: You can tell that there are people who read the forum, but don't post due to the WUM's on here. Every so often a thread like this is started and a few of them pop their heads up, it’s these people we should be encouraging to post. I genuinely believe that this place would be better if the WUM's went, and the non-frequent posters posted more. If this forum is about debating all things Saints, the more views the better. Lastly, you only have to take a look at the Pompey Takeover Saga thread to see what a thread (and this forum) should be about.

Trousers, dont go mate, we need little rays of sunlight now and again on here.

"F*ck you and f*ck this f*cking place."

 

Words for the ages..

Words of a genius mind.

Words of a genius mind.

I get called a genius about twice a month on average. All I can say is that they're setting a low fkn bar.

Steve Grant says we should grow up and ignore what we don't like. So why should we ignore what we don't like in some instances but other people are banned? Why has Steve, boj and other mods banned others or infracted them for crimes such as being sarcastic if its as simple as ignoring people. Basically, its poor management of the board....a board some people actually pay to use! Imagine paying for a service which was not as you wanted it to be and when you made suggestions on how to improve it.you were told to grow up? I don't pay and never will, but plenty of people do and they should be listened to, not treated with disdain like Steve has done.

The board is worse than it used to be because of inconsistency in applying "the rules" and a handful of idiots who have nothing else in their lives but posting nonsense. I'm happy to name and shame. In my opinion the forum would be better without the following, or at least with a reduction in the amount of their posts:

GS

Barry Sanchez

Turkish

In fact that's about it. I thought I could think of more, but I can't....or certainly can't be arsed to right now.

Limit these people for a week. Refund them. Take a stand, do something.

To quote a former moderator on this board....

**** you and **** this ****ing place.

I get called a genius about twice a month on average. All I can say is that they're setting a low fkn bar.

Low bar = greater rewards when you over achieve without trying.

 

**** you and **** this ****ing place.

Love you, you little scamp.

Whatever happened to Pontiff anyway?

Autocorrect of the day, right there ^

Trolls don't have opinions...they have the one definitive answer. Doesn't matter how well you argue you case there is not one single hope in hell they will change their stance or credit you for having a good point.

Sound familiar?

this is a lol thread, the trolls talking about trolling. The ego's will be flying high today 'look its about me, mum'

I genuinely struggle to understand how (supposedly) grown adults find it so difficult to just gloss over what someone they don't like has written on an internet forum.

Her lies the problem. Fed up of coming on here and weeding out the normal rubbish posted by the usual array of trolls. Get rid of them or I fear your income from member subscriptions will dwindle.

Range of opinion should be welcomed. Deliberate derailing, abuse and spam should be clamped down on.

 

Admins, there is a facility for you to view the the 'most ignored' posters. Can't you implement that behind the scenes, and set a rule that anyone with more than, say 25 people ignoring them is banned? People don't get 'ignored' for the diversity of their opinion; they get ignored for being consistent prats.

 

Steve, your post before is concerning for a healthy forum. You have a 'suck it up you're adults' attitude, this actively allows a few people to wreck the place. The result is there simply are no interesting threads, people can't be bothered to start them, as they can predict who will have the second post, and that it will be almost certainly an attempt to belittle or derail. This is your forum, and you can run it as you see fit; I feel your stand-off approach is the cause of most of this forum's problems.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This. As far as I can see, there have been a few similar threads starting to appear with increasing frequency, naming the same culprits time after time. Each time, there is the opinion expressed by many that there really is no point at all in having an ignore feature if the posts of somebody on ignore has their posts made visible to all when they are quoted. I understand that there are difficulties in changing the software to stop this happening and it would be expensive, but because of this, the onus really is on Steve to take action to satisfy the concerns of those who pay a subscription. Otherwise he will increasingly find that fewer people will be paying and logging on, the standard of debate will deteriorate further and the downward spiral will eventually lead to the forum no longer being financially viable. If that is what he wants, then he's going the right way about it with his laissez-faire attitude.

Her lies the problem. Fed up of coming on here and weeding out the normal rubbish posted by the usual array of trolls. Get rid of them or I fear your income from member subscriptions will dwindle.

Membership is up I believe and perhaps the new batch of posters will be less sensitive and precious and open to debate + dicussion?

If you want an "I love the Saints" page perhaps set one up on Facebook? This is a forum for all things Saints, not just the stuff you want to post and hear.

I (♥) Saints

Membership is up I believe and perhaps the new batch of posters will be less sensitive and precious and open to debate + dicussion?

 

If you want an "I love the Saints" page perhaps set one up on Facebook? This is a forum for all things Saints, not just the stuff you want to post and hear.

 

I (♥) Saints

Scared talk Glasgow...perhaps you could team up with skatechez and do the opposite of 'I love' on a Facebook page then you could talk all the anti-Saints cr*p you like without irritating genuine Saints fans?

In fairness though I think you do talk WUM cr*p most of your life there may be a Saints fan buried deep - not so with the other count!

Membership is up I believe and perhaps the new batch of posters will be less sensitive and precious and open to debate + dicussion?

 

If you want an "I love the Saints" page perhaps set one up on Facebook? This is a forum for all things Saints, not just the stuff you want to post and hear.

 

I (♥) Portsmouth

Edited it for you...

Funnily enough, at least two of the posters that people are fed up with being on here constantly and generally being pretty unpleasant people have also mentioned on here that they have recently become fathers.

Spreading nasty attitudes and spending too much time on message forums posting rubbish to get attention from strangers, you've got the reasons for all sorts of society's problems right there. I bet they're great parents.

I can just see BS sneering and snidely insulting his kid if they dare to sing "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands."

Steve Grant says we should grow up and ignore what we don't like. So why should we ignore what we don't like in some instances but other people are banned? Why has Steve, boj and other mods banned others or infracted them for crimes such as being sarcastic if its as simple as ignoring people. Basically, its poor management of the board....a board some people actually pay to use! Imagine paying for a service which was not as you wanted it to be and when you made suggestions on how to improve it.you were told to grow up? I don't pay and never will, but plenty of people do and they should be listened to, not treated with disdain like Steve has done.

 

The board is worse than it used to be because of inconsistency in applying "the rules" and a handful of idiots who have nothing else in their lives but posting nonsense. I'm happy to name and shame. In my opinion the forum would be better without the following, or at least with a reduction in the amount of their posts:

 

GS

Barry Sanchez

Turkish

 

In fact that's about it. I thought I could think of more, but I can't....or certainly can't be arsed to right now.

 

Limit these people for a week. Refund them. Take a stand, do something.

 

To quote a former moderator on this board....

 

**** you and **** this ****ing place.

Great post. I must add I am greaful to have access to this forum but frustrated with the head in sand mentality among admin which is making the forum worse and worse.

Membership is up I believe and perhaps the new batch of posters will be less sensitive and precious and open to debate + dicussion?

 

If you want an "I love the Saints" page perhaps set one up on Facebook? This is a forum for all things Saints, not just the stuff you want to post and

I (♥) Saints

The thing is if you want to stop using a website, what you do is stop using it, not post that you are going to stop using it. If I don't like a shop, I don't go in it. I don't go in anyway and spend lots of time telling the people in the shop I don't like it.

You might all be right about trolling etc. (I can't find the energy to get upset to be honest, and some of the stuff is pretty amusing if nothing else, most of it is pretty easy to counter using rational arguments). But really, if you want get to a reaction from administrators walk away and stop paying. Complaining won't change the site, but a cut in revenue would.

I do think the unnamed poster who is obviously a skate could do us all a favour and stop posting though...

Perhaps there should be a daily cap (say 25) for all posters, as would remove some of the 'devil's advocate' posts, simply because you would waste your allowance. Or put something in place so that if someone posts more than 25 a day, a 24 hour 'cooling off' period kicks in, so the poster cannot post. Maybe terrible ideas, but a bit more progressive than banning everyone...

Funnily enough, at least two of the posters that people are fed up with being on here constantly and generally being pretty unpleasant people have also mentioned on here that they have recently become fathers.

 

Spreading nasty attitudes and spending too much time on message forums posting rubbish to get attention from strangers, you've got the reasons for all sorts of society's problems right there. I bet they're great parents.

 

I can just see BS sneering and snidely insulting his kid if they dare to sing "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands."

You've got to feel sorry for them haven't you? As soon as they state that they want to achieve anything in life, they'll be told that all they have to look forward to is the dole if their drivel they spout on this board is anything to go by. I can't imagine what it must be like to have that much of a negative outlook on everything.

Just to clarify - If the admins applied something like this behind the scenes, they could use it to ban users who are consistently causing problems to others: http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=300073

Anyone ignored by more than, say 50 others, is more than likely on the wind-up (if they aren't then they will almost certainly have other problems that should be addressed).

I think the fact this thread is pretty long quite quickly is indicative that people are of the common consensus that "trolls" are a problem on this forum. A few suggestions have been made as to how they could be tackled, and it would be nice to see something at least trialled in some way, or just straight out implemented.

I cannot see how ignoring them works though, as their comments just encourage responses (as that is often their aim) and then additional comments/feedback from other people are added, and threads are ruined. It's not like it is just one out of turn comment, and everyone glosses over it, the "troll" comments end up driving the threads, and therefore ruining them.

Using trousers' excellent analogy from before, surely if there's a couple of tw*ts in the pub ruining it for everyone else, singing loudly for attention, shoving into you and trying to start fights, it's better for the landlord (admin) to get rid of them so the majority of the people there that are fed up with them don't simply go and find another pub to drink in? I fail to understand why stevegrant et al. continute to cater to the minority of pillocks - is it because you know that GS and Barry will definitely be renewing their membership? Are they your most loyal customers, so much so that you can't understand that getting rid of the two of them will bring many more people back from the fringes?

I've not been in this pub long; I never knew a time when I could sit and have a quiet conversation and sensible debate with intelligent, diverse people about a topic we enjoy without some fat bloke pushing me off my stool every five minutes. But I hope one day I can.

Membership is up I believe and perhaps the new batch of posters will be less sensitive and precious and open to debate + dicussion?

 

If you want an "I love the Saints" page perhaps set one up on Facebook? This is a forum for all things Saints, not just the stuff you want to post and hear.

 

I (♥) Saints

Point proved. Absolute c^nt.

Granty is not at fault, I doubt he needs the aggro. We know who is the closet Skates or just out to annoy. i notice they are getting less and less replies

The thing is if you want to stop using a website, what you do is stop using it, not post that you are going to stop using it. If I don't like a shop, I don't go in it. I don't go in anyway and spend lots of time telling the people in the shop I don't like it.

 

You might all be right about trolling etc. (I can't find the energy to get upset to be honest, and some of the stuff is pretty amusing if nothing else, most of it is pretty easy to counter using rational arguments). But really, if you want get to a reaction from administrators walk away and stop paying. Complaining won't change the site, but a cut in revenue would.

 

I do think the unnamed poster who is obviously a skate could do us all a favour and stop posting though...

 

Perhaps there should be a daily cap (say 25) for all posters, as would remove some of the 'devil's advocate' posts, simply because you would waste your allowance. Or put something in place so that if someone posts more than 25 a day, a 24 hour 'cooling off' period kicks in, so the poster cannot post. Maybe terrible ideas, but a bit more progressive than banning everyone...

Haha so true - I don’t like Sports Direct as for me it's too busy with stock and the merchandise is not to my liking - I don’t go in everyday moaning about the layout and reminding them that I wont return (but then do) eventually they would ban me for being odd and stupid.

Hi everyone just me again - just want you to know I wont be back

The caps idea could work, but 25 a day is quite alot. I think I average about 5 a day and apparently that’s too much for some to avoid.

We have a few drama queens on here - they don’t like the challenge that me, Turkish, Alpine, Fitzhugh and Barry offer. They want to come on here and post a few fluffy I heart Saints posts and talk nonsense about how they played the game at a high standard and bla bla bla. What they don’t like is when the "trolls" remind them of their contradictions and challenge them on the stuff they simply make up.

To use the pub analogy that is so popular - you have the guy in the pub (OldNick, Shurlock, Olallana types) that are Mr know-it-alls on everything, they talk crap and there mates don’t question anything as they don’t know anything. Then along come the "Trolls" (or the professionals) who do know a bit and also know when someone is talking bull. The trolls are happy to speak up and say "Oi mate you’re talking crap" That’s what they don’t like - challenge.

I say we have a name and shame session.

A few of them might be fairly obvious, but at least then we'll know who everyone gets pis*ed of at...

I just ignore any comments made by 'trolls' or WUMs. Not worth my time or theirs.

Sad to say, but what an interesting thread...! My 10p’s for what it’s worth. I totally agree with the pub analogy made by others and believe it to be relevant here as well. I believe that there are a good many posters that probably have shied away from here as a result of the level of trolling that now infests this site. (No, GS I’m not going to name them, but I am one of them).

Reading through this thread it is fairly evident that people do think that it has become a problem and is detrimental to the overall experience of the site. Let’s face it, when Trousers gives up the ghost, it’s got to be pretty bad.

I can understand people wanting Steve to take action – but at the same time you have to appreciate Steve’s point of view as well. It is after all his site – therefore it is his prerogative as to who (and how) they use it (he is the pub landlord if you will).

For my part, I binned my subscription about 18 months ago and it was purely down to the trolling that was going on. However, this has kind of worked for me. Knowing that I can now only make 3 posts a day makes me refrain from taking any active part in a thread or getting embroiled in pointless debate with the trolls.

However, I still lurk here almost daily – and while it is very sad to see the decline of what was a very decent forum, I sort of find myself laughing as I read through each and every thread and see it getting hijacked and derailed. So I guess I no longer go into the pub anymore, but stand outside looking through the windows, laughing at what a bloody mess is going on inside.

Who knows though, if a refurbishment were to take place anytime soon, I might decide that I fancy venturing inside for a beer again.

Haha so true - I don’t like Sports Direct as for me it's too busy with stock and the merchandise is not to my liking - I don’t go in everyday moaning about the layout and reminding them that I wont return (but then do) eventually they would ban me for being odd and stupid.

 

Hi everyone just me again - just want you to know I wont be back

 

The caps idea could work, but 25 a day is quite alot. I think I average about 5 a day and apparently that’s too much for some to avoid.

 

We have a few drama queens on here - they don’t like the challenge that me, Turkish, Alpine, Fitzhugh and Barry offer. They want to come on here and post a few fluffy I heart Saints posts and talk nonsense about how they played the game at a high standard and bla bla bla. What they don’t like is when the "trolls" remind them of their contradictions and challenge them on the stuff they simply make up.

 

To use the pub analogy that is so popular - you have the guy in the pub (OldNick, Shurlock, Olallana types) that are Mr know-it-alls on everything, they talk crap and there mates don’t question anything as they don’t know anything. Then along come the "Trolls" (or the professionals) who do know a bit and also know when someone is talking bull. The trolls are happy to speak up and say "Oi mate you’re talking crap" That’s what they don’t like - challenge.

As much as I hate pandering to you, Glasgow, I feel I should give you another of your beloved statistics: in the last 24 hours (also known as a 'day'), you've posted 40 times. I know, I just went and counted, and it's two minutes of my life I'll never get back.

Interesting to know you're a professional too. Wouldn't a professional be slightly better at his job than the rest of us amateurs?

Haha so true - I don’t like Sports Direct as for me it's too busy with stock and the merchandise is not to my liking - I don’t go in everyday moaning about the layout and reminding them that I wont return (but then do) eventually they would ban me for being odd and stupid.

 

Hi everyone just me again - just want you to know I wont be back

 

The caps idea could work, but 25 a day is quite alot. I think I average about 5 a day and apparently that’s too much for some to avoid.

 

We have a few drama queens on here - they don’t like the challenge that me, Turkish, Alpine, Fitzhugh and Barry offer. They want to come on here and post a few fluffy I heart Saints posts and talk nonsense about how they played the game at a high standard and bla bla bla. What they don’t like is when the "trolls" remind them of their contradictions and challenge them on the stuff they simply make up.

 

To use the pub analogy that is so popular - you have the guy in the pub (OldNick, Shurlock, Olallana types) that are Mr know-it-alls on everything, they talk crap and there mates don’t question anything as they don’t know anything. Then along come the "Trolls" (or the professionals) who do know a bit and also know when someone is talking bull. The trolls are happy to speak up and say "Oi mate you’re talking crap" That’s what they don’t like - challenge.

As for mates not questioning them, i dont count people on the internet as mates per-say, but am always happy to debate with every poster on here as long as they are not intentionally out to troll. IMO you are the only one who is nye impossible to seriously debate with.

I genuinely struggle to understand how (supposedly) grown adults find it so difficult to just gloss over what someone they don't like has written on an internet forum.

There you have it ladies & gentlemen. The trolls/WUMs have won.

That is why the forum has gone downhill and the Pompey Takeover Thread is the only reason I even come on here anymore. A statement which begs the question as to why the board is even moderated at all.

The interesting characters have all gone either through frustration or inconsistent moderating, and the trolls have invaded the plus through subtlety. The mods have let it go and it's killed any interesting discussion that ever happened on here, and one or two decent posters from back in the day have even effectively lowered themselves to the trolls' level.

The issue here isn't people getting offended by the trolls, it's the trolls having free-reign to hijack virtually every thread in the main board and quickly driving them into the same snooze-fests/**** waving contests. The result is the entire point of coming to post on this forum has been eroded.

I post on a range of forums, some of them moderated very well and some of them not moderated at all. This is the only forum I've posted on where the forum rules state " "Please keep it on-topic and civil. Abusive behaviour is not welcomed, Infractions will be issued to those abusing this forum" and an admin member has submitted a post that practically caves in to the trolls.

Registered users are limited to 3 posts a day. How about limiting main members to say 8 or 10 posts a day ?

For the majority of people, this will make little difference but it may prevent the reams of carp spouted every day by the worst of the trolls. If nothing else it would nmean that by posting less often they would offend less.

Registered users are limited to 3 posts a day. How about limiting main members to say 8 or 10 posts a day ?

 

For the majority of people, this will make little difference but it may prevent the reams of carp spouted every day by the worst of the trolls. If nothing else it would nmean that by posting less often they would offend less.

This, although personally I prefer say 50 or 60 per week as occasionally you can get into a good debate - in the lounge of course, never here anymore.

As much as I hate pandering to you, Glasgow, I feel I should give you another of your beloved statistics: in the last 24 hours (also known as a 'day'), you've posted 40 times. I know, I just went and counted, and it's two minutes of my life I'll never get back.

 

Interesting to know you're a professional too. Wouldn't a professional be slightly better at his job than the rest of us amateurs?

You realise I did said average? http://www.mathsisfun.com/mean.html

I like you, I think you’re a good poster and I enjoy the banter. You don’t tend to insult which again I find unnecessary and tend to avoid responding to posters that do resort to insults. I don’t insult anyone (although I’m sure you will prove me wrong)

I would consider the "Trolls" to be the more professional posters as we do seem to know the most about Saints. There are other posters that know a lot too and with these you can have a good debate on things - those that don’t know much about Saints/football tend to get upset and start threads like this or insult those that do know there stuff.

I have a high IQ which helps - http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?46737-High-IQ

Lol, i dont try and question your posts except to point out to others that you are a Pompey fan trying to unsettle the genuine fans. many are waking up to you and in time will not even notice. You certainly are a pro, but not as in serious professional. I assume as the people who you mention dont go to Twitter or Facebook for their knowlwdge they are only amateur. Now I do need your professional football knowledge please help,those Norwich players who were going to show us how our club (that is our club not yours) were going to rue the day we didnt sign them.

As for mates not questioning them, i dont count people on the internet as mates per-say, but am always happy to debate with every poster on here as long as they are not intentionally out to troll. IMO you are the only one who is nye impossible to seriously debate with.

Barry had the thoughts on Norwich - I didnt really say to much about there summer purchases? I think Barry has already said that he got that one wrong?

Im a nice guy, im not here to disrupt and cause problems. I want to have a discussion and I think my posts are resonable - they are my genuine thoughts/feelings on things.

Can you give a few examples of my posts that have upset you? I think I have a reputation, but its not the guy I am.

I remember when the mods were instructed to clamp down on abusive and provocative posts and then people started complaining that the forum was over policed and was going downhill, steve cant really win whatever he does.

Personally the likes of Glasgow and Turkish add a bit of light and shade to the whole proceedings and I would find the place extremely dull if we were all on here agreeing with eachother. Even at games you will get fellow supporters falling out or fighting with eachother so why expect it to be any different on here.

I dont normally get involved in squabbles on here apart from recently but my take is that this forum is no different than 1000's of others and if you are not prepared to have a hard skin and stick up for yourself a bit dont post on a forum

I remember when the mods were instructed to clamp down on abusive and provocative posts and then people started complaining that the forum was over policed and was going downhill, steve cant really win whatever he does.

 

Personally the likes of Glasgow and Turkish add a bit of light and shade to the whole proceedings and I would find the place extremely dull if we were all on here agreeing with eachother. Even at games you will get fellow supporters falling out or fighting with eachother so why expect it to be any different on here.

 

I dont normally get involved in squabbles on here apart from recently but my take is that this forum is no different than 1000's of others and if you are not prepared to have a hard skin and stick up for yourself a bit dont post on a forum

Sorry Billy, can't agree with you here.

Over-zealous modding would be as much of a problem as under-zealous modding currently is. Steve can win, he just has to strike a balance. Remove the obvious provocateurs, leave those who are expressing differing opinions.

The likes of Glasgow and Turkish do not add a bit of light and shade to proceedings; they drown out the entire forum. This place would only seem dull without them, as they have already been allowed to run rampant, and most of the more considered posters have jumped ship. After a while the community would grow again.

As for either 'stick up for yourself' or 'don't post' -many balanced and more considered posters who want to discuss the different aspects of the game have already made their decision and walked. Is that really the forum you want to see? Why should people have to stick up for themselves or grow a thick skin? Why should they not be allowed to just discuss the issues in hand, without the WUMs running amok?

Sorry Billy, can't agree with you here.

 

Over-zealous modding would be as much of a problem as under-zealous modding currently is. Steve can win, he just has to strike a balance. Remove the obvious provocateurs, leave those who are expressing differing opinions.

 

The likes of Glasgow and Turkish do not add a bit of light and shade to proceedings; they drown out the entire forum. This place would only seem dull without them, as they have already been allowed to run rampant, and most of the more considered posters have jumped ship. After a while the community would grow again.

 

As for either 'stick up for yourself' or 'don't post' -many balanced and more considered posters who want to discuss the different aspects of the game have already made their decision and walked. Is that really the forum you want to see? Why should people have to stick up for themselves or grow a thick skin? Why should they not be allowed to just discuss the issues in hand, without the WUMs running amok?

I take your point but it is not as clean cut as you make it.

I am a life long supporter of saints to the extent that In my earlier years I had Southampton FC tattooed up my arm, we wont go there, but even I can be scathing about saints and voiced it on here lots of times, but have been called a skate, negative, bedwetter etc etc. That is the way I am, I can tend to be more negative about saints than positive, more pessimistic than optimistic, but that does not mean that I love saints any less than anyone else but it can provoke attention from those on here who are more upbeat about things. I suppose it reflects my personality to some extent but at the end of the day SFC have always played a big part in my life.

We all see things differently, we all express things differently, some of us are eloquent some are not, some of us are passionate and some more reserved, it is a big melting pot of vastly different personalities and you are never going to acheive status

quo because of this especially on a football forum of all places.

It is a shame that some have left and there are some that I miss, and it may well be for the reasons that you state, but I dont think you can drastically change it, it is the nature of the beast.

I have had one particular poster on "ignore" for quite some time. It is the first and only poster I have tried this with. There are others that I am tempted to ignore but haven't so far. The trouble is, some threads are literally festooned with "This message is hidden....." posts from this particular individual - and not only that, people keep quoting him anyway! One such quote in this thread reveals the ignoree claiming "I think I average about 5 a day..." - absolutely hilarious assertion if ever I saw it . If anyone conjures up an image of a sad and lonely bloke spending each and every waking hour looking and posting on this forum, it is this guy. He absolutely cannot have anything else in his life than SWF - a pretty sad state of affairs.

I take your point but it is not as clean cut as you make it.

 

I am a life long supporter of saints to the extent that In my earlier years I had Southampton FC tattooed up my arm, we wont go there, but even I can be scathing about saints and voiced it on here lots of times, but have been called a skate, negative, bedwetter etc etc. That is the way I am, I can tend to be more negative about saints than positive, more pessimistic than optimistic, but that does not mean that I love saints any less than anyone else but it can provoke attention from those on here who are more upbeat about things. I suppose it reflects my personality to some extent but at the end of the day SFC have always played a big part in my life.

 

We all see things differently, we all express things differently, some of us are eloquent some are not, some of us are passionate and some more reserved, it is a big melting pot of vastly different personalities and you are never going to acheive status

quo because of this especially on a football forum of all places.

 

It is a shame that some have left and there are some that I miss, and it may well be for the reasons that you state, but I dont think you can drastically change it, it is the nature of the beast.

There is a huge difference between passionate saints fans who happen to be pessimistic and those who simply post carp they dont believe or even care about in order to get a reaction. Success is measured in response, acknowledgement - like the loppo kid in school who did anything for attention.

I take your point but it is not as clean cut as you make it.

 

I am a life long supporter of saints to the extent that In my earlier years I had Southampton FC tattooed up my arm, we wont go there, but even I can be scathing about saints and voiced it on here lots of times, but have been called a skate, negative, bedwetter etc etc. That is the way I am, I can tend to be more negative about saints than positive, more pessimistic than optimistic, but that does not mean that I love saints any less than anyone else but it can provoke attention from those on here who are more upbeat about things. I suppose it reflects my personality to some extent but at the end of the day SFC have always played a big part in my life.

 

We all see things differently, we all express things differently, some of us are eloquent some are not, some of us are passionate and some more reserved, it is a big melting pot of vastly different personalities and you are never going to acheive status

quo because of this especially on a football forum of all places.

 

It is a shame that some have left and there are some that I miss, and it may well be for the reasons that you state, but I dont think you can drastically change it, it is the nature of the beast.

and some repeatedly deliberately hijack threads and kill them stone dead, and continue to be let to. That is the problem.

Joensuu is spot on.

It's a misunderstanding to say people just want everyone to agree, that's not the point being made. I think most posters are very happy to discuss differing viewpoints, it's actually a fun part of a forum, but that's not what's happening. Certain posters are willfully misunderstanding or ignoring every answer to them, just to keep spouting the same repetitive comments that they know are based on nothing and will just irritate everyone.

Examples? Okay.

Barry Sanchez has repeatedly posted about how embarrassing and unrealistic it is that MP said he wanted CL football. To illustrate this his evidence was a link to an interview. It's been pointed out to BS that the only quote in the article about the CL was that MP refused to consider it any time soon. BS replied, showing that he was aware of that. Subsequently, despite knowing the reality, BS has repeated the comment and posted the link again and again on multiple threads, clearly just to wind people up.

A couple of other posters went on and on about how "everyone on here" said we'd finish top 6 this season without improving the team, it was then pointed out that only two posters said we might get as high as 6th and about 30 said otherwise on the thread in question. Despite this the comment has been wheeled out again and again just to irritate everyone.

Disagreement is good, but just wheeling out stuff you know is bull**** on every other thread just makes it all dull and repetitive. It's not debate or discussion at all, it is trolling.

I don't consider GS a troll, he's just a slightly annoying bloke with an internet addiction and way too much time on his hands. He doesn't really get that involved in proper discussions and I find him easy to avoid or ignore.

I don't really care if they are banned or not, but I find it laughable that Steve Grant can post that grown ups can just ignore anything they don't like, after he banned some fairly innocuous posters for being "sarcastic" or "flippant". If we can just ignore it, how about you un-ban all of the banned accounts? No, I didn't think so.

The same way that I am Goatboy as well? How did that work out for you? I tried to meet up with you in a neutral venue to prove who I was, but you pulled out - who's the pussy there?

And wouldn't meet me either. Do you think he's John Westwood?

It's a misunderstanding to say people just want everyone to agree, that's not the point being made. I think most posters are very happy to discuss differing viewpoints, it's actually a fun part of a forum, but that's not what's happening. Certain posters are willfully misunderstanding or ignoring every answer to them, just to keep spouting the same repetitive comments that they know are based on nothing and will just irritate everyone.

 

Examples? Okay.

 

Barry Sanchez has repeatedly posted about how embarrassing and unrealistic it is that MP said he wanted CL football. To illustrate this his evidence was a link to an interview. It's been pointed out to BS that the only quote in the article about the CL was that MP refused to consider it any time soon. BS replied, showing that he was aware of that. Subsequently, despite knowing the reality, BS has repeated the comment and posted the link again and again on multiple threads, clearly just to wind people up.

 

A couple of other posters went on and on about how "everyone on here" said we'd finish top 6 this season without improving the team, it was then pointed out that only two posters said we might get as high as 6th and about 30 said otherwise on the thread in question. Despite this the comment has been wheeled out again and again just to irritate everyone.

 

Disagreement is good, but just wheeling out stuff you know is bull**** on every other thread just makes it all dull and repetitive. It's not debate or discussion at all, it is trolling.

 

I don't consider GS a troll, he's just a slightly annoying bloke with an internet addiction and way too much time on his hands. He doesn't really get that involved in proper discussions and I find him easy to avoid or ignore.

 

I don't really care if they are banned or not, but I find it laughable that Steve Grant can post that grown ups can just ignore anything they don't like, after he banned some fairly innocuous posters for being "sarcastic" or "flippant". If we can just ignore it, how about you un-ban all of the banned accounts? No, I didn't think so.

Well-reasoned post, I agree with most of what you say. When I go to the pub (or club...sailing club for instance in my case...good comparison for here) I'm not looking for conflict - I'll argue my corner but it's with a bunch of generally sociable people who share similar interests. Anyone who was anti-social, aggressive would soon be shown the door.

It's an easy cop-out to say you're all adults etc but surely the greater good is paramount?

And wouldn't meet me either. Do you think he's John Westwood?

Nah, I don't John Westwood is even that much of a pussy. He probably doesn't hate Saints as much as GS either.

It's a misunderstanding to say people just want everyone to agree, that's not the point being made. I think most posters are very happy to discuss differing viewpoints, it's actually a fun part of a forum, but that's not what's happening. Certain posters are willfully misunderstanding or ignoring every answer to them, just to keep spouting the same repetitive comments that they know are based on nothing and will just irritate everyone.

 

Examples? Okay.

 

Barry Sanchez has repeatedly posted about how embarrassing and unrealistic it is that MP said he wanted CL football. To illustrate this his evidence was a link to an interview. It's been pointed out to BS that the only quote in the article about the CL was that MP refused to consider it any time soon. BS replied, showing that he was aware of that. Subsequently, despite knowing the reality, BS has repeated the comment and posted the link again and again on multiple threads, clearly just to wind people up.

 

A couple of other posters went on and on about how "everyone on here" said we'd finish top 6 this season without improving the team, it was then pointed out that only two posters said we might get as high as 6th and about 30 said otherwise on the thread in question. Despite this the comment has been wheeled out again and again just to irritate everyone.

 

Disagreement is good, but just wheeling out stuff you know is bull**** on every other thread just makes it all dull and repetitive. It's not debate or discussion at all, it is trolling.

 

I don't consider GS a troll, he's just a slightly annoying bloke with an internet addiction and way too much time on his hands. He doesn't really get that involved in proper discussions and I find him easy to avoid or ignore.

 

I don't really care if they are banned or not, but I find it laughable that Steve Grant can post that grown ups can just ignore anything they don't like, after he banned some fairly innocuous posters for being "sarcastic" or "flippant". If we can just ignore it, how about you un-ban all of the banned accounts? No, I didn't think so.

GS does this as well, his constant use of the career win percentage, making up what other posters have said, the ITK crap and from a personal point of view, his constant accusation that I post from multiple accounts on this forum - I am pretty sure the mods have a way of proving this is ********.

Unfortunately, the lunatics have taken over the asylum.

Just to clarify - If the admins applied something like this behind the scenes, they could use it to ban users who are consistently causing problems to others: http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=300073

 

Anyone ignored by more than, say 50 others, is more than likely on the wind-up (if they aren't then they will almost certainly have other problems that should be addressed).

I like this concept. I don't want to call for people to be banned (We already have a poster that does that) This forum tool could be implemented, and the more serious offenders have a cap on the amount of posts they make maybe? Until they learn to self-moderate, of course.