1 2 3 ... 15
conesare2seconds
conesare2seconds HalfDork
11/19/14 5:58 p.m.

This is my favorite place on the internet, but it's time for a break.

Example: A couple of weeks back a board regular up and lost his ability to be disagreed with and kindly instructed another fellow to "GFY" for a perceived act of trollery. No one whispered in dude's ear that that kind of smack may be i]de riguer on Reddit but out of line in a friendly community like this one.

Also, we are also not always particularly nice to new people, unless they have built something LS- or FT-powered and so damn cool it's icy. No one comes back where they are not welcome, ask a church, civic group or car club.

Example: A long-time GRMer posts a hard-to-read paragraph and those who work through it reply helpfully while those with less patience mind their own business. New guys with the same loose regard for spelling and punctuation as the old-timers somehow aren't showing enough "respect". Is this a useful forum or the cool kids' club?

Yes, I've shown the door to people who were messing with a community's peace and harmony, but it was for actual infractions against goodfellowship, not a damn lack of respect for grammar, for berkeley's sake. Save the "I was being funny" excuse, too. One man's hilarity is another's passive aggression.

I'm watching a national enthusiast's organization age itself out of existence because the membership likes how they've got things set up for themselves. Unless they become a more inviting place to be for new members, the organization will be extinct in a decade, fallen to demographic destiny and it's set ways.

So Imma take a walk to clear my head, peace out for a while and hope we're still friends when I get back. And yeah, I know, don't let the door hit my azz on the way out, & etc.

OHSCrifle
OHSCrifle GRM+ Memberand Reader
11/19/14 7:06 p.m.

To me, the internet is kinda like kids sports: Nothing wrong with it that removing the parents wouldn't remedy.

Not even a half-dork myself.. but I enjoy this place 99% of the time. Most participants here have good intentions, some deliver them poorly. And some do seem to like confrontation. I find it similar to life in general.

I visit GRM almost daily because I choose to take the plentiful good with the occasional bad. Better to walk away for a bit than get bent though - so good decision IMHO.

Woody
Woody GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
11/19/14 7:15 p.m.
conesare2seconds wrote: Also, we are also not always particularly nice to new people, unless they have built something LS- or FT-powered and so damn cool it's icy. No one comes back where they are not welcome, ask a church, civic group or car club.

I disagree with this. I find this to be the most welcoming of all vehicular forums, by far.

captdownshift
captdownshift GRM+ Memberand Dork
11/19/14 7:20 p.m.

I admit that I will sometimes comment on spelling or grammer, even though my own is often far from perfect, but I also always make a point to provide what insight or assistance I can to the inquiry or topic at hand.

Dr. Hess
Dr. Hess MegaDork
11/19/14 7:34 p.m.

Damn, downshift. Use a period for berkeley's sake. Talk about your run-on sentences. Where did you learn English?

Marjorie Suddard
Marjorie Suddard General Manager
11/19/14 7:42 p.m.

It's okay. People here sometimes annoy the snot out of me, so I understand. I have found that this forum is a lot like a family: there when you need it, there when you really don't need it.

I think it's a pretty good group, but all families sometimes need that eye-opening "You're all shiny happy people!" moment at the dinner table to open up the opportunity to self-correct.

Hope you stay around.

Margie

Marjorie Suddard
Marjorie Suddard General Manager
11/19/14 7:44 p.m.

Oh, and on that note? berkeley that global warming thread. Really, forever.

Margie

Appleseed
Appleseed MegaDork
11/19/14 7:51 p.m.

Think this place is tough? Go over to the HAMB and try it out. Or Pirate 4X4. We're wusses compared to them.

Nick_Comstock
Nick_Comstock PowerDork
11/19/14 7:55 p.m.

In reply to Marjorie Suddard:

You have the power to make it disappear

Adrian_Thompson
Adrian_Thompson PowerDork
11/19/14 8:03 p.m.

You want intolerance? Try Corner-Carvers, this place is Haight-Ashbury in the 60's after a semi of finest weed spilled it's load compared to CC.com.

MrJoshua
MrJoshua PowerDork
11/19/14 8:07 p.m.

In reply to Marjorie Suddard:

Marjorie, can we have some sort of forum graveyard where contrary threads are sent? Not to be locked, but to continue the discussion off of center stage? Make it someplace that doesn't come up without specifically hunting it down. I would even be fine with the threads having an expiration date or posts per day limit to try to temper the passions. I try to stay out of most of those thread s because I do get too involved, but even then I learn. A good example is Tommys post in that Global Warming thread linking an explanation. I spent about an hour reading through that site and all of the blog posts after where the site author supported his reasoning to the skeptics. I came away better informed because I read a post that was guaranteed to end badly. Thank you.

Marjorie Suddard
Marjorie Suddard General Manager
11/19/14 8:07 p.m.
Nick_Comstock wrote: In reply to Marjorie Suddard: You have the power to make it disappear

Not my job to protect my kids from the world, just to teach them to swim in it.

Margie

Toyman01
Toyman01 GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
11/19/14 8:19 p.m.
Marjorie Suddard wrote:
Nick_Comstock wrote: In reply to Marjorie Suddard: You have the power to make it disappear
Not my job to protect my kids from the world, just to teach them to swim in it. Margie

Nicely stated. I'll be borrowing that one.

Nick_Comstock
Nick_Comstock PowerDork
11/19/14 8:20 p.m.

Fair enough.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid
SyntheticBlinkerFluid PowerDork
11/19/14 8:22 p.m.
Woody wrote:
conesare2seconds wrote: Also, we are also not always particularly nice to new people, unless they have built something LS- or FT-powered and so damn cool it's icy. No one comes back where they are not welcome, ask a church, civic group or car club.
I disagree with this. I find this to be the most welcoming of all vehicular forums, by far.

This.

If anything, I have been a member of several boards, more specifically one-make boards. They can get all high and mighty and make you feel like crap because you want to do something from the norm or don't understand a question you ask.

This board is very diverse and welcomes change, but there are many people who prefer a certain brand too. I do admit that I am tired of LS everything engine swaps, but there is plenty of other awesome things going on here, especially in the build threads.

There are always people with opposite opinions of yours. They will never go away. Just don't let them get under your skin.

mndsm
mndsm MegaDork
11/19/14 8:27 p.m.

Miata? And really there's only a handful of us stupid enough to play with f2ts.

I'll tell you a story. A story about a guy, who was obscenely passionate about his local car scene. He'd just bought his first new car, and was starved for local content. He pored over every forum, everywhere. He found a very small niche on one board in one corner of the world, and got a few people together. Then a few more came. Then a few more. Then a couple of people with more smart than him started a board solely for this group. Life was grand. He signed on as a mod from day one. He went to all the events, barbecues, weekly meets. This was his life. Eventually, the owners of the site decided to move on, and it came for sale. Elated, he bought the site and by proxy, the community outright. The thing he'd spent 5+ years on, was his. Life was good. He started dropping huge cash on marketing. He wanted to get his name out. He wanted to redefine the car community as a whole. He even purchased a spot on the back of a race car. He put his life and all his spare time and energy into it. He spent 10+ hours a day monitoring the site to make sure things were taken care of.

Then things went wrong. Senior members of the site decided they no longer liked management. Open harassment was rampant. Accusations flew back and forth over various things. Theft of resources and back door deals started happening under the table. Basically people were actively working to crush what he'd built. Many theories as to why exist, the winning answer seems to be a combination of greed, refusal to acknowledge someomes success, and plain ole.jackassery. some people just can't have nice things.

In the emd, physical threats were leveled, several sweeping account wipes happened, and eventually the owner sold. His community was broken. His last act of defiance was to sell it to the last people the dissenters wanted, so at least there was some solace in that. He promptly dropped off the map, quit going to all events, and basically disappeared from the scene. He was done. Rumblings abounded that he should come back, that people wanted to see his shenanigans, but this wasn't enough. In about two years, he went to precisely one event. That was because a friend of his was unveiling a completed project, and he wanted to see it.

Then a strange thing happened. He bought a unicorn. A green one, named miyuki. The pilot light was relit, and the kindling of a new fire gathered. He had no real interest in satisfying the plebes, he was totally off reservation.

Peoe loved it. For whatever reason, the purchase of a 400$ unicorn captured the minds of many people. They started watching with anticipation of the next move. True to his original form, they are completely random, and purely for whatever reason he feels like. There is no one to please, no one to impress, and no one to keep happy. And there have been a few that don't get it- but they're in the vast minority. Reaction has been roundly positive.

Tldr- you're never going to make everyone happy. There's a laundry list of people that hate me. I've been physically assaulted for calling someone a transvestite with dirty shoes. And I just don't care. There's probably a pile of people on here that would sock me in the mush given the opportunity. Oh well. I guarantee I have more friends than enemies, and I am no longer interested in fighting them. As far as here goes, if something looks like a E36 M3show, I'm nowhere near it. Healthcare thread? Nope. Other political threads? Nope. I don't even like the gga thread. Its pretty.easy to avoid the people and content you don't like if you don't want to see it. Don't let the trolls win.

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
11/19/14 8:30 p.m.

Nicely put:

Its pretty.easy to avoid the people and content you don't like if you don't want to see it. Don't let the trolls win.

The_Jed
The_Jed UltraDork
11/19/14 8:32 p.m.

I GRM daily, but I don't have a lot of time for internetting most days so I shoot for quality over quantity.

There are some people here who confound me but overall the average GRMer is someone I would enjoy hanging out with.

Don't stay away too long, the rest of the net sucks.

JFX001
JFX001 UltraDork
11/19/14 8:36 p.m.

If your choice is to take a break, then I wish you well.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid
SyntheticBlinkerFluid PowerDork
11/19/14 8:44 p.m.

In reply to The_Jed:

I'm really confounded by the guys that love Lincoln Mark VIIs. Geez.

Woody
Woody GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
11/19/14 8:50 p.m.

I was once suspended from another forum. I won't mention its name, but it claims to be some kind of Network for Miata owners.

My crime occurred when someone was complaining that his a/c condenser fan had stopped working. I said something along the lines of, "I think I have an extra one of those down in my basement. Send me an email with your address and I'll send it out your way".

The next morning, there was a stern warning in my mailbox and my privileges had been revoked. That was the day when I pretty much quit wasting time on other forums.

The_Jed
The_Jed UltraDork
11/19/14 8:50 p.m.

In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:

A different breed for sure!

Tom_Spangler
Tom_Spangler GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
11/19/14 8:53 p.m.
Adrian_Thompson wrote: You want intolerance? Try Corner-Carvers, this place is Haight-Ashbury in the 60's after a semi of finest weed spilled it's load compared to CC.com.

This. I'm OG at Corner-Carvers, so I've seen it all. Though that place has softened up over the years, it's still much tougher on newbies than this or pretty much any other forum.

Maybe I'm not clicking on the right threads, but I've never seen anyone be anything but welcoming to new folks and those with diverse, even bizarre automotive interests.

As for the "bad" threads, just don't click on them. Simple.

moparman76_69
moparman76_69 SuperDork
11/19/14 9:03 p.m.

What thread on global warming? No seriously. I'm guilty of doing it sometimes but I generally don't click on something that is of a topic where I think the signal to noise ratio will be higher than I want to see. I have enough bullE36 M3 in my life I don't need to read more.

bgkast
bgkast GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
11/19/14 9:15 p.m.

In reply to Woody:

You bastard!

1 2 3 ... 15

You'll need to log in to post.

Our Preferred Partners
Tz8GdWHpvhZKAzNu4Zxy4acr8yJh0VGmXn20tGtclTaYAUuC8aqtb3iyNqasMPRb