Board Etiquette

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Lately there has been a rash of posts that have crossed bounds of decency and politeness and let me be clear to ONE AND ALL that this will NOT be tolerated.

Some of you, especially the younger members of this board, seem to feel the need to express whatever thought and opinion comes into your head. Let me be the first to give you the rude awakening of real life... Very very few of us care what you have to say or think. It's really just that simple. Just because you think it, doesn't mean you should say it, post it, express it, or share it.

I can already tell that I have ruffled a few of your feathers who will declare such noble ideas of freedom of speech and the whole "I can do whatever I want to because I'm from ___ country." The simple, even for those of you with trouble with English as your native language, answer to that is that this website and forum is not here to be your personal soapbox. Feel free to speak your mind on your own site all you want, this is not your own site and you need to remember that.

So, having said all of that, the rules for board etiquette on this site is quite simple. Be polite, THINK before you SPEAK, be respectful, be encouraging, and if being critical, give constructive criticism. If you don't like something, give a recommendation on how you'd like to see it improved. If the person putting their time and effort into the item dismisses that recommendation, accept it and move on. No one here has a free license to argue or "bitch."

Let me say that again. NO ONE here has a free license to argue or "bitch." Many of the people on this board are putting their time and effort into making these things public for all, instead of just keeping it for their own use. The last thing they want is to log on here and see a bunch of brats, whiners, and complainers who cannot express themselves effectively, politely, or constructively.

More then anything, everyone needs to remember that we have a private message function. If someone bothers you, if something bothers you, if you have a personal opinion, feel free to msg that person.

Feel free to ask questions, feel free to give congratulations, feel free to share your thoughts and insight and give constructive criticism. But before you post whatever it is you want to say, stop, go back and re-read it for a second and ask yourself if you are adding anything to the conversation, are you being polite, and are you being respectful.

A second item that is related is relevancy. If someone asks a question about something specific, answer that question specifically. Just because the FD in your area does something, or you've seen something on TV once, doesn't mean you are able to add anything to the conversation or answer that question. Please understand that it is ok for questions to go unanswered if no one has the answer. You don't need to be a part of every conversation and you don't need to boost your post count by telling people what happens in your neck of the woods or what you saw in a movie last year if it isn't relevant to the question.

I really hope that you take these words and rules to heart. Many of you are under the age of 17 and have a skewed view of the world around you. As a brilliant professor once said, many people under the age of 21 have a personality that is 50% Entitlement and 50% Resentment. You believe that you are entitled to do whatever you want, say whatever you want, whenever you want, and that you should get whatever you want, and frankly, you resent the fact that other people disagree.