An Appeal for Civility

[Danny Neal]

People hate on you because you don't chase and you try to act like the all holy policeman. Its you "enthusiasts" who haven't earned any respect from the community yet feel the need to always chime in when there's a heated debate that pisses people off.

AMEN!!! It is ridiculous for him to continually try to moderate a discussion between seasoned chasers. If you look at the majority of his posts they are just nitpicking, calling other chasers mean and disruptive. It's no wonder why he has been kicked and ridiculed in all the other forums he has participated in. For two years I have been calling him out for doing this. For example if Lanny Dean and I get into a heated debate, I don't want or NEED some troll coming in and telling me to be nice or else he is reporting me. Enough is enough.

 

[Danny Neal]

I get involved when flaming and name calling starts. I don't care if that bothers you. If you are ok with members acting that way fine but I am not. I am tired of people defending them when they are some of the meanest hostile members of storm track. They have been acting this way for years.

From here on out I will just report the thread and not say anything at all.

What gives you the right? If you don't like what you see.... hit the report button and keep your mouth shut. People are mean and hostile because they may be having a heated discussion and then there you come along to mother them and tell them to stop. That in turn, turns all their aggression on you. Until I see MODERATOR or ADMINISTRATOR under your name then I will continue to call you out on it. Bottom line, hit the (!) and shut up if you don't have anything constructive to add. You bitch and moan about people being mean to you when all you do is poke the hungry bear in its' cage with a steak around your neck. I've done my homework on you Matthew, every time I see this I ask myself this can't be real he HAS to be doing this just to get a rise out of everyone. A simple google of the name "MatthewCarman" shows you on other weather forums doing the same thing, and when you get backlash you "take your ball away and go home" and bad mouth people. So you think Dick McGowan and Andrew Pritchard are mean, hostile, terrible people? I think you need to take a look in the mirror all holy one.....

And to save you trouble....... I already REPORTED my own post since I know you will anyway.

 

[MatthewCarman]

AMEN!!! It is ridiculous for him to continually try to moderate a discussion between seasoned chasers. If you look at the majority of his posts they are just nitpicking, calling other chasers mean and disruptive. It's no wonder why he has been kicked and ridiculed in all the other forums he has participated in. For two years I have been calling him out for doing this. For example if Lanny Dean and I get into a heated debate, I don't want or NEED some troll coming in and telling me to be nice or else he is reporting me. Enough is enough.

I have only been kicked from one forum. That's it.I have no intentions of reporting your post. You are not breaking the rules stating your oppinion. Take a deep breath and calm down.

 

[Tyler Allison]

And to save you trouble....... I already REPORTED my own post since I know you will anyway.

Now that's funny. I don't care who you are. You better say a prayer "Lord, I apologize for that, and be with the pygmies down in New Guinea."

 

[Jason Bolt]

I'm sure your talking about MC but the cool thing is I don't see any of his posts unless you quote him- I love the ignore button! It is probably the most underused feature on ST. Seriously, more people should use it. I don't see any posts from non-chasers, porch chasers, mooch chasers or the people that post in a DISC thread "this sucks man I can't chase today I don't have a ride". GAFB. Rah Rah storm chasing is becoming popular blah blah blah more members on here YIPPEE!!! Tempers flare when there is a constant stream of bullcrap posted from non-chasers. There is just no respect anymore. If we even get a discussion going anymore right in between insightful information from Rich T. and Mike U. will be three posts from non-chasers saying "man... dude... I hope I get to see sum kewl clouds". Mods: do something about that. Cut out the noise. Maybe it will keep the rest of us from being at each others throats. It used to be when a skilled chaser or met posted, people shut up and listened. New people: do that, shut up and listen.

Everyone else, again, do what I did. Ignore button- click, click, click. Stupid post about clouds they saw from their porch? Ignore. Someone you don't like? Ignore. Religious police that admittedly don't chase? Ignore. Try it. It works.

AMEN!!! It is ridiculous for him to continually try to moderate a discussion between seasoned chasers. If you look at the majority of his posts they are just nitpicking, calling other chasers mean and disruptive. It's no wonder why he has been kicked and ridiculed in all the other forums he has participated in. For two years I have been calling him out for doing this. For example if Lanny Dean and I get into a heated debate, I don't want or NEED some troll coming in and telling me to be nice or else he is reporting me. Enough is enough.

 

[Lanny Dean]

Now that's funny. I don't care who you are. You better say a prayer "Lord, I apologize for that, and be with the pygmies down in New Guinea."

LMAO....made my day with that post Tyler!! Good stuff!

 

[Stephen Levine]

Dan, is this directed at all members?
Before you give Joey or anyone else for that matter this type of ultimatum, IMO it might be a good idea to discuss this with Tim. You just might get what your asking for which could mean many many members dropping like flies. This what I was trying to hint at earlier.
IMO, Joey has just as much right to be posting/asking questions as the next guy and I don't think what he said was bad or meant in a bad way.

No offense Dan, but, this is exactly the kind of stuff I was refering to.
"Toeing the line"....I have delt with this kind of stuff all my life and to be honest it makes me sick.

My motive and intent for reading S.T. is to share a love of storms with other people who love storms. I would be quite happy to see the "flames" go away and with their disappearance, I would still remain a loyal reader and participant - and with less cringes as I read some of these posts.
I once read a book entitled "The Abusive Relationship". Name calling as well as negative sarcasm towards another are both forms of verbal abuse addressed by this book.
I for one agree with those who wish to see this forum an exchange of opinions and in a respectful manner.

 

[Bart_Comstock]

I propose a beer summit in Denver this year. Who's with me?

 

[Stephen Levine]

Another issue I would like to mention here that has not been addressed is the issue of safety. For instance, the gentleman who began a thread by asking for advice on setting up a tour.. Almost immediately it seemed that people were down on him. In truth with all the intense negativity in response to him, I did not feel safe putting out my thoughtful response to him on the public board, lest someone try to trash my words or me personally for whatever reason. So I sent him a P.M. and felt somewhat of a loss, as I would have felt happy to share at least some of my words on the public post so that othes might have been benefitted as well.

I would like to suggest that perhaps as name calling, disrespect, etc. increase as responses to perfectly innocent thread starters, that more and more people may feel unsafe participating in this forum, and I believe that this would be very tragic for a service set up that supports those of us who love and chase storms.

Back in the old days of hardcopy S.T. , I saw lots of joy, innocence and comeraderie as well as art in those magazines. Now there so frequently seems to be such a bitter edge; it would be great if we returned to the innocent joy of our hobby/passion/etc.

 

[Bob Hartig]

I propose a beer summit in Denver this year. Who's with me?

When you talk beer, I'm there! But Grand Rapids might be the place to have the summit. You just wouldn't believe how many top-quality craft brewers there are in West Michigan.

That being said, I hereby ban myself for going off-topic on my own post. Oh, wait a minute...different thread.

 

[Jacob Ferden]

Another issue I would like to mention here that has not been addressed is the issue of safety. For instance, the gentleman who began a thread by asking for advice on setting up a tour.. Almost immediately it seemed that people were down on him. In truth with all the intense negativity in response to him, I did not feel safe putting out my thoughtful response to him on the public board, lest someone try to trash my words or me personally for whatever reason. So I sent him a P.M. and felt somewhat of a loss, as I would have felt happy to share at least some of my words on the public post so that othes might have been benefitted as well.

I would like to suggest that perhaps as name calling, disrespect, etc. increase as responses to perfectly innocent thread starters, that more and more people may feel unsafe participating in this forum, and I believe that this would be very tragic for a service set up that supports those of us who love and chase storms.

Back in the old days of hardcopy S.T. , I saw lots of joy, innocence and comeraderie as well as art in those magazines. Now there so frequently seems to be such a bitter edge; it would be great if we returned to the innocent joy of our hobby/passion/etc.

This goes back to what Jason said: The ignore button is your friend.

 

[David Wolfson]

With respect to that discussion, Stephen, posters would have done well to re-read the rules regarding the discussion forums; or dare I say perhaps the mods might have done well to come down a little tighter -- sooner. Jeremy posed a perfectly good question and some posts got way off-track into chasing stylistics and creds. Just about everyone on ST at one time or another will post something silly, dumb, or ungenerous after one-too-many beers or Froot Loops. Jeremy's question deserved respect and consideration. If someone isn't up to giving that, or has nothing much to contribute, then just stay out of a discussion thread. IMHO.

 

[Jason Foster]

Yes, we should all get some civility in check....because promos for SCseason3 are hitting the air, and looks like we'll be see more "creative" discussion with each episode....you can count on that.

 

[Jason Boggs]

Another issue I would like to mention here that has not been addressed is the issue of safety. For instance, the gentleman who began a thread by asking for advice on setting up a tour.. Almost immediately it seemed that people were down on him.



Back in the old days of hardcopy S.T. , I saw lots of joy, innocence and comeraderie as well as art in those magazines. Now there so frequently seems to be such a bitter edge; it would be great if we returned to the innocent joy of our hobby/passion/etc.

People were down on him because he was now competition and a certain individual didn't like that. He was the enemy and was ridiculed for asking questions.

Back in the old days, chasers didn't chase form money and recognition. They chased because of the friendship and passion for storms. Nowdays, it's a dog eat dog world with all the competition and hunger to make money. The passion for chasing has been replaced by, how much money can I make today. It's terribly sad that chasing has come to this.

 

[Robert Dewey]

In truth with all the intense negativity in response to him, I did not feel safe putting out my thoughtful response to him on the public board, lest someone try to trash my words or me personally for whatever reason.

Feeling "unsafe" around a bunch of storm chaser nerds is about as bad as being afraid of the high-school chess club