Did you just change the signature rule? If so, I appreciate that and so should the person who made this thread.

Now, putting my head on the guillotine, what about the issue of atmosphere that some of us have complained about? Another ongoing thread indicates that many visitors to this site probably go into increasing avoid mode if unhappy with things, me included. I'm mostly here to have fun discussing music, and I think I'm a typical non-spammy visitor in that sense, moderately sensitive and not here to "outgrow" that or put up with much in exchange for music talk. "Rudeness" and "insulting posts" cover the main concerns of mine, so why are many such posts seemingly tolerated? Moderators mostly wait for users to report such posts? I would think the business purpose of this site involves maximizing legitimate traffic, and hostility undermines traffic. I can say that such posts tend to breed each other.

No, the links in signatures thing has been like that since even I joined in 2009, and probably before that also.

Most people are here to have fun discussing music and other topics for fun as well. So many posts that are deemed "insulting" are left up because either:

A) We don't see them. Not every moderator regularly visits every thread, myself included. I don't actually participate in aspects of the forum that don't interest me (i.e. Electronica), so if someone breaks the rules in there, I probably won't see it. That's what the "report post" button is for. When a post is reported, I see it in my New Posts feed and then deal with it accordingly.

On top of all that, the posts usually are not deleted but rather the offending user is given an infraction or is banned for x amount of time. Whatever action is taken is done so at the moderators discretion.

B) The insult in question is a petty jab at something or someone. Removing EVERYTHING that seems offensive, even slightly so, then that creates a censored atmosphere where nobody can really speak their minds. If we policed and censored every post made, and deleted ones we think might offend someone, nobody would want to remain active on the website.

It's all about balance.

I really expected this thread to die out after last week. I should learn not to be surprised about these things...

Without wanting to rekindle old issues and reopen wounds, wisdom, let's be honest here: your reception here by many people, myself included, was a direct reaction to your own attitude, which came across (right or wrong) as superior, arrogant and intransigent. It's not that people were being rude to you for no reason --- although that's no excuse I accept --- but you did attract that treatment through your own unwillingness to listen and discuss, and to just push your own opinion.

Like I say, I'm not looking for round 2, just wanted to set the record straight. Do unto others is, I think, a good axiom to apply to your behaviour in forums like this, and not a bad motto to live your life by, when it comes down to it.

And Yac: that avatar could crush us all! HAIL! :) :bowdown: (It's like being visited by God!)

While we state that we do not tolerate rudeness and insulting posts, it's difficult to enforce that rule in a rigid way without oppressing freedom of expression as a whole. We do have lines that we draw, but ultimately it's up to the moderator to assess the situation and make a judgment about whether removing posts and/or disciplining members is necessary.
More often than not, occasions where our regular members outright insult someone else, whether intentionally or not, are relatively rare. More often than not, however, accusations of rudeness are a matter of interpretation, and it's usually better for staff to let members work through their differences without needing to constantly dictate the terms of people's interactions with one another.

If you ask me, that would be more harmful to a community than anything. Obviously, we take care of problematic members straight away. But we'd rather let individuals prove themselves as such, rather than oppress their expression by default in an attempt to ensure that they never get the opportunity to make a mistake at all.
We give people the chance to make mistakes and recover from them on their own. Having to arbitrate every instance is not only insulting to the members here, but not conducive to an environment that promotes honest discussion and expression.

Personally I think the only insults to look out for are direct, not indirect. Like name-calling. That's about it...

I know I agree and I know we're not the only ones. Perhaps those of us who feel this way could report more of the posts we find insulting? I usually don't report insulting posts simply because they're often not worse than the posts the mods let slide, but perhaps I (we) should.

But a person can get around that. Like instead of you saying "you are an idiot" you can say "...like an idiot" It's the same difference, the basic idea is still being communicated but one is direct, & the other is indirect, and implied. It just the hot head will go out and speak his mind and say "you are an idiot." The one's who use indirect insults just know how to side step something that would could them in trouble.

Either way I find a person who has to uses cussing while arguing just boring. If I post something 'I like The Beatles, their songs contained a lot of chords!' and someone comes along and replies to me "The Beatles don't know fuck all about chords!" Well to me that kind of diatribe is the death knell of any intellectual dialogue. It's not worth it. And tbh I would rather someone say "F U 'cawz da beetles sux!" than having to suffer by someone using idiotic phrases like "fuck all" and see someone using obscenity to act like they are cooler and tougher than you on the internet.

How is "like an idiot" indirect? It seems to still imply a label directly to the user comparing them to an idiot. I don't really see the difference between are one and like one.

Something I think could potentially have a positive impact on forum culture is if moderation is more visible. On a couple of the more moderated forums I've been where atmosphere in general was respectful and friendly, moderators would often edit posts rather than delete them and then leave a message in that post saying it had been moderated and that participants in the discussion should change their tone. That gives a very clear message that someone is in fact paying attention to what goes on, not just to the offender, but to everyone who reads that post.