Appropriate negative posts: A tutorial

Whistle
1

There’s a little controversy going on another C&F board about negative posts. I wrote this for that board, but I thought it might be useful to the other boards.



Ok. So, today it occurred to me that there might be a way to establish a guideline about negative posts that had not occurred before. Controversies about negative posting have occurred on other C&F boards. I have been accused of not liking negative posts. This is untrue. I really do think it is a good service for people to share a range of positive and negative opinions and positive and negative experiences with various products. Here are some examples:

Acceptable post: “I had difficulties with Maker X. He promised delivery in two months and, when I did not receive the product in four months, he did not respond to three emails…(etc.). When I got the product, I felt it was not suitable for me. The doo-hickey key was out of alignment and the walls were too thin, etc.”

Perfectly acceptable. It give details. It is not second hand. It is not vague. And, this is critical: it allows a discerning reader to decide for herself whether she would consider these to be things SHE would regard as a problem. She might not be bothered by late shipments. She might like her doo-hickey key out of line. She might like thin walls, etc.

Unacceptable post: “I’ve heard bad things about Maker X.”

It is vague, 2nd hand, and useless to the reader. It might lead people, unnecessarily and unfairly, to avoid Maker X. In the absence of information, people tend to assume the worse.

Unacceptable post: “I’ve had problems with this maker and I’m not prepared to go into details.”

Then, respectfully, don’t post. It’s unfair. It creates a negative impression which is wholly without support.

Acceptable post: “McFadden’s whistles require too much air for my taste, and the materials are a bit too inexpensive.”

It’s an opinion. It’s free speech. It gives the reader some information.

Unacceptable post: “McFadden’s whistles are crap.”

Ill-mannered, unfounded, unsupported, provocative and useless to the reader.

Does this help?

2

Crystal clear, Dale.

Jef

3

From the very first, Acme whistles have
caused me nothing but misery.

4

Abuse and attack me,
I still won’t play an Acme!

Not even if you smack me…

5

I heard they’re pure crap.

6

That’s because you weren’t using the correct fingering. :smiley:

7

oops. that was in reply to Jim’s first post. looks kind of peculiar in this context.

8

Acme whistles cause leprosy.
This is my last post because
my fingers are falinng o

9

Does this help?

No.

Not everybody wants to be sunshine and radiate good comments all the time and not everybody has time or the will to sit and state all the reasons they dislike something. You may just want to state your dislike for XYZ whistle, and nothing more. Those who want to simply say ‘This whistle is crap’ and not give reasons should be allowed to say that.

It’s up to YOU (meaning the person reading) to decide if that’s valid or not. There’s little point in trying to tell people what to say or how to say it, because it just doesn’t work, ever.

My $0.02.

10

Just switched to voice activated software.

Well, perhaps, Cranberry, you’re reading Dale as being sterner
than he means to be. Nobody is expecting anybody
to have only positive or sunshiny comments, or even
to write down all their reasons for disliking
something. (I’ve only stated a few of my
reasons for disliking Acme whistles, in fact.)

Guidelines don’t need to disallow people from saying things,
or tell them what to say. Rather they give
information about what’s most skillful
and least destructive–at least from the
point of view of the people who run
the board, who are entitled to encourage
us to communicate in ways that aren’t
unfair and don’t get them into trouble.
Of course it’s assumed that the people
on the boards are reasonably intelligent,
fair-minded, and want chiffandfipple
to flourish.

Over the years guidelines like these have
been reasonably successful,
in fact; though new people replace
the old and sometimes it needs
to be said again.

Acme whistles, by the way,
are produced by children chained to
machines in an underground dungeon
in New Jersey. On the other hand,
the second octave is balanced
and not shrill. Minimal clogging.

11

Well, now that I’ve heard more about them, I think it may have been a different whistle. Maybe it was Emca whistles that are supposed to be pure crap. I distinctly remember the crap whistles were produced by children chained to machines in Normal, Tennessee, not New Jersey. And they clog a lot, I heard. Definitely a different whistle.

BTW, Cranberry, the penguins arrived today. I thank you and my refrigerator thanks you.

12

Cranberry, don’t bite the hand that feeds you.
When the man who runs the board states procedure for negative posts explaining how and why… you’re left with two options.

13

Yes, Acme’'s aren’t Emcas, not by a long shot.
Of course in both cases the price is low,
this being one of the principal attractions
of slave labor. Kids eat less, too.

14

I think it was the slave labor thing that threw me off.

I remember hearing that the crap whistles were made by child slave labor. But from what you’re saying, it sounds like, except for both whistles being made by child slave labor and being cheap, Acme whistles are almost the exact opposite of Emca whistles.

15

Dude. Did ANYTHING in my post, including the examples of acceptable posts, look like the “sunshine and..good comments” category to you?

And, if you don’t have time or the will to elaborate on negative posts, don’t post them. This is a pretty free-wheeling board but I’d remind you that it still has owners.

Thanks to everybody else for their support.

Oh, and by the way, Acme whistles are a little too generic for my taste.

16

Cranberry, don’t bite the hand that feeds you.
When the man who runs the board states procedure for negative posts explaining how and why… you’re left with two options.

I’m not biting the hand that feeds me. I’m pointing out what I don’t think anybody else will. The rules, regulations, suggestions, whatever you want to call them don’t work.

If you don’t believe me, look at the rules for comercial posts (in the Announcements Forum). You’re not ‘allowed’ to respond to commercial posts, but people do it all the time with no qualms, and it’s also against the official rules to bump your own commercial thread more than once, etc. There are lots of ‘rules’ regarding what you can and can’t say, and people disregard them and say what they want, which is a good thing.

17

Some guidelines are always necessary.

18

Cran,

Even though there may not be absolute, lockstep adherence to every detail of every rule, there is a definite spirit of civility on this board that the rules do foster.

The occasional transgressions you note, of the letter of the rules, don’t prove the rules “don’t work.” I think they work very well.

Best wishes,
Jerry

P.S. Sometimes I get the sense, Cranberry, that you feel the world’s against you. You may have justification for feeling that way in general, but not every comment or guideline that comes along is part of the conspiracy. As far as I can tell, pretty much whatever you want to say is welcome on this board, even if Dale does have some suggestions for ways to keep the board relatively civil. As I’ve said before, and I’ll say again as many times as it takes – I think you’re a great person, and I value your friendship. Hang in there.

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Are sure it’s pure? :smiley: :smiley:

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P.S. Sometimes I get the sense, Cranberry, that you feel the world’s against you. You may have justification for feeling that way in general, but not every comment or guideline that comes along is part of the conspiracy. As far as I can tell, pretty much whatever you want to say is welcome on this board, even if Dale does have some suggestions for ways to keep the board relatively civil. As I’ve said before, and I’ll say again as many times as it takes – I think you’re a great person, and I value your friendship. Hang in there.

Me thinking this guideline won’t work has nothing to do with the whole world being out to get me, LOL. I just don’t think it will work, and I said so.