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Harmonic's Guide To Posting on The Forums

Harmonic Revelations

Entry posted by Harmonic Revelations

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The following expresses only the opinion of the author, not necessarily that of the staff or the users.

 

This is my guide to posting on the forums. I know that some of you cringed at the thought of some people taking my advice on posting on the forums, don't worry about it, take some anteacid and just relax. It's just for people who want a little advice on how to post, in an easy numbered list for easy viewing. I'm not plotting to destroy anyone at the moment, so you are safe.

 

If you follow this simple guide you to can both be a reputable and valuable member of the forums while simultaneously decreasing the work load of the moderators.

 

#1: Respect your fellow forumites

This is one that a lot of people need to take to heart. The problem with not doing this is not as prevalent on this forum as it is on others I've seen, but the problem still emerges from time to time, so I'm going to talk about it.

 

You know how it happens, you're reading through a thread and someone may say something a bit unusual and then someone comes and drills them about it. There is a fine line between correcting someone and being a complete dick, and it's a line that you need to understand before you post in any debate. The line is respect, if you do not understand what respect means to me, or how to spell respect, then you have no childhood.

 

But you know what's an even worse and more despicable? Drilling someone for a harmless opinion. I've seen it happen, someone gingerly posts in a thread and within an hour the entire thread is a war zone. I can understand being a bit upset if someone says something that's a bit offensive, but you have to remember, it's no better to point them out on it. It's best to report them for abusive behavior, because chances are if it offends you, one of a few things are true;

 

A.) Other People are offended to (Report them)

 

B.) You're overreacting or misunderstanding the post (Make sure you understand what you're reading before calling judgement)

 

Because of B, many times people who get offended by an opinion are at no fault but their own for their anger or sadness.

 

Remember when posting that there are very real people behind every username here, and that they too have lives and feelings.

 

#2: Don't Derail Threads

Absolutely one of the easiest offenses you can make, making a pointless or off-topic post that ends up derailing a thread. Not only is doing that disrespectful to the OP, but it's not going to do anything but make you look like a fool. Making a joke is okay, if it's relevant. But do not go into a thread about the meat industry and start spurting jokes about rocket controlled flying potted plants. If you have something you need to say to someone, and it has nothing to do with the thread, I can help you out with a simple link.

 

Send them a PM:

http://mlpforums.com/index.php?app=members&module=messaging&section=send&do=form

 

If it's something that doesn't need to be said to anyone in particular, and may be a bit silly/doesn't fit anywhere else, feel free to use the forum lounge:

 

http://mlpforums.com/forum/46-forum-lounge/

 

At the very least, try to remember that the OP made whatever thread they did for a reason, and you'd be doing the entire community a disservice by trying to derail the discussion.

 

#3:Don't make posts that tell people to brohoof

 

This is going to be a short description since it's fairly simple, and it's a mistake I see a bunch of new posters making. Do not tell people to brohoof your posts, not only does it make you look desperate but I for one NEVER brohoof a post that says to, even if I would have if it did not have that bit of request at the end. And chances are, believe it or not, if you have to retroactively tell people to like your post it's probably not a very good post to begin with. People will brohoof a post if they like it, it doesn't need some kind of prompt to do it.

 

#4:Don't discredit other people/news for no reason

 

You know what I'm talking about. In a thread about good news, there is a guy who will say how it could have been better or how it's part of some secret conspiracy to replace us all with clones of Tom Hanks.

While they may or may not be right, they are just being jerks by doing that, unless they word it a very specific way. Because unless you think about what you're typing, you could sound to be insulting a person or group that has legitimately done a good deed.

 

And as you all know, receiving criticism for saving puppies from a burning building does not make the recipient of said criticism feel good. It also makes you look like an insensitive prick, especially if the person posting the criticism has never done such a deed themselves.

 

Someone does not deserve criticism for donating to the rebuilding of an orphanage, and for some reason, some people seem to find that surprising, or at least their posting history implies such surprise.

 

#5:Don't preach doom

This is the one that happens all the time on these forums, and you know what I'm talking about. Twilicorn caused this on a biblical level; if you're not familiar with such things, a doom sayer's post most likely reads like some variation of this:

 

"Guys, we have just received news that a minor plot arc is taking effect. One that nobody knows anything about except the basic outline. We all know what this means, the end of the fandom. Guys, I'm sorry about this, but I'm going to have to leave because I am a drama queen/Attention-seeker"

 

At least, that is how I read such posts. I'm sure a lot of you read them the same way. You know why? Because most of the time, these people are attention-seekers or just being dramatic for the sake of it.

You know what the best way to deal with changes to the show is? Wait until they happen to pass judgement.

 

It's the equivalent of if Game Informer had released a review of Halo 4 saying it was the worst game ever made four months before it's release. There's no way such predictions can be accurate.

 

#6:Use proper grammar and spelling (To the best of your ability)

 

This is not asking you to be Einstein and be a super genius master of the English language, but please, when you post, leave your text-speak at the door and put on your proper English. You do not need to post immaculate strings of text that rival the works of Shakespear, you need to type on such a level that people know what you're saying.

 

The average violator of this makes posts that read something like this:

 

"OMG Guaze u no dat 4 3 yers i wuz eh enngrish teechair butt i god shott oouwt de w1nd0ww width eh bulldozer becuze mi classe cud knot stend me"

 

I know that if English is not your first language, it can be tough, but please, if your post is so bad that when you run it through spell check it looks like the red tide because of all the red wavy lines, then please, do not post it. I'm almost one hundred percent sure that if you take your time posting you can do better. If you can't do better, improve your English before posting.

 

#7:Do not be raunchy, disgusting, or vulgar

This is one that very specific users are responsible for. I won't name names because I'm a nice person, but I'm just going to describe it.

 

This has become increasingly prevalent in Forum Lounge and I'm sure the mods do not appreciate it. We do not need graphic descriptions (Or worse, PICTURES) of sex or extreme violence. We do not want extreme detail in your text about sexual encounters. Leave that outside the forum. Usually, sexual innuendo is okay, maybe even a joke about it here or there, but not anything extreme, and do not target a specific user.

 

It can be okay to make mature jokes, but do not dedicate a thread to things that are best left elsewhere. I AM going to point out a particular group that's responsible for this, the #Yiff group. Please, for the love of God, leave that shit at the door, or take it to furaffinity. Nobody wants to hear about your fetishes on this site, and even if they did, discussing it off-site is the best course of action. The reason of course I pointed out #Yiff is that's a blatant offender of this. Mainly because such topics can be ideologically offensive to a large number of people.

 

I'm not targeting it because I'm against the people in such groups, but the thing is, that does not belong here, on this site. There is a good reason why making NSFW posts earns you at least 800 warning points. If you cannot stop making vulgar posts, this probably isn't the best place for you.

 

______________________

Follow this guide and you to may one day be a very reputable member of the forums

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Shanks

Respecting other members isn't always easy because there is a small handful that can be complete jackasses, but since there are far fewer of those on this forum than others I have been on it is much easier. And what also helps is I often remember when I was a moderator on another site and had to deal with this sort of thing, and it is not exactly on my list of fun things to do.

 

I have only really seen derailment on this forum in particularly contentious threads though I am sure the random spammer phenomenon does happen every now and then. And posts asking people to brohoof to me is more a minor annoyance than anything else, I don't brohoof all that often myself so when I do it is a pretty big complement.

 

I didn't really like being called a homophobic, racist ect in this one thread about the election a few months back and then having this user effectively spit in my face when I tried to reach out to him. And being lumped in with the few people who made death threats about Derpy didn't make me very happy either, if I had to that over again I would reported the bastard and moved on instead of blowing up and contributing to a flame war. So agreed completely, don't discredit people for no reason especially if you have no proof.

 

I may have been against twilicorn and still am but even I and most critics acknowledge that it is too soon to tell whether it will work or not but this one user in particular who I will not name seems to keep posting more and more sensationalist threads about it. Seriously, it is all this guy ever talks about.

 

I will admit my punctuation isn't exactly perfect and I can make the occasional typo but there was one user who had such bad grammer that I could hardly understand what he was actually trying to say which was a bit of annoyance to me especially because it was a debate thread.

 

I will admit that I have told the occasional innuendo filled joke, I was famous for that in high school but I really don't understand why somebody would want to post graphic pictures on here when half the users here don't want to see that.

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Harmonic Revelations

Respecting other members isn't always easy because there is a small handful that can be complete jackasses, but since there are far fewer of those on this forum than others I have been on it is much easier. And what also helps is I often remember when I was a moderator on another site and had to deal with this sort of thing, and it is not exactly on my list of fun things to do.

 

I have only really seen derailment on this forum in particularly contentious threads though I am sure the random spammer phenomenon does happen every now and then. And posts asking people to brohoof to me is more a minor annoyance than anything else, I don't brohoof all that often myself so when I do it is a pretty big complement.

 

I didn't really like being called a homophobic, racist ect in this one thread about the election a few months back and then having this user effectively spit in my face when I tried to reach out to him. And being lumped in with the few people who made death threats about Derpy didn't make me very happy either, if I had to that over again I would reported the bastard and moved on instead of blowing up and contributing to a flame war. So agreed completely, don't discredit people for no reason especially if you have no proof.

 

I may have been against twilicorn and still am but even I and most critics acknowledge that it is too soon to tell whether it will work or not but this one user in particular who I will not name seems to keep posting more and more sensationalist threads about it. Seriously, it is all this guy ever talks about.

 

I will admit my punctuation isn't exactly perfect and I can make the occasional typo but there was one user who had such bad grammer that I could hardly understand what he was actually trying to say which was a bit of annoyance to me especially because it was a debate thread.

 

I will admit that I have told the occasional innuendo filled joke, I was famous for that in high school but I really don't understand why somebody would want to post graphic pictures on here when half the users here don't want to see that.

On the topic of respecting members, if they have a legitimate opinion that you may disagree with, live with it. If they have an opinion specifically to be offensive, that's worth reporting.

 

I too have experience moderating and even administrating on forums,so I know it can be tough to deal with every instance of disrespect. That's why I think it's better if users at least try to be as respectful as they can in all instances, it just helps give the moderators less work.

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