Reminder: Address the Post Not the Poster

[AHF]

Have seen an increase in personal attacks here over the last week that is likely a product of the high stakes for the Hawks adding a bit of pressure to the room.  All of us feel frustration with other posters from time to time but when you feel that urge please take a step back.  Focus on the big picture that we are all Hawks fans here.  Focus on the positives for the fan base with the team performing like this.  Focus on remembering that this last year has been crazy and we could all use a bit more patience with one another.

But if none of that works, remember to focus on the post and not the poster.  When people start talking about the poster that is invariably when things go awry.  Not all comments about other posters violate the site rules but 99% of things that violate the site rules are comments on other posters.  You never need to talk about another poster in the context of refuting the point made in a post.  If someone claims Trae is a chucker, don't focus on them hating Trae - show the scoring efficiency numbers that Trae has put up.  If someone is making the case that Schlenk deserves to be fired, then don't call them an idiot but instead show what he has done to add value to this team and position it for success in the future.  Etc.  Most of us regret it when we lash out on a personal level and tell someone to go jump in a lake (or something less complimentary) so don't let that be you. 

Thanks Squawkers and go Hawks!

[benhillboy]

Yeah we’re much better than the name-calling and quick tempers.  I don’t even know of or follow any other standalone NBA team message boards but I know they can’t f&@k with the Squawk in terms of admin and posters.  No way.

[sturt]

Or, alternatively, consider doing what I do.

I can attest that not one of my PM discussions has gotten personal or mean-spirited. And generally speaking, most of them have been good, meaty exchanges.

There is something to be said for one-on-one conversation that doesn't get exposed to everyone else... some of whom... perhaps... may have a history of being predisposed/entertained to stoking embers into flames. Not every conversation is best conducted in public. Discernment is a good thing.

[thecampster]

1 hour ago, AHF said:

Have seen an increase in personal attacks here over the last week that is likely a product of the high stakes for the Hawks adding a bit of pressure to the room.  All of us feel frustration with other posters from time to time but when you feel that urge please take a step back.  Focus on the big picture that we are all Hawks fans here.  Focus on the positives for the fan base with the team performing like this.  Focus on remembering that this last year has been crazy and we could all use a bit more patience with one another.

But if none of that works, remember to focus on the post and not the poster.  When people start talking about the poster that is invariably when things go awry.  Not all comments about other posters violate the site rules but 99% of things that violate the site rules are comments on other posters.  You never need to talk about another poster in the context of refuting the point made in a post.  If someone claims Trae is a chucker, don't focus on them hating Trae - show the scoring efficiency numbers that Trae has put up.  If someone is making the case that Schlenk deserves to be fired, then don't call them an idiot but instead show what he has done to add value to this team and position it for success in the future.  Etc.  Most of us regret it when we lash out on a personal level and tell someone to go jump in a lake (or something less complimentary) so don't let that be you. 

Thanks Squawkers and go Hawks!

Here here! I 100% agree here and would never comment about another poster. Now that moose licking, back hair grooming, closet Boston fan @kg01  with his ignorant muffin opinions and immoral use of Lysol as deoderant is the one you have to watch

[kg01]

19 minutes ago, thecampster said:

Here here! I 100% agree here and would never comment about another poster. Now that moose licking, back hair grooming, closet Boston fan @kg01  with his ignorant muffin opinions and immoral use of Lysol as deoderant is the one you have to watch

"Lysol as deodorant"?

It's obviously mouthwash, sir.

[Final_quest]

Honestly it's confusing what crosses the line.  Since we are adults, adults need to be accountable not just for what they say but HOW they say it.  Posters acting like complete trolls deserve blow back.  I think there is a way to call attention to posters who are persistently negative and annoying while remaining professional and mature.  

That is part of life.  People want to act foolish and say whatever they want and then cry to mods when anyone makes light of what they say.  It feels like a teacher allowing a bully to taunt the entire class and then getting upset with the class for calling the bully out.  

At the risk of upsetting mods I think there is a limit to what a poster can say without expecting anyone to comment on them specifically.  This cuts both ways.  We cheer on Hawksquawk posters who go on Real GM to call out absurd and ridiculous posters on their boards.  But on this forum that is taboo?  It's confusing.  

[Atlantaholic]

2 minutes ago, Final_quest said:

Honestly it's confusing what crosses the line.  Since we are adults, adults need to be accountable not just for what they say but HOW they say it.  Posters acting like complete trolls deserve blow back.  I think there is a way to call attention to posters who are persistently negative and annoying while remaining professional and mature.  

That is part of life.  People want to act foolish and say whatever they want and then cry to mods when anyone makes light of what they say.  It feels like a teacher allowing a bully to taunt the entire class and then getting upset with the class for calling the bully out.  

At the risk of upsetting mods I think there is a limit to what a poster can say without expecting anyone to comment on them specifically.  This cuts both ways.  We cheer on Hawksquawk posters who go on Real GM to call out absurd and ridiculous posters on their boards.  But on this forum that is taboo?  It's confusing.  

Yup, I kind of agree here. Some posters make everything about themselves and then when they get egg all over their face they come back and scream how unfair it is they get called out. Whatever, best to just ignore them regardless. 

[thecampster]

9 minutes ago, Atlantaholic said:

Yup, I kind of agree here. Some posters make everything about themselves and then when they get egg all over their face they come back and scream how unfair it is they get called out. Whatever, best to just ignore them regardless. 

[AHF]

11 minutes ago, Final_quest said:

Honestly it's confusing what crosses the line.  Since we are adults, adults need to be accountable not just for what they say but HOW they say it.  Posters acting like complete trolls deserve blow back.  I think there is a way to call attention to posters who are persistently negative and annoying while remaining professional and mature.  

That is part of life.  People want to act foolish and say whatever they want and then cry to mods when anyone makes light of what they say.  It feels like a teacher allowing a bully to taunt the entire class and then getting upset with the class for calling the bully out.  

At the risk of upsetting mods I think there is a limit to what a poster can say without expecting anyone to comment on them specifically.  This cuts both ways.  We cheer on Hawksquawk posters who go on Real GM to call out absurd and ridiculous posters on their boards.  But on this forum that is taboo?  It's confusing.  

I'll be perfectly frank because this is a good question.  Navigating that line is a challenge for the moderators too.  The one thing I'll say is that the more you focus on what that person posted and the less you focus on them as an individual the better off you will be.

Like if I claimed that Gwu was going to be the worst rookie in the draft class and then clowned him when he was injured to start the year that is fair game to call me out for being wrong.  Quote my post and say why you think it is obviously proven wrong, etc.  All that is fair game.

Going on to call me an idiot or tell me I am a terrible person or that I'm not a real Hawk fan or that I am a troll, etc. is where things can become problematic and move from essentially calling out absurd and ridiculous posts to personally attacking the poster.

I would say as a general guideline that calling out "absurd and ridiculous" posts is generally not going to create any issues.  If I said the Hawks were going to finish with the worst record in the East then bring that prediction right back and say how far off the reservation it turned out to be but then going on to question my intelligence, etc. is a problem.   When it moves from bashing the bad posts to bashing the poster is where the moderators are much more likely to conclude they need to intervene.  Red flags on this are personal insults, constant repetition that can cross into something harassing, assuming motives for someone else, etc.  

In most cases on this site, people eat their crow when they are wrong and own that mistake but we do have instances where posters are unwilling to acknowledge that they made a mistake.  This is where it can be really frustrating - especially when that poster beat the drum on their original view incessantly and it feels like there should be some kind of reckoning ala Trae's statement about the apology needing to be as loud as the disrespect.  But when you are confronted with that type of stubbornness, I'd ask you to do your best to focus on the post itself and keep the focus on that rather than shifting to the personal qualities of the poster.

The end goal is to make this a place where people can enjoy some robust conversations about the Atlanta Hawks and we want an environment where there is a level of common courtesy and baseline respect for one another.  There isn't a one size fits all solution for the moderations in these situations so we try to deal with each one along these lines.

[Sothron]

39 minutes ago, Final_quest said:

Honestly it's confusing what crosses the line.  Since we are adults, adults need to be accountable not just for what they say but HOW they say it.  Posters acting like complete trolls deserve blow back.  I think there is a way to call attention to posters who are persistently negative and annoying while remaining professional and mature.  

That is part of life.  People want to act foolish and say whatever they want and then cry to mods when anyone makes light of what they say.  It feels like a teacher allowing a bully to taunt the entire class and then getting upset with the class for calling the bully out.  

At the risk of upsetting mods I think there is a limit to what a poster can say without expecting anyone to comment on them specifically.  This cuts both ways.  We cheer on Hawksquawk posters who go on Real GM to call out absurd and ridiculous posters on their boards.  But on this forum that is taboo?  It's confusing.  

Completely agree. We have at least two well known trolls on this site. They only show up to post negative crap and to annoy and pester real fans. I think it is more than fair play to call them out on it. 

[macdaddy]

I'll just add that i hope as Hawks fans we can consider the big picture for the next week or two and that's that this should be the most enjoyable time really ever for us to be Hawks fans and be on this board.   So I'm trying not to get in anything to detract from that.  Even on twitter.  

[thecampster]

36 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

I'll just add that i hope as Hawks fans we can consider the big picture for the next week or two and that's that this should be the most enjoyable time really ever for us to be Hawks fans and be on this board.   So I'm trying not to get in anything to detract from that.  Even on twitter.  

See "The good JuJu thread".

[Dynamo]

Peace and harmony.

[Jdawgflow]

Ignore poster function is golden.

[Spud2nique]

On 6/30/2021 at 10:24 AM, sturt said:

good, meaty exchanges.

 

[Thomas]

Fighting the never ending downward spirals sometimes is really difficult. Will try to be a consistently good soldier moving forward but, well you know. Other side of the coin is we have taken two games in the ECF and still have a chance to take the whole thing.

[kg01]

Imma save you the trouble, AH , and bann myself.  Can't deal with some of the trassh we're gonna see from Hawk fans(sic) in the aftermath.

[RandomFan]

6 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Imma save you the trouble, AH , and bann myself.  Can't deal with some of the trassh we're gonna see from Hawk fans(sic) in the aftermath.

The ignore function is amazing, just sayin.