[Openme-developers] A word or two about flaming

[Oliver D. B. <oli...@ma...>]

I found a nice post at another community about flaming and masking posts =
in general. I think we should try to follow this myself included. Its =
hard to follow these things but we will get less irritated on each =
others

A Word (or Two) About Flaming
Simply put: resist the urge to start or participate in a flame war. =
Nobody likes being attacked or embarrassed in public and will therefore =
respond in kind. When you include personal attacks in your posts, the =
intelligent exchange of viewpoints gets lost in an emotional exchange of =
hostility. Flame wars accomplish nothing but dividing the community into =
opposing sides. The "discussion" follows a fairly predictable path and =
often results in the participants appearing very childish: "You're =
lying"/"No, you're lying", "If you bothered to read my post, that is not =
what I said", etc.=20

Here are some suggestions to avoid a flame war:

1) Use emoticons to help the reader better understand your intended =
meaning. This is especially important when using humour, sarcasm, or =
other subtle word play. An "obvious" bit of humour to the writer may not =
be so obvious to the reader. Keep in mind that to many people here at =
the Guild, English is a second language.

2) In a disagreement, focus on the issue, not the individual. For =
example, "The problem I see with that idea is..." is much better for =
constructive dialog than is "Are you really stupid enough not to see the =
problem with your moronic idea?"

3) If you need to vent your anger, do so in an email to a friend or post =
it in a private clan forum, but remain civil in your posts at the Guild. =
Think of it as a high tech way of screaming into a pillow.

4) If you absolutely must confront an individual, do so via email, chat, =
another forum, or some other form of communication. First, people are =
more civil when they are not concerned about saving face in public or =
strutting for an audience. Second, the vast majority of the Guild =
members don't care to be involved in or even read flame exchanges.