Forum etiquette

[2Sirius]

I'm fairly new to online forums, and I'm just curious about etiquette. I had assumed that the rules would be the same as if we were all standing in the same room face to face, but I'm not sure.

If I answer someone's question, do I need to acknowledge the person who asked it? In other words, do I need to quote the question, list who asked it, and then answer the question?

If someone answers my question, do I need to acknowledge their answer with a thank you, etc?

If I post an opinion and someone posts a reply that disagrees with me, is it considered a snub to just completely ignore that post, or should I at least acknowledge that they answered? In a face to face conversation, completely ignoring someone as if they never spoke would be considered a deliberate attempt to provoke that person. I don't want to be polite to the point of being obsequious, but I don't want to deliberately or even unintentionally hurt someone else's feelings, either.

[arcon]

I think it would be very labor intensive to answer everyone
on an individual basis. You can try to......but if you get a lot of hits/responses it could take some time. Sometimes if you dont respond to a post its not really a problem unless the person is asking a question or directing a comment to you personally then i would think if thats the case - it might very well provoke or offend the person if you totally ignored them and (then) moved on to answer or respond to someone else.
A bit of common sense can be applied here and things can go
smooth.
go for it!

p.s. in many cases people just post their opinion on the subject
matter and dont expect a personal response from the thread creator. If they get a response ...hey! thats cool.

[lochinvar]

2Sirius:

If you answer someone's question it's usually obvious to whom you are addressing your remarks. If there's a possibility of confusion (such as there have been several posts between question and answer), then use the person's onscreen name--as I did above, for illustration--to clarify where your answer/comments are directed.

You don't need to acknowledge everyone's response, although if it was particularly helpful it's a nice gesture to say "thanks".

Ignoring responses is par for the course. Life is too short to respond to everything, and most people realize and accept it and don't take offense. Many times they aren't really looking for a direct response, anyway--they might simply be using the forum as a handy soapbox. That's okay, too.

Sometimes, when people say things you think are provocative, they just might be doing it deliberately. There are some people who do that, just to get a reaction--like knocking on the glass of a fish tank or poking an animal to get it to move. (Online bulletin boards are particularly susceptible to these people, and they're generically and collectively known as "trolls"). Under those circumstances, silence may be the best answer.

To paraphrase a chauvinist saying, "Trolls always have the last word in any arguement--because anything you say after that becomes the beginning of the next arguement."

[2Sirius]

Thanks, arcon and lochinvar.

[arcon]

youre welcome!

[OCTAVIA]

Originally posted by 2Sirius
I'm fairly new to online forums, and I'm just curious about etiquette. I had assumed that the rules would be the same as if we were all standing in the same room face to face, but I'm not sure.

If I answer someone's question, do I need to acknowledge the person who asked it? In other words, do I need to quote the question, list who asked it, and then answer the question?

If someone answers my question, do I need to acknowledge their answer with a thank you, etc?

If I post an opinion and someone posts a reply that disagrees with me, is it considered a snub to just completely ignore that post, or should I at least acknowledge that they answered? In a face to face conversation, completely ignoring someone as if they never spoke would be considered a deliberate attempt to provoke that person. I don't want to be polite to the point of being obsequious, but I don't want to deliberately or even unintentionally hurt someone else's feelings, either.

My 2C and btw/thanks Arcon, hail, etc, mighty king. I agree, that some posters enjoy responding to lots of posts, and that's because they're more sociable, there are other posters who feel that it's too much, but they're more critical, I like the board with lots of threads with lots of posts, it's more sociable.

[Soldier]

Now here's a perfect example of a board etiquette question:

Is (Mango, OCTAVIA, dreadfoil, The_Claw, its_me_mango, etc.)'s random and irrelevant style of posting actually rude?

[2Sirius]

Soldier,

Because you asked:

I think some of Octavia's postings (thanks for your 2c worth BTW, Octavia) may be slightly off-target, sometimes irrelevant, and maybe downright weird on occasion, but for the length of time I've been reading postings here (admittedly, not very long), I've never seen her intentionally try to hurt anyone. I don't think she's rude unless she's actually trying to disrupt a thread by being strange. That's a possibility, I suppose, but it's a subtle kind of rudeness, if so.

[arcon]

2sirius

Some people who post here have a persona or certain
intentional personality that they portray. This often conflicts with
those that are: ........excuse the expression ....too serious.
Ill bet in most cases(and i did say most) that these people could
meet in RLT(real life time) and actually get along fine.
Its like this.......some may post to be cute....some playful.....
some as Smart a's(and they know it) some post for their ego
Now, really! Do fencers have egos? naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
some post to be sarcastic .....Yes im guilty of this. 20 lashes at dawn, have me walk the plank. arrrrrrrrrrrrrgg!
And then there are just the realists. They post to keep the brain
active, get other opinions, learn things, etc. Most everyone on
the site to some degree will post for these latter reasons. Its
obvious when you compare the Fencing Discussion section with
the other sections of the site. Its no different from other more
traditional aspects of society life. Its just people being people-
Liking some and disliking others.
Believe me! I should know.
Mango gets a bad rap sometimes.
thanks for being a man and taking up for her.
Shes a bit strange at times but, hey! so am I.

The arcon

[arcon]

hmmmmmm, just dawned on me that i dont know if youre male
or female. Not an issue of course but if youre female then
ill put it this way. "thanks for having the guts to take up for Mango"

[2Sirius]

Arcon,

I could tell you, but then I'd have to...

No, dang it, my other posts elsewhere have betrayed me. I'm male, married, with kids, and old enough to be worried about what's considered polite on an internet forum.

[arcon]

youre concerned. We've had our fair share of "flames" on here.
Most of mine have been in the Fantasy section long ago.
Craig does a good job keeping the site civil. He'll not mess with a
healthy strong debate but if it gos past the line he will step in.

[pkt]

2S,

I'm of the belief that a forum is about communicating. It's not just speaking one's mind - one can do that in front of a mirror or just talk to the walls. As a result, I personally try to address the person I'm responding to, and if a few posts have elapsed I'll qoute the post I'm responding to. That's just make things easy on everyone who reads whatever I write. That's just being considerate. That, to me, is worth spending the time to show one's appreciation of the other people sharing their opinion and time.

But then, I'm of the older generation, I'm an old ****, I'm in that regards, old fashioned. But if being old fashioned means treating others in a manner that I'd like to be treated, then so be it. "Do unto others,..."

I try to be gracious.

PK

[arcon]

Well said PK.