Macrumors still nuking posts without even so much as a word

Colstan said:
It wasn't obvious to me initially, it became a gradual thing, but it's gotten to the point where I parse every damn thing I say over there, like I'm writing my lawyer or Congressman, and not a tech message board. I say this as someone who generally tries to find comity, and has never interacted with the MR mods, but repeatedly held my tongue around the ne'er-do-wells and agitators that pervade that forum. Over here, I say whatever comes to mind, because I don't feel like I'm under the proverbial microscope, which I'm not.
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Yeah I quit feeling like I could even post remarks in the Books thread about any nonfiction I was reading. I don't have time to self-censor on some message board as if I were 20 years old sitting at my grandparents' dinner table. Especially when it's not about f-bombs but just about IDEAS.
 
Renzatic said:
I wouldn't say he's a troll, so much as a volatile mix of arrogance, touchiness, and supreme stupidity,
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Actually, I suspect he has two or more issues: one (to all appearances, or at least my perception) being on the low end of the IQ scale, the border of what is considered "normal" intelligence (I think they call this "dull normal"?) , and the second, additionally problematic, but just from what I've seen in his online behavior, being on the Autism Spectrum. It's interesting, as from what I understand, as a general rule, most people with ASD have normal-to-high intelligence, they just have the ASD getting in their way when it comes to communication and such. It doesn't seem to be quite that way in this situation.

Regardless of to what extent he is affected by ASD or some other issue, this guy clearly demonstrates that intelligence is not his strong suit. It is frustrating to deal with him in a forum when he asks questions and people in all innocence try to respond in what they see as a helpful way and his replies aren't exactly what one would expect, probably a function of the ASD, thus leading to more interaction, which sooner or later turns into outright frustration on the part of the member who had been trying to help. So well--intentioned interaction with this guy that has become frustrating as the posts have continued eventually is expressed more emphatically as the frustration builds, and then -- BAM! A warning or suspension is issued to the member who in the beginning really only was trying to be helpful while the recipient of the intended help instead of accepting the responses, politely dealing with things the way most members do, immediately reports posts (I suppose the reason is based on "insulting another member") and while the well-meaning member is on suspension and prevented from posting for a period of time, this clown subsequently gets off scot-free time after time after time. More than a few of us have been burned by this very scenario.
 
yeah i don’t think we need to armchair diagnose people.

it is never kind to talk about people when you think they won’t find out. i’m sorry for discussing this as much as i did. i only wanted to commiserate with those who have been banned. didn’t mean to start a pile on to someone who isn’t here.
 
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Eric said:
Sounds like even recommending the vaccine is off the table, they've really caved to right wing ideology over there.
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Thank goodness no one pointed out that running a 5k two days after testing positive was a sure way to spread the virus. 🙄
 
By request I'll ask that we no longer share names in this thread (that goes for myself too), I've edited a couple of posts to remove the name but nothing else has been changed. Thanks for understanding.
 
Clix Pix said:
Actually, I suspect he has two or more issues: one (to all appearances, or at least my perception) being on the low end of the IQ scale, the border of what is considered "normal" intelligence (I think they call this "dull normal"?) , and the second, additionally problematic, but just from what I've seen in his online behavior, being on the Autism Spectrum. It's interesting, as from what I understand, as a general rule, most people with ASD have normal-to-high intelligence, they just have the ASD getting in their way when it comes to communication and such. It doesn't seem to be quite that way in this situation.

Regardless of to what extent he is affected by ASD or some other issue, this guy clearly demonstrates that intelligence is not his strong suit. It is frustrating to deal with him in a forum when he asks questions and people in all innocence try to respond in what they see as a helpful way and his replies aren't exactly what one would expect, probably a function of the ASD, thus leading to more interaction, which sooner or later turns into outright frustration on the part of the member who had been trying to help. So well--intentioned interaction with this guy that has become frustrating as the posts have continued eventually is expressed more emphatically as the frustration builds, and then -- BAM! A warning or suspension is issued to the member who in the beginning really only was trying to be helpful while the recipient of the intended help instead of accepting the responses, politely dealing with things the way most members do, immediately reports posts (I suppose the reason is based on "insulting another member") and while the well-meaning member is on suspension and prevented from posting for a period of time, this clown subsequently gets off scot-free time after time after time. More than a few of us have been burned by this very scenario.
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I'm curious what background you have to be able to diagnose Autism from a few message board posts? I find this troublesome that you would say such a thing with no real knowledge, particularly as there are actual members of this board and MR who are on the spectrum.
 
Eric said:
By request I'll ask that we no longer share names in this thread (that goes for myself too), I've edited a couple of posts to remove the name but nothing else has been changed. Thanks for understanding.
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I'm not familiar with the individual in question, so I couldn't have piled on, even if I wanted to. I don't think there's anything wrong with discussing what is publicly known and has been posted on an open forum, or the overall moderation of said forum. I think we should leave diagnosis to real life mental health professionals, and not attempt that remotely, through the text on a message board.

Not specific to MR, or any site in general, I think there is a mental health component to almost all trolling behavior. Online communication is, relatively speaking, a new phenomena. Many younger people have grown up with it, so that may seem like a bizarre statement, but global communication is only something we've really seen in the last century. Evolutionarily, our minds and bodies haven't adjusted to 24/7 communications. It's difficult enough to understand intent when speaking to someone in person, online is far more challenging, and simple miscommunication regularly occurs.

I'm going to use one example that has been publicly documented, featured in outlets such as Linus Tech Tips and OSNews, over the years. That is the story of Terry Davis who wrote TempleOS. It's an entire operating system written by one man, in glorious CGA graphics, with a custom file system called "RedSea". He designed his OS to very specific specifications because god told him to. According to the author, TempleOS was to be the prophesied Third Temple in Jerusalem, and this was its manifestation.

Terry Davis was a brilliant man, who clearly accomplished much, until he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Other than "building" TempleOS, he said a number of extremely racist things both online and while recording himself in-person, believed that he was in a relationship with a science girl on Youtube even though they had never met, posted unfortunate videos of himself on his website which I shall not get into, was involved in a physical altercation with his father, and ultimately met an untimely end. Down the Rabbit Hole did an entire documentary on TempleOS and its author. The presentation is respectful, and attempted to tell Terry's story without being exploitive.

Obviously, this is an extreme example of a mental health disease manifested on the internet. As Terry lost touch with reality, he sought out human connections online. It's a woeful story, and an example of a brilliant mind who had a tragic end. Some of the people he contacted online tried to help him, others made it worse, but it's likely that very little could have been done for him, since he was in his own world.

My point is that we never really know what a person is going through when we interact with them on a forum. Everyone has demons, they just manifest in different ways. The best solution is to ignore someone when we become irritated. That's why I have never gotten a warning or suspension at MR, not because I'm some angel, but because the rough and tumble just isn't worth it. Trollish behavior is mainly attention seeking, and that happens because of deficiencies in one's personal life, which is something best left to mental health professionals. If you find yourself getting upset by someone online, it's best to just close the browser and move on to something more fruitful.
 
Colstan said:
If you find yourself getting upset by someone online, it's best to just close the browser and move on to something more fruitful.
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I tend to agree with most points offered in your post.

As far as the part I quoted above, I can't help thinking "yeah and sure would have been nice if some trolls, mods and possibly owner at that other place had bought into that approach more often!"

Of course true trolls don't "get upset", they GIVE agita. But the mods could occasionally close browser and have a think before acting on trollish reports of other member's posts, which gig is or at least was also a thing over there at least when there was still a politics forum.
 
Colstan said:
I'm not familiar with the individual in question, so I couldn't have piled on, even if I wanted to. I don't think there's anything wrong with discussing what is publicly known and has been posted on an open forum, or the overall moderation of said forum. I think we should leave diagnosis to real life mental health professionals, and not attempt that remotely, through the text on a message board.

Not specific to MR, or any site in general, I think there is a mental health component to almost all trolling behavior. Online communication is, relatively speaking, a new phenomena. Many younger people have grown up with it, so that may seem like a bizarre statement, but global communication is only something we've really seen in the last century. Evolutionarily, our minds and bodies haven't adjusted to 24/7 communications. It's difficult enough to understand intent when speaking to someone in person, online is far more challenging, and simple miscommunication regularly occurs.

I'm going to use one example that has been publicly documented, featured in outlets such as Linus Tech Tips and OSNews, over the years. That is the story of Terry Davis who wrote TempleOS. It's an entire operating system written by one man, in glorious CGA graphics, with a custom file system called "RedSea". He designed his OS to very specific specifications because god told him to. According to the author, TempleOS was to be the prophesied Third Temple in Jerusalem, and this was its manifestation.

Terry Davis was a brilliant man, who clearly accomplished much, until he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Other than "building" TempleOS, he said a number of extremely racist things both online and while recording himself in-person, believed that he was in a relationship with a science girl on Youtube even though they had never met, posted unfortunate videos of himself on his website which I shall not get into, was involved in a physical altercation with his father, and ultimately met an untimely end. Down the Rabbit Hole did an entire documentary on TempleOS and its author. The presentation is respectful, and attempted to tell Terry's story without being exploitive.

Obviously, this is an extreme example of a mental health disease manifested on the internet. As Terry lost touch with reality, he sought out human connections online. It's a woeful story, and an example of a brilliant mind who had a tragic end. Some of the people he contacted online tried to help him, others made it worse, but it's likely that very little could have been done for him, since he was in his own world.

My point is that we never really know what a person is going through when we interact with them on a forum. Everyone has demons, they just manifest in different ways. The best solution is to ignore someone when we become irritated. That's why I have never gotten a warning or suspension at MR, not because I'm some angel, but because the rough and tumble just isn't worth it. Trollish behavior is mainly attention seeking, and that happens because of deficiencies in one's personal life, which is something best left to mental health professionals. If you find yourself getting upset by someone online, it's best to just close the browser and move on to something more fruitful.
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Fascinating movie.
 
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