6) Basic Netiquette or How to Save the Weapons for the Fictional Enemy (David Weber)
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This article is from the David Weber FAQ, by Cynthia Gonsalves/Daniel Bernstein with numerous contributions by others.
6) Basic Netiquette or How to Save the Weapons for the Fictional Enemy (David Weber)
* 6.1. Navbuoy was a master at wittily disagreeing with
people's points without resorting to personal attacks; we
can do well to honor Richard's memory by emulating his
style.
* 6.2. Kate Collins recommends visiting alt.callahans and
reading their FAQ on flamewars.
* 6.3. Flame War Prevention aka Do Not Feed The Trolls 101
o 6.3.1. Basic Definition
+ 6.3.1.1. Flame wars are nasty, brutish things.
They clog up the incoming message spool and
distort the meaningful signal to noise ratio
beyond recognition. Old friends get frustrated and
leave, possible new friends get scared away and
never come back.
+ 6.3.1.2. They are not to be confused with
spirited, yet polite, arguments. If we couldn't
debate various aspects of the Mad Wizard's works
or even have fun with off-topic discussions, what
good would the newsgroup be?
o 6.3.2 What characterizes a flame war?
+ 6.3.2.1. Most of the time, they are abetted by a
troll, who is a person who absolutely delights in
escalating responses to real or imagined slights
and insists that he or she absolutely, positively,
has to get the last word in edgewise.
+ 6.3.2.2. Often, the use of profanity reaches
critical mass, and even people who aren't usually
bothered by those words observe that things have
gone too far.
+ 6.3.2.3. In heated arguments, one participant
forcefully objects to another participant's
arguments and opinions. In flame wars, the insults
are directed at a person, rather than at a
person's opinions (thanks to the Wombat Woman for
this definition).
o 6.3.3. So, how do you put out a smoldering or worse
yet, rapidly burning flame war?
+ 6.3.3.1. Watch your language in your postings.
Some groups tolerate a certain level of profanity,
but abd-w since its inception has been a newsgroup
where George Carlin's seven words and other
related invective have not been put in play very
often.
+ 6.3.3.2. Unless you modify the header in your
message with something like "X-no-archive = yes",
your posting gets archived by DejaNews and/or
related search engines. Do you *really* want all
of cyberspace who's curious enough to search out
read your profile to note you as a person to be
avoided because your messages are so filled with
nastiness? Should electrons be diverted to
enshrine your incoherent screeds?
+ 6.3.3.3. If you're the recipient of flamage,
you've got a much harder job than the troll who is
wasting bandwidth in the attack. You've got to
*not* respond. Bite your lip. Sit on your hands.
Close your newsreader, turn off your computer, and
walk away if you have to. Trolls thrive on the
quickly dashed off response filled with emotion.
They aren't susceptible to elegantly reasoned out
appeals to amend their bad behavior.
+ 6.3.3.3.1. Think of this as a high-tech
adaptation of the Amish practice of shunning.
You ignore the offender until one of two
events occur. Either the troll moves on to
more flammable newsgroups, or somewhat less
likely (but a ethically superior event),
notices that its bad behavior has cost it the
companionship of its former comrades. If by
some happy chance, the recovered troll goes
back to posting interesting and enjoyable
messages, welcome it back by responding in a
similar fashion. It knows it crossed the
line, and it has paid the price.
+ 6.3.3.4. I've noticed several instances in my time
online where newcomers to groups do something that
violates the group's norms, get *plonked* by the
regulars, but sit back and figure out where they
messed up. They amend their styles and become
welcome members of the group.
+ 6.3.3.5. As for the unrepentant trolls, no big
loss if they leave. Really. They may or may not
get a clue, but you don't have to invest any
psychic, spiritual, mental, or electrical energy
on them. Only time will tell for them.
+ 6.3.3.6. Killfiles (if your newsreader supports
them) and marking the offending thread "to be
ignored" are good things. Use these features. If
you don't smell the smoke, you won't get upset and
fan the flames higher.
o 6.3.4. If you find yourself on the sidelines watching,
you've got to follow the guidelines in 5.3.3 too. If
you want to support the person or persons attacked, a
brief email off the group, especially if you respect
how the person is not making matters worse, will
probably encourage them and help them persevere.
Publicly taking sides against the troll ends up feeding
its sense of "me against a cold cruel world" and things
get worse.
o 6.3.5. Don't think that we are advocating mindless
conformity and sycophancy here, because we're not.
We've had truly free- wheeling discussions, and people
have been quite passionate in defense of their views.
The goal should be always to avoid personal attacks and
accept the fact that not every person in the group is
in complete alignment with your world view. We're all
brought together here because we enjoy the Mad Wizard's
works, and while we're on this common ground, we're all
welcome to pitch our tents and stay a while.
* 6.4. Wombat Flinging
o 6.4.1. In a past flame war, Wombat Woman flung herself
into the fray as a warning to the group that things
were going too far. Her commentary about this series of
events is as follows:
+ 6.4.1.1. I admit to a bit of concern about wombat
FLINGing. This is something that apparently
started in jest while I was off the NG for a
couple of weeks. My return and resulting discovery
of the thread coincided with the recent flame war,
and so the wombat was flung. Now what? While I
don't have an objection to playing referee, I'd
rather not become a NG nazi--or a self-righteous
troll.
+ 6.4.1.2. In the most recent situation, I did not
FLING myself into the fray until two separate and
non-flaming NG members suggested it. I limited
myself to a single posting in which I attempted to
define non-acceptable behaviour. I attempted to
inject a little bit of humor in hopes of dampening
the flame.
+ 6.4.1.3. *If* I ever resort to FLINGing again, I
will again wait until other NG members suggest it.
I will only post once. I will attempt to use humor
to defuse the situation. My purpose in posting
will be to let the troll(s) know that such
behaviour is not accepted on abd-w and to remind
other NG members Not To Feed the Trolls.
o 6.4.2. If someone on the ng mentions flinging the
wombat, this is where we came up with this tactic.
Flamewar DEFCON protocols are as follows:
+ 6.4.2.1. Five is peacetime
+ 6.4.2.2. Four is be alert
+ 6.4.2.3. Three is be worried
+ 6.4.2.4. Two is wombat lock and load
+ 6.4.2.5. One is Wombat Attack Inbound
o 6.4.3. Wombat Woman is honorary captain of the
FLINGers, but any member of the ng should be able to
take up marsupials in defense of the collective peace.
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