NEW: Civility and Decorum are Required

That was really funny Intrepid. Managing humans is a really tough job I can only imagine what it is like to try to moderate a site like this.

It is good that such emphasis is being placed on this issue because I think there are alot of members here who would like to share more on a personal experience level yet are scared of being ripped apart by the more "aggresive" members and the "debunking squads".

I do see it time and time again people apologizing and fearing about how their post will be recieved. I felt this somewhat when I first started posting here, very inferior compared to the other members posts that I perceived as wiser and more intellectual than my own style of posting.

One of the most common forms of rudeness I see here are people being made fun of for their contribution.

I am happy to say that ATS and the members and staff here have treated me well and fairly. And even though I am not overly educated nor polished up I have been allowed to express myself in the manner that I know how, by feelings, intuition, and personal perception.

Awesome that you have attached a consequence to this annoying behavior of being rude for the sake of rudeness.

reply to post by intrepid

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His silly acusations like for example "the U.S. is the only industrialized nation to reject Kyoto" is nonsense. The acusation that "we don't consider smaller vehicles as an option". of course we consider it! But, the safty of our families the size of our families and many other things, are also a consideration when making a decision to purchase a vehicle. What was really happening was propaganda against Americans and their way of life. It was also an attempt to paint Americans as ruthless pulluters who don't give a witt about anyone else! It was debasing and dehumanizing the American people.

Understood. However, for anyone who pays attention to contemporary headlines from around the world, they would realize the author of that thread is not alone in such an opinion. In addition to requesting civility and decorum, we (staff) also work hard to maintain editorial neutrality... relying on members to intelligently respond to what they feel are false or errant statements. You're more than welcome to participate in the thread and balance the debate with your contrary data.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord

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Sir, with all due respect, what do you mean "It might be". Sir, it is!!!! and his accuzations were false! Clearly false!

Wouldn't it be more productive to post your opinions and data within the thread in question, rather than this one?

reply to post by SkepticOverlord

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i did participate and and provide data.

however, point taken. sorry to distract this thread.

Excellent. That's where the "Magic of ATS" happens, in the back-and-forth exchange of ideas and data within threads.

Would you be surprise to know that the most informative thread on the proposition that a missile (or other non-airline object) exploded at the Pentagon on 9/11/2001 is actually titled, "A Boeing 757 Struck the Pentagon"? It didn't start out that way, but because of well-presented information from members, evolved that way.

reply to post by Rockpuck

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I agree with Rockpuck here, applauses should be seen more so than warnings..
It boosts the esteem of the members and keeps them participating in the proper way.We should be encouraging members to aim for an appause rather than always warning about red flags and ban hammers.
Great Idea Rockpuck!!!

reply to post by SkepticOverlord

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If it was proven that china and india, both industrialized nations have not signed kyoto, would it make any difference? Somehow I think you know this. If the goal was to keep it civil and respectfull then ATS failed on that particular thread! It is neither civil or respectfull. Not just of an individual but, of whole nation.

reply to post by rockets red glare

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There are several problems with this.

We (at least I) don't always applaud a specific post because of the content of that post. If I see a member making solid contributions in a thread I will pick a post in that thread to click on the applause button but it may be for "all of the posts in a thread" adding up to that applause.

Moderators use the applause button in many ways. To encourage good participation, reward good development in a member who started out on the wrong foot or because they want to let a foe know that they can appreciate a good well thought out argument.

Secondly, it is a way for moderators to give points to a member that may have been deducted in error (it happens).

Thirdly, imagine a flag that links to an applauded post. Now imaging a BBQ thread starting out with "Why did member X get applauded for this post when I said the same thing over here and didn't get an applause?" or "why did this post get applauded? It shows moderator bias toward this point of view" etc.

Letting members see who is applauded without giving detailed explanations each time would be a constant source of drama and since we applaud much more often than we have to discipline this would end up being a very heavy burden on the staff.
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[edit on 12/18/2007 by Gools]

All though i've only been posting here as of recently i know exactly why this has come about. I think its a good adjustment to ATS. I think that most members on this board expect, or at least should expect not every one to agree with their view, and to also prove the validity of their argument. That being said if it cant be done in an adult, or maybe in a somewhat professional manner, i think that a warning punishment is merited. My favorite part about being American is that i can agree or disagree with whatever i please. Cheers to the Sight management and the forum mods!

Civility and decorum.....ok, got it.

Hmmm what do I say................ok well normally I read ATS after a few cold beers, you know when the emotions are in overdrive and you feel like superman or superwoman (depends what you scratch first thing in the morning)

I'm saying that the majority of my posts are ruled from the heart and pull no punches, if I draw some unwanted comments then I will just send a U2U to the person rather than reply and clutter a thread with useless banter.

In fairness so far I have not once sent in anger a U2U to anyone regarding a post of mine been flamed, received a U2U though off someone who ridiculed one of my posts, I replied in a adult manner and heard nothing back so I guess I won that battle.

People do need to be civil but also must be allowed to show passion too in their posts and so this can lead to high emotions but that does not give the right for someone to reply in a condescending and abusive manner.

I think the ATS owners and their mods do a fantastic job keeping the decorum to a good level and any new ideas to help keep the flow of good discussion and the introduction of new members is the right way to go.

Any "applause" votes would be welcome as I would like some extra points

reply to post by Beachcoma

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That is a good illustration you made.

reply to post by GradyPhilpott

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Grady...I wholeheartedly agree!

The 'Art of Conversation' has gone done the tubes.

What has befeld us? (Shaking my head now...)

~Ducky~

reply to post by Beachcoma

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Oh I love it...absolutely...WAY OFF TOPIC.... GEEZ...

reply to post by Gools

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Yes I see your point.It was a good idea in theory.

I like to thank the posters in this thread who have just proved why ATS is introducing this policy

IMHO, this policy doesn't go far enough SkepticOverlord.

Wonderful.

I keep saying... you can make your point without bringing emotion into it. If someone posts something you in your opinion find to be completely obsurd, we should be trying to help that person understand from our view, and our knowledge, not putting them down and scaring them away from this site for good. You don't know how many times I see members say "I didn't join this site until now, because of all the argueing" or something to that degree. We're all searching for the truth, so we're all freinds and allys here, we should start acting like it.