Hello everyone. Thank you for your comments in response to the always unfortunate case of a member leaving unhappy. I'm going to close this thread but before I do I'm going to offer some summary statements.
1. Forums are intended to create communities in which members enjoy sharing information. At The Gauge we want that community to be a place where members feel comfortable posting and expect they will be treated respectfully.
2. Forums are comprised of members of various backgrounds, personalities, and styles.
Even though we share one thing in common that brings us here, our differences in viewpoint or expression may sometimes create conflict.
3. If a member feels they have been responded to in a disrespectful fashion they may ask the other member directly for clarification if they feel comfortable, or they may ask for assistance from the moderating staff.
4. When a member feels they have been treated badly, does not inform the moderating staff, and then posts a goodbye thread expressing dissatisfaction it really leaves us with little. We try to figure out what happened, there is a risk of blame being ascribed,
the community suffers a disruption from the loss of a member and the unease this sort of departure creates.
5. We have over the years had a number of members who have described themselves as "curmudgeons", "straight talkers", "tell it like they see it" types. Many people have this kind of personality and can be quite enjoyable as long as it is understood they have a fundamental respect for others. To the members who like to think of themselves this way, I appreciate your candor but I ask that you be thoughtful about how you may be perceived. We have members who do not relate to that style of expression and may take offense.
6. To those members who may take offense I ask that you not immediately attribute the worst motives to the person posting. As has been noted in this thread it is not always easy to identify the attitude behind posts. The emoticons may help and I encourage "curmudgeons" to use them to convey the humor behind tongue in cheek comments.
7. To all members I ask that before you hit the "Post Reply" button you ask yourself if your post will help build our community or create disruptions to it.
8. Moderating staff quickly catch, inquire about, and sometimes edit obviously provocative or inappropriate posts but we all have different personality styles ourselves and may not react emotionally to a particular post the same way one of our colleagues might. So, we may not be aware a post is a problem for some members, whether it was intended to be by its author or not.
9. In closing, be thoughtful in your posting, help keep The Gauge community a safe, respectful, and enjoyable place to post, remember that you will encounter people who think and express themselves differently than you do, check out what 's what before assuming the other guy is a jerk, and please contact a moderator if you are having a negative experience on The Gauge.
regards,
Ralph
