Being polite on the board

[HS30-H]

.....the beating that our members gave the owner of #13 really is not something that should make any of us proud.

"Beating"? Come now Will, that's a little bit too dramatic isn't it?

I think - overall - he ( they? ) got a suitable welcome considering the sycophantic way he introduced himself. I don't think it was quite as innocent an arrival as you seem to believe, and the very first line he wrote was obviously pre-meditated to demonstrate allegiance to certain parties and disaffection of others.

If you don't see that, then maybe you are a little bit too close to some of the parties concerned? I should imagine it is going to be difficult for you to be impartial when you actually socialise with the very person that was mentioned in the first line of this new member's first post.

He has been a long time Z enthusiast-since well before the proliferation of computer based car clubs. He appears to be somewhat inexperienced in computerease, but quite well versed in Z. I just can't believe we as a community of S30 enthusiasts have been so callous and down right rude to someone we hardly know!

Callous and rude I don't see, sorry. You could arguably accuse some posts of being somewhat robust, but they were reactions to bad data and misconceptions in his posts rather than personal insults or provocations. The stuff he was writing sounded authoritative, which makes it all the more misleading for anyone who comes across the data in a search. His failure to re-engage after the questions and corrections does not inspire hope for any kind of conversation, let alone informed debate.

And what's all this "inexperienced in computerease" about, too? It doesn't seem that he's all that incompetent to me. He's using the search function ( better than most! ) to dredge long-dormant threads, and using multiple quotes too. The cynic in me might even start to think that he's had a few private signposts shown to him 'off board'. Some comments seem to be aimed at provoking exactly the kind of reaction that you are telling some of us ( or at least one of us ) we are guilty of.

I've seen lots of new members come and go here, sometimes treated indifferently or even appallingly. They didn't have any red carpets rolled out for them, but maybe you think the owner of "#13" ( ) deserves this honour as some kind of VIP treatment? If so, why?

Isn't it the car that deserves any special treament - rather than the owner?

Alan T.

[sblake01]

with the last two posts. The same points are made in these posts as were made by me in the '13' thread just in a more diplomatic fashion.

[hls30.com]

"Beating"? Come now Will, that's a little bit too dramatic isn't it?

I think - overall - he ( they? ) got a suitable welcome considering the sycophantic way he introduced himself. I don't think it was quite as innocent an arrival as you seem to believe, and the very first line he wrote was obviously pre-meditated to demonstrate allegiance to certain parties and disaffection of others.

Alan T.

I am going to leave part of this response out until I work it out more clearly, I will concede that his posts have issues, but in defense of the "allegiance", most people will gravitate toward someone they know and find enjoyable when placed in a large crowd of new people. Carl is absolutely wonderful at making a person feel great about owning a Z and becoming a part of the Z community-it is no wonder those who encounter him hold him in such high regard.

If you don't see that, then maybe you are a little bit too close to some of the parties concerned? I should imagine it is going to be difficult for you to be impartial when you actually socialise with the very person that was mentioned in the first line of this new member's first post.

Alan T.

Alan,

You know I don't agree with everything Carl believes-he knows it too. Having said that, I absolutely respect and understand his opinions, and his efforts, and can honestly say I have enjoyed every experience I have had that involves him.

I am not sure I could have posted any of that if I had a hard time being impartial when it comes to friends. Hell, I'd really like to shake your hand and look you in the eye too-I envy MikeW in that respect.

Callous and rude I don't see, sorry. You could arguably accuse some posts of being somewhat robust, but they were reactions to bad data and misconceptions in his posts rather than personal insults or provocations. The stuff he was writing sounded authoritative, which makes it all the more misleading for anyone who comes across the data in a search. His failure to re-engage after the questions and corrections does not inspire hope for any kind of conversation, let alone informed debate.

And what's all this "inexperienced in computerease" about, too? It doesn't seem that he's all that incompetent to me. He's using the search function ( better than most! ) to dredge long-dormant threads, and using multiple quotes too. The cynic in me might even start to think that he's had a few private signposts shown to him 'off board'. Some comments seem to be aimed at provoking exactly the kind of reaction that you are telling some of us ( or at least one of us ) we are guilty of.

I've seen lots of new members come and go here, sometimes treated indifferently or even appallingly. They didn't have any red carpets rolled out for them, but maybe you think the owner of "#13" ( ) deserves this honour as some kind of VIP treatment? If so, why?

Isn't it the car that deserves any special treament - rather than the owner?

Alan T.

Alan, No owner or car deserves special treatment in a thread, but all deserve respect-until it becomes apparent that they are not a healthy part of the community. #13 is interesting because of its survival and its differences. Rick is interesting because of his Z history-I would hope to glean more of his Z experience-and that is the reason for the delay in getting on about a couple of the points above. I will post more, I am just seriously time challenged at the moment!

Will

Edited October 9, 2009 by hls30.com

[sblake01]

I will concede that his posts have issues, but in defense of the "allegiance", most people will gravitate toward someone they know and find enjoyable when placed in a large crowd of new people.

Now, that's where it becomes problematic for me. You can't compare the internet with real life/public contact, etc. That's why stuff like the 'my wife washing the car/my Z' example or the 'how you treat your next door neighbor' example also doesn't work for me. If they were the same do you think anyone here would really have to debate what's rude? You may perceive a comment on a site as rude but you really don't/can't know the intent of it's author. You can't look them in the eye, see their facial expression, body language, etc. It's a different type of interaction, and really, rather anonymous. With the possible exception of the handful of people here that I've actually met, the simple reality is that I don't know any of you, nor you I. Edited October 9, 2009 by sblake01

[texasz]

My earlier post was comletely generic and I stand on those statements...that being said I have no clue what thread is specifically being discussed here so I have no input nor opinion on any of that.

[26th-Z]

He has been a long time Z enthusiast-since well before the proliferation of computer based car clubs. He appears to be somewhat inexperienced in computerease, but quite well versed in Z.

I didn't get that impression at all. In fact, I have just the opposite impression. Weren't we talking about how the cars had been sitting in storage for all these years without any knowledge of their significance? How do you get from that to "well versed in Z"?

As I posted on the Connecticut site; we play hardball on ClassicZ. He knew what he was getting into.

[jmortensen]

This board is very polite...you want rude got to Hybridz.com, those guys are ruthless. I know that I come to boards for information on Z cars if somone tries to get rude with me I simply just move on, I got so many more important issues in life I don't need cyber problems too. On this board people in general are very nice and informativie. The thing seems to drive some crazy is using threads from 3 and 4 years ago as a starting point.

I really like Hybrid Z because the focus is on technically correct answers and modifying the Z to be faster, which is what I go to Z forums for. There are occasionally head butting type arguments there and I've been in a few, but at the end of the day it's not about telling someone else they're stupid. It's about finding the right answer to the question. My guess is that if you caught flak at Hybrid Z it's probably your own fault. For the record, I hung up my Hybrid Z admin spurs, so don't complain to me about it... Hybrid Z is not the end of the road for no BS tech info type forums. Try corner-carvers.com if you want to get a serious beat down for not bringing relevant technical info.

I think the thing that annoys me most about forums in general is when people post without searching or post and title their thread "Question about Z cars" or some other nebulous thing like that. If you post "Length of stock wheel stud" or "spline count of 280Z stub axle" then the next guy can find what he's looking for when he searches before he posts and doesn't have to wonder what is in all the poorly titled posts.

As far as US-centric posting goes, I wonder what percent of the users here are US based. This forum is out of Oregon, right? Am I wrong in thinking that Americans are the vast majority of the membership? If I was going to shoot from the hip I'd say 80% US. Maybe more. Is that way off? Regardless, I don't read the 240K posts and think "those damn aussies and their AU centric 240K BS" and I don't know why anyone outside the US would feel the slighted by a post I made about a LHD Z car. Similarly, while I occasionally read posts on ozdat.com I have never felt the need to complain about their australo-centric posts. My advice there: try not to be so sensitive, and people in other countries should consider the source of the info they're getting. If someone says 15/16" instead of 24mm, don't get your panties in a wad, just realize that the person who is trying to help you is in the US where we use SAE and to a much lesser extent the metric system. It's not an affront to you. Convert the measurement and be glad that someone was nice enough to give it to you.