Trolls and comping police?

softpad

I don't know if its just me but recently I have seen a big upsurge (both on boards and by PM) in trolls and people generally being negative. This is by a lot of newer members but also old.

I don't post on IWIWIW anymore due to trolls and a bit of undeserved jealous nastiness (mainly by PM).

I don't think anyone has any right to be the comping police and tell people what they should enter for, what they can do with their wins, or even to post nasty comments because certain people don't click thanks on every competition they enter for, for example.

I used to click thanks all of the time but I'm suffering very badly with RSI in my hand at the moment which makes using a mouse too much extremely painful. It's quite awful, and does mean that I don't click thanks so much because it's literally painful and damaging to do so many clicks. I always thank the poster by PM if I win.

There seem to be so many unwritten 'comping rules' and snipey posts when people aren't perceived to be following them. To clarify - as BarnabySue did not understand fully what I meant and no offence was intended at all - I mean those 'rules' to do with you MUST click thanks on every post, you mustn't enter certain types of comps, you mustn't admit you're going to sell on a win, etc, those rules, not anything to do with the running of the board ie self promotion, bumping, merges, etc, all of which are useful and completely necessary for keeping things running smoothly. A lot of this is envy I guess when someone's on a winning streak or has won something pretty big.

Also, there seem to be more posts now (I could be wrong LOL) commenting on people cheating on FB comps etc, and some of those threads have got quite nasty. Of course I don't like the idea of cheating but I'm not going to get all worked up about it and post nasty things when I could spend that time better in entering more competitions :rotfl: I find it quite distasteful and it leaves a bad feeling for me.

I know it's an open forum and not going to be all happy all of the time as people have differing views but I love the community here and am I wrong that it's changing for the worse just a little?

I have even changed my siggy so as not to list my wins, etc (which for me wasn't boastful but just a little goal for myself to see what I could do - but now I keep track on a spreadsheet instead).

Surely the spirit of what we do here is to improve the quality of our lives? Whether to sell on, use, keep or give away our wins it all improves our life in one way or another doesn't it? I guess I'm just saying lets try to be a little less judgemental (some of us anyway )

I'll get off my soapbox now, but I would be interested in others' views.

On-A-Rainbow

I am very new to this comping business so I haven't really been 'exposed' to any negativity, but then again I haven't won anything big or that anyone should be overly jealous about yet

And people who do get jealous and snipy, well that's just a bit sad really isn't it :rotfl:

Kirri

Agree with all that.

I do wonder about the freaky weirdos who feel it's necessary to send nasty pm's if people win, they need to get a life! I like reading them if I get the time, the wins that is, as I find it quite inspiring to see what others have got. Shame it gets spoilt.

The thanks thing and comping police I find quite bizarre also. They should just let people do what they want as long as it's not being deliberately offensive.

I gave up reporting posts as dupes due to comments about then also requesting merges - my pc is so slow that to open another window can literally mean I have to shut down and restart whereas a quick note in a thread didn't.

lilias

Kirri wrote: »

Agree with all that.


I gave up reporting posts as dupes due to comments about then also requesting merges - my pc is so slow that to open another window can literally mean I have to shut down and restart whereas a quick note in a thread didn't.

I sometimes ask people who have spotted a dupe whether they have requested a merge because, otherwise I don't know whether to request one myself or not. Also newbies often respond by saying they don't know how to request a merge. They then are the happy recipients of my "How to request a merge" pm

Barnabysue

Personally I find the term 'Comping Police' offensive. Along with a lot of others, if I spot a dupe I will comment on it and request a merge, hopefully it will stop anyone disqualifying themselves. If there is no date in the title it needs adding or the thread will be removed from the board, meaning the poster has wasted their time and a possible comp is missed out on. Likewise the Board rules are very clear that there is to be absolutely no self promotion, so that needs reporting. You can't 'let people do what they want' as kirri suggests, the boards would be a complete mess and then people would have something to complain about. As for the nasty PMs, there's no excuse for those whatsoever and they should be reported.

softpad

Barnabysue wrote: »

Personally I find the term 'Comping Police' offensive. Along with a lot of others, if I spot a dupe I will comment on it and request a merge, hopefully it will stop anyone disqualifying themselves. If there is no date in the title it needs adding or the thread will be removed from the board, meaning the poster has wasted their time and a possible comp is missed out on. Likewise the Board rules are very clear that there is to be absolutely no self promotion, so that needs reporting. You can't 'let people do what they want' as kirri suggests, the boards would be a complete mess and then people would have something to complain about. As for the nasty PMs, there's no excuse for those whatsoever and they should be reported.

Hi BarnabySue

I CERTAINLY wasn't talking about those who help to keep the boards running smoothly by helping with merges, dupes, self promotion etc, things like that at all!! I ONLY meant those who try to tell people how to comp i.e. not to sell their wins, that they shouldn't enter certain competitions and generally place nasty or unhelpful posts and are mean or spiteful. Those members who help by keeping the comps board running are :A - like you - and deserve a big thanks :beer:

xx

softpad

Barnabysue wrote: »

Personally I find the term 'Comping Police' offensive. Along with a lot of others, if I spot a dupe I will comment on it and request a merge, hopefully it will stop anyone disqualifying themselves. If there is no date in the title it needs adding or the thread will be removed from the board, meaning the poster has wasted their time and a possible comp is missed out on. Likewise the Board rules are very clear that there is to be absolutely no self promotion, so that needs reporting. You can't 'let people do what they want' as kirri suggests, the boards would be a complete mess and then people would have something to complain about. As for the nasty PMs, there's no excuse for those whatsoever and they should be reported.

Also, I believe Kirri was saying (as in the spirit of my OP), that people should be left to do what they like with their wins and how they comp and she wasn't talking at all about bumps, dupes, self promotion or anything at all to do with the running of the board x

BlueBella

I have been accused and abused in the past so now I never share my wins with anybody - the trolls are just cowards who hide behind their computers/laptops etc - I just wish trolls could be tracked and banned by Ip address so they cannot keep returning!

Barnabysue

Point taken softpad, that's the problem with the written word, you can't 'sense the tone' and it can often be misinterpreted, reading the posts again they can be taken another way. No problem here

OneYorkshireLass

lilias wrote: »

I sometimes ask people who have spotted a dupe whether they have requested a merge because, otherwise I don't know whether to request one myself or not. Also newbies often respond by saying they don't know how to request a merge. They then are the happy recipients of my "How to request a merge" pm

I also do that. I wouldn't want to duplicate a merge request and give the BGs more to do.
I hope no one's thought it was in any way a criticism. It's best if people say if they can't request a merge for whatever reason

nanto3girls

BlueBella wrote: »

I have been accused and abused in the past so now I never share my wins with anybody - the trolls are just cowards who hide behind their computers/laptops etc - I just wish trolls could be tracked and banned by Ip address so they cannot keep returning!

I don't share wins either for the same reasons. If i have win,i will PM the origihal poster.