Seriously irked by anon " guests"

[Sr Clare Julian]

Dear Ones all, especially our beloved moderators.

I am getting serious righteous indignation here at the abuse being made in an increasing number of threads of the great privilege the forum affords to anonymous "guests".
The sneers and gibes and attacks are getting far too frequent.

Please, can anything be done? I know I am not registered as I am passing through, but I now always use my name and folk know how they can contact me.

Some of the anonymous mails I have just read are really bad and are spoiling the forum.

I had hoped that we had left this problem behind; I for one will not stay near a forum where this is allowed. It is why I left the old forum.

Can the " guest" anonymity be stopped, please, so that at least the admin can mail these discourteous and troubled individuals? That attack on the student is the last straw.

[Allan]

I don't think you will ever stop it all. However not all of it is intended or malicious. I know that circumstances frequently turn my best intended messages into anonymous ones. It is also possible to be misunderstoood despite one's best intentions, we are working here without the nuances of intonation and body language that make face-to-face conversation easier in many respects. You will never completely run away from the world, you simply have to face up to it amd make the best you can of it, anything less is a denial of the gift of life itself.
Allan

[Sr Clare Julian]

Bless you, Allan; but I am not talking about the "accidentals" which I make too.Or the " disagreements" that arise when strong personalities clash. If you read the threads you will see what I mean. It is those who stay anonymous simply as a way of attacking below the belt. Read the mails to the student who asked for help.If you cannot speak as yourself you should not speak at all? I own two yahoo groups and moderate two more and if anyone there mailed like that they will be dumped and fast. They know the rules. And they would know why. I will not tolerate rudeness in any shape or form. We who are Nuns are not running away from anything; be sure of that, Allan. We face things from a different angle is all. And at a very deep level. If you saw the contents of my mailbox and the folk who ask for help, you would know that. And courtesy and caring are a large part of that. That gift of life is too precious to be marred like this. This forum is a pleasant place most of the time. We come here for pleasure and information, not for rows. We can and do though choose the environments we work and stay in. And maybe that this has been challenged openly may restrain some. I hope so. Else you will see me no more here.

[Sue]

I'm with Sn Clare Julian on this one. There's no need for agression or rudeness from guests or anyone else for that matter - some of the posts on the recent vegetarian thread were way over the top. Poor Happymouse must have wished they had never asked the question in the first place reading that lot.

It will make users leave and also stop new people joining in. I just hope the vast majority of really helpful and friendly replies go some way to redress the balance, but unfortunately people tend to remember 1 bad thing over 10 good ones.

Sue

[Malk]

You're never going to get rid of annoying comments entirely. Other forums I've been on people just register and say rude things anyway. And if they get booted from the forum they reregister under a different name. If people want to annoy, they will.

[Guest]

Yes Malk, you're right. Some people just like to make a hobby of throwing spanners into other people's works. Fact of life. The easiest and most effective way of dealing with trouble-makers is to ignore them and, no offence intended, to me that means ignoring people who want to dictate terms such as suggesting that every contributor should be forced to register. Whoops, by replying to this thread I seem to have fallen into Sr Clare's trap, but at least since I'm a Guest, she can't set up a personal tirade against me. With all due respect, the good nun has a habit (no pun intended) of invoking conflicts and then flouncing off in a huff because we didn't all fall down obediently at her feet. And if she wants to perceive my comments as an "attack", too bad. As Allan said, you can't retreat from life entirely - or rather, you can, but that means you shouldn't register on worldwide forums where life is going to jump up and get you no matter what you do, say or think.

[Same Guest]

And one last thing - only one person has the right to dictate the terms of this forum, and it isn't the registered (or unregistered) users.

[Sr Clare Julian .]

????? That is quite uncalled for. Bless you on your journey. Yes, it is a personal attack. Totally unjustifed and nothing to do with anything that was written by me. And proves my point perfectly.This forum is for gardening advice, not personal invective; all the posts many of us truly object to are like yours; nothing to do with the aim of the forum at all.
I do not smoke, and I do not go into environments where others smoke. I do not swear or write conflicts or tirades. And so I do not go into environments where others do that. Nor do most people. That is not going off in a huff but making a choice. Nor is it opting out of " life". Odd idea of life some have.
If anything I have said has hurt anyone, I sincerely apologise. But I do not think it has. Yes, that is why I have left the forum in the past. Because of off-topic attacks.And sadly must do so again unless the moderators deal with this once for all. We have never had moderators on the forum before. Not because of anything I have said either; but because of the attitudes of an anonymous few. And I know it is the same person who makes these attacks on me time after time after time, always anonymously. It is they who create conflicts, not me. I would dearly love to know why.I always make sure folk have the means to contact me privately; so why do this on the forum?What does it gain you? This puzzles me. And no, I do not think a forum need be that way, Malk. That is up to the members and the moderators. It is not so on the lists I run. Nor on many others that are properly moderated. There are ways to check IDs also.
I deeply regret the line this thread has taken. But I accept no blame for it. I am sad also for the kind and helpful folk here and I will miss you. I truly hoped that with the new format it would be safe to be back.I enjoy sharing growing ideas and always learn so much here. It seems I was wrong.Thank you and bless you for all your kindness and help. May your crops be full and beautiful this year and every year.
Moderator; if you need to, please mail me. There is a link on my website
www.iol.ie/~anchorhold/

[peterf]

shes a cracker, wide berth recommended

[peterf]

hi mrs clare,.why dont you go and do one if you know what i mean.i went out of my way to supply you with some giant pumpkin seeds.all i got back was a load of religeon rammed down my throat.as ive told you before im an athiest and i find your religous postings offensive.we as a forum do not preach to you so could you be as kind to not do the same

[peterf]

forgot to add, YOU NEED HELP and not the religious kind.

[valmarg]

Well peterf, I can only assume by your disgraceful tirade that (bearing in mind the time your postings were made) you had spent the previous five hours in the pub. Your rantings can only have been alcohol induced (giving you the benefit of a somewhat dubious doubt).

I would have to say that you would appear to be the person in need of help, rather than Sr Clare Julian. I too am an atheist, but I would never rant at anyone's religion as you do.

Much as it goes against the grain to say this, your name peterf leaves no one in doubt as to what the f stands for!

Seek help!

valmarg

[Colin Miles]

May I suggest to the moderator that the 'seriously irked' topic be removed from both forums as it is not about gardening or related subjects and merely 'irking' people still more. There will always be dissent and discontent, but that is not the way to deal with it. Spring is coming. Let's concentrate on that.

[Molly]

Well said, Colin. It's amazing how readily people spring at one another's throats on this forum sometimes. I thought gardeners were supposed to be calm, patient, friendly types! I also subscribe to a jazz forum and, by contrast, all those way-out hipsters are the very model of politeness, reasoned discussion and give-&-take. Isn't humanity amazing?

[A guest]

I'm not sure if she is for real or not. but this is the third time to my knowledge the good nun has caused such a rumpus over nothing. twice before threatening never to darken our door again and flouncing off.(only to return as you all can see) I suggest she goes back to where ever she has been the past months since the last episode. Read your own words lady "THIS SITE IS ABOUT GARDENING!" A.guest.