Does anyone use the ignore function?

Off-topic
1

I hadn’t really thought much about it, always figured I should be a big boy and simply not read posts if they were disturbing or not let myslef be upset by what others post, but after a series of nasty interactions with another forum member I tried it out and it really does work.

Granted, you have to be logged in for the posts to be “absent”, and you have to cont to ignore the posts, but I suppose that’s as good as it gets.

Maybe I’m overlysensitive, but I am what I am, and I most certainly don’t need to read posts that bring me down. I was on another forum for a bunch of years and there wasn’t an ignore function. I wonder now if I could still be on that forum if I had been able to ignore certain posters…

Anyone else use it?

3

Ignore function?

So you can’t read post from members you “ignore” but you’ll still have the response of other members to these members posts? Sounds more disturbing than disturbing posts.
Won’t make much difference in several threads here though, after some time everyone is busy calling everyone else names . Okay, not everyone, seems to be the same members over an over again.
On the other hand, i’ve read some really usefull and informativ posts of these members too, real valuable information i wouldn’t have come to know if i “ignored” those members.

Imho it’s best to read everything with a grain of salt. A lot of things are missing when you communicate in a forum (body language, tone of voice, facial expressions, etc.), so it’s up to your imagination and mood at the time of reading how you understand/interpret the threads and replies.

Don’t ignore anything, read it, think about it, maybe even take a step back and try looking at it from another angle. Be as polite in your answers as you want others to be, and be prepared that even your answer can be misunderstood and missinterpreted.

Greetings

Byc

4

For me what would be nice is a thread hiding option. As BYC pointed out, some individuals are a great resource for one thing and a raving lunatic on other issues. I can choose to not read them but it’s hard for me to just skip by these topics myself, as some of them interest me too. I’d rather not have them pop up in front of me every time I scan the forum.

Anyone know if this is possible?

Sam

6

I’ve never considered using the ignore function. I guess if my skin were too thin I wouldn’t post in a thread where there’s the possibility any controversy. People disagree with a lot of what others have to say about what they believe. They’re different from each other. Don’t take anything on a forum personally, even from right-wing conservatives or left-wing liberals, even though both are misdirected in their determination to control the lives of others.

7

There’s a fine line as to what is helpful and hurtful, I’ve been particiapting in bulletin boards for a long time, first posted back in 1996 as a kayaker on Boatertalk, then later on a couple running forums, a couple ski forums, a couple bike forums, and now here.

My skin is generally pretty thick, but sometimes I let things get to me, and sometimes people won’t leave well enough alone. If I find myself being irritated by a social interaction hours later, then that’s a problem.

I don’t have a job where I can socialize often, and once I’m at home it’s either go riding/run/ski, hang with the family, or do chores, so the various forums I belong to are a significant part of my social interactions.

I have never had a reason to use an ignore function and most of the forums I belong to are limited in that respect, but last Summer I used ignore for the first time because I was being “heckled” by another forum member. I finally put the member on ignore, problem solved.

I think people go to far on public internet forums. possibly because they are anonymous, possible because it is easier to say something in print than to say that same thing to someone’s face, and possibly people post comments without thinking. Whatever the case, on line communities suffer from poor self censorship.

By participating in a public forum, we open ourselves up to all sorts of nonsense, which is partly why some people never post; they just don’t want to get involved. I have made some good friends on public forums, learned some interesting things, and had some enlightening interactions. I have also been ridiculed, called names, told that I was a bad person, suggested I was unintelligent, and even that I have a mental disorder.

As the old saying goes, “it’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye, then it’s a party”.

For me the ignore function is not an excuse to hide my head in the sand, but instead it is a way to cut off the nastiness and preserve the content that brings me to this forum. I won’t put up with comments said to me in a public forum that would not be said to me person to person.

And if I’m guilty of the same, then I would expect to be ignored for the same.

The ignore function works.

8

I have, it makes it better for everyone including my sibilngs

9

I used to use the ignore function a few years ago. This was not because I was devastated by controversial or offensive things they had posted, but simply because they were habitually writing inflammatory nonsense and life was too short to read it pr filter it out.

The problem is that you can see other people’s responses to the “hidden” posts, and sooner or later curiosity kicks in and you unban them just to see what they’ve been saying.

A longer term consideration is that people do change. I have been in this forum a good few years now and one or two of the “provacative youngsters” have calmed down and become interesting contributors. If they were still banned, I would not get to read their recent, more relevant, posts.

10

Fortunately I have enough self control to not counteract the ignore function :smiley:

I don’t think people need to be banned, at least no one I have encounted in this forum…I suppose if someone was being outright nasty toward a person and wouldn’t stop hassling them or if they posted things that were outrageously provacative concerning the biggies (sex, race, religion, culture).

The ignore function only works when you are logged in, so it’s always possible to read something you don’t want to read.

I appreciate the ignore function now that I used it, I only wish something like it had been available on previous forums I habitated…

11

I’ve read and re-read these gems from Ben and I still can’t find the angle. Might you help us here, Byc? Great post, by the way!

12

Well, is there a “dumb” question? It all depends on the sum and order of factors you take into account when qualifying a question. The question itself is neither dumb nor intelligent, they way it is formulated, pronounced, written, how many thought has already been put into the question can be qualified as “dumb” and therefore the person asking the question in question.

Greetings

Byc

14

I used to be tempted to use the Ignore for kids that went post-crazy or couldn’t refrain from trying to steer every thread to their pet topic. But there’s a lot less of that these days, and I’ve learned to mostly ignore people if they annoy me. I don’t take things personally, especially from people who don’t know me. You might know the cyber version of me, but is that really me?

I find it better to know what someone said, if I am bored enough to go back and look.

I post a lot on here, but I almost never post on Facebook. I read on there a lot and occasionally comment, but mostly I’m a lurker. Some people on there are depressing, like a guy who used to post here a lot, who now only posts angry “we lost the election and the current administration sucks” stuff. I don’t know if he has a life anymore, if he rides a unicycle or if he ever, ever has fun. I haven’t unfriended (or blocked?) anyone, yet, I just skip past their stuff when I’m not interested. Same thing here.

For example there’s a poster on these forums. No names, but he’s bigger than a molehill. I rarely respond to anything he posts since his purpose is usually to just mess with you. :slight_smile:

15

“in fact you are a bit of tool yourself”

may be interpreted as expression for a believe system where every individual is seen as part of a great divine scheme, like a part (bit) of a machine, “bit” as in computers with 0 and 1 may be a reference to the matrix we all live in, or he may mean this "One who lacks the mental capacity to know he is being used. A fool. A cretin. Characterized by low intelligence and/or self-steem. (but in this case the “a bit of” doesn’t really fit, does it?)

But that’s my interpretation, my biased white-austrian-male-lower-middle-class view. As soon as you’ve read it it will be your biased interpretation of my clumsy attempt to express my thoughts.

I find myself thinking about the threads i’ve read and what i could answer to make myself clear but i don’t get sleepless nights because of this.
When i enter a discussion in a thread i try to make my point of view clear and understandable, i don’t want to convert anyone. I also try too understand the others point of view as much as possible. I don’t have to share your thoughts, but knowing more about other point of views may influence my own opinion in one or another way.

Greetings

Byc

16

Yes.

17

Thanks for sharing that view. This forum is richer because of it. No joke.

18

You are welcome!

Greetings

Byc

P.S.: BTW, did you see “The Sound of Music”? (i didn’t)
Read an aricle in the newspaper today about rising popularity of diplomatic jobs in austria for the american state departement.

19

It’s the missus’s favorite movie. We watch it every month or two.

You saying there’s an opening for me there? I’m not much of a diplomat, if you haven’t figured that out by now… :wink:

20

hehehehe :smiley:

I admit it, I’m impulsive and at times a bit rash, so I block certain people to keep me from harming myself.

I suppose if I didn’t create problems, stir the pot, then maybe I’d be less of a lightening rod, but then that’s not me :wink:

and part of why I asked if others use the ignore function, other than being curious, is that I think it is a underutilized tool; think of it as advertising :slight_smile:

22

Hu, don’t know what happenend there, only half of what i intended to write.

The newspaper article was about the fact that everytime “The Sound of Music” is played in american television the popularity of diplomatic jobs in austria peaks.
So this movie i haven’t seen seems to have a great influence on the mental picture americans may have from austria/austrians.

Greetings

Byc

23

Is this more so when you forget your ADHD medication?? :-):D;):stuck_out_tongue: :roll_eyes: :slight_smile:

24

Has anyone found a way to ignore this forum during work hours?