nudge, nudge, wink, wink

As has been said by one of the forum moderators "Threads which are directed at one person are not allowed in the Second Life Forums... " and then locked the thread. As moderators. that is certainly their privilege. What the closing post didn't say was that the thread was directed at one person because that one person was snipping at every person who posted in the thread and therefore got response in kind and some additional social sanction for being so abrasive to all posters in the thread.

You see, the abrasive poster P seems act according to the rule: for all posters Q such that Q is not P all such posters Q should be attacked individually for no reason at all. And this seems to be tolerated by the moderators.

So, in the grand tradition of inventing a group that either has no members, one member, or of which everyone except me is a member. I submit the following modest propsal.

I have hereby formed a conceptual grouping so that I can place anyone or everyone into the "them" group and heap derision, condescension, and vitriol on "them" without risk of any one person feeling as if I am singling them out. My first name for the insidious group is Forum Invective Cabal, but I admit that name is rather lacking and would appreciate suggestions.

But it does come in handy because I can say things like "Wow those Forum Invective Cabal people sure know how to write non-sensical postings of great length" or "The Forum Invective Cabal is solely interested in removing all rational discourse from the Forums" or even "Holy Typesetting! The Forum Invective Cabal is getting paid to be antagonistic to members of the community and placing wretchedly innacurrate summarizations of the interactions on some third party fan-site while simultaneously complaining about other people's means of SL employ".

Just a thought... comments welcome, and likely not pilloried if dissenting.

I think (and many others) that Prokofy contributes a unique, always creative, and exciting perspective to SecondLife.

His terminology becomes instantly de-facto for conversations around a wide range of topics.

Anything which increases censorship in these forums would be a huge disservice to us all.

Unless someone disagrees with blaze or prok, then we're all about the censoring.

Not at all. I post here specifically looking for people to disagree with me

I learn absolutely 0% from people who merely agree.

I'm all about the learning

However, I think going back to the "shunning" is the best approach for all concerned.

I personally found the forums improved dramatically when that happened.

That, he does. The issue isn't what is being brought to the table, but how it is being brought. Yes, yes, I know it's not the concern of P, and seem to recall some very strong language to relay that he will not change for anyone. Fine. Dandy. So long as he realizes, as any intelligent human would, that the message is not, for the most part, getting through to people becuase of the shitty wrapper.

If he realizes this, which I suspect he does, and continues to post in his regular fashion.. eh, what can you do other than sit back and watch the action.

I *knew* you were going to say that, because as part of the Cabal, that's what you folks are all about. I do admire your ability to pounce on this less than two minutes after my posting though; I bet the Cabal has an inside means of rapidly finding new threads to jump in on. Damn, why can't I be a member of the Cabal?

After that response all I can ask is - does P stand for Petunia?

i don't think so. just for the record.

No, his contributions are usually pedestrian, inflammatory, and pretty much devolve into various tints of the same three or four themes, over and over. Once in a while, he has something interesting to say, but he nearly always regrets it, and spends the rest of the thread committing rhetorical seppuku in front of as many people as he can gather together.

I had the opportunity to edit a few of his posts recently, a task not unlike Milton bringing humanity to Lucifer in Paradise Lost. Once the litter of insults, inflammatory comparisons, and demagogic statements were pared away, there was very little left to react to. And most of that had already been stated, and better, by others - yourself included, blaze.

I will give him one thing: He has created quite a problem for the Lindens. He very expertly skirts the boundaries of Linden enforcement and often compels others to either cross that boundary, leave the debate, or argue on his own beside-the-point, invective-laden terms. Thus he has become a very destructive force on these forums, but the Lindens, procedurally and in fairness, may not feel as though they can act. Neither can the larger community, since any action would be perceived as setting a dangerous precedent.

It's an interesting impasse.

(Apologies for the insulting, demagogic, and inflammatory comparison to Milton. The temptation was too much to resist.)

Good description of forum "grieving".

Extremely well put Seth. The best I could manage was sarcasm. *bows humbly*

Here is the part that completely stumps me. I just cant get myself to respond to undesirable behavior with the same. I've witnessed the ineffectiveness of this route and am completely mystifed as to why the heads keep banging against the wall. What is up with this?

nudge nudge, wink wink.
nudge nudge, wink wink.
nudge nudge, wink wink.
nudge nudge, wink wink.
nudge nudge, wink wink.

It's because these people derive their sense of self esteem from their ability to join the lynch mob.

There is something endlessly comforting to these people to state something in which they are confident others will agree to. Unfortunate that they do not derive the same pleasure for simply stating something that is true.

Prokofy, because of his alternate opinions is an easy and popular target and one which those who delight in being on the side of the popular opinion can easy utilize for their own enjoyment.

Even when Prokofy hasn't posted in these forums for quite awhile, they deliciously evoke his name, even if indirectly. Not because they are serving any particular purpose, but because they are looking for a little boost to their self esteem and nothing like getting a witch hunt together can do that better.

Watch out: paranoiac feelings of persecution are contagious!

Well, there is the other theory, that Prokofy is a bit of a jerk when he posts.

But geez, Malachi and Crew are not?

I have a hard time finding even one missive from Malachi that doesn't sound like it was written by an overly angry 12 year old.

He's like Prokofy without the oddball ideas. Prokofy Lite.

Talk among yourselves.

ahhh you must enjoy all the fanboys huh. How come I don't have this kind of following?

All I know is that she has managed to suck typically "cooler heads" into the frey, people who are otherwise pretty laid back about such things. I suspect because she actually has a good, incisive point every once in a while which makes it somewhat tantalizing. But if you try and engage in discussion you pull back a bloody stump.

Paraphrasing from a film I saw too long ago, Withnail & I: "It's not the failure; failure I can cope with. It's the hope I can't stand". There is just enough superficial rationality to make people hope they could actually have a discourse.

Or, maybe we just like lynching people and were waiting years for a good target.

Because you play Tonto to his Lone Ranger. Which is interesting, because actually you're a better shot.

Who is the Green Hornet?

Who do you think? And who do you think is Kato, his sidekick? And kick. And kick again.

Outwitted again.