Fern Modena
TUG Lifetime Member
I wasn't going to post on this topic, but changed my mind.
I was one of the Admins here during the worst time. There were three of us most of that period, but at the worst of it one of them left (they had been planning this), and Doug was in the middle of moving. Once he moved he still did not do Admin work for a while because he said he only had dialup and it was too difficult to do with dialup.
Things got very contentious. If you didn't agree with somebody's views, instead of just disagreeing constructively, people got very personal, in a mean-spirited way. It was very ugly. Some of these people were regular posters, and some only came "for the fun of the disagreements." Many of them no longer post here (or on any timeshare forum).
As Administrator it was my job to warn these posters that there would be consequences if they continued down that road. Eventually much of TUG descended into total anarchy.
In the time immediately before the rule change to "no politics, no religion" twenty-one people were suspended from posting for a week. I restored a calm to the boards, but it in doing so it pasted a target on my back. Many/most of the people suspended felt that it was "everybody else" doing the attacking, and not them. That feeling lingers today with some.
I used to be a prolific poster on TUG. I no longer am. Five years ago I thought nothing about sharing parts of my life that I no longer do. You figure it out.
IMHO TUG is much calmer and a more pleasant place today. But I feel that I was forced to pay a big price to be a part of it.
Fern
I was one of the Admins here during the worst time. There were three of us most of that period, but at the worst of it one of them left (they had been planning this), and Doug was in the middle of moving. Once he moved he still did not do Admin work for a while because he said he only had dialup and it was too difficult to do with dialup.
Things got very contentious. If you didn't agree with somebody's views, instead of just disagreeing constructively, people got very personal, in a mean-spirited way. It was very ugly. Some of these people were regular posters, and some only came "for the fun of the disagreements." Many of them no longer post here (or on any timeshare forum).
As Administrator it was my job to warn these posters that there would be consequences if they continued down that road. Eventually much of TUG descended into total anarchy.
In the time immediately before the rule change to "no politics, no religion" twenty-one people were suspended from posting for a week. I restored a calm to the boards, but it in doing so it pasted a target on my back. Many/most of the people suspended felt that it was "everybody else" doing the attacking, and not them. That feeling lingers today with some.
I used to be a prolific poster on TUG. I no longer am. Five years ago I thought nothing about sharing parts of my life that I no longer do. You figure it out.
IMHO TUG is much calmer and a more pleasant place today. But I feel that I was forced to pay a big price to be a part of it.
Fern