Three Cheers for Ryan!

[Blue]

I don't follow the classifieds here much, and didn't really pay much attention to this thread. But once I see a thread get locked, I usually look at it, if only to see what went down.

And inside this thread, I see Ryan's awesome final post. Nice job, said it better than I ever could. And while it's posted here on GJ, it could easily apply to a lot of other web forums I frequent.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=243821&showall=1

 

[Strouty]

Ryan's post:

Nope. Just you... Would you like to have access again? I'd be happy to provide it... Just tell me why you want access if the classifieds are, in fact, "worthless."

As for the rest of you, a serious question... This is a discussion about the classifieds format on a forum about tools and garages. Why on earth... or how on earth can that lead to a few of you calling each other names and telling each other to "shut the **** up?"

Think about that for a while... especially if you are one of the participating parties.

I have a whole bunch of kids. One of them is 7 and her class recently got to debate on the lunch menu - what is served on what days and things like that. Now if you have a 7 year old, you know how important this is to them. It's like three or four on their life priority list.

Anyway, the parents were told to sit on the sidelines and let the kids go at it while the teacher moderated. They argued back and forth over things like pizza and burgers for an entire hour. In that hour, not a single 7 year old called another 7 year old a name... And not a single 7 year old told another 7 year old to "shut up."

Amazing given the conversation in this thread, isn't it?

I have a theory. Kids are honest. Kids are wholesome. They haven't been tainted by society and they haven't had their ego stomped on by years of the kinds of abuse life can bring. Grown men on the internet, however, are entirely different. Some of them aren't honest. Most aren't wholesome. Some have battered egos. Hide them behind a computer screen with a silly username and an avatar and all of this is amplified to the point of nausea.

If we were all at a bar having this conversation, do you think anyone of you would tell anyone else in the conversation to "shut the **** up?" And if you did, how long do you think you would be welcome in the group?

So why on earth would you do it on an internet forum?

I believe it's because some of you like the feeling of being something online you really aren't in real life. And some of you like to act online in a way that you are too scared to act offline. In either case, I don't like to host these kinds of fellas. I would rather them not be on my forum at all. Maybe that's my issue... Maybe I should be more understanding of these folks, but I've failed miserably when I have tried.

In any case, the classifieds are what they are. If you like them, you are welcomed to use them. If you don't, I can give you a full 100% refund (including shipping and handling) and you don't have to look at them at all.

 

[softailgarage]

I love it! Especially the part where he locks him out...

 

[Strouty]

I think that is a very good response to a bunch of rowdy keyboard commandos. It is not just that thread, I catch myself doing it, then reality sets in. Lately I have deleted a lot of my posts before posting them. It does feel better to type it anyways. I wish more people could learn to leave the attitude at the door, so to speak.

Everyone should remember this forum is not a democracy and for once, I like it that way.

I do not mean to get political, I was just going by the words definition.

 

[ddawg16]

You can't say it's short and sweet.

But you can say it was sweet.

Pretty much puts thing in perspective.

 

[mitusa]

Good for Ryan.

Simple....it is what it is.

Don't like it, leave.

 

[HOTFR8]

Ryan owns and runs this forum so the simple rule is we work to his rules and if you do not like it then tuff. I like Ryan's no nonsense and no drama attitude.

 

[skyking]

So Ryan..................what you really meant to say was...........STFU !!!

 

[turbowoodworker]

Kudos Ryan. You earn your respect the hard way.

 

[ddawg16]

So Ryan..................what you really meant to say was...........STFU !!!

Yea....it was a nice an polite way to say it.....

How does it go? Diplomacy...the ability to tell someone to **** off and they take it as a compliment?

 

[Tarheelgarage]

Those keyboard commandos are everywhere and they most likely look like this.

 

[RalphInCA]

I wish all the forums I frequent were as well moderated as this one is.

On many, kids and attention seekers take over and make the place a free for all of stupid comments.

Thanks Ryan!

 

[Ryan]

Thanks fellas

 

[Haveblue]

I wish all the forums I frequent were as well moderated as this one is.

On many, kids and attention seekers take over and make the place a free for all of stupid comments.

Thanks Ryan!

I agree..Thanks to Ryan and all the other mods here! You guys make it the great site that it is. There really isnt a better site for researching tools, garage issues, some jokes,and entertainment, just life in general. GJ rocks!

 

[Zeke]

Thanks for this thread although I wish I had my 5 minutes back after reading through the other thread which led to final post by Ryan's. Excellent post, but why close it after making a fairly profound statement? I would have liked to have seen the responses.

I noticed that Ryan extended the "stfu" to the complete phrase. In my experience on the Net (only 40,000 posts on forums combined) I have sensed that 'stfu' is a lot like saying put a sock in it. When you expand the sentence to say actually, "Shut the **** up" it becomes quite a bit more in-your-face.

Sure, we all have different online personalities. Some are quite a bit different, some not so much. But communications through social media (that's what a forum is) are not the same as what happens at the conference table or the dinner table. The timing is different, inflection is not really there and the language tends to be stronger because of the impersonal nature of this type of communication.

Well, that was much ado about nothing.... I guess I'll stfu.

 

[Ryan]

Thanks for this thread although I wish I had my 5 minutes back after reading through the other thread which led to final post by Ryan's. Excellent post, but why close it after making a fairly profound statement? I would have liked to have seen the responses.

I noticed that Ryan extended the "stfu" to the complete phrase. In my experience on the Net (only 40,000 posts on forums combined) I have sensed that 'stfu' is a lot like saying put a sock in it. When you expand the sentence to say actually, "Shut the **** up" it becomes quite a bit more in-your-face.

Sure, we all have different online personalities. Some are quite a bit different, some not so much. But communications through social media (that's what a forum is) are not the same as what happens at the conference table or the dinner table. The timing is different, inflection is not really there and the language tends to be stronger because of the impersonal nature of this type of communication.

Well, that was much ado about nothing.... I guess I'll stfu.

Nope. There is no excuse for a grown man using a forum about tools and garages to call other folks names or to tell them to STFU. None.

 

[DenisG]

I wish all the forums I frequent were as well moderated as this one is.

On many, kids and attention seekers take over and make the place a free for all of stupid comments.

Thanks Ryan!

Agreed! Best run bar in town.

 

[ddawg16]

I'm going to Texas in a week....wish I was going to be closer to Austin,....I'd invite Ryan out for a beer....and I'd pay.

 

[Lomotil]

Nope. There is no excuse for a grown man using a forum about tools and garages to call other folks names or to tell them to STFU. None.

What if... The topic was about one guy using a tool to break into another guy's garage, and then started leaning against the garage owner's car fender and started flirting with his wife?

I'd tell the guy to STFU if he didn't knock him up-side the lissenin' post for touching his damn car...

And then I'd bang his wife.

 

[DenisG]

What if... The topic was about one guy using a tool to break into another guy's garage, and then started leaning against the garage owner's car fender and started flirting with his wife?

I'd tell the guy to STFU if he didn't knock him up-side the lissenin' post for touching his damn car...

And then I'd bang his wife.

When someone starts a fight in your bar, you don't just join in and make a bigger row (at least if you value the bar). If it can't be controlled, the bar gets shut down and everyone goes out on the street. If they want to be arrested, then let them, but at least you've protected the bar and the patrons who want to behave. Despite the out of context interpretations of what Ryan did, he did not engage in trading of invectives.

 

[Lomotil]

When someone starts a fight in your bar, you don't just join in and make a bigger row (at least if you value the bar). If it can't be controlled, the bar gets shut down and everyone goes out on the street. If they want to be arrested, then let them, but at least you've protected the bar and the patrons who want to behave. Despite the out of context interpretations of what Ryan did, he did not engage in trading of invectives.

You seem to have missed the intended sarcasm of my post. I suppose it's more difficult to convey online if it's out of the blue and you're not expecting it.

I couldn't stop playing the ending of Blazing Saddles in my mind while reading your post, BTW. Good times.