How to bring civility online

kayDUB

Stumbled across this, thought it was worth a share ?

http://artofmanliness.com/2011/07/13/being-a-gentleman-in-the-age-of-the-internet-6-ways-to-bring-civility-online/

vic

Thanks for posting this

+1 .....definately worth reading.

"A gentleman treats others with dignity and respect, regardless of the kind of forum in which he participates. He treats life’s fellow travelers as he himself would like to be treated. And in doing so, he makes the world a little better of a place everywhere he goes. He leaves those he interacts with feeling edified and uplifted instead of depressed and angry"

I must say this forum is one of the most civil forums around...maybe musicians are just civil people... :?

AlanRatcliffe

I liked Norio's original policy of using your real name as your screen name (although it was largely ignored until it fell away as a requirement) and have stuck with it. Forces you to own every one of your comments and posts and makes you think twice about posting something you wouldn't say to someone's face.

As a (mostly beneficial) side effect, it promotes your name too. If you are in any way a serious musician hoping to make a living from music, your name is your brand and it is something you build up over your entire career. So if you are spending time posting stuff on this (or any other musical) forum, it makes sense to use your own name, do some quality posting and build your brand.

StephenG

Alan Ratcliffe wrote I liked Norio's original policy of using your real name as your screen name (although it was largely ignored until it fell away as a requirement) and have stuck with it. Forces you to own every one of your comments and posts and makes you think twice about posting something you wouldn't say to someone's face.

As a (mostly beneficial) side effect, it promotes your name too. If you are in any way a serious musician hoping to make a living from music, your name is your brand and it is something you build up over your entire career. So if you are spending time posting stuff on this (or any other musical) forum, it makes sense to use your own name, do some quality posting and build your brand.

+1000000000000000000000000

i dont get why people hide behind cute little nicknames on forums... maybe so they can fit in with their mates "goose", "viper' and the like... it should be compulsary anyone no longer in school should use the adult names.

its like in some bike clubs where everyone must have a nickname by the looks of it. and if you think i am making this up, just ask my good mate 'Spanner'.

kayDUB

Well this doesn't say very much for "KayDub" does it ☹
It's my initials ok! KW =D

Wizard

+ 1
... And in doing so, he makes the world a little better of a place everywhere he goes ...

People invest good time in reading comments of others.
Would really be cool if they always left better off as a result of reading them.

Neville Scott

P.S. Is it possible to change your nick?

StephenG

kayDUB wrote Well this doesn't say very much for "KayDub" does it ☹
It's my initials ok! KW =D

? ? ? i actually thought your name was Kay, until we met! ? ?

ActionArnie

Alan Ratcliffe wrote I liked Norio's original policy of using your real name as your screen name (although it was largely ignored until it fell away as a requirement) and have stuck with it. Forces you to own every one of your comments and posts and makes you think twice about posting something you wouldn't say to someone's face.

As a (mostly beneficial) side effect, it promotes your name too. If you are in any way a serious musician hoping to make a living from music, your name is your brand and it is something you build up over your entire career. So if you are spending time posting stuff on this (or any other musical) forum, it makes sense to use your own name, do some quality posting and build your brand.

I agree with this completely. I've been playing PC games online for a number of years now and for the last 4 years or so I've been involved with www.sarl.co.za racing car simulators online (rFactor). SARL has a rule that you have to use your real name if you wish to be involved in any official league races in order to give the participants more ownership of their actions. (With full damage enabled some careless "driving" can easily upset other people). The guys I race with are the most courteous gamers I've ever come across online in any game by an absolute country mile and I certainly think the lack of any alias's (aliai?) has contributed.

AlanRatcliffe

Wizard wrote P.S. Is it possible to change your nick?

Yes. In your profile settings, under "Account Related Settings".

Hammeron

OK Alan, you convinced me ! ?

IceCreamMan

StephenG wrote
Alan Ratcliffe wrote I liked Norio's original policy of using your real name as your screen name (although it was largely ignored until it fell away as a requirement) and have stuck with it. Forces you to own every one of your comments and posts and makes you think twice about posting something you wouldn't say to someone's face.

As a (mostly beneficial) side effect, it promotes your name too. If you are in any way a serious musician hoping to make a living from music, your name is your brand and it is something you build up over your entire career. So if you are spending time posting stuff on this (or any other musical) forum, it makes sense to use your own name, do some quality posting and build your brand.
+1000000000000000000000000

i dont get why people hide behind cute little nicknames on forums... maybe so they can fit in with their mates "goose", "viper' and the like... it should be compulsary anyone no longer in school should use the adult names.

its like in some bike clubs where everyone must have a nickname by the looks of it. and if you think i am making this up, just ask my good mate 'Spanner'.

and there goes the theme of the thread eh....

some ppl may actually want anonymity for very good reasons

Signed

Mr Mojo Rising

StephenG

IceCreamMan wrote
some ppl may actually want anonymity for very good reasons

Signed

Mr Mojo Rising

......and then include links to their website with their bio and details on it????

IceCreamMan

StephenG wrote
IceCreamMan wrote
some ppl may actually want anonymity for very good reasons

Signed

Mr Mojo Rising

......and then include links to their website with their bio and details on it????

not referring to me specifically but i guess amongst us walk ppl who may not want others to jknow they here for privacy reasons.

Using ones full name would also mean if you ran a google search their comments here would be avaialble to all..again some ppl may not want that ..

Signed

Elvis

Neon-Gecko

When I first joined the forum, it seemed that nicknames were the thing to do. I had to scratch my head to come up with mine... ?

All my PM's are signed with my real name, but my nickname has kinda come to mean something to me, so much so, that any guitars I now build have my nickname signed on the back of the headstock. So I suppose it can go both ways, a nickname could be a meaningless name to hide inexcusable behaviour, or it can become as meaningful as your real name. Just depends on the person I suppose.

Wizard

Neon Gecko wrote When I first joined the forum, it seemed that nicknames were the thing to do. I had to scratch my head to come up with mine... ?

That was my experience too.

FruitarGeek

Ok. Im convinced. Nick name change!!! Although I was really getting attached to FruitarGeek :'(. Like Neon Gecko, it means something to me and has a definite affiliation. But oh well. I'd like to be accountable to my comments

VellaJ

Neon Gecko wrote When I first joined the forum, it seemed that nicknames were the thing to do. I had to scratch my head to come up with mine... ?

All my PM's are signed with my real name, but my nickname has kinda come to mean something to me, so much so, that any guitars I now build have my nickname signed on the back of the headstock. So I suppose it can go both ways, a nickname could be a meaningless name to hide inexcusable behaviour, or it can become as meaningful as your real name. Just depends on the person I suppose.

+1. My nickname and symbol are emblazoned onto my guitar case. Although in my defense in this case, my nickname is essentially my surname and initial ?

doc-phil

I didn't know about the 'real name' thing.. guess I didn't read the 'read this first' page when I joined :-[

StephenG

VellaJ wrote

+1. My nickname and symbol are emblazoned onto my guitar case.

slight hijack but lets see that??? PM if u want, or start a new thread, I would really like to see that.

singemonkey

A gentleman remembers that a great many internet users are not men. :-\ That art of manliness blog disturbs me in its attempts to define a new masculinity which is basically still just a polished over version of the old one - and about 2 steps away from the misogynist lunatics in the "men's rights" camp.

I like my nickname. No way am I changing it. Anyone can find out who I actually am in five seconds. There's no "hiding" behind it. This forum would be a poorer place if X-rated Bob became [Bob's real name - which I happen to know and, again, you folks could learn it in 10 seconds].

I accept the self-promotion aspect, but singemonkey does the same job. (http://hellfirebluesclub.wordpress.com/)

Civility can be a bit over-rated on this forum. As I've said before, it is important to respect people's personhood. It is not important to respect their ideas. Ideas should be debated - that is one of the great strengths of the internet. You don't get to pretend other people's opinions don't exist anymore. We come here to discuss our interest in guitars and guitar playing - not to be a mutual back-slapping party. If someone doesn't like my choice in music or gear, I don't hold it against them. I'm confident about the reasons I made my decisions and so should they be. It's discussion and debate, not a court of law.

Some of the people I've had the fiercest debates with on this site are people I've met face to face. If we don't have those debates face-to-face, it's because it's not in a forum designed to discuss these things, not because I have any discomfort having those arguments with those people physically present if we are there to discuss such things as we are here. The people who are the loudest and most vociferous are also often not the nastiest people on this forum. I've read some seriously disturbing things by some of the quiet ones going on in chat. I don't engage with that kind of crap though. Nicknames, however, provide no anonymity when I meet these contemptible people in real life.

Saying all that, this forum is amazingly free of trolls. That's a different story. Trolling is designed to upset people just because. Norio and Alan's policies have kept that to a bare minimum.

TLDR; It's nice to be nice, but that shouldn't stop people actually being able to discuss what they came here to discuss.