h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I wonder if he unsubbed before or after reading my replies?

As I said, I really was not attacking anyone's behaviour, because I am not in any position to do so, but I am always fascinated by the relationship that people have with the pixels that appear on their PC screens. And I was born asking 'why?'

I enjoyed running the white-water rapids of the AWW! It was fun.

Hey, as I have said before, ho.

Ben

"If I post a load of biased rubbish to PR, I won't wonder if someone overreacts."

Yeah, but you're not a newbie, with your first entry in PR. If someone wants to get 'vigorous' with their 'reviewing' with me, I'm tough enough to take it too (although I've still been shocked at reactions from time to time). Going through the review process in the past has made me confident enough to know that I can get through it this time too, but that's not the way we should be dealing with the newer Researchers among us.


"It is irritating to spend time wading through PR and being nice and polite to people who didn't even care to read the guidelines."

We all find parts of our jobs (even volunteer ones) irriating. But if any Scout can't get over it and either leave that entry for a Scout who can manage to be polite or be polite themself, then perhaps the Scout group isn't for that person.

It clearly states on the Scouts page that the Eds consider it *harmful* to h2g2 to be rude to people who don't reach the guidelines.

Hey yo!

1st It's not *just* about newbies

2nd In particular - clearly not about inoffensive newbies.

3rd It's about people who post biased/inflamatory/insulting stuff. Newbies or otherwise (happens that opften it's newbies)

Also, careful:
"It is irritating to spend time wading through PR and being nice and polite to people who didn't even care to read the guidelines."

I didn't say the *solution* is to be unpolite or rude. I just said it is irritating. Which it is. I am not unpolite or rude, however. Shortspoken, maybe.

Plus:
"If I post a load of biased rubbish to PR, I won't wonder if someone overreacts. - Yeah, but you're not a newbie..."

Newbie or not is not the question here. Remember we're not talking about the inoffensive 'sorry-didn't-read-the-guidelines' newbies. It's about those that bump in and say 'y'know what? you suck' type of newbies. This kind of people just shouldn't wonder when/how other peers react. We're all human.

If I smack someone in the face (myself being a newbie or not) I'll expect some reaction. That's all I said.

HELL

I got halfway through the backlog before I said to myself 'What the hell, I'm going to post anyway,' so I apologise if I've repeated something someone has already said.

That being said, I was thinking about the fact that this is a virtual place and that we're probably not going to meet anyone here in real life. Two things are related to that. Firstly, I think h2g2 can be just as scary as real life. Maybe not PR per se - I've never found PR intimidating, and as a newbie submitting my first entry everyone was very helpful to me. I have to confess that in my Scouting role it is often very difficult to keep patience with stupid people who don't read the guidelines. But I try to be at least civil anyway, because I find that, for me, the best way to gain respect is by being nice. That's just how I am.

But other parts of hootoo can be scary. Just as you can be intimidated or harrassed or bullied in RL, so you can online. Everywhere you go there are unsavoury characters and there have been times in my months here when I have been scared by certain people, even though they were just a screen name in my browser and I lived an ocean away. It is still possible to be frightened by non-physical things.

Secondly, this may come across as weird, but I consider the people I've met here more 'real', if possible, than the people I know in real life. I am very shy and have a lot of difficulty making friends, partly because the stuff I want to talk about (politics, history, literature) is not the stuff that everyone else wants to talk about. h2g2 has given me the chance to talk to a wider scope of people than I find in my high school in Darkest California, without the awkwardness that I usually find when talking to everyone face-to-face, especially adults. The friends I have here are closer than the ones I've made at school, and in short this is a far more 'real' place than RL is.

And now, back on topic. Though I choose to be nice to people who submit things to PR, I have a very strong inclination to say that if someone gets a lot of negative (maybe even rude comments) then perhaps they deserve it. As long as someone comes along in the end and tells them what they *really* should do and actually gives them some constructive feedback, maybe honest responses are a good thing. Only this politeness instinct which I have strongly ingrained in me would prevent me from saying that.