I'd like to make a suggestion.

I'd like to ask that you censor the word "troll", because I'm about tired of having it slung around by idiots, towards people who dare to voice dissent from the "common opinion" here that Minis are the best cars ever.

Sure, my request sounds jerk-like, but I'm just kind of tired of seeing several of the same people here speak in a condescending manner to others just because they don't worship at the Church of Mini.

It takes all kinds of people to be enthusiasts, and some of these fools need to recognize that people will have different opinions, and voicing those opinions doesn't necessarily make them "trolls".

Thank you.

 

If there are particular people that you do not care to hear from, you can place them on your ignore list. Just click on their profile and select them to be added to your ignore list. . .

You'll feel a great sense of satisfaction when you make them go *poof* and erase them from your NAM experience!

 

I've never once seen the word troll in any NAM thread, except this one...

Hmmm.


I'm certainly not trying to argue with you, but I would like to point out that by asking the moderators to censor the forums, you're asking them to take away certain people's first amendment rights. Free speech is a good thing... censorship is a bad thing. So I would actually hope the moderators do not censor the word "troll", or any other words for that matter.

Sure, someone can call someone else a troll, (or much worse), but we all have the right to a reply, or perhaps more importantly, the right to not view the thread(s) in question anymore.

It's like those people who say television is too violent. My reply is, "can't you change the channel, or turn off your TV? Nobody is forcing you to watch".


That is just my 2 cents.

 

Ignoring them would be fine if it were me, but I seem to see it quite a lot towards others, and that's where it just gets old.

 

Good point.

But you got to admit that the statement

"... they don't worship at the Church of Mini"

makes you think of

 

Seriously. I mean, it's a few threads now where you see someone talking about the problems Minis have and then what do people respond with? "Well, you're obviously not a real Mini owner!" or "Well, that's the price you pay for having a car that's unique, and fun!"

Are you kidding me? That's absurd. "Price you pay" is right. Minis cost entirely too much to have the problems they have.

But when people point this out, suddenly, others come in and call them a troll. It just gets old.

 

Cooper ... so what? Just dont read them. Have a beer, watch the boob tube and relax. It aint worth worrying about.

 

I guess I'm just a sucker for the underdog.

 

No, we all don't have to "worship at the house of MINI", but let's face it, we're all at NAM because we're:

1.) Passionate about cars
2.) Passionate about driving cars (or motoring)
3.) Most of all, passionate about MINI's

If you don't find yourself in any of those basic categories, then perhaps it is time to ask yourself, why are you checking the NAM forums? Why are you here?

I would think that pretty much all of us NAM members DO, in fact, worship at the house of MINI! Again, that is why we're NAM members! Doesn't it go without saying?

Sure, we all know there are better cars out there, but we don't care about them, (as much, anyway). We're all here to discuss MINI, and sometimes we get passionate, if not defensive towards our tiny cars. We have a bit of a "Napolean Complex" with them. (Meaning they're small, but they pack a lot of punch, and will try to overthrow the world)!

 

Think of it more as you get older, worrying about the small things in life aint worth getting the blood pressure up.

People are people. Everyone is human

 

I don't have a problem with any of the numbered points above. I merely have a problem with the fact that several folks seem so close-minded that anyone mentioning something that's not just a happy, happy, joy, joy gushing glowing, post about their Mini is obviously a troll to them.

I come here to research topics I'm concerned with such as modification info, or whathaveyou, but I think that the way people react when others mention having problems with their Minis, or that they're considering another car, is just asinine. It's not friendly. It's not conducive to making people feel welcome.

So what's the point?

 

Before I put him on my ignore list, there was a guy here named chows4us who used to give some very good advice about how it is best just to ignore people that bug you on the internet. . .

I wonder if chows4us ever posts anymore???

 

ROFL. MOI?

Oh yeah, I remember that!

Its the paint fumes ... they went to my head tonight but now I'm done painting!

 

Oh please. I have posted and gone into detail about every issue that has come up with my MINI. I have had some small issues come up, and a tranny fail. Then a major coolant leak at -40f, all were a pain in the butt, all were fixed. Nobody jumped on me for stating those things, I was given support.

My MINI now has 65k miles on it, has not had one single issue in over 40k miles.

If you think that folks on this site are not going to defend thier MINI's, and state that they think that these are wonderful cars, well this is not a good site for you.

 

With all due respect, defend their Minis from what? Someone who doesn't like them?

By the way, defending the Mini by posting your positive experience is one thing, calling someone names (as others have done) because they don't share the same opinion as you is, well, trollish.......

I remember a while back, a gentleman introduced himself to the Forum. He promptly related how his old car forum had bashed him for selling his old make and complaining about the many problems he had with it. On NAM, page after page of condolences and slams at the immaturity of the other forum were posted. Well guess what - the same crap happens here and it's just as immature......

 

I think people disgruntled with all things MINI should have their own little thread and stop hijacking the site...
Just a suggestion.

 

I always thought troll dolls were pretty cool.. when did they get the negative rap??? my take on this is that this is the internet, a faceless place where people go to websites that they are enthusiasts on one scale all the way to fanatics. It can be a basketball site, a pizza site, a PT Cruiser site or a Mini site. If you bring up a negative at any of these sites you will have some people that agree with you, some that disagree and some that REALLY disagree with you. Behind a monitor, not everyone is going to be your buddy. Let the remarks roll off you and don't take anyone seriously...especially me...it's just the internet. Peace out...(haha is that the dumbest way to end a conversation or what)

 

Except that this is a privately owned site, not a government one. That means that if the owner of the site decides to limit what can and can't be discussed, then they are entitled to.

If you read the NAM Site Guidelines located here you will see that there are in fact limits on just what you can say and do here on North American Motoring.

As for the banning of the word "troll," while CooperSigma may not appreciate it when he's labeled as one (and yes I've noticed that the word is being tossed out there a bit more frequently) the word is neither profane or offensive.

 

My feeling is that NAM is (and has always been) about posting both positive and negative experiences relative to the MINI. All I ask is that they be posted in a constructive way. Even a negative experience like "My headgasket blew" can elicit helpful replies or claims of the poster being a troll....purely based on how the initial post was made. If posters don't want to be labeled a troll then make efforts to post in a way that doesn't appear to be a troll.

Mark

 

|Can someone help me with the word"troll".According to Mr Webster it has to do with fishing ,singing,or demons and dwarfs.|Which describes the above comments in this thread? (big smiley face)|Q

 

I think its all about how topics are approached, the context of the thread, and the attitude/tone projected. For example, if someone is posting about how happy they are with their Mini or mods and another person posts to the thread about all the problems with theirs and how crappy they all are, or that sort of thing they might be called a troll since they are look to just be trying to start something. There are endless examples of the difference between contributing to a thread or appearing to just start an argument or put someone's choice down vs a discussion about different opinions- anyway, its just one of those things that jumps out and people react to, attitude and context sums it up I guess (and what the point of the post seemed to be).

Anyway, here's one definition of a forum troll:

"In Internet terminology, a troll is a person who posts inflammatory messages on the Internet, such as on online discussion forums, to disrupt discussion or to upset its participants. "Troll" can also mean the inflammatory message itself posted by a troll or be a verb meaning to post such messages. "Trolling" (the gerund) is also commonly used to describe the activity."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll

 

Not a very good answer.

Might turn off new visitors - or is that the point?

There is the three strike rule - and besides children need limits

 

I think the definition above is close to what I consider trolling. A troll in my view is someone who over time exhibits a pattern of behavior that appears to be purposely inflammatory and harassing (this can be a long time or a very short time depending on how they post). Given this someone that posts a problem with their MINI in a thread where someone is really happy isn't necessarily a troll. If we saw something like the following in your example above they would likely be deemed a troll and we would start to monitor them.

In other words its pretty obvious they want to inflame those posting to the thread.

As for our strikes policy its really two strikes. You get a first strike notice (via email) and if you keep it up or exhibit similar behavior in the future you get restricted from the site permanently. Often it will be very obvious to us what will happen with the user depending on their response to the first strike email.

Mark

 

A few things about that request make no sense to me.

Because you personally don't like the way SOME people use the word "troll" you want to take the right away from EVERYONE even those who may properly use that word. To me, the true underdog would be those who may have used the word properly but now can't because of the minority that used it improperly.

Now lets say you win and the word "Troll" is permanently censored. What has that really accomplished? The so called underdog who was being labeled Troll will still get bashed with the use of many other words - some maybe even worse than "troll".

If someone doesn't worship at the church of MINI then I would suggest they get out of the church. Or when visiting the church, you don't have to be a believer, but please respect the church members that do believe.

 

Electric shock last paragraph says it all.Thanks Q