Too many examples over the years of people saying, in The BBQ Pit (and elsewhere on this board), “Yeah, that person is acting up in some manner, but you just ignore it eventually they will stop doing it.” Ignoring the fact that this may be the most ignored advice in the history of this board, do we have any examples of it actually working? Someone posts things designed to elicit responses, rather than respond people just ignore that person, and that person just gives up without escalating the situation and either stops and that person either stops crapping on the message board (on their own without Moderator intervention) or just goes away?
Not looking for heart-felt examples on either side as to whether or this works-Just looking for actual examples of it working.
Yes, it happens all the time. I’ve seen many dumb questions or provocative statements that were ignored and never went further. I’m always a little surprised when it happens, because it can be tough to do collectively.
I’m not going to link to any because that would defeat the purpose of ignoring them.
I’m sure that if you pointed out an actual example from the past (nothing recent), it wouldn’t cause them to return to reignite the festivities. If this approach actually works I would like to know, because “everybody knows it works” sounds…truthy?
Or, if the offender was a now-banned troll. OTOH, you’re asking others to do your legwork for you.
No. I am asking for any positive affirmation for this belief. A banned troll does not count because I am looking for examples of someone voluntarily stopping because they were ignored. If it happens all the time, I am most certainly NOT asking for anything difficult to find. I am not the one saying this idea works, so I am not the one that should provide supposedly easy to find examples of it working.
And, thus, you are asking:
You’re asking others to remember specific instances, take the time and effort to look them up on the board, and provide you with links.
I’m sympathetic to your question, but you are literally saying, “prove to me that it works”:
If someone asserts something, it is something they should provide evidence for.
If I put the thread and/or the poster on mute, then as far as I’m concerned they have gone away. So what if they’re still being annoying somewhere else?
I’m not saying that you’re wrong, but you are, again, asking others to do the work to prove the answer to your question.
Again, you have tried to slip the word “prove” into the conversation, asserting that it is something I require. The word is “evidence”, and there is most certainly a difference between the two words.
That is another argument for another day.
Semantics.
To make you happy:
You are asking others to do the work to provide evidence to answer your question.
I am asking others that have made the assertation to show examples of the assertation, yes.
This does sound like familiar advice, but do you have a specific example in mind of people being advised to ignore bad behavior in the hopes of it going away
You don’t seem to be asking those individual posters directly. If you know who they are, you should ask them for the evidence.
@Czarcasm I’ll be happy to DM you next time I notice it or if I remember an instance, but I’m not going to spend my time searching.
I know it works, but I can certainly appreciate you not taking the word of some rando. Unfortunately that’s all I can offer for now.
People become heroes by responding to a crisis. People are laid off despite successfully and invisibly averting a crisis.
The OP wants averted crises. Of course they happen. The key word is invisible. No one notices because that’s what is supposed to happen and most often does.
Screwworms weren’t a crisis for 25 years. No one noticed because what was supposed to happen - monitoring and prevention - happened. Until it didn’t. Should I list all the crises that haven’t yet happened because parts of the government are still functioning?
Evidence for that statement: Michael Lewis’ The Fifth Risk.
Who has made this assertion?
We get a heck of a lot of posters who show up, start one problematic or iffy thread, maybe reply once in that entire thread, and then are never heard from again. Those are definitely cases of “ignore it and it’ll go away”.
Sadly the poster that started 14carats of G in a or whatever did exactly that, but the thread took a long time to die. 