I find it very arrogant of “guests” to come to the SDMB for the sole purpose of insulting us, such as part of this posting from angrydonkey:
I see all you pathetic fat losers going on with your pathetic trite lives oblivious to the human suffering of thousands of your countrymen.*
Visit that thread and you’ll see more examples of what I mean.
I have a suggestion - how about guests are forbidden to post in the Pit?
This way, in any other forum, we could always invoke the “don’t be a jerk” rule. AND if they are so adamant in their hatred, they can prove it by paying their membership fee.
I don’t think that’s a good idea. Also, the admins have repeatedly said that while their 30-day membership is up, guests have the same posting rights as any other member, and telling them something like “pay up, and then we’ll take you seriously” is frowned upon.
If a guest is saying someting you don’t like, call them up on it, and if they’re breaking rules, report the post and they’ll get banned. (The admins are less patient with new guests than with long-time posters, which I think makes sense.) I believe that when posting, they should have the same consideration as any other poster (unless they do something to lose it).
I sympatize with your sentiments, but not being board savvy am unsure how it could work.
It’s possible the guest is a lurker in transition to paying, but it still chaps one’s hide to have their first posts in the Pit, deriding the SDMB. Or to have their first threads doing the same.
But a guest might wish to post in the Pit in opposition to said statements as well.
But I agree wholeheartedly that angrydonkey is just what their name suggests, an ass.
I, for one, am always suspicious of someone who’s first post is in the Pit, aimed at the SDMB itself, since that’s a real good indication of sock-ism. Sockhood. Sockity. Although I need to point out, angrydonkey is ranting at Americans in general, not just at SDMB members.
The problem with forbidding someone to post in a single forum is that they’ll just post their rants in another forum. So, it’s only a solution if we’re dealing with rational, reasonable people who want to play by our rules. If they’re jerks, they won’t. I suppose the argument is that would make it easier to ban them, but… seems sorta circular.
Y’all are correct, we have a lot less tolerance of guests who misbehave than we do of paying members.
Let’s check their skin color while we’re at it. :rolleyes:
Let’s not make a big deal out of this. For every asshole who registers here, we have 50 who aren’t.
Please don’t penalize the majority for what the minority do. While they are an irritant, it’s minor in the scheme of life. They out themselves usually, and we disappear them.
After all, this IS just a message board. Not real life.
Despite some lack of clarity in some areas, it is now agreed that the SDMB is not real life. Real Life is real life. The SDMB is no longer Real Life.
Thank you for your attention in this matter. Have a nice day. :)
