Well, now you’ve been marked. The floodgates will be opened shortly.
I’m sorry, Maureen, I suppose you’re right. I shouldn’t be so derisive of people who haven’t been here that long.
Excuse me, but you seem to be ignoring the fact that she started the thread with the express purpose of insulting someone. And you expect people to react with kindness and friendship? :dubious: All things considered, the responses were pretty tame.
Nah, you don’t do it all that much. Certainly not as often as others I’ve seen. 
After taking my own advice and reflecting on this, I don’t think I have called anyone a newbie in a derisive way. I don’t even use the term “newbie” very often. I’m not saying I haven’t, just saying that what I perceive as my attitude towards the new members is very rarely derisive; if it’s coming across differently, that’s a surprise to me.
You do raise an interesting point, Nordic. I didn’t say that attitude doesn’t exist - just that the clique doesn’t. Well, if it does, I ain’t been invited to join.
You’re not completely wrong - there do seem to be some prevailing attitudes and opinions here that will get you an ass-handing if you buck them. I think that’s just part of a developing society.
Well, I disagree with the implication of your post. Certainly there were some insults being slung. However, for the most part, posters were going easy on Sally. If Guinastasia had started this thread, or featherlou, or Jackmannii, or me… then the pile-on would have probably been more significant. Because the poster wouldn’t have been a newcomer, and would have been a bit more aware of the conventions. In this case, people simply disagreed with what Sally had to say, but, for the most part, cut her some slack. (And recall, of course, that Sally is jumping in with both feet and starting a Pit thread. To assume that she was unprepared for argumentation and/or flaming is to assume that she is completely clueless.)
Which isn’t to say that Maureen doesn’t have a point – I’ve seen occasional posters jump someone else’s shit just because (it seemed to me) the other person was relatively new. But I think these instances are the exceptions, rather than the rule.
Yeah, but… it is what it is. The “culture” (for lack of a better word) of the message board has evolved over years; I don’t think it’s been “dictated” in any way. And it will continue to evolve as new members join, and old ones drop away. And right now, at this particular moment, that culture encompasses certain norms. Not because they’re dictated, but because they’ve evolved.
This is a general interest message board, and most anyone is welcome, but that doesn’t mean everyone will feel welcome, because there is a certain culture, a culture that discourages unsubstantiated claims, email glurge, and kiddie leet speak. And your analogy to high school is off-base: if a newcomer cruises through the SDMB and decides that he or she doesn’t like the culture and the norms that everyone else adheres to, then that newcomer can find another board more to his or her liking. There’s no particular fault or stigma in deciding that this place isn’t for them – Guinastasia isn’t going to beat them up in the parking lot, featherlou isn’t going to give 'em a swirlie, and I’m not going to key their car.
I, however, will stuff them into their own locker.
Hey, I’m not making any promises. Swirlies will be dealt if swirlies are earned.
Just watch out for the dreaded Rear Admiral.
Doesn’t exist. This board has the same rules as any other internet message board, much less any community online or off. You go in, you read the signs (e.g. BBQ Pit – this is the place for flames), and you read what’s going on. You get the tone for each forum before you start talking.
If you post something dumb or inflammatory in Great Debates, you either get a comment that it was an inappropriate forum for your post, or you get a warning from a Mod, or it gets moved, or some combination of the three. Your recourse is to figure out what the forum rules are and not make the same mistake again.
If you post something dumb or inflammatory in The BBQ Pit, you get people telling you you’re a fucking idiot. (Which, incidentally also happens if you post something smart, not inflammatory, friendly, mean, spiteful, meaningless, on-topic, off-topic, tangential to the topic, drunken, or otherwise). Your recourse is to respond that the other person is a fucking idiot, because those are pretty much the forum rules.
No cliques involved, just common sense and getting a feel for the place before jumping in.
Errr…
asshole.
As long as this thead is still front page:
I don’t think she got all that much flack. Hell, new poster or not she accused me being on a crusade to protect rapists.
If any ‘regular’ poster had made the same claim, they’d be torn to pieces for posting innacurate and slanderous bullshit.
So ah well, live and learn.
Ho, so it’s a “no-no” to suggest that the thread seems to be dying a natural death and perhaps a Mod might like to close it?
What’s so shocking about that? 
I’m getting the impression that there are a lot of :gasps and clutches pearls: people hanging around here…
So, if I’m a :eek: newbie :eek: - can I do whatever the hell I want, and not get banned, because I’m a newbie and thus it “doesn’t count.” No, I can’t. So I will start a Pit thread, or any thread, when I damn well feel like it.
Thankyou and remember to extend the pinky when you sip your tea whilst reading “Mrs Beaton’s Guide to Fallacies.”
I daresay the line between funny and incoherent isn’t fine at all, but a good ten feet wide.
It is tradition that if you start a Pit thread, and it turns on you, you can’t go whining home and ask for it to be closed.
Point two does not follow from point one. And yes, you can open whatever thread you want, and take your lumps for it.
You got off easy here, since as evinced by your OP you’re a dirty liar trying to smear another poster. Had you not been a guest, you would’ve been dogpiled. You got off lucky. Have the good sense to keep your mouth shut now.
You’ve come to the greatest message board on the 'net. A board filled with intelligent and rational people. A board where logical fallacies are recognized and dealt with becuase they hamper the progress of truth and discovery. If you don’t like it, leave.
That’s a bloomin’ insult!! 
Sweetie, I never did this. I merely stated that this thread was becoming boring, and perhaps a Mod might agree with me.
Do you actually understand that that was PRECISELY what I was saying? Yeesh.
This is the Internet. It is not real life. Why don’t you keep your own fucking mouth shut, Mr. Charming. :wally
You’ve come to the greatest message board on the 'net. A board filled with intelligent and rational people. A board where logical fallacies are recognized and dealt with becuase they hamper the progress of truth and discovery. If you don’t like it, leave.
[/QUOTE]
Sally, you really need to just shrug this off. I think it is fair to say that there is no one here who has not been burned at least once or twice in the Pit. It’s happened to all of us.
When it does happen, you have a choice. You can a.) swallow your pride, admit you fucked up, and move on. Or you can b.) continue to whine about it and make yourself look like a schmuck. (Note-I’m not addressing this to YOU, personally, just the general “you”)
And when you’re new, it’s generally best to try and listen to the advice of those of us who’ve been here and know how things work around here. Crying about it to the mods is not going to earn you respect from your fellow posters.
Nor are the mods going to close down a thread just because YOU feel, “Oh well no one agrees with me, so just lock it!”
I’m not trying to insult you, here, just telling you how we do things. This place can be overwhelming at times, even to us old geezers. Stick around for a while, and observe. Good luck.
To be sure, put a spud in it, ya molly!
Naw, and as the person you pitted, I don’t agree with you. You’re a dirty lying bitch who tried to smear me, and you haven’t even had the class to apologize yet you damn filthy caluminous bitch. You get it? You lie through your teeth in an effort to demonize someone, and that makes you lying scum. Sorry.
No, that wasn’t precisely what you were saying, because you keep fucking whining and you asked for the thread to be closed.
Because you stupid piece of shit, you accused me of being on a crusade to protect rapists. You’re a filthy lying whore without the sense of a dog. Fuck you. Pardon me if I don’t think that the Dope really needs some dirty lying bitch to make it a better place. Fuck off.