Case in point....Single vs. Dual Exhaust...which do you like better? (Car Talk)

What started out as a relatively interesting discusion quickly turned out to be a forum for the "technical experts" flaming each other. The end result?.....any meaningful reponses to the thread are "lost" in the multiple posts of personal attacks by a small group of "know-it-alls"

I don't know about you, but I'm kind of sick of this happening (and a lot of threads often go the same way). Maybe we should have more intervention by the moderators to keep the posts in line with the theme of the thread so they don't end up going off at a tangent. Anyone else in agreement, or have any suggestions?

 

Open a new topic and continue making your points.

 

This is the exact reason why I stopped going to Superhonda. The threads always seemed to turn into a pissing contest. These forums should be an open discussion of varying opinions without the worry of someone calling you stupid...even if you are. Comments like that will kill a forum...

 

Clive, I do agree with you. However, since the thread does still have some intelligent comments going on (plenty of stupid ones too), I chose to leave it open. Opening a new thread never seems to work as well, unfortunately.

 

I have spoken to the parties involved and have been assured that things will tone down in future. What else would you have me do?

I think the personal approach is the best way to deal with it. I explain what the problem is, they understand and it stops. Simply locking a topic solves nothing.

 

cthree - Thank you for dealing with the parties on a personal level. That is exactly the correct way to deal with this. Only if the behavior becomes a pattern after multiple personal warnings, should harsher measures be warranted.

 

Thanks Cthree for your intervention. Personally, I don't have a problem with people flaming each other, but not at the expense of others who are trying to have meaningful discussions. My point on the particular topic I mentioned was that a two line topic-related response quickly gets lost and overlooked when the flamers post 50-line messages repeatedly. Eventually, people like myself end up saying "screw this" and leave the topic, permanently. This all adds to bad feeling about the board in general.

I'm posting this, simply to make a point. Maybe there is no easy answer to prevent this happening again, but I don't want to turn my back on this friendly and knowledgable board because of misuse by a few individuals who have a grudge to bare. Thanks. Now I feel better

 

If I find the flames becoming too severe, I always try to apologize by saying to the flamer/flamee, " I'm sorry, you're stupid!"