Contact the powers that be.

Active recruitment? No you'd need a real control freak to go down that path and happily no one in GN fits that description.

I think what Nonu is supporting is the fact that the shouldn't be 'a group speaking on here'. So in fact we're all singing off the same hymn sheet.

Agree with Elegran's and Soutra's points. The fact that several people post views which coincide does not mean they're taking sides or forming posses! Will the next accusation involve active recruitment to these 'sides'? Conspiracy theories? By the way, the fact I've agreed with their posts does NOT mean we've formed a posse!
There will always be divergent views but what is important is HOW they are expressed.

Oh Nonu let's not even talk about "sides"!!!I think there have been too many outbursts of a disagreeable nature and am sorry that we cannot agree to disagree without feathers flying. It would be dull if we all had the same point of view and lively discussion is what makes GN special, but ................I hope we can continue to discuss without resorting to expletives or childish behaviour.

I agree, there are not groups getting together to speak for or against anything. Each posts an opinion. Sometimes that opinion is exactly the same as several others posting round about the same time. sometimes it is the diametric opposite.

Sometimes it is a comment of what someone else has posted as an opinion. So long as they do not insult the person posting what they disagree with, what is wrong with not agreeing with the majority? How else can the different aspects of a conversation be put before everyone?

Some people have right wing views, some left. Some people believe all that publicists say, some believe all that teenage girls say. Most can judge for themselves what is/has been going on.

I am on the side of

POGS ANA AKA !!

It does not seem to me that G/N is so "Cliquey" now , I am pleased to say.
More people just putting forward their OWN point of view . Obviously not everyone thinks the same , and that is okay . Diversive opinions can be constructive .

I'm not aware of any groups speaking out on anything on GN. We are all individuals speaking out, aren't we? Agreeing on a thread with what someone else has said isn't making a group that is speaking out; it's just agreeing with something that someone else has said.

Mind you, I don't read all the threads.

Exactly POGS & Ana if fact a group 'speaking out' is just what we hoped had stopped.

Quite, POGS. Which is why I don't think when's suggestion that 'a group of us speaking out on here might have more effect' would result in anything other than an increasingly nasty free-for-all.

Yes but there will always be somebody who disagrees with your point of view and you should accept that's the case.

I have seen many threads that simply degenerate into a slanging match because there has been 'a possee' of familiar named posters turning on a poster, forgetting what the thread was even about, they seem far more interested in 'taking on' one individual poster than carrying on with the content of the thread at that point.

There are times I find them even more rude, aggressive and down right horrible than the poster they are so-called being offended by.

Elegran was correct to say "Whoever intervenes is in danger of being on the receiving end of a lot of bad feeling, whatever they rule. Sometimes from all sides at once.

To see ourselves as others see us.

I think there had been similar circumstances as to some users on the former Saga Zone website, this resulted in a complete close down of the website, due to certain offenders using abuse and language to match .
mick
PS Saga Zone did have house rules which in some cases got ignored

I would so love to post what is in my head at the moment, but it is a lovely sunny bank holiday weekend and I don't want anyone from HQ bothered. So I will refrain. Even if I burst.

Rather like keeping a large family of squabbling children from breaking into open warfare and injuring one another. Whoever intervenes is in danger of being on the receiving end of a lot of bad feeling, whatever they rule. Sometimes from all sides at once.

Another reason that some posts that one might think should be deleted haven't been, is that quite possibly no-one has reported them. You do have to report a post you think should be deleted. It needs to be reported before the thread has moved on away from whatever you don't like too.

Seems reasonable to me.

I wouldn't like to moderate either, jess. It must be quite difficult sometimes.

Sadly Perta there is no room on GN for a direct question like yours, even if it did come from the heart. There are those who can be as nasty, rude, etc as they want, but have perfected the art of masking the personal nature of the insult so it just about falls within the guidelines.

Others may be more controversial and outspoken and get their posts deleted on a fairly regular bass.

I actually prefer the more honest and open comments to the former.

I don't envy the moderators but as members we either accept their decisions or leave and find a forum we like better. It is a free service.
www.gransnet.com/info/netiquette

It's the personal nature of certain posts that get them deleted, not a question of who posts them. If you want to be scathing on gransnet you need to learn how to do it without obviously directing your insults at a particular person or group of people.

The example you give, petra, fails that criterion by being personal towards whoever it was.

This post has a personal element, but it is not insulting, merely informative. A direct question such as yours, petra, implies that the person you were addressing is deliberately nasty. That's obviously against the very simple rule.

It is cyclic, When It winds up to a climax and then drops down into anti-climactic quiet. Leaving the scene for a short while is a good move.

I agree with petra too. These nasty comments are increasing, and diplomatic-type responses from GNHQ seem to signal permission to carry on being nasty and hurtful. Well, I am sick of it, too! Perhaps a group of us speaking out on here might have more effect.

mcem Galen is ok but won't post whilst it keeps happening.

It's perfectly possible to post politely and have different views, but taunting and making spiteful comments about the victims of sexual abuse is the limit.

That's enough from me. I think I'll have a few days' break from this.

Message deleted by Gransnet for breaking our forum guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

Agree with petra. The system in place for dealing with reported posts seems inconsistent and arbitrary but when I questioned it I got real politicians'-type answers! The same posters regularly trot out rude, hurtful and self-centred comments and have posts deleted on a regular basis but even when there is a clear groundswell of opinion against some of their posts there are times when GNHQ let them stand. At the same time they are often quick to delete posts that many find relevant and inoffensive. No point trying to take this further. No-one promised a democratic process! Either we bite the bullet and carry on or opt out of a thread, a forum or GN. Anyone know if Galen is ok?

Don't assume that because you report a post, HQ will agree with you and delete it. It is not automatic, though if you have regrets about something that you have posted yourself, they will usually delete it for you.

I think Petra knows how to report a post. She's just miffed that one of hers was deleted, yet others which she considers offensive are allowed to stand.

Well, now I know how the report 'thingy' works. at least.

Why dig up something that happened some time ago (your words) to make a point?

Hinting that we know who you are talking about is just stirring. If you want to report a post just do it.