To indulge in gratuiitous aggression and abuse just post here

Elegran what a b****y good idea

Elegran

The trouble is, what those unfortunates want is attention and to cause disruption, and they're not going to get it by fighting amongst themselves to see who can be the most obnoxious!

Pee, po, belly, bum, drawers (courtesy of Flanders and Swan)

[sticking out tongue] emoticon?
My mum always used to tell me to ignore people who wound me up, but it is hard not to rise to the challenge!

absent

I think I'm missing something here.......

This is silly!

Rollocks!

Didn't know you rowed, susiecb ?

this is a silly and unecessary thread.

disgust emoticon

petallus I completely agree.

Maybe it should just stop.

Don't give it oxygen and let's just carry on as normal

Hello again.

Did you read someone's suggestion that we needed a thread for the angry and unpleasant? It was in the same thread as someone had been ...angry and unpleasant (and in a couple of other threads too)

So I thought I would provide exactly that. Those who were flamed in the other threads saw the joke and contributed a few mild outbursts. Those who were not think I am being ..... angry and unpleasant.

They responded by making a fuss. Now, I hate to say I told you so BUT if I had been a nasty troll that is EXACTLY the response I would have been looking for. Game set and match to those who want to set us at one another's throats.

Rule one of dealing with anonymous intruders is not to get riled. IGNORE THEM.

Glad to see that the genealogists are doing just that.

We are all anonymous intruders.

But we don't all trash the place, wotsit

The standard for online conversations is "Would I speak as aggressively as this face to face?" If they would not, then why do it online? If they would ..... then why should anyone wish to listen and answer?

Nobody has trashed anything. Some points of view were put across in a way that some people found difficult. Personal remarks did not come first from the source that I think is being blamed.

Didn't want to resurrect this, but you might not have seen everything bags. e.g.

'jeni, annobel, and anagram. good names for bullies. nice to meet you. see you around.' (*granbunny*'s posting)

None of the personal attacks were deserved, and hopefully this will die down now.

I did see that and I understood why she said it. I think the term was too strong because I saw the funny side of the responses, but I also understand why Gbun felt got at. She didn't make any personal comments (they were general) until she felt got at by various people because they were not addressing the issue so much as ridiculing her/ her comments. Perhaps they weren't or that wasn't the intention, but I can see why she thought so. HQ have not deleted any of her posts and they would have done if they had broken GN rules. I see the comment you highlight, carol, as Gbun's self-defence, not as an attack. She felt attacked. I am not saying that I think any of the people mentioned are bullies. I don't, but I can see where Gbun, who may not 'know' them so well, is coming from.

Personally, I would never go on to another site and issue gratuitous insults to people who I did not know. She/he was invited to say more about where they were coming from but declined and went ahead with the accusations towards some whom we all know have a very gentle and enquiring approach. Totally unwarranted and hurtful, especially when some people had unburdened the hurt they were experiencing from family relationship problems that were dismissed as being their fault.

I don't think we will all agree as we each saw what was happening at different times and the sequence of these sideswipes gave rise to concerns that we were dealing with a troll. Happily, things should die down now and we can forget about it.

I don't want to say any more - I'm conscious of giving this air time and you don't do that with trolls.

I'm off for a lovely afternoon out and tea with a dear friend, and will check in later to confess what I've been eating to ruin my diet!

I so totally agree with Bagitha. It did feel as though several of us responded to our controversial poster in a way which was quite unpleasant and could certainly be construed as ganging up and bullying.