Basic posting rules of this group?

Twice now I have been aggressively challenged for my opinions on this board. To the point of "cyber bullying" in at least one case.

I am new (50 days) to CPAP but I thought we all tried to discuss and share our experiences so that others MIGHT learn from them. Did I get that wrong?

Hey englandsf, maybe it might be helpful to change the title of the thread to "Relative newbie wants to know about the online culture here." Or something to that effect. It might get more traffic that way --

I've been wondering the same thing myself. Obviously, every online community has a distinctive culture: some are more freewheeling, others more combative, etc. Sometimes online communities have playful give-and-take and other times it gets kinda hostile.

I usually assume that when someone responds in an off-putting way it's because the thread or something on it has hit a hot button. I try to ignore it, but yeah, it's cool when people play nice. We all need more playful give-and-take in our lives

Good point, done.

I don't ever expect anyone to agree with me 100% but we all have the right to express our opinions without getting responses with aggression, accusations or bullying.

Board etiquette is very important to me. Getting "slammed" is not what I expected.

englandsf wrote:I don't ever expect anyone to agree with me 100% but we all have the right to express our opinions without getting responses with aggression, accusations or bullying.

Well said!

englandsf wrote:Good point, done.

I don't ever expect anyone to agree with me 100% but we all have the right to express our opinions without getting responses with aggression, accusations or bullying.

Board etiquette is very important to me. Getting "slammed" is not what I expected.

Perceptions differ about each of those words. Some people take any disagreement as all of the above.

Posting also misses the verbal tone and many people don't bother adding the social grooming words due to lack of typing skills or language issues(because not everyone in the world speaks and writes English flawlessly).

Lastly this is an un-moderated board and people are expected to act like adults in both give and take of comments.

Ahhh, now I get it. "This is an unmoderated board". I was wondering why my query to the admins went unanswered and why some flame wars with a troll were not cut off.

I am used to tightly moderated boards so I was very surprised when harsh comments were allowed to remain, but now I know to just ignore them.

As has been pointed out, this is an unmoderated board. There are some other apena boards that are moderated.
Just have to keep it in mind when posting something; you might have somebody disagree with you.
Or somebody trolling just because they can.

I haven't been on very long but I'm pretty sure some good flame wars have occurred in the past.

Does anyone know the connection - if any - between cpap.com and this board - they might have a reason to watch behavior here.

photonic wrote:why some flame wars with a troll were not cut off.

Your definition of troll please.

englandsf wrote:Twice now I have been aggressively challenged for my opinions on this board. To the point of "cyber bullying" in at least one case.

You will find the helpful posters seldom get involved in the flame wars and it is usu the same posters with the rude, cyber bullying comments. Then there are those who will want to debate about their rude comments. I think they are sleep deprived and generally not happy people who get some gratification by their comments and others who don't realize how their behavior is perceived.

BlackSpinner wrote:Lastly this is an un-moderated board and people are expected to act like adults in both give and take of comments.

And treat their guests as they would want to be treated

englandsf wrote:Does anyone know the connection - if any - between cpap.com and this board - they might have a reason to watch behavior here.

This board is hosted by cpap.com.

englandsf I totally agree with you. There are certain people on this sight that feel they are the leaders if you will and in my opinion they sometimes come across as rude.
If you are truly knowledgable about a subject you don't have to tell people you are. It will present itself.
I just post my thoughts trying not to offend and certainly trying not to diminish anyone. No of us on this site are experts. We share ideas and experiences. That is what is supposed to happen.
Keep sharing your experiences and best of luck on your Cpap journey!

A quick search through your back posts identified one thread in which you feel that you were "cyber-bullied." I have to say, I don't find anything offensive or bullying in that thread. One person strongly disagreed with you and stated their opinion strongly. Perhaps you need to grow a thicker skin.

Why does anyone have to disagree STRONGLY? Don't we all have a right to our own opinion? Can't we be considerate of others???

It's not a totally unmoderated forum. It's just a very loosely moderated forum with the main emphasis being on the basic common sense stuff...like spam and porn and illegal stuff. Those items will get pulled pretty much as soon as it is spotted.
The forum owners (yes, they also own cpap.com) do watch the forum but don't usually step in unless things get really, really bad.
A person has to be really, really bad to get banned.....even trolls.
Trust me...they do watch the forum.
They just elect to let us duke it out among ourselves when we get into pissing contests with someone unless someone gets really, really bad.

Best thing to do when you find out that your personality isn't dealing well with someone else's personality (or what they say or how they say it) is to put them on your Foe list so that you don't read what they say. Then you get a message in the thread "so and so is on your Foe list and you have chosen not to read so and so...click here if you want to see what they said"....
I have a few people on my Foe list but usually end up clicking to see because that is just the way I am but sometimes I have had to do it to avoid digging myself deeper into another pissing contest with someone who is just arguing with me just to rile me up.
We have a grumpy old man here who just loves to poke fun at me and get me riled up. Sometimes I take the bait and poke back but most of the time I just ignore him. Helps me keep my blood pressure down.

Guest wrote:

photonic wrote:why some flame wars with a troll were not cut off.

Your definition of troll please.

Classic definition

In Internet slang, a troll (/ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people,[1] by posting inflammatory,[2] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response[3] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.[4]

englandsf wrote:Twice now I have been aggressively challenged for my opinions on this board. To the point of "cyber bullying" in at least one case.

You will find the helpful posters seldom get involved in the flame wars and it is usu the same posters with the rude, cyber bullying comments. Then there are those who will want to debate about their rude comments. I think they are sleep deprived and generally not happy people who get some gratification by their comments and others who don't realize how their behavior is perceived.

Usually people who post as "guest" and are happy to hide behind anonymity.

BlackSpinner wrote:Lastly this is an un-moderated board and people are expected to act like adults in both give and take of comments.

And treat their guests as they would want to be treated

[/quote]

There are no guests, except the cowards who won't sign in, everybody is "member" and "adult" and equal.