Bullying on MO

For better or for worse. MO is fairly lawless. That is really the trade off in any forum. You either get a strict tightly run forum with little wiggle room but very protected or you get what we have where you get a lot of freedom but little protection. I know not everyone is willing to talk back or provoke people like myself. I try to call people out on their bullshit here. I've been a mod in other places. Both relaxed places and strict places. No one gets paid for this. So we often end up with poor management. I often took things too seriously and was kind of a nazi. I try to stay mellow here but when someone is being a dick Il bring it up. I'd say our best approach is to rely on our community. If someone is bullying you or disturbing you tell a mod or if you want tell me. I'm no mod but I'll fight them for you. I did have a friend who kept asking me to help her but I eventually found out she was causing the problems so I expect honesty. If you're not I'll find out. Bullies do shrink back if you meet them head on. It's really the only way to deal with them.

Treat the person the same way they treat you, so “bully them back” and ruin their mood in order to teach them the priceless lesson that it is better to treat others with kindness and consideration. http://i.imgur.com/ORVmeq0.gif

If someone is an ass to you over pm, then just ignore them. You can't be friends with everyone and some personalities just don't mesh well. It's a dick move though to do indirects or publicly bash on people. I like teasing people though. Like calling someone short cute. But that's just my personality.

@argile I agree with you to some degree. When I first joined around 5 years ago, sure there were trolls and there were sarcastic people as well. I've been a sarcastic jester, but I always treated people with respect. I've been on 2 weeks now after an almost 2 year hiatus and I've got to say that there's some new kind of meanness around. It makes me sad at times