Respect for this Board

We have a situation on this Board that needs to be addressed.  I have started this thread to get a dialogue going.  I do not claim to have all the answers, but I do have, and will make, some suggestions.

There have been several posts made on this Board in the last few weeks which, in my opinion, violate our Number One Rule: No personal attacks.  To me, this is a broad rule.  It applies to how we interact with each other, certainly.  We can disagree with each other, of course, and everyone is entitled to their opinions, even strongly held ones, even controversial ones.

But I think that "No personal attacks" also applies to our comments on comics creators.  We can criticize the work, certainly, but this is a place where we don't criticize the person.  Their work, yes; their actions, yes (for example, responding to a creator's Twitter comments).  But their is a line.  I think some posters do not realize that just because it is open season on creators on some corners of the internet, that type of thing is not okay here.

It's not just comics creators either.  I think the same should apply to any entertainer we discuss (because we discuss a lot of them); again, it is the work we should comment on, not people we really don't know.  I shudder to think if we started having threads on polarizing figures from the worlds of religion and politics.

We have seen several posts lately in the past few weeks where the "No personal attacks" rule has been broken.  What could be deemed as personal attacks on creators has lead to personal attacks on other posters.  This is not a place for flame wars.

It needs to stop.

This is the Captain Comics Message Board.  The members are collectively known as the "Legion of Superfluous Heroes" which is why we refer to ourselves so often as Legionnaires.  It's a little corny, but it also gives us a sense of identity. 

Because his name is on the marquee, this is Cap's house, and we are his guests, and I think we lose sight of that sometimes.  When we violate the rule of "No personal attacks", we disrespect each other, we disrespect the Board, and we disrespect Andrew "Captain Comics" Smith.  None of that is acceptable, and I will not be silent about it any longer.

It should be clear what the rules of this place are.  It should be clear who the moderators are, and how to contact them.  There is plenty of info on the home page, and this should be there for all to see.

This should be a Board where all are welcome as long as they are respectful of this place.  It is, as Commander Benson put it so eloquently only a few months ago, a haven.

This is a great Board, and what I have been talking about is a bump in the road.  But it's a big bump right now, and it needs to be fixed.

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Replies

  • Thank you, John. I wholeheartedly concur.

  • Agreed.

  • Well stated, John. Thanks for addressing the issue.

  • HERE! HERE! BRAVO!

    So, what's the next step?

  • Those have been my feelings, too. Sometimes you dread reading Person A's response to Person B because it may escalate a war of words. And you feel caught in the crossfire, not sure if you really want to give your opinion if it's just going to add fuel to an uncomfortable fire.

    My friends, we should agree to disagree on certain subjects, though I'm always up for a good debate. But we have know when to stop. If Person C has a view that he believes in 100% and you don't 100%, sending reply after reply on it doesn't really solve anything. Perhaps it's better sometimes to say nothing. Or say it once.

    More importantly we should concentrate on what we like or what interests us. We can bring up interesting points, controversial issues and, yes, even discussions about creators. And while we shouldn't focus on self-censorship, there's nothing bad about a little self-control: example: don't respond when you're angry.

    Remember we should be here because we love comics and we should be here for each other.

  • Agree completely.

  • I completely agree, John. 

  • Absolutely agree.

  • AMEN!

  • Thanks for starting this thread, John. All that flaming has been happening in threads on subjects I normally wouldn't follow. But even I can't help but notice it in the recent posts that come up on the home page.

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