Yes...
There will always be differences of viewpoint, and even the best of us can be mistaken, make errors, or just not be on the same wavelength as some other members. It’s not a matter for cudgels and coconuts – or it shouldn’t be.
I like something about everyone on these boards, with very few exceptions. I will spell out those exceptions to make it very clear: those few newly created anonymous users who created their IDs specifically to troll.
By “trolling”, I mean the behaviour of people who meet the definition of internet trolls. “Trolls are people who leave intentionally provocative or offensive messages on the internet in order to get attention, cause trouble or upset someone.” The accepted legal definition – using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offense – demonstrates that such behaviour is not just unpleasant, but at its worst is potentially criminally actionable.
I do NOT mean people whose posts are sharp or terse, or which contain an element or statement that some might find unfriendly. That’s not the same as trolling. I know my own way of communicating tries to be friendly and helpful, while appreciating sharper and more savoury approaches as well. Goodness, we all have our own triggers, don’t we? We all have our own levels of frustration and we all respond in different ways. I am happy to take people as they are (although I may debate with them quite strongly, or disagree with them, etc).
The trolls of whom I speak post primarily in old threads on the Buying or Selling boards with irrelevant and uncalled-for nastiness for no purpose other than to be nasty against someone.
Thankfully we do not seem to have trolls on this board at present. Disagreement, yes - but let’s not allow that to clog up this nice thread.
Speaking from personal experience, having met Yibs in person several times, that’s the last thing he would want. He’s a genuinely lovely person, and he would give you (by which I mean all of us) the shirt off his back.
That said... Yibs, the Red Tardis is still going strong!
