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michelleoz@ebay.com wrote:

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@*tippy*toes* wrote:

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michelleoz@ebay.com wrote:

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Hi go-tazz,

 

Definitely not the idea to drive people away, we're hoping to achieve the opposite. While it's true that those of you who post here already haven't asked for changes, it's also true that there are sellers we've spoken to who visit the boards but feel overwhelmed and don't post because they're not sure where to start, the few small changes we're introducing next month are aimed at addressing that.

 

Regards

Michelle 

 

 

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Well, generally speaking, it would make sense to even the lowest IQ that if you want to post as a seller asking a question about selling, you'd go to the forum titled "selling". You wouldn't go to the forum called "buying" to post something about selling. It doesn't take a genius to work that one out.

 

Nice to see you back Michelle, I was starting to think we'd been abandoned.

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Hi tippy toes

 

Sorry, didn't abandon you!

 

I know what you're saying but it's more than just where to post, it's where to post and feel comfortable doing it. For some, coming to the boards and seeing the conversations that go on, the way so many people know each other so well, it can feel like walking into a room full of people all in their groups having a chat and they all stop and look at you when you walk in. 

 

I'm hopeful the changes we're introducing allow people to feel a little more comfortable 'joining' the boards.

 

Regards

Michelle

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I understand what you're saying, but I think you'd find familiarity between regular members on any forum. I think the things that tick regular members off, whereby a new member could feel uncomfortable, might be, when they drag up a 5yo thread and make no contribution to it. When someone comes in with guns blazing thinking they are abusing eBay and even when they find out they're not talking to eBay, the abuse towards other members continues. When some members try to goad others, like the abuse thrown at me tonight for no reason. Lurkers and new members see this and may feel uncomfortable saying anything.

If old threads were locked, they couldn't be dragged up. If there were clear instructions at the top of the forums that members are NOT talking to eBay, this is a member forum, it might stop some of the abuse hurling. When some members are allowed to continue to bait other members, those members are going to retaliate (and are usually the ones that get slapped, not the ones who did the baiting). New members should be forced to read the forum rules and tick a box before being allowed to enter. 

I highly doubt you'll be able to stop the familiarity between regular members. I can only name one forum whereby that kind of thing is against the rules. If you try to add humour to a comment, you get treated like a school kid. That kind of thing makes people feel uncomfortable. If people are nice to us, we're nice to them. If they come in abusing us, we're going to pull them up on it.