leaping from the frying pan into the flame

• Hi there lurkers! by John Suler, 7/26/97
  • Lurk before you leap? by SusanLCSW@aol.com, 11/8/97
    • re: lurk before you leap by John Suler, 11/11/97
      
      

John Suler wrote "To post a message - to step INTO the TV - means breaking that mental set." Taken literally, it would also mean breaking the TV set! :-) Thanks for your thoughtful response...as a person who spends time monitoring message boards, I often wonder about ways of enhancing the discussions. The bulletin boards are, after all, the written record of community...the only way some members have of identifying and finding each other, and exchanging ideas and support. (We also have weekly chats, and a weekly distribution list, but those are another story)....anyway..I struggle to maintain a sense of safety for posters...but at the same time, have a strong knee-jerk reaction against censorship...This leaves me in the precarious position of having to evaluate evocative posts, which, at least in my forum, often seem to attack people instead of ideas...What do the rest of you think about posts to bb's that both present a valid argument, and "flame" at the same time? It's easy to "remove" messages that are just insults...but what about when the poster supports his "flame" with rational and important ideas?

• Re:leaping from the frying pan into the flame by LHooker, 11/12/97
  • references on flaming by John Suler, 11/12/97
    • Flaming, anonymity, machines by TWB, 11/15/97
• A flame by any other name... by TWB, 11/15/97