On here this is a relatively easy job as we are brought together by a car brand that is subtle yet highly addictive. It is clear that our passion for our cars overflows into our passion for talking about them and helping others less fortunate than us when things have gone wrong.
Many a time have I read how much visitors and members alike appreciate the good conduct and intelligent posting that goes on here – and this is something that the members have generated themselves. I hope you will agree that moderation here is generally done with a very light touch, a quiet word and the equivalent of a stern look over the top of my glasses – similar to that which the more unruly students in my classes get when they have pushed just that bit too hard.
Of course, there are always going to be occasional spats between members caused by misconstrued comments (usually attempts at online humour that have missed the mark) or by strong beliefs clashing. This will always happen and I am so pleased that in most cases, the members here seem to sort things out between themselves with minimal “guidance from aboveâ€.
However, there are odd occasions when matters start to escalate to a point where it becomes quite difficult for the protagonists to step back and call it a day. Maybe it’s pride, maybe it’s stubbornness and maybe it’s insensitivity to the situation. Whatever the reason, it makes for ugly reading on a forum that is inherently beautiful – just like our cars.
The last thing I want to have to do is start to come down hard on the offenders but when I start receiving PMs from members muttering about certain threads and individuals, then I feel it is important to investigate and react. The intelligent amongst you will realise that we are currently experiencing such a situation and all I would ask is that the members directly involved look to themselves to deal with matters privately whilst the rest of us avoid fanning the flames by posting witty comments that aren’t really helping the overall situation.
We are all adults here and I don’t intend to treat anyone like children. Equally, I would ask everyone here to recognise the damage that is done when spats evolve into feuds.
I have written this in what I hope you will all recognise is an encouraging and supportive way as I am simply trying to reflect the ethos of the forum. That said, I’m still not sure about the D3 …
