Let me start by saying, I am one of those frustrated members. I am taking a breather. I logged in this morning purely to pull some info out of my inbox and this thread was at the top and while I wasn't going to respond, I feel I need to.
First, there are members here who I don't "care for" based on ironically on the Aquarium posts. That's fine. I know to steer clear of their postings in that forum but still respond and answer their questions regarding their tanks.
I am not an idiot, there are people who don't see eye to eye about things. That's life, it doesn't make them wrong or right. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and views. I have friends in my life who I dearly adore but I know if we talk about certain subjects, arguements could ensue so why go there. On a forum, someone's views are the basis that you "know" them.
Ok, the "Burrito" situation. I put him on ignore. The bad part is that he posts on multiple threads, mostly those he didn't start. You respond to the original posters question and he will keep interjecting in. The only way to avoid dealing with him would be to not answer the original posters question. That is not fair to that poster.
There is an issue with digging up ancient threads and responding to them, not anything relevant but more like "good job" or that's what I think he is saying since they come out "gud jodb 0-o".
This board has members from around the world. English is the language of the board. I think proper English should be encouraged. This doesn't mean perfect grammar or perfect English, but an attempt should be made to make the posts coherant. While sometimes, I admit I have to read some posts a few times to understand what they are trying to say because of the language barrier, they try and usually, you can figure it out and then it makes perfect sense.
Honest efforts were made to try and help this kid, numerous requests to use proper English so that he could be understood have been made nicely, then not so nicely. He claims to be 11, he claims to be 12. Regardless, in my opinion, he should be warned to use proper English formally. He can do it, he chooses instead to use a bastardized form of chat speak.
There are however, moments of clarity in some of these posts that give you a glimpse into him being smarter than he lets on. He knows about some rather high tech equipment but doesn't know whether his tank is saltwater or not?
We have another young poster here, who's name I will not mention because I don't want to make them feel bad, who can be rather annoying, but he is being a kid. There is no malice, he is trying in earnest and I truly do not think means any offense. I will often just smile and move to another thread.
Comparing these two are like comparing apples to oranges.
Flower, you directly asked this person if they were deaf. They made some sarcastic comment and glossed over it. He isn't stupid, he is using chat speak. My neice is deaf, there is a huge difference here. She is 9 and I guaruntee any person here could understand her intent if she posted.
I am not saying he does not have a right to post here, he does like everyone else however, he should be required to at least make his posts understandable. There aren't many 10-16 year old kids here responding so chat speak really doesn't apply.
It seems like there are no many trolls popping up. I agree that these issues have always existed but have most likely been taken care of so quickly that very few knew of their existance. I have come in numerous times to see a thread laughing about some incident that had happened that I missed.
This was a vibrant, full of life board at one time. It has the potential again. I keep coming back because I really did feel a kindship on this board and met some great lifelong friends here. From the illness of Tobin, this board came together to mourn the loss of a beloved member and I think it tied me emotionally to this board. This for me came at a time when I had just lost my father to cancer.
I keep hoping that the board will rebound and return to it's former state. It does make me sad to see it so slow, this is why I have stuck it out and tried very hard to ignore people like Burrito. However, when only three threads get updated in an hour and he is posting nonsense on each one, it isn't exactly encouraging.
