Taking off for a while

[Zofryer]

Hey There!

A lot of people noticed that I haven't been around as often. I'm basing that on all the emails asking me why I haven't been around as often.

I kinda did a turncoat thing and I'm back to Snus. Makes me feel like a traitor of sorts. I haven't vaped in over two weeks. I find myself spending more time on snus forums that are geared toward that culture.

Lots of interesting things going on here at the moment that are confusing. I can remember laughing when I first signed up because people that made angry posts were called trolls. It was the first time I'd seen the word used that way. *I* am "an troll". The idea is to make a post that garners a bunch of replies. That can be achieved through positive or negative means. I usually shoot for the positive kind. It's an higher art. I won't say I never trolled here, but I will say I rarely tried or made it my goal. Too many great people here assembled because of a great thing.

Now I'm just looking puzzled because I'm seeing people of a dissenting opinion being called trolls, and I'm seeing trolls being called hackers. I'm seeing nothing resembling an olive branch. I'm seeing a horribly mismanaged witch hunt being conducted by what is supposed to be a professional manager. I see fancy words without the benefit of a level headed approach. One of the kindest, gentlest people I know got a ban for essentially nothing. I'm not sure how that benefits a forum.

I'm going to leave with a thought. I know it's no picnic to manage a large online community. I have managed some of the largest. One of the first signs you are doing something wrong is having a very vocal resistance movement. They are not normal. You don't write that occurrence off as "par for course" when you are an online forum dealing with something as simple as a nicotine delivery system. You question your methods, and find real solutions.

Protip: An iron fist is not a viable long term solution. Fix the underlying issues.

That being said, there's a lot of greatness here. There are a lot of unique characters that do amazing things from the kindness of their being. Sharing valuable knowledge and information that is truly saving lives. Be it the people dedicating countless hours to moderate the forum, the people functioning as experts helping out the new, or simply the people that made me smile with some humor after a long work day. The modders, and vendors. The outspoken, and the concise. The deliberately mean, and the eternally upbeat. All of you together are what makes a forum great. And I'll miss you

Thank for having me Smokey Joe. You did a good thing here. Hope it stays great.

Z

 

[Stormynights]

I miss you and there are others that I miss also that I don't see anymore. I hope they all haven't gone to Snusland. I really never understood any problems here. I know that some people I greatly admired had problems but I was too dense to get it I guess. It is good to see you again.

 

[K-Sound Krew]

I don't think I speak alone when I say that zofryer is one of this forums most knowledgeable and classy contributors
It saddens me to see such a bright star make a statement such as this
and so I say to you good sir I hope not to see the last of you and that this post was made merely in the heat of the moment
god speed zofryer
YouTube - Asia- Heat Of The Moment

 

[beckah54]

So sad to see you go. I always enjoyed your posts.

 

[GrimmGreen]

i have a feeling i'll see you around the interwebs Zo.....if not here.... then maybe in another life... smell ya later.

 

[quasimod]

There are a lot of people who are confused about what a Troll is. So many, in fact, that the word has almost lost meaning.

Dissent = dissent, plain and simple, no harm in that.
Unwarrented, unreasonable anger = flame, makes flamer look stupid.
Malignant social engineering = troll.

The confusion arises from the fact that a troll will use many different tactics, including dissent and flaming. Mix that with a "sock-puppet" or two, and agreeable naivete can be one of the most insidious tactics, as it cons regular forum members into backing the troll.

I'm no expert, and can only imagine the difficulties of running a popular forum. This is just what I think I learned during my Usenet days.