Any opinions on the post? Does it ring true? - Rob Sellen :o)

Ok, well I know a fair few of you looked at it ;o) - Rob Sellen :o)

Ditto Holden. - Myrna

No more so than any other community. - FFing Enigma

Tina, you're right. It's all who you know or in this case who you subs to. - Myrna

What is a mob anyway in this case here Holden? - Myrna

What do you mean 'attack' a thread. Comment or talk about the thread? - Myrna

You mean SeanMcBride's post on the arrest of Gates? - Myrna

Or the one where someone asked me if I was a Zionist - Myrna

oh, i've seen group attacks on IRC and messageboards many times over the years. - Joe The Sausage

yes Holden. - Myrna

There is a difference between a mob and a whole lot of people disagreeing with you. Also, those other places Holden mentioned don't get labelled like this because they suck as communication platforms, which is not FriendFeed's fault. - Johnny from iPhone

Johnny, so what would you say a 'mob' on FF is? - Myrna

2 things: A mob is what a person who can not back up thier argument screams when they get shot down and it is also what a large group of people who disagree with a certain person get labelled with because of the actions of a few bad apples. - Johnny from iPhone

One also has to understand the nature of the environment they participate in. Anyone who stands up in the middle of a Coke lover's convention and starts spouting how good Pepsi is would be naïve to expect no reaction, negative or otherwise. If you are not prepared to back your opinion to the wall, best think twice before hitting post. A lot of people get into trouble because they can't read a situation well or, as has happened in the past, made comment or criticism about a person or object that is beloved by the community without justification or basis in fact... I think the ancient Greeks referred to this as 'Life Skills' :P - Johnny

That happens. I have started many conversations in real life that have shot off in different directions, rat holes if you will. It is a balancing act, the more a thread owner wishes to control and direct the conversation, the more chance there is that people will resent their conversation flow being controlled. The pay off for control is numbers. I can heavily censor my posts but likely no one will bother anymore. Also too, sometime people have to not take such rat holing as a personal slight. People talk about what they want to... Also too, I have seen many a thread go south because a person makes a wrong or inflammatory statement and chooses to fight rather than apologise or leave. It's picking your battles and knowing when you're wrong. - Johnny

i totally agree w/ mr worthington on this subject... and the blocking feature is there for you to use if you choose to do so - Chris Heath

Morning all. Some good points here, johnny, there is still NO excuse for personal insults or name calling., Whatever people say, it reflects bad on the whole place. No-one can deny that, so what can people do? We are the users, any places is only as good as it's users. - Rob Sellen :o)

That is true, but as in real life, Block is the equivalent of walking away from a person. People need to learn the tools of a communication platform and how they apply to real life situations. Name calling is never good, but in some cases a reflection needs to take place by all sides. You can not keep poking a lion and then acted all shocked once it bites you. Arguing a point from no basis or passive agressiveness will lead to frustration on all sides. FriendFeed is not a entity, we are not all in the same room. We choose our dance cards, we choose which room of the house we hang out in. The thing to remember is that there are a large number of people on FriendFeed from Iran, France, Japan, all around the place. Not only have they a completely different experience to us English speakers, their networks probably never lead the to hear of Michael Arrington, Robert Scoble, you, me, most people. And frankly they probably notice it from time to time and laugh at our stupidity. FriendFeed is a sum of it's parts, but not all the parts of the jigsaw fit together perfectly. The great thing is, those non fitting pieces do not affect the structural soundness of FriendFeed. It can exist if you block me. It exists if everyone but one blocks me. This is a reflection of real life and life skills are required to be a cunning user of it. The anonymous nature of the keyboard emboldens those who would not say the same things to your face. The difference is, those who ultimately carry the day mean every word they say... - Johnny

I agree there, blocking is like walking away, although it can be hard to do that when people start on you in your own thread, I guess the moderation of post comments will help there. I think it will improve over time when we get more diversity of people here, not sure the mob mentality will ever go completely to be honest. - Rob Sellen :o)

Funny thing is, I have had a change of mindset in regards to a 'thread owner'. While this may not work for everyone, I think of the Thread title as a starting point and let the conversation flow from there. Trying to put different shaped people into a round hole of discussion is fraught with danger. And, this isn't said much but it should. The title of one's post goes a very long way to dictating the mood of the discussion. If I am adversarial in my title, I shouldn't be surprised to get that back. If I state an opinion, I should be able to defend it. If you just want to state your opinion and not have to defend it, I would suggest those people should't really use an open discussion platform. I have found that asking a question first THEN stating your opinion in the comments is the best way. If you put up a big flashing light outside your shop that says 'Democrats Suck, Republicans Rule" then guess what, those who are Republicans walking past will see it and go "Yeah, right on" and keep walking. Those who are Democrats will likely be offended, roll their sleeves up and walk through the door. The owner of the thread has a responsibility for setting the tone of their thread. - Johnny

once again mr worthington hits the nail on the head - i can't think of anything more to say on this topic now - Chris Heath

Johnny, good stuff. :o) Not thought about the thread ownership like that before. Thanks, No really.. I mean THANKS. :o) Eric. I chose to disable the comments after it got out of hand.. Thought it best to do that. Not going to encourage mob mentality. One person admitted to bringing the mob over. THAT is where we have to draw a line really. Bashing for the sake of bashing doesn't help anyone. I am open to reading almost anything Eric, including Ickes stuff, or others. I will never share it here again tho. - Rob Sellen :o)

Just try to have this discussion on any other social networking site. Even a forum site wouldn't make it easy, they have a lot of UI fluff that makes the conversation less personal/personable. - Andy Bakun from Android

But there are alot of other places that wouldn't allow it to get out of hand. Forums have moderators...I have been one myself and seen the crap that gets removed., nearly always the same people too. On here it's like a free for all. Sad to say, someone said yesterday that ffeed seems to suit the mobs. - Rob Sellen :o)

Rob, at FF everyone is a moderator. You get to choose what comments stay on your posts and which ones are deleted. You get to choose whether to allow comments at all. If someone else makes a post you don't like, you can hide it and/or filter it and/or block the poster. Decentralized moderation does work, if you let it. - FFing Enigma

Yeah that's true now tina, I never knew of the moderating of comments on here. In general though you are right everyone is a mod, but only on their own things. - Rob Sellen :o)

That's not true, Rob. On FF you can very easily moderate what you see from other people. On a forum I have no control whatsoever: if someone posts something I can't hide it or block the person until a designated moderator steps in and removes the post or the poster. It's an "either/or" situation on a forum: either you post things the majority likes or your thread gets deleted (or your account as a whole). On FF I as the viewer can control what I see. You can post something that 2 people like and 2 million people don't and don't have to worry about the thread being removed or your account being deleted (unless you post kiddie pr0n). I as the viewer can choose what to view without having to take action on either your account or your posts. - FFing Enigma

learning everyday ;o) Thanks. I will have to start using the features here more, make the experience what I want it to be, if I can :o) - Rob Sellen :o)

=) That (to me at least) is the biggest selling point of FF: the my experience and how I choose to use the service might be completely different than your experience and how you choose to use the service. Most (not all but most) of the tools are there to allow all of us to use the service exactly how we want. - FFing Enigma

Alot of good things said here, there is nothing wrong with a vigourous argument or debate, That does require thought and the willingness to admit you may be wrong or at least misinformed. Name calling and personal accusations should not be a part of it, they just indicate the imaturity of the participant and I choose to ignore them. - Kim Landwehr

I agree Tina, it is adaptable this place, thanks for that, I will have to start using the place better, like you say, make it fit what I want. :o) Kim, I am happy just like most to have healthy discussion or debate, and I agree with you, name calling and insults is not needed or wanted. It solves bugger all. - Rob Sellen :o)

I second that Holden. Glad all of you posted here, if it helps it's all good and it's helped me. :o) - Rob Sellen :o)

"Infinite Love is the only Truth, everything else is illusion" - http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes... - Chris Heath

"Absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power." - http://www.quotationspage.com/quote... - Chris Heath

"In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." - http://www.twainquotes.com/Patriot... - Chris Heath

"Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn’t mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar." - http://www.quotationspage.com/quote... - Chris Heath

sorry rob, but i edited the source links into those comments after i posted them ;-P - Chris Heath

Johnny, <3 - Myrna

Was there a reason for posting them then Chris? Or is it to "stir the pot"? ;o) - Rob Sellen :o)

Myma No way.. I am sorry but Johnny is definitely older than 3 ;o) - Rob Sellen :o)

Rob, not really, the talk of Icke made me think of that quote of his, and then that reminded me that i had that quote and the other three posted to my blog under 'my favorite quotes' page - i then proceeded to post them... then after the fact decided to source them... hence the comment about the edits (and the ;-P to let you know i read the locked thread of yours) - Chris Heath

Ah, Ok mate. :o) - Rob Sellen :o)