Internet courtesy question

[Thor]

You do realize that all people, in all generations, since at least the dawn of time, have decried to erosion of courtesy and good manners in youth, right?

I'm not sure what generation other than the current one one can compare the current generation internet manners to. 

And yeah, I vote for deleting.  A couple of the mommy boards have a formalized three-strike system for offenses like that.

In my recent experience, I'm finding that the 55+ (even moreso with the >60 crowd) crowd seems to be a lot less courteous than the majority of the < 40 crowd. I don't know what gives because I'm damned certain that these folks were taught etiquette and manners when they were young.

[Perd Hapley]

In my recent experience, I'm finding that the 55+ (even moreso with the >60 crowd) crowd seems to be a lot less courteous than the majority of the < 40 crowd. I don't know what gives because I'm damned certain that these folks were taught etiquette and manners when they were young.

Didn't a lot of them reject their upbringing, back in the sixties? 

[sanglant]

i blame it on viagra

[Laurent du Var]

i blame it on viagra

Yeah, must be frustrating to have the proud Eiffel Tower and yet there is still only an old ugly
tourist wanting to climb up on the top...

[BlueStarLizzard]

Yeah, must be frustrating to have the proud Eiffel Tower and yet there is still only an old ugly
tourist wanting to climb up on the top...

be happy with what you can get. 

[Hawkmoon]

Well, this topic certainly went south ...

[Laurent du Var]

Sorry Hawk, couldn't resist.

To get back on topic - I've just realized that I've never started any threads. Ever.
And I've spent  16 days, 5 hours and 32 minutes on APS. I never felt the urge to start a new topic
but do love to read others and every once in a while I'll post the occasional snarky comment or ripost
which means nothing else that I am a not a good member of this forum which brings me to my first conclusion:

Everybody who starts an interesting  thread is potentially participating to the well being of the forum and a moderator should maybe recognize that before worrying about the forum rules. Now if the thread isn't interesting or maybe not exactly on the
exact subforum or an unrelated topic for the forum alltogether - it'll die just a natural death won't it?

Now I don't know how or why one would become a moderator, that is something I would like to know myself, it seems that half of the previous posters were mods or owned a forum themselves at some time. How about that? APS started out as a non moderated Round Table off of THR because they felt they shouldn't deal so much with other than  gun issues on their board.     
Then they got bigger issues - because people argue and are not on the same page in every aspect of life and while more often than not you'll keep quiet during the day to move on with your life you wont let pass things that easy on the internet which is a good thing at least you know where you are and what you're dealing with. Then after a while APS started to be moderated
by someone who shared a lot of his life and had an oppinion on almost every topic and did a good job but then just dissappeared.

[Hawkmoon]

Now I don't know how or why one would become a moderator, that is something I would like to know myself,

As a moderator on a couple of other forums and former moderator on others, I feel qualified to inform you that the only reason we do it is that we are a group of power-mad, anti-social misfits with Napolenonic (sic - my colleagues and I were tagged with that on a forum once) complexes. We take on the role of being moderators solely because it provides us a venue for picking on lesser beings.

Objective enforcement of forum rules is of tertiary concern.

[Laurent du Var]

That was not a sarcastic statement, forgive me if you took it that way, I really don't know how or why one becomes a mod.

Otoh, how tall are you?   

[BryanP]

thread drift a bit...

whenever someone points out 'oh these kids today are so much worse.." my mom likes pointing out that her grandparents and great aunts and uncles used to do some pretty rotten crap. they were infamous for taking the buggys out drag racing and once destroyed the family's silver serving platter by using in for 'buggy surfing' (think skateboarder holding onto a rope attatched to a car bumper, replace skaterboard with serving platter and car with horsedrawn buggy)

 

in other words the youth has always done stupid stuff and always will do stupid stuff. they'll just come up with diffrent ways to do the same stuff.

I can't find the reference right now, but I seem to recall reading about some of the writings of Aristotle, which essentially translated to "This younger generation, they have no manners and no respect for their elders."   

[Perd Hapley]

We take on the role of being moderators solely because it provides us a venue for picking on lesser beings.

But there are no lower beings than forum moderators.      

[grampster]

In my recent experience, I'm finding that the 55+ (even moreso with the >60 crowd) crowd seems to be a lot less courteous than the majority of the < 40 crowd. I don't know what gives because I'm damned certain that these folks were taught etiquette and manners when they were young.

That's because we don't have to (anymore) tolerate you young whippersnappers who think they know it all, but actually are a couple, two, tree decades away from sentience.

[Hawkmoon]

That was not a sarcastic statement, forgive me if you took it that way, I really don't know how or why one becomes a mod.

No, I was just making a typically gauche attempt at humor. Since we moderators have our natural sense of humor surgically removed upon appointment, when humor is called for ... we struggle.

Seriously, I don't know why anyone would take on the job. I did because I was asked, and I was too wishy-washy to say "Yer out'a yer ever-lovin' mind, Mate!" THe typical reaction of a social mis-fit, I suppose. "Me? Someone actually WANTS me? Heck, yeah, I'll do it. WOW! Somebody WANTS me!!!!"

Perhaps they're right. I probably should get a life.

Where does one shop for lives? Are they offered on the Internet, or do I have to find a local life emporium?