Not a right of passage ... to the critics

[Dr Squat]

Sure everyone grows in to the respective sports but for f*ck sakes, call a spade a spade like Tom says, not a tiny lat spread "lots of potential"

I think it's about balance bro and being constructive. If I had posted up my stats when I first started out (of course the internet wasn't invented then) and I had copped a barrage from the likes of you, Jimmy or Tom, it would probably have broken me. There is no way I would have stuck around on the forum for the fallout. What do we achieve by making someone else feel bad?

Surely we can be constructive. My mother says, "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all".

[HumanPerformance]

Agree with GR ... Lengendary post Pman, much respect.

x3, exellent post there Pman. And I think 99% of members on here would agree with everything you said.

Good to see you back on the forum lately to HP

Thanks Opti, been busy with work this year so is hard to find the time these days :cry:

[Optimass]

Can't complain bro - any money is good money these days - especially in the gym industry. Make hay while you can :nod:

[HumanPerformance]

Yeah so true, there are gyms closing down all over the place at the moment and a few I know of that are boderline .

[PeterDolan]

Sure everyone grows in to the respective sports but for f*ck sakes, call a spade a spade like Tom says, not a tiny lat spread "lots of potential"

I think it's about balance bro and being constructive. If I had posted up my stats when I first started out (of course the internet wasn't invented then) and I had copped a barrage from the likes of you, Jimmy or Tom, it would probably have broken me. There is no way I would have stuck around on the forum for the fallout. What do we achieve by making someone else feel bad?

Surely we can be constructive. My mother says, "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all".

I guess it's in the delivery. If you are posting in the "hey look at me" sense then I can't see why people can't rip in to you if you have a diluded sense of yourself where as if you are posting from the "this is where I am, this is where I want to be" or along those lines then you'd get a much more positive reply. Even jimmy is semi receptive to people that post like that

Sure we shouldn't really try make someone feel really bad but you can't tell a kid that is just passing exams that they are doing really well and that they should be proud of themselves when they can be doing a whole lot better that what they are.

[Growth]

Sure everyone grows in to the respective sports but for f*ck sakes, call a spade a spade like Tom says, not a tiny lat spread "lots of potential"

You've completely missed the point. Noone is saying you can't critique someone (especially when they've asked for it RE how am i looking posts.)

I think it's about balance

You sir, havn't missed the point.

Let me break it down for you. Look at the GR fiasco. The most recent turn of events has GR called out for exagerating his lifts in his journal. Now when i heard about this, i thought to myself, thats pretty whack. I didn't post my thoughts, but if i wanted to, i would have, and i would feel comfortable doing so. I pretty much would have said, 'hey man, i think its pretty whack your exagerating your lifts'. He would probably have responded, and we would have left it at that.

Now the difference between me and some of the other respondants to that event, is that i dont follow the guy all over forum, posting garbage in everyone elses threads, calling the guy out over and over and over again, abusing him, trolling him, and otherwise being a total jackass about it.

Now what we are looking for is balance. Noone is wanting to put a muzzle over every critque or negative comment, and censure the forum left right and center. What would be nice is if regular members didnt have to read endless targeted abuse, which quite frankly is getting old, repetitively boring, and just plain annoying.

[Calvin]

I must admit with all the lack of information on the site these days i have found myself giving people shit.

This site has really gone to the shit tip in terms of being informative in a bodybuilding sense. How ever the banter on her is excellent.

I guess with alot of the cats who know their shizz jumped off the forum its abit dull. Not sure what can be done about this. Maybe pay some IFBB pros to post?

[Dr Squat]

I guess it's in the delivery.

Agreed.

I must admit with all the lack of information on the site these days i have found myself giving people shit.

This site has really gone to the shit tip in terms of being informative in a bodybuilding sense. How ever the banter on her is excellent.

I guess with alot of the cats who know their shizz jumped off the forum its abit dull. Not sure what can be done about this. Maybe pay some IFBB pros to post?

I think the level of knowledge on this site from a bodybuilding perspective is very good. Well that is my non bodybuilding perspective. There are several top national level competitors on here and they offer good insights. There are other guys and girls who don't compete but who are also very knowledgeable. These guys generally do not tend to promote themselves but they do contribute on good threads. I think that the rest of us need to be better at asking the right questions and starting good threads. I pick up a lot of stuff by reading some of the journals.

The reality remains that many potential contributors will still be turned off by childish antics.

[nzmusclemonster]

Advertisers want to know numbers.... boring forum = no one posting = no advertisers.

A forum that isn't run like a nazi concentration camp = lots of contributors = lots of advertising.

Some insightful maths there. Here are a few more equations.

A handful of jackasses + people not signing up and/or posting due to the tone of the forum = no membership growth = boring forum with the same old people saying the same old stuff.

A handful of jackasses - all the members who left the forum because they were sick of wading through myriads of garbage posts, trolling, and member bashing = a handful of jackasses talking amongst themselves.

And you plus all your lame posts = zero personality

[Tonka]

Good thread Opti, its a subject that needed to be brought to the attention of members and its been good to see some of the older members comeback and make a comment. Forums are what they are, a place where a common subject is discussed and then left open to however the members decide or choose to comment. Normally lots of good information can be attained but there's also the not so good info that can easily snowball into something completely off topic and the next thing you know we have so and so wanting to meet up with so and so for a MMA fight or so and so calling out so and so to talk dental care insurance etc etc. Personal attacks, public defamation, threats of life etc these are the negative spins of public forums and no forum is safe from it...the sad thing its an expected part of forum culture. For these very reasons it would explain why I have been a member since 2005 yet Ive only posted 300 odd posts. I actually do enjoy this forum and I ghost it as part of my daily site surfing. Often I just push past and ignore the crap stuff but Ive always felt that this forum can serve a greater purpose because it has an incredible collection of highly experienced (and professional) athletes in their chosen field that are forum members and they are available to offer advice and information!

With that being said, credit needs to given where its due and I'd like to acknowledge Pseudo (and his crew of mods) for keeping the forum chugging along for as long as it has (2004 I think) and when possible, civil and safe for the members that are wanting to use for what forums are...information sharing and constructive discussion.

Regardless of what level we are at in our pursuit to become healthier; stronger; bigger; leaner or slimmer, remember that we all share a common passion...cheeseburgers....sorry...I meant the GYM

Stay strong everyone

[Gym rat]

I hope things return back to normal on this fourm just like when I first joined up to this fourm in March of 2008.I hope all the trouble makers on this site get banned from this site.Given what five the internet warriors picked me plus I get four pm's from one of the internet warriors which pissed me off plus I was thinking cant one be left alone.

[HarryB]

A bit of tolerance goes a long way- I'm not sure exactly what more experienced guys like Harry, Opti, Doc, Pman etc get out of this forum but they still contribute which is obviously a good thing for all.

Good points Rimma and I guess what I get from it is the idea that if I can help someone do something well then I benefit from that also... I was laughing when I read Docs little write up about how we had no net in our day and that's exactly how it was. We actually had to work up the nerve to talk to the monsters and hope that they didn't kick sand in our faces! I guess I feel like this is a perfect way for me to help other people kicking off and also I always learn something new. There is a wealth of information and support to be gained from this forum....

[Cameron_R]

A bit of tolerance goes a long way- I'm not sure exactly what more experienced guys like Harry, Opti, Doc, Pman etc get out of this forum but they still contribute which is obviously a good thing for all.

Good points Rimma and I guess what I get from it is the idea that if I can help someone do something well then I benefit from that also... I was laughing when I read Docs little write up about how we had no net in our day and that's exactly how it was. We actually had to work up the nerve to talk to the monsters and hope that they didn't kick sand in our faces! I guess I feel like this is a perfect way for me to help other people kicking off and also I always learn something new. There is a wealth of information and support to be gained from this forum....

And this is exactly why I read this forum.

Respect and thanks to you Harry.