Setting Precedent for the Forum

[Melvin- Admin]

Dear Community,

Recently, our forum has taken a turn towards negativity. Threads quickly turn nasty, and it’s clear that I’ve been to lax. But it stops now, I see this as a ship and as the captain, it’s my job to steer us back on course.

I value healthy debate, questioning and discussion. I do not value personal attacks, drawing conclusions and passing them off as facts. When you allow this behavior, it turns into a free-for-all, and without order, it’s anarchy. 

Moving forward, what I expect from the community and how we will handle polarized topics. I expect all of you to be able to question something without attacking the character of a member or physician. i.e “you are__” or “that doctor does it because _.” When you do this, you make yourself the judge, jury, and executioner. 

As the moderator, if the topic requires a consensus answer, I will reach out to multiple physicians to gather information. This may be via Instagram live, article Q&A’s, or just a FaceTime interviews. Afterwards, I will present my findings here, or the community can join if it’s through Instagram live. I expect us to be able to discuss their responses with an open mind, and while being respectful. 

Lastly, it’s clear to me that some of you thrive on the in-fighting, controversy, and negativity. If that’s you, then you should probably leave the forum. Our forum is a professional site, where we observe, share, and learn from members and physicians. This is not Twitter. I will no longer tolerate it being treated as such, it sets a bad precedent. 

I value all of you, let’s work together instead of against each other. 
 

Best wishes,

[voxman]

Participation on this forum is a privilege that I would expect to be revoked if a person can not conduct him(her)self with intelligence and compassion for others.  Period. 

There are numerous places on the internet where one can indulge in a trollish life and bask in their venom.

[Melvin- Admin]

3 minutes ago, voxman said:

Participation on this forum is a privilege that I would expect to be revoked if a person can not conduct him(her)self with intelligence and compassion for others.  Period. 

There are numerous places on the internet where one can indulge in a trollish life and bask in their venom.

Well said. You are right, posting is a privilege. Great to have members like you here. 

[Britanium]

Thanks for posting, it has not been a nice experience for a while. Hopefully going forward it will be back to the usual forum we all know and love. 

[kirkland]

I guess I don't spend enough time on here to see this streak of negativity. I've always found most posts that I've read to be generally respectful and for that reason, I use this site as my primary source of information on HT's. I've definitely been on other sites where threads get derailed quickly by the same mouth-breathers over and over. Glad we have someone who won't let it get that bad.