Posted by Tomatheus on August 25, 2006, at 18:28:11
In reply to Re: please be civil » Dr. Bob, posted by Tomatheus on August 8, 2006, at 17:05:39
Babblers,
I'd like to apologize for prematurely exiting Psycho-Babble in the way that I did. It was obviously shortsighted of me to claim that nothing in my post to Kylenn was incivil, and I regret making such a claim.
The civility guidelines on this site (and what I perceive to be the sometimes inconsistent enforcement thereof) frustrate me at times. I seem to naturally have more difficulty formulating and expressing my thoughts than most people I know -- especially when I'm unmedicated or taking meds that don't help my psychiatric condition -- and I think that the civility guidelines here only add to that difficulty. Sometimes I feel like the only way I can safely respond to a post that frustrates me is by saying "I feel offended by your post," or perhaps by asking a few questions of the poster. As a result, I think I come across as being terribly offended by everything and afraid of "hard facts" when that really isn't the case at all. I'm a firm believer in the notion that ignorance is not bliss, and I think that the civility guidelines on this board perpetuate ignorance to some extent by discouraging us from posting accurate and helpful (but also potentially incivil) information.
But having said the things that I've said, I will point out that this obviously is not my site. It's Dr. Bob's site, and he's entitled to impose whatever regulations he sees fit (assuming, of course, that these "regulations" are legal). I don't agree with all of the rules here. However, I do think that some rules are necessary to keep the conversations here civil, so I understand why the rules are in place. I also understand that even though it's frustrating to Babblers like me that the board's policies aren't always enforced consistently, Dr. Bob and their deputies do have lives outside Babble (at least I think they do). As far as I know, nobody gets paid anything to moderate the messages on this board, and I appreciate the fact that others voluntarily take time out of their schedules to help keep things civil around here. I know that Dr. Bob and/or the deputies can't be expected to read every single message that gets posted on these boards (especially right after the messages are posted), so I think it's understandable that there's some inconsistency in the enforcement of the site's guidelines.
Despite the fact that I sometimes feel frustrated by the Babble civility guidelines and the way that they're sometimes enforced, I am in complete agreement with the mission of this site, which is to foster mutual support and education among individuals suffering from psychiatric illnesses and other related disturbances. As always, I'll continue to do my best to abide by the rules, but I won't let a few minor disagreements get in the way of (hopefully) helping others on this board -- and possibly receiving some help, as well.
It's time for me to get back to posting on more of a regular basis.
Tomatheus
poster:Tomatheus
thread:674974
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20060802/msgs/680094.html