Lately, there has been much debate about the merits of banning bloggers who constantly engage in inflammatory rhetoric here on MLW, causing much trouble and provoking many flamewars, and the general consensus seems to be that banning isn't necessarily and always the answer. While I understand and respect that position, more and more, I'm of the belief that there are times when banning , at least as a last resort, or severely disciplining a poster(s) who constantly causes trouble of some sort or other, is necessary.

What about a poster(s) who constantly hijacks threads that've started out as normal, rational discussions, who constantly goes off topic (which is no big deal in and of itself, necessarily), and/or constantly turns the hijacked threads into all-out flamewars?

Flaming seems to beget still more flaming, because a person who's constantly being flamed or baited will only take so much before s/he flames back. I have seen instances on other forums where the above phenomenom has occurred, where, even if a thread does remain on topic, posters on both sides of a given issue on a thread end up by slinging the vilest insults back and forth at each other, hence cutting off all chances of rational discussion(s).

What about a poster(s) who constantly engages in inappropriate behaviour on a blog/forum/message board, such as constantly being nasty, insulting and offensive to other bloggers, bantering inappropriately with underage bloggers, and who absolutely and effectively commandeers a blog/message board/forum for their own agenda, thus driving away bloggers who're knowledgeable about and experienced with a given subject? What about a blogger who constantly singles out another blogger(s) to harass, bullyrag and insult them, effectively running him/her off of the blog?

Weird or eccentric behaviour, and "Blue" language on a blog/forum/message board are, in and of themselves, no big deal, and, often enough can and do add flavor to the blog, making it a more interesting place for people to post and have lively discussions, many of which have taken place. Since I'm not exactly a Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farms, and am definitely not a stranger to "blue language" and/or eccentric behaviour myself, it can and does present an interesting flavor for me, in limited amounts. Many blogs/message boards/forums, however, do have hard and fast rules against flaming, hijacking threads and even "blue" language, though.

However, I'm also of the belief that when it crosses over into being totally destructive and drives away bloggers that have enjoyed posting on that particular blog/forum (and sharing either their knowledge of the subject at hand, or even just their opinions about it), then it gets out of bounds.....and unacceptable. The reason that I've brought up this question today is that I have seen all of the above-mentioned destructive behaviours and more take place in the not-so-distant past on forums, and I'd hate to see this happen on other forums.

One forum that I've seen th is happen with was a forum/message board that revolved around movie/musicals, particularly the beautiful and famous movie/musical, West Side Story. The forum has all kinds of things, ranging from a FAQ section, to a registration section where people who'd been in stage performances of West Side Story could register when/where the performance they'd been in had taqken place, and, in addition to a bunch of other things such as an online store to purchase merchandise (i. e. sheet music, mugs, even T-Shirts), plus it also had a message board, where people of all ages, (i. e. 13 and up) who were big fans,(including myself, who , btw, is way, way older than 13!!) as well as people who'd been involved in both the stage play(s) and the film version, and were very, very knowledgeable and experienced, would also post on that forum, telling all kinds of neat stories about their experiences and engage in discussions with ordinary, run-of-the-mill fans. It was a cool place to post, indeed, and, it wasn't always the way that it ultimately ended up.

Unfortunately, there was one very dark incident on that forum, involving somebody, who, whole this person didn't take advantage or insult others, clearly had emotional problems of some sort of other, and, she, in turn, was taken advantage of and exploited by yet another poster that I had(have) in mind. This particular poster who had engaged in the destructive behaviour and took advantage of the poster with emotional problems hadn't always been that way.

In fact, he himself was a big fan of WSS and many other movie-musicals and had posted many cool storeis about his days as a young fan of WSS and other great movie-musicals of the 1960's, in the heyday of their popularity. I'd enjoyed those stories myself, and, like everybody else who posted on that board, had some neat discussions with this particular poster.

Unfortunately, however, this particular poster's nasty side surfaced during the above-mentioned incident, and, unfortunately resulted in the forum's destruction, permanently dividing it, and rendering the board to merely a shell of its old self. It ultimately closed down, to reopen and create a whole different kind of forum, which was unrecognizeable and uncomfortable for many posters.

Like many posters who are interested in the subject revolving around that board, I also don't post much on there now, and, although the above-mentioned poster has never, ever singled me out to go on the offensive by bullying, harassing, or attacking me, the fact that he did do that with many other posters made me much more wary and much more cautious in dealing with him. Another forum/message board on this particular subject that I used to post on has now been closed, permanently, for precisely the reasons that I mentioned above. The troublesome poster, had, in fact, commandeered the above-mentioned forum/message boards for his own ends and agenda, ultimately driving many people away who were wonderful comtributers, hence depriving other posters, (myself included), of reading and hearing about their wonderful experiences and their great knowledge.

I was also very sorry to see people, including the troubled woman who'd been taken advantage of by this "problem" poster, become scapegoats for everything bad that was n ow happening on these boards, something that very frequently happened. I will not mentioned names, or even if I had the specifics at hand, reveal the specifics. First of all, it would be an extremely catty thing to do, and, secondly, I'm well aware of the rules against "outing" another poster/blogger, even if they don't post on this site. Btw, my sympathies for the ones being scapegoated on this particular forum were heightened and re-inforced by the fact that I, myself, was affectively run off of a forum that I used to post on: not the forums that I previously mentioned, but a whole different forum. There were at least a couple of people, who, not liking the fact that I had very different opinions on some things or my syle of posting, decided to start flame-warring me from day one, taking advantage of the fact that I'm a little different for afew laughs, and many, if not most others on that forum followed.

Not willing to sit back and just take all that, I naturally flamed back, and I was afffectively run off of that particular forum. This was a fight that I clearly could not win, so I left. What had happened to me on this other forum was quite similar to what had happened to posters on the previously-mentioned forums. I realize that I'm taking a chance on not making a lot of friends here on SwordsCrossed, but I felt the need to bring this up.

All of the above having been said, I'd love some feedback from everybody here on this.