Message board etiquette (different board, not Disney ;) *updated* About This Page:

[graygables]

Can you even imagine going to a NOT Disney message board?!?



That said, there is a MB I frequent b/c it is my DDs' online school. There is a troll (who calls *me* a troll ) who is keeping other parents from posting out of fear of his jumping all over them for disagreeing with what he has to say. The school administrators all say their hands are tied, he has the same rights to the MB as any other parent. I disagree and tell them that if it were a B&M school, he would be removed by security for tirading and behaving the way he has been. If he wants "freedom of speech" he can set up his own message board.



This man and I *CLEARLY* do not like one another, I wish he would just shut up and move on (our school is internet-based for high school and he wants a book curriculum, the head of school has said it's not an option right now), but he won't do it, so the MB is tied up with his blathering on about how other schools are so much better, while I'm trying to get him to shut up and encourage others that it's OK to post their questions, esp since it's the start of the year and there are lots of new parents and a sometimes complicated virtual school.



So, do *I* shut up and let him run the board or should I keep making my last stand and hope he'll get sick enough of me that he'll go away?



Any words of wisdom?

Signed: The Maelstrom Troll

[snoozy]

I sounds to me like this man is bound and determined to have his voice heard, and yes he does have the same right to the MB as all the other parents. Having said that he doesn't have the right to be the dictator in charge. And why the majority of the parents are allowing him to get away with it is beyond me.



May-be someone needs to remind him that this is the USA and that people have the right to disagree with one another whether he likes it or not, and while your at it tell him to grow up and quit with the name calling, after all he is suppose to be an adult. You could also sugest to him that if he is not happy with the curriculum that there are plenty of other schools as he puts it that are much better, and may-be he should enroll his kids in one of those schools.



Don't you dare shut up! If you have something to say, say it that is your First Amendment right. Are you the only parent that stands up to this man? What is up with the other parents that just let him run the show?



May-be you can get together with some of the other parents that feel the same as you do and who are fet up with his remarks. The only way you are going to get him to shut up is to get enough like minded folks start to fight back. The keyboard is a very powerful tool. If he can use it so can you.

[GoofyMom]

I decided to PM you instead.

[WillCAD]

First and formost, if you want to say something on the board, say it, and simply ignore anything he might say. Don't respond to his challenges, don't reply to his questions, don't rise to his baiting.

Secondly, look back over his posts. Has he been abusive, profane, or derrogatory in his posts? Has he violated the board's posted rules in any way? If so, report it to the board's mods and see if you can get him reprimanded or maybe even banned. Being a jerk isn't enough, he has to have violated the rules in some way.

Thirdly, just to be clear, the First Ammendment gurantees freedom of speech, press, and religion. The First Ammemdment does NOT guarantee anybody the right to say anything they want on a privately-owned message board. For instance, if I were to say something in a post that Jen and Dave disagreed with or felt was innapropriate for these boards, they would be perfectly within thier rights to remove the post or even to ban me from the boards. They own the boards; the boards are not a public forum. Banning me would not be a violation of my First Ammendment rights any more than a magazine refusing to publish someone's letter to the editor is a violation. We are guaranteed the right to say what we want to say, we are NOT guaranteed the right to force any publication, in this case a net-based publication like a message board, to publish what we say.

Don't let this guy intimidate you. He's the equivalent of the loud guy who always shows up to school board meetings spoiling for an arguement and sticks his two cents into everybody elses issues. Just ignore him and keep posting. If it gets too bad, go to Yahoo and start your own board; invite all the other parents to join, then you will be able to ban the troll guy and nobody will have to fear him.

[snoozy]

Just another added note I couldn't resist, we're back to school are we having fun yet.

If you think the message boards at your school are go to a school board meeting its twice as

[graygables]

Thank you all for your words of wisdom and encouragement! I stuck to my guns and was firm, but still polite until today when I finally told him to "shut up already" about the book curriculum. That set him off and he said I was "pathetic" and "need medication" I fired off an email to the head of the school who immediately deleted this guys posts and told him that if he does it one more time, he's finished. The head of the school also apologized to me, but indicated that he was glad he finally had some ammo on the jerk!

Yay! I know you're supposed to ignore trolls, but the format of the board won't let you...you have to muck through it all.

Thank you all again, you were a great help to me and my DDs' school!

[Stephanie P.]

Glad to hear that they did something about him!!

Stephanie

[GATechGal]

Dawn, glad ya'll were able to do something about this guy. You're right that he was probably scaring off parents and it's in the school's best interest to get him to tone down or go away.