Negativity is a destructive force....

I re-read Gordon's story, of the girl in the red plaid flannel shirt....

Like Jesse said, it's amazing that what some people get from such a wonderful, true story is negativity....

But let's move on.

There's a certain automatic reaction of wanting to put others down, usually to make yourself feel good. By putting others down, you can feel superior to them, and therefore raise your own self-esteem a little....

But it is a sad way to have to do it. It is totally destructive.

Anyone who has been on these online forums for at least a few years would probably agree, the general quality has gone down. In this respect, Gordon and I have tried to keep Sowpub as an "oasis" in the midst of this trend....

Why has the quality gone down? Let's go through some examples....

Bill Myers used to run a top-notch FREE forum, like this one. It was full of very high quality posts - the ideas were incredible!

But then, these attacks came about. As a result, Bill sold his forum.

Now, he still runs a great forum - on his private, members-only web site. You can still get great discussions - if you pay $87 per year. (And it's worth every penny.) If you break the rules, you'll get booted out.

The point is - negativity killed a great FREE resource.

More recently, Don Alm has been posting many incredible, blockbuster ideas. But, he found the same thing - attacks from the negative-minded. The result? Don's not posting his great ideas any more - another excellent resource, wrecked by negative-minded people.

And finally, we come to yesterday.... I hope Gordon will keep posting, but now I'm not sure he will. Yet another "victim" of the negative minded.

What I have to say about the negative-minded folk is - we really don't want them at Sowpub. They are destructive. They wreck things for everybody.

I'm going to be much tougher on deleting such negative posts from now on, and tougher on banning people too if they violate the guidelines.

Sorry to have to get "tough" - but I see no other way for this forum to survive as a high quality free resource.

- Dien Rice

Hi Dien:

A tip of the hat for taking a firm stance.

As you now I am pre Bill Myers era, and I did watch as the board deteriorated as well as several others.

The sad part is that some of the attacks on those boards that disaappeared were purposely started to facilitate attention to certain person(s) and their product(s). Others were just down right vicious. Others well deserved, but could have been done behind the scenes.

I am currently moderating 2 boards (one private) and soon to be 2 more (one private). Thank goodness we haven't run into this negativity or attack scenario yet and hopefully won't.

The negativity you are referring to could definitely have been done in a non negative way if the person(s) posting had been a little more diplomatic in the negative response and actually could have made it a positive response if some thought had gone into the post before hitting the post message button....

....I'm not trying to open it up here again....

I too in the past have occasionally been pretty quick to fire postings on boards without thinking things through first and the repercussion that could follow.

Now when I get those urges for a touchy post I compose it and then leave it for at least a half hour and then re-read it and make amendments....it is amazing how a quick to rise response seems so wrong a few minutes later, or can be reworded so as not to be offensive.

To lose the old-timers once again from a great board would be a total disaster not only to us other old-timers who enjoy their input, but also to the newbies on the net and just beginning to find the gems.

Again I commend you on your stance and believe you have the support of all.

Cornell

Gordon's many posts have been made to inspire people - and often to make a point at the same time.

That he succeeds is a true gift.

That he bothers is a blessing for all of us.

As in any endeavor, there will always be people who can't deal with other people's wisdom. Remember the loud and unruly kid at the back of class who spoiled things for all the rest? Well those kids grow up. And sadly, sometimes they turn up on forums like this.

But the truth is that irritating as they might be, they are the ones with the problem, not the rest of us.

Gordon - please ignore the tiny minority of detractors. For every one of them, however vocal they may sometimes be, there are a hundred who are quietly trying to listen.

Dien - This is an excellent forum and Gordon's and other's posts have enriched it beyond measure. If you want to nuke the few people who can't engage in civil discourse, you have my full support.

Martin.

It's truly amazing that anyone can succeed at anything when you take into account the constant deluge of BS that we all have to face everyday.

Even if you don’t read a newspaper, listen to the radio or watch the idiot box (they call it that for a reason) you have to interact with the products of the system, which are basically angry at just about everything.

Road rage, work rage, rage at home, block it out with gambling, drugs (yes beer and cigarettes are drugs) and aggression, but what are we left with?……..mostly a sad and pathetic society that had so much promise and so much to give and share.

It’s brainwashing……Accept the negative news, the bleak outlook, the ‘life sucks and then you die’ mentality. How can you possibly succeed when you have a mortgage, 2 kids a wife, bills, a job you probably hate and a mountain of debt????

No wonder so many have a 4X4……..90% of them never go off road…….70 of them are driven by the woman of the family……..but once every weekend around 4pm the dominant male of the family sits down with a cold one and dreams about taking that big bastard out and thrashing the crap out of it………..

Our world concentrates on the minority to make the majority feel guilty so they work themselves into debt and generalized misery…………………………

But you, yes you have a choice, if you can just turn off the noise (basically all media) for long enough, you’ll realize that you can make it……health, wealth and happiness…it’s all there for the taking…...if you can just break free from the programming………………………………

Holy Monkey……..what was I thinkin’ where’s my Starbuck’s XXXL extra mild Winfield and Jerry Springer……………….Thank God for brainwashin’…..Momma.

Johnny (has left his senses) Bravo

Thank you, Dien. It's going to be hard work keeping the forum clean. The numbers of people whose intent on these forums is simply to put someone else down seem to be growing exponentially.

Worse, they don't generally respond well to gentle admonition. Somehow, they've gotten the notion that it's their "right" to say and do whatever they want in these groups, just because the group is there.

Frequently, they turn into "trolls" who pollute the boards with vulgarity and nonsense.

And that's unfortunate.

This is one of the very few places left where people who have achieved their own measure of success willingly gather and share their experiences for those who are still seeking.

I appreciate your work in providing this place, and I do hope that it continues at the same high level of quality.

I'll certainly do my part to help.

Mary

During the entirety of my 34 1/2 years of living, I'm constantly baffled as to why people WANT to be mean/negative. Granted, at times we all go through a funk but to insist on living a worthless, negative life is beyond my comprehension.

Over the past year, I've been fortunate in meeting some wonderful friends via the 'Net. Most of them were in a funk when I met them. Life had beaten them down because they didn't have the tools to beat back at Life. These are amazingly wonderful, kind and ridiculously creative/talented people. I've been coaxing them into believe in themselves and to start living for themselves but still, every once in a while, the Neg-a-bug creeps up and gives them a good whacking. That results in them frantically sending me an email with a tell-me-it's-not-a-waste-of-my-time-and-I-CAN-succeed message.

I respond by telling them the same thing every time:

Don't worry about the killjoys. Just focus on creating your own abundance. As Wallace Wattles pointed out soooooooooo clearly in his book, CREATION, NOT COMPETITION, IS THE WAY TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS. You will create the life you want so make sure you are wanting a good life!

Negative people often just need someone to show them a different way of thinking. However, the trolls of the earth are determined to be miserable and to make others miserable. They think they can't get attention except by being abusive. They are the schoolyard bully we were afraid of in grade school but now, we know they are just pathetic people who desperately want everyone to like them. They just go about getting the attention the wrong way.

Thank you, Dien (and Gordon), for wanting to keep this board positive and inspiring and a wonderful place to brainstorm!

:)
EM

People like Gordon and Don and others who post here in order to GIVE something of VALUE for FREE to ENRICH and HELP OTHERS are so often victimized by people who simply have no motive other than to destroy and devalue their gifts of wisdom and experience.

Therefore, it will always be a risk for the Gordons and Dons of the world to "spill their guts" and expose the treasure they hold, for the benifit of those who can truly be enriched. It's sad irony.

Dien, do what you have to in order to make this forum as safe as possible. Delete posts. Ban isp's. We appreciate all you have accomplished with this forum, that has given me, for one, so much life-changing inspiration. I hope Gordon will continue to bravely share his stories and that Don will be persuaded to come back and amaze us with his ingenious ideas. Yes, often they are casting their pearls before swine. But there's a lot of us here who are truly appreciative of all they have to offer. I'm sorry there's no fool-proof way of separating the wheat from the chaff of those who respond, other than to make the forum private.

I hope it won't come to that.

Anya.

> I re-read Gordon's story, of the girl in the
> red plaid flannel shirt....

> Like Jesse said, it's amazing that what some
> people get from such a wonderful, true story
> is negativity....

> But let's move on.

> There's a certain automatic reaction of
> wanting to put others down, usually to make
> yourself feel good. By putting others down,
> you can feel superior to them, and therefore
> raise your own self-esteem a little....

> But it is a sad way to have to do it. It is
> totally destructive.

> Anyone who has been on these online forums
> for at least a few years would probably
> agree, the general quality has gone down. In
> this respect, Gordon and I have tried to
> keep Sowpub as an "oasis" in the
> midst of this trend....

> Why has the quality gone down? Let's go
> through some examples....

> Bill Myers used to run a top-notch FREE
> forum, like this one. It was full of very
> high quality posts - the ideas were
> incredible!

> But then, these attacks came about. As a
> result, Bill sold his forum.

> Now, he still runs a great forum - on his
> private, members-only web site. You can
> still get great discussions - if you pay $87
> per year. (And it's worth every penny.) If
> you break the rules, you'll get booted out.

> The point is - negativity killed a great
> FREE resource.

> More recently, Don Alm has been posting many
> incredible, blockbuster ideas. But, he found
> the same thing - attacks from the
> negative-minded. The result? Don's not
> posting his great ideas any more - another
> excellent resource, wrecked by
> negative-minded people.

> And finally, we come to yesterday.... I hope
> Gordon will keep posting, but now I'm not
> sure he will. Yet another "victim"
> of the negative minded.

> What I have to say about the negative-minded
> folk is - we really don't want them at
> Sowpub. They are destructive. They wreck
> things for everybody.

> I'm going to be much tougher on deleting
> such negative posts from now on, and tougher
> on banning people too if they violate the
> guidelines.

> Sorry to have to get "tough" - but
> I see no other way for this forum to survive
> as a high quality free resource.

> - Dien Rice