10 Tips For Message Board Survival

Sure, you'll encounter belligerent posters, nut jobs, stalkers, the usual rat pack of 'no lifers', but just like mud puddles, you walk around them. If you like to mix it up, Trollkingdom style, go ahead. If you don't have a button to put these folks on ignore scroll. If you know Kookoo is nuts, don't read what Kookoo posts. Scroll.

Many insane people will continue to post to those who don't read them, who have them on ignore, or who have long left the MB. Don't take it personal. Mad people are mad all by themselves.

Before You Get Too Involved In a Message Board:

1. Lurk:

   Lurking is Good
   Lurking is Safe
   Lurking is Fun
   
   We're raised to consider eavesdropping unsavory hence the idea of being 'on' a Message Board and not making one's presence known seems the same kind of rudeness. It is not.
   
   Before you commit your time and emotional balance to a message board, get the lay of the land. What are these people interested in? How do they see the world? How do they respond to each other? Are they open to new ideas and new people or are they a 'closed' community?
   
   By lurking and reading other people's responses you will discern whether or not you wish to be here. On those which demand you log in first before you can see the Message Board, unless it is a topic you are particularly interested in, pass.

2. Hide Your Personal Details:

   Many email accounts have the obnoxious propensity of dispensing your personal information. You have given your name and address to open the account. You did not expect such to be made public.
   
   Joining Yahoo, for example, choosing a user name is pointless. (Mary Beth Smith) cookie@yahoo.com is what one who gets an email from you is going to see.
   
   Search engines are more than happy to inform the world that Mary Beth Smith lives at 1406 New York Avenue, Brooklyn New York, apt.5G, to make it easy for a stalker.
   
   Hence creating any email account anywhere, lying is wise, unless it is a business account. Have email accounts you use for message boards which request no personal information. Stalkers thrive on Message Boards.

3. Make Your First Post With A Bit Of Introduction:

   This is not a conflict with 2, because your nick is all anyone knows of your existence. You want to admit an attribute so as to communicate with others. For example, "Hi, I'm cookie, I'm interested in the discussion you are having concerning xyz and would like to know if you think that eftg is..."
   
   You may know the answer to that question for you've lurked and gotten the gist, but you want to participate in a discussion. Be polite, start slow. Don't jump on with; "Kookoo is an idiot!" They know Kookoo, they know she's an idiot, but she's their idiot. And who are you? So, give them time to know you.

4. Ignore Before Attack:

   Message Boards attract Trolls. These are sociopaths who can not tolerate people engaging in discussion. They will launch attacks, many based on nothing, to get a rise out of you. Ignore them. See what happens.
   
   If Troll attacks you and the other members are silent, as if sitting in the audience, waiting for the 'show' to start, stop posting. No reason to make a public service announcement; "Goodbye cruel Message Board!" just leave.
   
   Unless you have a particular desire to see how far someone will go to get your attention, or enjoy engaging in flame wars, stop posting. You might need to 'prove' the Troll didn't send you off the MB so you post in other threads before departure, but in truth, it is a waste of time. Return to lurk mode or log off.
   
   
   There are many MBs in which you have the ability to ignore a poster. They post but you can't read their posts. Many will keep going, despite no response from you because they are too stupid to realize you are ignoring them. Some will stop, realizing you can't see their deathless insults.
   
   On occasion you might find yourself putting so many people on ignore that it is pointless to be an active member, and so you log off. Sometimes it is only one or two morons on an MB. The question then is: where is the Mod?

5. Be Aware of Fingerpuppets:

   When you see some really awful stuff, racist, sexist, just offensive crap, and your responses are either deleted, edited, or you are warned, recognize, you have met the Moderator's fingerpuppet. Many Moderators are as sick as a troll. Having the prestigious position of Mod, he or she can not possibly spew forth garbage. Hence, he or she will create a dual, a Fingerpuppet. The Fingerpuppet expresses the true beliefs of the Mod.
   
   When you see a poster who has all the privileges in the world, realize this is the Mod. No sense in debating, the Mod can edit your posts into mush, gag or ban you. Leave.

6. Avoid Glue Traps:

   Often a provocative post is made designed to catch your response so that you can be banned or gagged. Ignore it.

7. PM's:

   Most Message Boards allow you to send Private Messages, (PM's) to another poster. When you have a view you wish to express sending it via PM is often the best choice. When the tide has turned against you, when trolls beset your every post, sending PM's is a way to get your point across.

8. Take Nothing At Face Value:

   Posters lie. They can lie about who they are, where they are, who they know, what they know. Pretend to believe everything, but believe nothing. Go from the syntax and content of a post, not from the 'facts' in the post.
   
   Many people live a fantasy on the Internet. They have this image of themselves, their Avatar, which they want everyone to accept as the 'real' them.
   
   Just because some one says he's black/white American/Haitian, Straight/Gay, male/female doesn't mean s/he is. Go by the sentiments behind the words.

9. Stay Out Of Hallucinations:

   Every so often you wind up in someone else's fantasy world. The Message Board has suddenly become a MUSH, (Multi-User System Hallucination) like an RPG (Role Playing Game.)
   
   You might want to cut and run. Do it like this:
   
   a) Log in via a provider which is not yours or through a proxy servers. This is because many MBs capture your IP address, so know what server you use. If an attempt to hack your computer is made the latest IP is the one which will be used.
   
   b) Destroy your account by deleting it or, where you can not delete it, change your email address and personal information. This is so important, I should put it in all Caps.
   
   Being pursued, emailed, spammed, hacked and attacked by insane people on MUSH MBs is par for the course. If your email is there... forget all that crap about not being shared. MUSH MBs are run by morons They will write you, they will give your address to others.
   
   As you have logged on using a informationless email account, i.e. goowy.com, you are safe from someone hacking your account and getting more than your user name and password. However, as you don't want any contact, change your email to a non-existent site.

10. Clean Up After Yourself:

    When you are escaping from a mad house Message Board delete/edit all your posts. Go through them, and if you can erase everything, do it, if not edit the post down to '.' Delete all your PM's, your avatar, if any. Make sure you do this when there is no one else on the MB or a harmless user.

Message Boards can be educational, fun and even intellectually stimulating. You can meet people from all over the world and make a lot of friends.

Don't be afraid to join!