[Itse]

For starters, I think this is a well moderated site in general.

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I do think that personal attacks make posters more apathetic.

This part I however absolutely agree with. IMO personal attacks kill enthusiasm, they discourage people from stepping up with their opinions, they discourage people laying out their logic of thinking and they make people feel bad for taking part in discussions.

When ever people start throwing personal attacks, it kills the real discussion pretty quickly. You might get the post count up quickly in a thread, but when you wade through it's usually just 3-5 people saying repeatedly stupid stuff some of them will hopefully regret later.

In other words, I think CP should absolutely tighten up on the personal attacks. Discuss the posts, not the posters.

I myself have become more apathetic. Not due to anyone attacking me (I am sure there have been some posts of that nature, but none have really bothered me much more than a simple annoyance), but because there is just too many snide comments at one another on these forums. That's not passion to me. That just becomes hard to read, and a less enjoyable experience.

I recognize this experience, and I've had those times when I just don't feel like posting. (There's also other stuff, like just feeling I don't have that much to contribute to discussions.) However, I've really loved this site for many years, it's a big reason I'm a Flames fan to begin with, and I kind of feel if not ownership at least responsibility over it

So when I felt the negativity and level of discussion going down at the start of this season for example, I've been trying to step up myself and be the kind of poster I want to see more of on this board. Support the team but be critical of problems, say what you think even if it's not the popular opinion at the moment, take the criticism in good stride and show respect in disagreements. Try to back up your opinions with something if you can.

I also feel that people respond to good mannered posting with good manners themselves. (Being bipolar it's very noticeable how differently people respond to my different moods of posting.)

I guess what I'm trying to say is this;

I also feel that members, especially those of us who've been here a while, need to take responsibility for the general quality of the forum and not just complain about it. I think the mods are generally doing a good job (although there's room for improvement as I said), but they can't make the forum good on their own.