Quote Originally Posted by Duffy View Post
A couple people dropping lightly veiled insults has the effect of encouraging you not to come back to the forum. It has happened, believe me. Those negative people that can't contain their personal communication and other social problems, or whatever problems that motivate their attitude, should stay off the forum - and I hope they do.

This place did have a very friendly and family like vibe going on. It just takes a couple negative, insulting responses to your post to destroy that vibe. So if you are a negative person or get off on insulting others, or questioning the value of their motives, stay off the forum and maybe people will feel more at home and comfortable without you.

So, having a plan to stay on top of how people are interacting and reigning in those that might drive away people, could be effective in drawing people back in. I think having a sense of mutual respect in a small forum like this is important. On the other hand, most forums have a couple insolent participants that seem to like to turn people off.

Let's try to make it a positive place where people want to come to and participate.
You know, that's a really good point -- it was definitely a reason why I took a big big break from here. Some people who became bigger presences had very negative and judgmental attitudes. I hadn't actually thought of that until you mentioned it, but it's very relevant.