In recent weeks and months we have received feedback - primarily from new members, but a few established ones too - regarding unnecessarily harsh, dismissive, rude and/or aggressive responses, especially (but not only) when someone raises concerns, doubts or criticisms of the Pentax brand.
PentaxForums is a brand-specific enthusiast site, and most of us here are Pentax enthusiasts. New members with critical views of the brand have a responsibility to understand the dynamics of the community they're participating in and consider the effect of their posts, and we've updated our Welcome & Forum Rules sticky post to reflect this, with
guidelines for new members. Even so,
all of our members - new
and old - have a responsibility to respect each other's opinions (even when we disagree), remain courteous and friendly at all times, keep an open mind, and avoid jumping to conclusions, making personal comments or name-calling (terms such as "fanboy" or "troll", for example). We each represent these forums whenever we post, and it's incumbent on us to present our community as welcoming, respectful, tolerant and helpful to all.
We might reasonably hope that our most established members in particular would take this responsibility to heart, to ensure the continued popularity and longevity of our community and the brands we all support.
When faced with a post where you feel the only option is to dismiss it or "shoot it down", please consider the wider effects of your response. If rules have been broken, report the post to a moderator using the "yellow triangle" report post feature (not by PM, please) and avoid further involvement in the discussion until a moderating decision has been made. Otherwise, please be mindful of the standards referred to above when responding.
Most of all, please strive to be friendly and respectful at all times. There is never just one way to offer (or counter) an opinion. However ill-conceived or inflammatory a post may seem, responding in kind does nothing to help our community and its reputation.
The moderating team will not hesitate to take appropriate action against members who consistently impact the forum atmosphere in a negative way.
