I am not the moderator for this site, just a member who has found this site to be a fabulous resource and a wealth of information for my raw journey. I’d just personally like to send a greeting to you all. I’ve found Gone Raw to be a site where good-natured people who just want a better way of life congregate. I am leaving this post to make you aware of some things, so that you can have the best possible experience on this website.

If you are like I was a few days ago, you are probably not aware of the term Troll. A Troll is a person who has entered the site for the purpose of causing confusion amongst us all. I’m not telling you this to scare you, or make you paranoid. I just want you to be aware. A Troll is a person that does things such as posts forums and/or leaves comments that shock people, offend people, or causes arguing and confusion. Sometimes Trolls are very comical, or subtle with their approach, but other times they are very blatant and rude. A subtle approach, for example, would be a Troll that leaves a comment that gets people to open up on personal issues that could possibly embarass them or just get them to reveal too much about their personal lives. Then they just sit back and laugh, I’m sure, but in the meantime they’ve probably wasted people’s time. They even try to evoke pity for themselves. But eventually the Boogie man comes out one way or another.

Recently, there has been a person disguised as four different people who has entered the site for the purpose of causing confusion amongst us all. This person has done all of the above…posted forums and left comments that shocked people, offended people, or caused arguing and confusion, been very subtle with their approach, but other times was are very blatant and rude. The only good thing I can say that came out of all of this is that the genuine, sincere people on this site really gave some sincere, itelligent answers that really helped some people. Even the ones who reacted with great passion were mature enough to recognize where they could have responded differently, and all was well in the end. But many people still got their feelings hurt, and to prevent this from happening to you, I’ve posted a few suggestions that may help you to have an enjoyable experience on this site, and to be able to recognize nonsense when you see it.

.I don’t think that we have to go around feeling paranoid of being ourselves on this website. I’m going to post a few words of advice that I think may help, but first I’d like to say…

I am not “the expert”, nor do I think that I am perfect. I am known to be a feisty, touchy person myself at times, but am working on my personality. This is not my time to shine, nor do I have all things in life figured out. But if I may add a few more suggestions to what has already been said….my only reason for doing so is because I love this site, and would not want there to be a breakdown in communication amongst each other.

Greenghost (another member on this site) was right about ignoring the Trolls. Evetually they will go away when they see they can’t get a reaction from anyone. So here’s a little advice:
(this is not the official Golden Rule of course, which says do unto others as you would have others do unto you. but I have found that some do not know how to love themselves, let alone, treat others properly. This is the reason for rephrasing).

GOLDEN RULE: DO NO HARM!

1. For anyone reading a post that seems as though a person is hurling malicious or even subtlety malicious remarks to stir up emotions and cause bickering, the best thing to do is to not respond back to the person AT ALL. Even responding in a polite or joking manner, will only feed the Trolls. Remember, DO NO HARM!

2. Making “snide remarks” i. e. making rude remarks to other people which are really remarks targeted for a particular person is still adding fuel to fire, fanning the flames, flaming, feeding the troll…whatever you like to call it. Remember, DO NO HARM!

3. Don’t let what went on over the past several days in regards to these posts stop you from asking your questions no matter how “dumb” you may think they are. If you are asking sincerely, and really want an answer, then the truth will show and you will most likely get a sincere answer to your questions. Your questions may help someone else who was afraid to ask. Anyone who is sincere about answering your question will remember to DO NO HARM!

4. Don’t be afraid to state your opinion even if it is contrary to popular opinion. If we don’t stand for something we will fall for anything and I think that as adults, we can have intellectual debates that raise awareness while still being able to agree to disagree. Although it’s quite impossible to NEVER offend anyone in life, we can keep our intentions pure. A person can stand firmly and state their opinion without belittling others and hurling insults. Just keep in mind to DO NO HARM! and you will be just fine.

Trolls can’t harm us, or cause havoc amongst us unless we let them. Remember to DO NO HARM! Now, I’m taking donations for anyone who’d like to contribute to my peace fund….LOL! I’m just joking.
;-)

I don’t know why I’m being lumped in with those clowns. This is ridiculous.

kendra, i always enjoy your very well-thought out and diplomatic posts. thank you.

Hey NoneMoreRAw..I have no idea if your a “troll” or not but I saw that your a fan of
“This is Spinal Tap” so your ok in my book!

Thanks rawperasinger!I just figured out what your name means. You sing opera…¡que padre! (that’s spanish for how cool!)

Kendra, while I appreciate your good intentions and advice, please refrain from posting in all-capitals or implying that you represent the will or official policy of Gone Raw.

And please don’t single people out. That’s definitely not helpful. It’s actually doing some harm, in my opinion.

Everyone is welcome to express themselves, even if you consider it an insult. Even if a whole bunch of people want us to “moderate them.”

We’ll make that call.

I am me, and none of the others that you speak of. Doesn’t this board have an ip address check button?

Hi Ray, I’m just trying to be helpful that’s all. I think everyone is doing fine without this post actually. But the other day there was so much bickering that I just wanted to be sure that those new to Gone Raw would not be turned off by all the chaos. I don’t mean to imply that I represent the will or official policy of Gone Raw. What does the all capitals mean besides being used for emphasis? I don’t understand wh you’ve requested that I stop.

Ray, I have another question though. Are you one of the moderators? I most certainly am not trying to do your job, and don’t have any problem abiding by the rules.

Surely by doing #4 I would be accused of being one of these trolls? I am afraid to express my opinion sometimes now. This is very confusing. I didn’t know what a troll was a few days ago now I think everyone thinks I maybe one. I do like #2 though.

Hi screamingherb! This is my first time meeting you, so all that I’d like to say is welcome, welcome, welcome ;-)

Ray and Kandace are the creators of GoneRaw. You can learn more about them and the GoneRaw site by clicking the links at the bottom of the page. : )

Thank you mamamilk!! I still don’t get the all caps thing. I’ve heard that people use all caps when they want to scream at someone, but if you could see me…I’m so calm right now. I used it for emphasis only. Sometimes I just use all caps because I don’t feel like capitalizing the first word of each sentence! :-D

Hi Ray, I read the policy and about us page and now I understand how it would seem that I was implying that I represent the will or official policy of Gone Raw….my apologies. I made some changes to my statements. I hope that this is sufficifient.

ray writes, 3 hours ago: (339 posts)

Kendra, while I appreciate your good intentions and advice, please refrain from posting in all-capitals or implying that you represent the will or official policy of Gone Raw.

And please don’t single people out. That’s definitely not helpful. It’s actually doing some harm, in my opinion.

Everyone is welcome to express themselves, even if you consider it an insult. Even if a whole bunch of people want us to “moderate them.”

We’ll make that call.

Thanx Ray,

All I was doing was trying to fit in and I was believe it or not a little upset at Kendra’s “all high and mighty stance” that was taken. I applaud your work and I hope I can continue to learn and oneday actually help people coming to this site.

LOL That’s Hilarious!

its quite revealing about human nature that even when one tries to calm the water all the others still dive in and disturb it shakes head

Good effort Kendra. We must really rise above all this silliness.

Maybe we can let this thread die now. Peace, Karuna

Ray and I are moderators of the forum along with Zoe who moderates the New to Raw section.

Thanks for the modifications, Kendra. We do appreciate your concern for the community and are always here for anyone to write directly about any concerns that they might have with what is happening on the boards. Our concern is with calling out individuals (or groups of people) and labeling them (especially new posters). We’d rather work with people individually as many people simply aren’t completely aware of the nuances of being a part of an online community. Ultimately, though, we will (and rarely have) asked folks to move on if their intentions are malicious towards the community.

We appreciate all the time and care you’ve all put into making this such a positive community!

I agree with ya, dodo…

Well everyone, I realize that although I was trying to calm the water, ultimately the decision is left to the moderators. Thank you Kandace for your response. I guess that my peace maker side kicked in seeing how this website helped me get my start into raw fooding and I love this site. I would not want this site to “go up in flames” for lack of a better expression, all because of bickering and arguing brought on by a few people. I was hoping to calm the floods and put some order to things. I guess that’s my law and order side which I got from my dad who was in the military (and who watches Law and Order ALL the time…lol!). We are all different and my goal was not to force anyone to be like me or like the whole. I just hoped to calm the confusion. But we are ALL (or most of us) mature individuals who can decide on our own who or what to respond to, and what to react to and HOW to react.

Ultimately, Ray and Candace were right in that I should not have called out anyone’s name specifically. I was just trying to put all newcomers “on aware”. But I would like to apologize to Kandace, Ray, and Zoe, all who I have offended, including Beet Boy, No Bones, Eat Me Raw, and None More Raw…I still maintain my same opinion, but maybe you’ll prove me wrong in the end. And yes, Karuna, it is about time to drop this thread, but some things needed to be cleared up in the meantime.