[WhimsicalDaisy]

I think this is a great discussion. It's unfortunate, but there are people that thrive on creating havoc on message boards. In my opinion, the best way to kill a post is for us to agree not to respond. YT moves so quickly every day that a post can get lost several pages back in no time at all. I think most people probably read the new posts, and only go back to previous pages to find specific things.

We could come up with a signal phrase, and when there's something posted that would normally escalate into ugliness, the 1st one to see it posts the signal phrase, and then we're done. Ignore the negative comments & stick to the original topic. The phrase works best if it's nonsensical, funny, etc...but has absolutely nothing to do with anything at all! It serves the purpose in a couple of ways: #1 the signal to those devoted to keeping YT friendly & supportive; #2 it changes the subject & people will start asking what that means, rather than responding to the inappropriate comments. Some examples: Don't forget the donuts; Kibbles & bits & bits & bits; Roses are red, violets are blue...; using a tagline from a commercial or product we're familiar with helps everyone remember, too.

It's HARD to resist commenting & attempting to put the "troll" in his/her place, but we truly aren't going to convert that person into not behaving this way again. Our comments back to the troll only fuel the fire & give the troll exactly what he/she wants...conflict.

If the negativity is coming from a YT regular, we should be able to accept that it's out of character, ask for a time-out if necessary, and then get back to being friends. I know if I posted something rude, I wouldn't mind being called out for it, and I'd also feel really badly if I started something that escalated out of control.

Hopefully my comments here will add to the discussion, get others thinking about possible ways to handle the problem situations, and help us all work together to keep YT the awesome place we know it is.

Edit: In all my rambling, I forgot to mention that I think YT is excellent, I commend admin on all they do for us, & not a day goes by that I don't learn something new about having a Yorkie in my life. THANK YOU ALL!!!