[SoCalyorkiLvr]

Hey y'all

Not to belabor this thread but, I've been busy this morning and I'm on California time too, so I just saw this thread after last night and would like to, hopefully, explain a few things and help "clear the air" as Kristy is attempting to do with this thread.

First, to Mojo, Laura, Hannah and anyone else wondering about the phrase "Don't foget the donuts", as Kristy said, it was a phrase that was developed (I cannot remember the exact member who suggested it) when a thread got off topic and we were trying to come up with a "friendly cue" to get posters back on topic. Some forums use "troll alert" or "Don't Feed the Trolls" or "Silent treatment" or such, but we felt those were mean and we wanted something less harsh.

Secondly, if you are wondering if you are one of the new members referred to in this discussion in a negative way as "troublemakers", etc., then you are not. They know who they are and you would too if you were one, trust me on that. The great majority of the new members here are just that, NEW MEMBERS, and they are wonderful, fun, open minded and great.

Bettyanne- You are so wise and have been here the longest and I admire and trust your knowledge. I hope you are right that the (I hate this word but it seems to be accepted in the internet forum world) Trolls will leave and go someplace else real soon so we can return to the friendly, non adversarial forum that we all love. Or, in the alternative, that they decide to stay but realize that this forum will not put up with the negative behavior and they will stop it and keep their posts as friendly,civil and respectful as possible.

DivaPup- What can I say? You seem to be upset with the use of the "donut phrase" which is totally anonymous and nonsensical, not meant to offend or harm anyone, but you are okay with "troll alert", "Don't feed the trolls", "Troll hunt", "Invisible users", "common denominator", "silent treatment", "pot stirrer". I have seen these phrases used in the past and they are negative and hurtful and definitely meant to offend. YT is a friendly place and we want to keep it that way. That's all.

There is no conspiracy or PM crusade going on either. All new members are not PM'd and "warned". I think you are being a little too defensive and over reacting to this attempt to stop the negativity.

Missy's Mom- I am so glad you do not "usually read threads that are controversial or that have any negativity", and that you "never post to them". Threads with titles like "Invisible Users" may be construed as negative by some and we can learn from you and try to stay away from such negativity and not add to it whenever possible.

Hickey007- I know that admin does not like us to discuss other forums and I try very hard to respect that rule, but this is a very small yorkie world and so many members here are members on other forums as well. Some are new forums, some old, some still in existence, some gone, some small, some large and some dying. I have only been on these forums for a few months but I have done my research and gone back and read the old posts on the major forums and I know a great deal about the history as told by those threads and others who have shared their knowledge of the past with me, and there is always discussion on all forums about other forums. It would not be naural for there not to be. It's human nature to compare one to another. That is all I will say.

LvMyYorki- Your suggestion about sending PMs would be a good one except that then it is criticized, as it was here, as a conspiracy and something done in secret or you are accused of harassment. I think most of us know when it is more appropriate to have private discussions rather than public ones and so we have to ignore the complaints about "PM conspiracies" and just follow our intuition and act appropriately for the circumstances. It is never apporpriate to harass someone IMO.

Brooke- I really don't think you have been at all out of line in your "advertising". Of course I knew you before your online store existed, but you are very subtle and so helpful. In fact, you are always complimenting and referring your competitors when they have something new so I think we all know that your main focus here is your fur babies. I think admin has had to fine tune the rules on advertising and selling in the recent past and you have been very good about complying with those changes from what I have seen.

There, I'm done. Gonna go find some fun threads to read and photos of beautiful fur babies to smile at!!