We're almost five weeks into this thread and I think we've said as much as there is to say. I'm going to call this one done.
I guess my parting words on the whole "censorship" thing are that it would truly be less work for me to never delete a post or close a thread. Most of us are lazy by nature and the lazy part of me loves to leave things alone.
But the part of me that agreed to help out when they asked me 17 years ago knows that I committed to do what needs to be done. Enforcing the forum rules is the easy part since they're pretty black and white. The part that people like to call "censorship" is the hard part. That's where we have to delete or edit the posts that cross too far into the realm of the unkind. This thread is a great example of the question "Where have all the members gone on this forum?" My Libertarian inclination is to let things run a little longer than I probably should. The consequence is that a lot of the louder & meaner voices have created an unfriendly atmosphere that drove off so many of the kinder gentler members. I regret this and I wish I had enough wisdom and more of a crystal ball to foresee the future. But I don't. I can take responsibility for my own actions (or more often my inactions), but I believe that the blame lies with the ones who have posted unkind things for so long.
I guess my only other thought is to answer the question that the trolls ask me over and over: "Why did you delete my post if it didn't break any of the rules?"
The easy answer is "Quit being a jerk and I'll quit deleting your posts." But the more nuanced answer is "It's rarely what you say, but how you say it." I just wish more people could put themselves in their fellow members' shoes and try to imagine how they'd feel when reading these rotten snarky responses. It blows my mind that it's so hard for people to practice the Golden Rule: Treat others as you would want to be treated.
And if your response to that is that you don't mind when people are mean to you, then it's probably time for you to show yourself to the door.
Anyway, this has mostly been an interesting and insightful discussion. And you're all free to help to bump up the tone of this place and make it more welcoming and more likely to attract and sustain growing membership. None of us has any control over the competition of other services like Facebook or even the frustrations from the buggy nature of this site. But we all have 100% control over what we say and how we say it. That part is up to you.
For the most part though, I'm grateful for the good members who have participated and helped throughout the years. You're the ones who are helping to keep our roads safe and our camps happy. Without the friendly help of so many of you (so many of "us" if I lump myself in), we'd have black tanks overflowing and all the other ugly things that spoil the camps and the roads for the rest of us.
Peace and happy trails to all of you, even the trolls.
