It's like the Wild West across this entire subforum and not in a good way either.
The complete lack of rules, guidelines or whatever you want to call them has created a horribly aggressive, hostile and unfriendly environment. I can't imagine how many new members or would-be members are run off after dipping a toe in these waters. I've been a contributing member (and staff member) of countless car, truck and motorcycle forums over the decades and not one of them tolerate the hostility that has been allowed to become commonplace here at TMC.
I'm relatively new so I didn't want to rush to judgement but I've been here long enough to see a pattern emerging and something has to be done to reign the negative attitude back and make TMC a friendly and enjoyable community that further drives the overall vision. I would think that "be kind, be polite and just be generally nice" would prevail w/o intervention but it's clearly obvious to anyone that this hasn't been the case and it's getting steadily worse... not better. It's not all members either but a small percentage of the total community but they are incredibly vocal & brazen making it seem like a more widespread issue than it really is.
As an example, I will cite this for sale thread since it's the most recently replied to thread but there are dozens if not hundreds just like it with far less drama that have thread crappers trolling them. This 100+ post for sale thread is EXACTLY why TMC staff needs to do something about the for sale section of this forum. It's unreal how off-topic BS is allowed to be posted in someone's for sale thread and it is NOT allowed on any of the other car, truck & motorcycle forums I've been on over the decades. It makes for a hostile environment and it is VERY intimidating for new members who see others being bullied simply for offering an item for sale if it's not also the cheapest example of that item other readers have ever seen.
This forum has a real problem with some members feeling the need to prove just how smart they are by bashing other people's for sale threads even if they have absolutely no interest in owning the item in question at any price. If someone truly is trying to help the OP they need to take it to PM. If someone feels the price is too high and is LEGITIMATELY interested in owning the item they need to take it to PM. Most other forums will allow posts such as "I've bought/sold from OP in the past and he/she has been great to work with" or similar feedback so others know if they can be trusted or not or basic questions for clarification or fact omission that other potential buyers would benefit from. The line for acceptable posts is pretty much drawn there. Anything else that doesn't benefit another potential buyer by discussing publicly should be taken to PM.
Trashing someone's for sale thread because it's not the absolute cheapest example you've ever seen is childish and should not be allowed to continue. Who cares if they want $200k for their clapped out Model 3? It may sit forever for sale and the seller may not even mind that it takes forever to sell. Not everyone wants to give an item away to move it quickly and it's none of your business since you clearly aren't interested in buying the item at any price. If you were, you'd send a PM with a genuine offer rather than bashing them publicly.
To me, that's the single largest & most rampant offense I'm seeing on this forum and it needs to be addressed immediately as it's scaring off people who could be good contributors to the community. Most forums also require a price to be listed with a listing as the most basic of requirements. There's no reason that this shouldn't be a basic requirement to asking someone else to buy your item. After all, it's not like we approached you and you didn't have time to think about it or feel out the market. You took the time to post it up so surely you must have some idea what you want for it. It's possible that this could be a direct result of the previous behavior I've mentioned where some members are afraid to even post an asking price for fear of the trolls taking over their thread as a result. Who knows how many members aren't even creating threads as a direct result of this behavior.
Some forums go a bit further requiring actual photos and not just stock photos to help prevent fraudulent activity & help would-be buyers know what it is they're getting. Some get a little too crazy (IMO) with requiring the listing of full name, address, phone #, email and other details in the for sale thread itself. I'm not a huge fan of requiring the posting of personal information publicly but the point here is that some basic and simple guidelines need to be put in place and enforced. It's pretty clear that people can't be civil to each other because it's the polite and right thing to do so it's time TMC enforced guidelines that don't allow the select few members who don't have any respect for their fellow TMC members.
Help make TMC a more friendly and enjoyable place. Don't take my word for it, visit other forums marketplace subforum and you'll see that this sort of behavior simply isn't allowed. The sooner TMC adopts basic civility guidelines the easier it will be to enforce on the few turds ruining it for everyone and the happier and more welcoming a place TMC will be for everyone.
The complete lack of rules, guidelines or whatever you want to call them has created a horribly aggressive, hostile and unfriendly environment. I can't imagine how many new members or would-be members are run off after dipping a toe in these waters. I've been a contributing member (and staff member) of countless car, truck and motorcycle forums over the decades and not one of them tolerate the hostility that has been allowed to become commonplace here at TMC.
I'm relatively new so I didn't want to rush to judgement but I've been here long enough to see a pattern emerging and something has to be done to reign the negative attitude back and make TMC a friendly and enjoyable community that further drives the overall vision. I would think that "be kind, be polite and just be generally nice" would prevail w/o intervention but it's clearly obvious to anyone that this hasn't been the case and it's getting steadily worse... not better. It's not all members either but a small percentage of the total community but they are incredibly vocal & brazen making it seem like a more widespread issue than it really is.
As an example, I will cite this for sale thread since it's the most recently replied to thread but there are dozens if not hundreds just like it with far less drama that have thread crappers trolling them. This 100+ post for sale thread is EXACTLY why TMC staff needs to do something about the for sale section of this forum. It's unreal how off-topic BS is allowed to be posted in someone's for sale thread and it is NOT allowed on any of the other car, truck & motorcycle forums I've been on over the decades. It makes for a hostile environment and it is VERY intimidating for new members who see others being bullied simply for offering an item for sale if it's not also the cheapest example of that item other readers have ever seen.
This forum has a real problem with some members feeling the need to prove just how smart they are by bashing other people's for sale threads even if they have absolutely no interest in owning the item in question at any price. If someone truly is trying to help the OP they need to take it to PM. If someone feels the price is too high and is LEGITIMATELY interested in owning the item they need to take it to PM. Most other forums will allow posts such as "I've bought/sold from OP in the past and he/she has been great to work with" or similar feedback so others know if they can be trusted or not or basic questions for clarification or fact omission that other potential buyers would benefit from. The line for acceptable posts is pretty much drawn there. Anything else that doesn't benefit another potential buyer by discussing publicly should be taken to PM.
Trashing someone's for sale thread because it's not the absolute cheapest example you've ever seen is childish and should not be allowed to continue. Who cares if they want $200k for their clapped out Model 3? It may sit forever for sale and the seller may not even mind that it takes forever to sell. Not everyone wants to give an item away to move it quickly and it's none of your business since you clearly aren't interested in buying the item at any price. If you were, you'd send a PM with a genuine offer rather than bashing them publicly.
To me, that's the single largest & most rampant offense I'm seeing on this forum and it needs to be addressed immediately as it's scaring off people who could be good contributors to the community. Most forums also require a price to be listed with a listing as the most basic of requirements. There's no reason that this shouldn't be a basic requirement to asking someone else to buy your item. After all, it's not like we approached you and you didn't have time to think about it or feel out the market. You took the time to post it up so surely you must have some idea what you want for it. It's possible that this could be a direct result of the previous behavior I've mentioned where some members are afraid to even post an asking price for fear of the trolls taking over their thread as a result. Who knows how many members aren't even creating threads as a direct result of this behavior.
Some forums go a bit further requiring actual photos and not just stock photos to help prevent fraudulent activity & help would-be buyers know what it is they're getting. Some get a little too crazy (IMO) with requiring the listing of full name, address, phone #, email and other details in the for sale thread itself. I'm not a huge fan of requiring the posting of personal information publicly but the point here is that some basic and simple guidelines need to be put in place and enforced. It's pretty clear that people can't be civil to each other because it's the polite and right thing to do so it's time TMC enforced guidelines that don't allow the select few members who don't have any respect for their fellow TMC members.
Help make TMC a more friendly and enjoyable place. Don't take my word for it, visit other forums marketplace subforum and you'll see that this sort of behavior simply isn't allowed. The sooner TMC adopts basic civility guidelines the easier it will be to enforce on the few turds ruining it for everyone and the happier and more welcoming a place TMC will be for everyone.
