Behaviour

[Aussie Mike]

I agree Bernie.

I like the banter like Gav does too. I'm also firmly of the belief that I wouldn't post anything on the forum that I wouldn't say to them in person.

Unfortunately the nature of the written word is such that the emotion intended by the writer does not always come across to the reader. Unless you are a real wordsmith lt's often reliant on how well you know the writer to guess at their intention. Often the mood of the reader can influence how the message is interpreted. You may have been laughing to yourself when writing a message but if the reader on the other end has had a crappy day at work and the cat's just vomited in his slippers he might not see the funny side of what you've said.

I think that's one of the skills a good novelist has: Being able to portray the emotion behind the words to the reader.

So if you write something perhaps hold off on pressing the post button till you've read it back to yourself and think about the other ways it could be interpreted.

A lot of us have been on here a long time and have met at events and become friends. We get to be familiar with each others ways and sense of humor. A new member reading for the first time may not pick this up immediately. So me stiring Gav up about his Bunnings paint job or Andrew about his gay helmet with a star on it may be taken as insulting. I think we also need to remember when posting to new members that they aren't familiar with us so ease up until they get to know us. I wonder how many newbies we scare off sometimes.

Cheers