Rules Reminder

Hey everyone,

Due to the impressive growth of the website, we've had a lot of new members join recently, and because of that I'd like to come in and give my take on how I view this board (contrary to what anyone might think, Managing Editor doesn't mean all powerful dictator : This board is left in the hands of others who will only come to the powers that be if there's a major issue). However, I've noticed there's been a few topics with a lot of tension in them recently, and I'd like to put any and all of that to bed before things get out of control.

I compare this board to a small community. A lot of members have been here for several years, some sticking it out when the site was little more than a blip on the radar screen. As such, when you join this board you're joining an established group and interacting with several different types of personalities, all of whom are different but an asset to the board in their own way. It's like moving into an apartment complex. When you're in a complex, you can't blast the music 24 hours a day at top volume because you'll piss off everyone around you, especially if you're new and they have no clue who you are. Of course, if you don't want to change and want to keep blasting that music 24/7 without respecting your neighbors, you can do it...you just need a house and 40 acres all your own.

Using that example, personal attacks and letting your opinions get out of hand can be viewed in a similar way. On a blog or in your own website or personal page, you can charge onto the internet, being as disrespectful, uberopinionated, and unencumbered as you want. Rip me to shreds for this message. Rip Joe Schmo from Alaska because he said Dale, Jr. was a great driver and you know so well he's a piece of crap. Become your own columnist...state your own opinions the way you want, say your piece, and watch people compliment you or, more often, rip you to shreds (it's been happening to me for seven years, lol). It takes 15 minutes to get your own website or blog or whatever nowadays...just five clicks of the keyboard and you're ready to go.

Of course, this isn't a blog or your own site though, it's a message board..and while this board is made to be as democratic as possible, when you're living within a community there are certain rules and regulations. State your opinion so over the top before anyone really has a sense of who the heck you are, offend everyone in your path of destruction, and then say "my way or the highway..." and you'll be hitting the road... just like you'd be evicted in an apartment complex. And you guys should ALL know that; it's not our fault you can't figure out how to make your own website or blog to state your own opinions without having to answer to anyone insread of being silly enough to try and intentionally offend people in a community you're VOLUNTEERING to be a part of.

Instead of hurt feelings and overstated opinions, the point of posting and this board should be to interact and have fun with people who all share the same passion for the sport, having GOOD NATURED discussions on all sorts of topics from Dale Jr. to Tony Stewart's new love interest. It's already what this board is about most of the time; let's just keep it that way, OK? 100% of the month instead of 95%.

So many boards I've seen shut down or moderated too much in the past year because of a view easily avoidable incidents (Truckseries.com and bgnracing.com are good examples). As we grow and become more established, I don't want to ever have the moderators be forced into doing the same thing here. It's against everything FS stands for.

Thanks for your time.

Tom Bowles
Managing Editor
Frontstretch.com