Most people who spend some time on the QP Forum notice something different and special here. For the most part, our members treat each other with kindness and respect, and there is an incredible amount of support and encouragement available here that isn’t often found on the Internet or anywhere else for that matter.

So before I go further, I want to thank each and every one of you for the part you play in maintaining a positive atmosphere on the forum and for helping to make the QP Forum one of the friendliest avian communities on the ‘net!

Perhaps because this has become such a special place to visit, our membership is growing at a quick pace, and I expect this to continue. We are truly an international community now with a number of different countries and cultures represented, brought together because of our love for a little green and grey bird called the Quaker Parrot.

I feel our forum growth is a blessing and a great responsibility at the same time. Each time we answer a question or offer a few encouraging words to someone, we have the opportunity to positively impact another member’s life – or sometimes more importantly, a bird’s life.

However, the opposite is also true. Our words, if we don’t choose to stay positive and helpful, can also cause hurt and sometimes anger. Depending on the person our words are directed at, they can even cause someone to leave our community and never come back. I don’t know how often that happens, but the thought makes me sad because if a member stays we can all continue to have a positive impact on a Quaker’s life. If a member leaves, we forever lose the opportunity that we had to improve the life of that bird.

Anyway, I just wanted to take a moment to share my “big picture” view of the QP Forum. I think sometimes in today’s world, we think our lives are small and don’t really matter that much. Not true! I think if you take a real good look at what is happening on this forum, you’ll find that lives are being changed here every day.

All this is just something to keep in mind the next time a member’s post rubs you the wrong way. How you respond could very possibly have an impact on a bird’s life or a person’s life. I hope all of us here would want it to be a positive impact.

With that said, I do understand that sometimes we really do have posts or people on the forum where the situation requires more than a positive reply on the forum is able to provide. Please read the next post for information on what to do in that type of situation.

OK, here are some practical steps that you can take when difficult or controversial situations occur on the QP Forum.

First, there will sometimes be a post or message thread that should be brought to the attention of the Forum Managers. How do you know when this is the case? Our forum guidelines state that this would be any post that is “knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise violative of any law.”

If you feel there is a post that meets these criteria on the forum, you should report it to the Forum Managers. You can do this by clicking on the “Report” button that is at the bottom of every post. Please explain why you feel the post is a problem in the box that is provided. Clicking submit will send your report to the Managers, and we will do our best to act on your report as quickly as possible.

Please let me also add that the Managers really rely on forum members to report these issues. As the forum grows, it becomes more difficult for us to read all of the posts ourselves. Therefore, we really appreciate your help in pointing out these “problem” posts.

Another situation that can come up on the Forum is when there is another member who stays within the above guidelines but consistently posts messages that rub you the wrong way or otherwise provokes a negative emotional reaction.

Fortunately, our forum software has an “ignore user” function. Once you have set this for a particular user, you won’t see any further posts from that person. The posts will still be there and others will see them, but the software will remove the posts from that user so that you alone can’t see them.

If you find it difficult to not respond in a negative manner to a user on more than one occasion, we strongly suggest that you use the “ignore user” function. All you have to do is click on the user’s name on a forum post. This brings up the member’s profile, and you will find the “ignore user” function in the Profile Options.

Thanks again for helping to make the QP Forum the greatest place on earth to talk about Quakers!