[size:11pt][b]I was going to write about this. . . And then I wasn’t. . . But finally I decided to poke my nose into where it [color:#990000]may[/color] or [color:#990000]may not [/color]be welcomed :blush: because this has really begun to [color:#990000]bug[/color] me.[/b][/size] :crazy: :mad: [size:17pt][b][color:#000099]This whole “rainbow” in-joke, I feel, has run its course.[/color][/b][/size] :mad: [size:11pt][b]And its time to let it pass. To me, it sets up a [color:#990000]negative atmosphere[/color] for everyone on this site. :( If someone makes a comment that you don’t understand or you feel is “strange,” you can [color:#990000]ignore[/color] it or [color:#990000]ask for clarification[/color]. :) If someone makes erroneous statements or is handing out false information, by [color:#990000]ALL MEANS[/color], respond to it. ;) But there is no need for this whole “rainbow” taunting & teasing (As subtle as people might think they are being, they aren’t). :o [color:#990000]I find no humor in it at all[/color]. It most likely hurts people’s feelings & makes them feel left out, different or strange. :o There are people here of all ages (13 & up), backgrounds and language ability. Let’s respect that we know very little about a member (especially when they are new to us) and give them [color:#990000]proper respect[/color]! A wise person once said, “[color:#990000]If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all[/color].” (It was quite possibly the same person who said, “Wash your hands before you eat” & “Look both ways before you cross the street” because all three make damn good sense![/b][/size] ;)

Fine, we will just go back to calling people a troll when they are acting like a troll. We thought that maybe saying something about a rainbow to lighten the mood when a post started to get out of hand would help keep things under control when they started to go awry, and really it did. I think that it has been working quite a bit better than when everyone would get frustrated with members who were trying to get everyone riled up and then there was shouting and pouting and people leaving. Obviously some people who -don't know what they are talking about- say it when it's not appropriate, but they are just being a troll as well. I don't know if anyone has noticed, but there have been quite a few less fights lately.
I am sure you're not the only one who feels this way, so I will just go back to calling a troll a troll instead of calling a troll a rainbow which sounds much nicer.



That's a nice thought, but it just doesn't happen that way.

I totally agree with you Tanaka!!! This whole "rainbow" thing has gotten totally out of hand. It needs to stop. People's feelings are getting hurt. And half the time someone is using the word rainbow when they have no idea what it even means!
So a big fat DITTO to EVERYTHING Tanaka said!!!!!

I think everyone here needs to realize how much and many people IM people to ask them nicely to stop trolling and you know what, out of respect for members of this forum they should, period.

Rainbowing just turned into a fun thing instead of getting frustrated over it. Then it has simply also turned into a fun joke. The problem with forums is that people can't hear the sound of anothers voice through just typing, so no voice inflextion to tell if somethings a joke.

I personally though, do NOT feel it is ok to start threads to upset people or to rile them up, post one word on each reply three times in a row, bump 4 year old posts just to up their post numbers and then making people feel stupid for answering the post! That's just plain immature and catty and THAT is what has started this.

So if you feel doing all of the above is ok, then you need to think really hard. Cause you know what, it's not.

I do want to ask why this couldn't be handled in a PM instead of being put on the board for all to see. When we were frustrated with the trolling, a few of us decided that it would be best to just massively PM a whole bunch of active members about ignoring trolling posts and come to a conclusion AS A GROUP how to handle it so that we could have a little peace and not get ourselves banned because we were frustrated. We were able to handle it without making it look like all we do here is fight. This could have been handled the same way and feelings wouldn't have been hurt and people wouldn't have been mad.

I think feelings were already hurt and people were already mad before this thread was started. That's WHY this thread was started.(At least I THINK that's why tanaka started it?)I was just about to start a thread about the rainbow business getting out of hand myself, but Tanaka beat me to it.

I know that I for one was totally fed up with a certain troll or 2 and the rainbow thing sounded like a good plan at the time. But since then it has become a joke, and because people can't hear the sound of the typer's voice and the inflection in the voice,like KC said, it's not taken as a joke, and feelings get hurt or it makes someone feel like an idiot. I'm pretty sure that's not what we all intended when the rainbow thing started?

To me trolling is NOT a joke and therefore it shouldn't be treated like one. I think that from now on if we smell a troll we just come right out and say so Plain and simple, call it like ya see it!

Yeah. Well, thanks for telling everyone that Tanaka. I agree with you as well.

I don't understand what the rainbow thing is about anyhow.
It's getting really annoying to be seeing around & even being called a troll.
I don't think anyone should be calling anyone a rainbow or a troll.

I have been on this forum for almost a year and I had never even heard of a troll or the rainbow thing until that one particular post that was a joke about letting the birds go(you all know which one I'm talking about). That post has had a domino effect, and I think there are a lot of people that are still upset about it. The one thing about the rainbow posts is if someone comes onto the forum, doesn't have a relationship with their keets like we do, they see the keets as an "it" instead of a little innocent animal and they are seriously asking a question that sounds horrendous to us, but makes sense to them..if we just assume they are trolling and don't answer their question, they may "dye their birds feathers" or "let them fly away"...they may do something harmful because to them this bird is an object....or they may be a little kid who actually does think it would be cool to dye their feathers..you never know, and that is what worries me about asuming they are trolling.

I think that when it is an outrageous post, we should answer them, but keep it to 2 pages..once 8-10 people have replied with the same answer you would give, the post should stop there, instead of 6-20 pages of people saying the same thing or yelling at the person that posted...you know?

i would like to know exactly who has hurt feelings and why ???

if they cant b up front about that and come out and admit they have hurt feelings and why they feel that way then i should not have to come upfront and apologize or change something.

the fact is that we do have trolls on this forum, it is extremly annoyying to those of us who are here day in and day out handing out advice and actually caring about these birds and he people.

i am sick and tired of being told to walk on eggshells and protect people feelinsg ... what about my feelings ??? what about my time and effort?? is it worth nothing???
and tanaka i like you so dont take offense but why cant you follow your own advice ???? if you see something you do not like or then ignore it ... or if you see something you do not understand ask for clarification ....

i am just baffled by this thread. i see it going WAY OUT OF CONTROL REALLY QUICKLY.

seriously, we are all adults. i agree that this should have been posted differently. there is NO WAY that you can think the post here would have been taken lightly. there are a LOT of different people with different opinions/attitudes on here. you NEVER KNOW how anyone is going to reply to something like this.

I SAY WE DROP IT ALL!!!! if someone gets HURT or OFFENDED just PM the person and take care of it privately. also agree that if you are stumped by someones post, GET CLARIFICATION. if you see a TROLL, call it as it is. i too believed that the Rainbow thing was a NICER way of saying TROLL, but obviously it is more offensive and went a bit out of control as a joke. i also understand that there were A LOT of different people who knew about and used Rainbow instead of Troll. so PMing all the people would have been hard. BUUUTTTT!!! i also feel that this thread could have been STARTED differently. A LITTLE NICER MAYBE.
as stated...'IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING NICE TO SAY DON'T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL.' that type of stuff, offensive or whatnot can also be taken care of through PM's.
i am NOT trying to offend or piss anyone off here. Tanaka i just really feel that this could have been A LOT better if stated differently/nicer from the start.

that is MY OPINION...i have nothing further to say about it.

i truly hope everyone has a good day!