Hi Locust,

Online forums, IMHO are notorious for heated arguments due to people misinterpreting and overreacting to someone else's comments.

I think the reason why this happens is because all the communication is in writing.

If it were a Real Life discussion where the listener could also hear the tone of voice, see the facial expressions, etc... there probably wouldn't be as much miscommunication.

Also... people tend to be more bold in their comments online than they are in person just because they think they are anonymous.

Anyway... I wouldn't let the posters you have encountered on other forums get under your skin too much because life's too short and such people ain't worth the bother.

Also...I have been on the 'net since 2000. Chat rooms and message boards used to be fun places where you could meet interesting people and have some intelligent conversations but now... the level of intelligence and politeness has declined so significantly that I hardly ever deal with chatrooms and message boards much any more unless they are heavily moderated.

You might want to do the same and curtail your posting if you are encountering too many troublemakers on some of those forums you mentioned.

Another thing you could do is start your own forum on Yahoo Groups or Topica and moderate it yourself. It can be a lot of work but at least that way you can keep the trolls out.

Good Luck to You,

Peppermint