The only thing that lends any serious aspect to this issue is "Stupid-People".

But the dilettantes of the World,
even the supposedly "smart", "highly-educated" ones,
just seem to love their daily dose of controversy and gossip.
( be very careful, this might be YOU .............. )

This is not a "NEW !!!" Internet-forum-thing, it's a inescapable part of Life, and always has been.

People quickly forget that the first Rule has always been,
"Treat others exactly as You would want to be treated",
that includes "forming an opinion" about, or "judging" others,
ESPECIALLY based on "third-party" information.

"Third-party" information is at the root of ALL EVIL actions, without exception.
.
.
.

 

So are you guys saying there is no such thing as "alternate facts"? Some have made a very good living from disseminating those alternate facts.

 

No, the issue is Quoting what someone said on the forum and editing what they said to make it a false quote!

 

Such as

Everyone on these forums is an idiot!

Which is NOT what you said!

 

AFAIK, there is nothing wrong with calling trolls out to the mods for a variety of reasons. IMHO they have been proactive on things like attempts to advertise and posting the same question in multiple threads. There is no reason why they cannot administer the ultimate sanction for intentionally or maliciously defaming a member.

I will freely admit to sometimes correcting a spelling mistake in a quote to improve the readability. I don't think that is in quite the same category as malicious defamation.

 

AFAIK, there is nothing wrong with calling trolls out to the mods for a variety of reasons. IMHO they have been proactive on things like attempts to advertise and posting the same question in multiple threads. There is no reason why they cannot administer the ultimate sanction for intentionally or maliciously defaming a member.

I will freely admit to sometimes correcting a spelling mistake in a quote to improve the readability. I don't think that is in quite the same category as malicious defamation.

Whatever the motive, it is still misrepresentation. Like a person's offline reputation, some may not care what others think, others may and do. To spank someone after the fact is an old method and does not protect the victim as it is already done. We are in the rise of information security and you may agree its becoming more of a problem. For those that think messing with someone's head is not a problem, think again. These things have a 'snowball effect' and not everyone has the capacity to see through the B*******.

 

Whatever the motive, it is still misrepresentation. Like a person's offline reputation, some may not care what others think, others may and do. To spank someone after the fact is an old method and does not protect the victim as it is already done. We are in the rise of information security and you may agree its becoming more of a problem. For those that think messing with someone's head is not a problem, think again. These things have a 'snowball effect' and not everyone has the capacity to see through the B*******.

This is a forum and at its heart is the sharing of information I have no statistics, but in my experience on this site this is not a problem.

For the rare times it occurs, the quoted member can share that the post is not representative of his publications. And other long-term members who have an idea of others, can also share their suspicions. It’s amazing how one can often determine who made a post without it being identified by name.

Egregious cases can be addressed by the moderators.

This is how it currently works. IMHO, no automatic processing of posts will work better.

 

Such as



Which is NOT what you said!

Only said that about some members. They know who I mean.

 

This is how it currently works. IMHO, no automatic processing of posts will work better.

It could be done with a single flag, I edited your post with bold, it could be written in software that the quote window displays a symbol or such indicating to all the post has been altered.

Its obviously a problem and if its not being logged then who knows how often it occurs.

 

It could be done with a single flag, I edited your post with bold, it could be written in software that the quote window displays a symbol or such indicating to all the post has been altered.

Its obviously a problem and if its not being logged then who knows how often it occurs.

Give proof that it’s a problem?

I’m in the same boat as I have no proof other than my time on the forum.

Note that NO ONE (other than a moderator ) can modify your original post. And moderators document what and why the change was

 

Note that NO ONE (other than a moderator ) can modify your original post. And moderators document what and why the change was

??? I can edit my previous posts and correct spelling, modify quotes, etc. But yes, If someone wants to start modifying my post to put egregiously bad words "in my mouth" a simple report to the mods will surely bring the miscreant to their attention and be dealt with. Plus, in the few years that I've been here, that has yet to be needed.

 

Give proof that it’s a problem?

I’m in the same boat as I have no proof other than my time on the forum.

Note that NO ONE (other than a moderator ) can modify your original post. And moderators document what and why the change was

I have no response other than if it happens to you, you might think differently.

 

I have no response other than if it happens to you, you might think differently.

If it happened to me, I’d change my password.

Moderators: Has this happened to anyone else? @Ya’akov ?

The forums security settings prevent someone other than you or a moderator from modifying your posts. Unless, someone has hacked your account and is pretending to be you.

 

??? I can edit my previous posts and correct spelling, modify quotes, etc. But yes, If someone wants to start modifying my post to put egregiously bad words "in my mouth" a simple report to the mods will surely bring the miscreant to their attention and be dealt with. Plus, in the few years that I've been here, that has yet to be needed.

D’oh… Yes. I missed the edge case of modifying your own post. But if I did, I wouldn’t be complaining.

 

If it happened to me, I’d change my password.

Moderators: Has this happened to anyone else? @Ya’akov ?

That would do nothing to solve the problem as I understand it. The problem quoting a post as the beginning of a reply, modifying the quote in the reply, adding a snarky suggestion, then posting the reply. If there are 137 posts between the original quoted message and the reply, how many folks will bother to check to see if the original message and the quote of the original message are identical

 

I think the person being misquoted would know and squawk about it. I obviously would not go back very far (or at all) to see if the quote was what was actually said. Unfortunately, I would take the quote as being what was said verbatim. Even though I may be scratching my head and telling myself "I can't believe he told that one...". Which would be unfairly casting aspersions on the one being intentionally misquoted.

 

That would do nothing to solve the problem as I understand it.

There was some confusion on my part whether the TS was referring to edits on a quoted response or the original post.

in the case of an original post being changed, changing your password would be an appropriate response. In the former case, you are correct.

 

There was some confusion on my part whether the TS was referring to edits on a quoted response or the original post.

in the case of an original post being changed, changing your password would be an appropriate response. In the former case, you are correct.

Agreed.