After coming across Honest John's article on 'bullying on motor forums' today I was really concerned how quickly other members & HJ's administrator bullied the thread starter off your site. As far as I could see this person was highlighting a very serious issue which was quickly rubbished and discredited. 2 months ago my daughter attempted suicide because of forum bullying so the response here really angered me. You only have to Google 'bullying on motoring forums' and it brings you straight to HJ's very poor show against scum bags and low lives who make increasing numbers of people young and old a living hell. Perhaps HJ's should have a good look at its self here because the entire internet is very concerned about this subject and you are currently coming across as just another motoring forum bully? I can guess however that this post will also be rubbished & probably removed - shame on you!

Thanks for your response here and I really hope your daughter is OK now

The internet reflects the standard of behaviour, attitude, morals and manners found in all walks of life, all declining at an incresing rate as far as i can see..

If one is easily upset by such things then it makes good sense to keep away from them, that applies whether its an internet forum or a public house.

The thread you refer to wasn't a discussion on internet bullies, it was a referral to another forum inviting comments and condemnation of the way another forum handled its memberships postings....a forum that gets into a slanging match with another isn't somewhere i'd want to be.

In a normal discussion here there will be differing points of view, many of us will try to inject our opposing views with a little light banter and some others will do so it a bit more pointedly, of course the person reading the post doesn't see the mischevious grin on the face of the poster as he presses send.

Some threads that have surfaced do deserve ill disguised sarcasm, when a car owner for example has neglected their car, not had it serviced or otherwise mistreated it, it goes wrong and they then come on a forum like this jumping up and down because manufacturer X hasn't repaired their poor suffering car for free....the same sarcastic posters will be lining up to condemn the same maker X if they take the P out of decent customers who have played by the rules, its life.

There will always be an opposing view to yours or mine, if those views were not aired it wouldn't be a forum, it would be propaganda and only deserving of a mainstream political party and its media apparatchiks..:-).

This applies anywhere not just in motoring.

Edited by gordonbennet on 24/04/2012 at 14:39

Have you heard of Godwin's law?

It states:

"As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involing Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."

The nature of forums is that posters (myself included) will sometimes be inclined to post remarks that, in hindsight, seemrash and intemperate. That is the a side effect of a free forum. However, the benefits of a free forum far outweigh the disadvantages.

I don't accept that online bullying is a serious problem. Unlike real life, online 'bullying' requires the 'victim' to participate of their own volition. I struggle to empathise with people who join a forum with the express intention of being offended.

Anybody driven to suicidal tendencies from an internet discussion needs to seek help.

The original poster to which you refer has managed to feel alienated from two entirely separate forums. This would appear to suggest that the problem lies with the poster not everyone else.