Perhaps one way to deter such back-channel bullying would be to post to the list a further discussion of the bird sighting with the text and author of the offending email included. The only way to stop such behavior is to shine light on it.

Andy Sewell

Sent from my iPod

On Dec 13, 2011, at 7:00 AM, Erik Bruder <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I think Susan Williams and Kathi Hutton raise a valid point.
> 
> Based on personal experience there is a small group of people on this list who seem to enjoy firing off the back channel email that is unnecessarily critical, disparaging in tone, or just plain rude in response to something that was posted.  None of these people are the list owner or have any official role related to the list but they seem to feel it is their responsibility to comment on style, content, format, or even worthiness of a post.  Maybe they actually intend to be helpful but just don’t know how to communicate it properly without sounding insulting.  
> 
> I’ve also had conversations with other birders and a surprising number of people have experienced this problem as well.  I’ve heard too many people say they won’t post because of the negative replies/comments.  Newer birders are treated especially poorly.  That is sad.  This list belongs to all Ohio birders and I wonder how much information is not being shared because of a few jerks.
> 
> Erik Bruder
> Bay Village, OH
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