What i am basically saying is if people want to get along they can choose to. We have problems because they donāt and rationalize it away.
Sb had said that nothing would be done to anybodyās account automatically. I trust sb to be able to look at the data, read the posts, and determine if anything is really worth addressing. Like others have said, nothingās really changed here except now have an easier reporting mechanism. I would hope that anybody abusing it woudl also be met with moderator action.
In other words, in sb we trust.
One last thought, to Glenn directly - I hang out on Reddit a bit. One of the first things new redditors have to learn is that the fastest way to get downvoted is to complain about downvotes. Youād be better off just not posting about your rudeness meter in any way because it just encourages a certain type of user to make it worse for you.
Weāre on the public internet. There are a lot more people watching than many of us probably realize. This isnāt really a personal conversation so much as a bunch of published articles.
So weāre all being judged, regardless of the new button and meter. It may be your mother who reads this, or the person hiring at a company you applied for, or a government agency, or even just a bunch of random strangers who like flashlights. We canāt really know who will read it, and should generally keep that in mind while posting.
There are lots of people silently reading everything we say here, judging but not saying anything, and it might be good to be reminded of that once in a while.
Once the Maples have filed their grievances against the Oaks, will the unrest ever go away? Or is the entire forest now on edge, awaiting the dreaded hatchet, axe, and saw?
Iām not trying to be sarcastic, Iām asking honestly from pure curiosity as to how this all works. Immediately before it started, someone here was telling people to bugger off, now weāre being given advise on social etiquette by that same person. So yeah, Iām conflicted.
I had someone vividly curse me in an open thread for merely suggesting they read the rules, as they were being rude to a forum member, and that person still walks amongst us! See how that works? The rules are broken, bent, rearranged, but not necessarily enforced according to the rules, so where does that leave us?
And then, am I being ārudeā for asking? I have no intention of being rude to anyone, certainly not unprovoked, but itās true that Iām very forgetful and Iām getting grumpy with old age and increased incessant pain. I am a technical perfectionist. I firmly believe in the black and white of rules. Once solidly stated, they are the concrete of our roadways, the very foundation that we rely on in building our society. So, if the rule says āRude people will have their accounts deleted.ā then how does a 10 count, self-redacting-every-24-hours, āRudeness Levelā speak for that 1st solid golden rule? Does it enforce it? Or negate it?
Guess I really do need a vacationā¦
Rush āThe Treesā
TK is right, 5721 reads with 226 posts.
Great idea. one of the many reasons i like BLF is because of the friendliness, and it needs to stay that way. 
FWIW, the two quoted comments seem like they said things which were expected to be unwelcome, stated parenthetically that the response would probably be negative, and got posted anyway. So, if the meter went up afterward, it should come as no surprise. A conscious decision was made to be ārudeā.
There are other ways to express frustration, but they donāt tend to feel as satisfying.
Anyway, it has only been a few days and the time just after a new feature gets people playing with it and exploring it. Like, adding a new bot on IRC almost always results in people playing ākick the botā for a while. Poking it, prodding it, getting a feel for it. So posts like what I quoted are to be expected for a while. The featureās actual value (or lack thereof) canāt be determined until after ākick the botā gets old.
The Tree's, I Love that song Dale!!
Kick the bot, I love it
Somehow it evokes images of someone kicking the android logo :laughing:
<āā- Not an apple fanboy, just a funny mental image
If people start using the meter as a dislike of somebodyās else opinion, as a way to express their disagrement or antagonise other members this has the potential to do more harm than good.
For this reason i agree that it might be better if the rude meter is hidden from members.
The subjective and nebulous concept of rudeness might be a defeating pitfall here, also in the sens that some of the passive agressiveness, haughtiness, polite condescension or ambiguous trolling, while toxic, (much more so in my mind than strong beliefs or opinions) might pass totally through the net.
Good old light handed,collegial, privatly administered, human forum moderation was pretty efficient at spotting and dealing with pot stirring members, trolls and problem characters.
I want sometimes to just vent my spleen
And the language required isn't clean
Discourse is splendid
'Till someone's offended
Can't a person just say what they mean ?
It seems everyone has their own views
Why , some people wear them as tattoos !
We all want to be heard
Sometimes boundaries are blurred
Can we walk in another man's shoes ?
Must our sentiments be so covert ?
Should we fear that our thoughts might subvert ?
It might be quite hard
To keep on our guard
In our passion , who knows what we'll blurt ?
+1,000,000,000,000,000 
Exactly an hour before you posted this, I suggested some might consider it rude for (one member) to dog about his points for days after he clearly violated some rules. I immediately got my first and only ārudeā point. So yea, I know where that came from. But it doesnāt bother me. It will be gone tomorrow. Yet he keeps racking them up by the fistful.
You neednāt worry about the ādislikeā hits. SB has already noted that such is abuse of the system, and will be handled. So, those who click RUDE! for no good reason may find themselves dis-membered, I mean un-membered, I mean, not a BLF member any more. 
Also, this is still a self-moderated forum. The new RUDE! button is mostly meant to be used as a gentle reminder, and secondly a way for sb to track consistently rude behavior and deal with it, since he isnāt here all the time and canāt simply take the time to read every post. And it is hidden, sorta. You are the only one (other than sb himself) who can see your meter.
Iām aware of that, i meant hidden from the member himself, to avoid additional drama.
OK. That has been suggested by others as well. But, I think it would hinder one of the purposes of the meter - to help us members see when we might need to tone things down a bit.
Judging by this thread it just seems to antagonise people even more.
I aināt smart but I like this new gadget just as it is. Adding a āniceā button will just turn this place into a popularity contest instead of a flashlight forum.
I control my keyboard and I have no right to be rude to you. I am responsible for what I type. You are responsible for what you type no matter what Iāve posted before that, and vice-versa. If you canāt control yourself then log off until you can, it is that easy to do.
I noticed that one particular member who was rude, crude, abrasive, spiteful, arrogant, and abusive to anybody who disagreed with them suddenly cleaned up their act when the ārudeā button was implemented. Their posts are much more restrained now and the threads they are involved in are now a lot more pleasant. I was not alone in highly disliking this person- several people clearly felt as I did. I figured that this person was about to see themselves banned :laughing: I think they saw that too, so they changed for the better, and if they can make that huge of a change then anyone can. Had they not done this Iād have used the button as intended on them.
Much calmness has returned as if by magic. Itās not universal here but whatever. I havenāt felt the need to hit ārudeā yet and I hope I donāt have to, but just itās presence has chased away a lot of the previous rudeness so it is working as intended and doesnāt need any āfixingā.
Good Job SB :+1:
Phil
I agree, i sometimes want a thanks button, but then getting thanks points becomes a game 
Well, it is my opinion that anybody who feels threatened by the existence of the RUDE! button and/or meter, either doesnāt understand sbās intent, or has a less-than-honorable intent himself. In the first case, that person should read the OP again, as well as the BLF Rules. If that doesnāt help, they can PM sb for better details, Iām sure. One thing to remember is that this forum is different from others that are more heavy handed in their moderation. I donāt think sb will be going on any member-deleting joyrides through BLF. Itās not what he does.
In the case of someone who has no intention of following the rules, they are probably right to feel threatened, because the RUDE! button can and will be used against them as needed. And, since sb can track all the RUDE! button activity, it helps him to catch situations that he might have otherwise missed. I see that as a good thing.
I also believe TK is right about the psychological effect of the ānewā tool. Iām expecting things to settle down in a while. It might take longer for some than others. But I think it will all be okay in a week or two for most.