...When someone on the internet makes you mad, stay civil. This way, you can get control of the situation.

I have experienced this myself and I think a few fellow BZP members know what I'm talking about.

There's this former member of BZP who I met here (he wasn't banned). We talked a bit and we became friends. Everything was nice for a few years until he started to get possessive and bossy. He also started to get obsessive symptoms and I didn't accept that.

I told him that in a jokingly way on another website on one of my pieces of art.

It degraded pretty quickly and I had to block him from that site and MSN to make him stop. On my birthday I decided to unblock him as a sign of good will, hoping that I could get through to him. I couldn't and he started to flame the heck out of me, using all kinds of nasty language. Me being me, I didn't accept that and I told him. He didn't care.

He kept using bad language and he even did one of the lowest things a person can do online. (I won't tell what.) I almost flamed him back, but then I remembered myself and him that I wouldn't lower myself to his position by calling him names.

Anyway, he got angrier and I got calmer. With all his anger and with my calmness, he unknowingly relinquished control, passing it all on to me. I told him to back off in a kind way and guesss what? It worked after a while.

So remember: Stay civil, even when you think you can't. It helps.

There's a certain thing I don't like and I've been seeing more and more lately. on the internet and here on BZP. I'm not sure of its name and what exactly to do with it, but it's very annoying.

You see, there are certain members who seem to think they know a lot and they tend to either correct others or force their opinions on them. (I think you all know who you are.) I want to ask these members kindly to stop with this as this isn't only getting on my nerves, but it also gets on the nerves of many other members. (Not to mention it can cause flame wars..)

So please, be more respectful to other members and their opinions. It really helps to make BZP a better place.